•  Clean bisque with a damp sponge to remove any dust . Mask off three squares evenly around pot.  

•  Thin Ice Blue, Citrus Lime and Hawaiian Blue with a little water or glaze thinner. Loading the fan brush with one colour at a time, at a 45-degree angle, paint stripes across each square. Blend each colour as they meet. Completely fill each square with colour .  

•  Centre the pot on a wheel and band the top rim of the pot with the same three colours as in step 3.  

•  Remove the masking tape.  

•  Put out all the greens. Load the large sponge with one colour and, as in the pot picture, pounce the sponge half in and half out of the top of each square. Repeat using both the other greens, but make each pounce lighter than the last so that all the greens show through.  

•  Repeat step 6 with the medium and small sponges placing each ball of topiary under the last, leaving a slight gap between each.  

•  Using a No4 round brush and Chestnut, paint in a piece of trunk under each topiary ball, including the lowest one. 

•  Cut your pop-up sponge into the shape of a plant pot and dampen to enable it to pop up. Load the sponge with Caramel and pounce two to three coats at the bottom of each topiary tree.  

•  Load the side of the sponge with Chestnut and pounce down the sides of each pot to create a shadow.

•  Load the No4 round brush with different greens and press small leaves in each topiary ball.  

•  Dry overnight, dip in clear glaze and fire to Cone 6.

Clean bisque. Antique entire piece with diluted Black and a sponge. Wipe back to desired shading.

With No 8 brush, apply and blend all the browns as follows:

1. Clean bisque

2. Take a pencil and work lines around the pig from tail to nose and around the other side. Then from top to bottom so it is divided into squares like a globe of the world.

3. Shake the colours of your choice well.

4. Using the No 6 brush paint each square three times alternating colours in each square. Make sure all the colours butt up together.

5. Shake the white dimensions well. Hold the tub at a 45 degree angle and as thin as you can pipe all round the square and then pipe across the line to create a stitch mark.

6. After 24 hours glaze and then fire to 06.

1. Clean bisque with a damp sponge to remove any dust.

2. Using graphite paper placed on tile with pattern placed on top, redraw over pattern with biro.

3. With piping kit filled with piping paste and at an angle of 45 degrees, pipe over the pattern on tile.

4. Paint your leaves with a three coat blend by filling the filbert with the lighter green and starting at the tip of each leaf, blend up the leaf with the medium green and finishing at the top of the leaf with the darker green. Repeat this process twice.

5. Each flower is a two- coat blend, using the filbert as with the leaves, beginning with the lighter colour at the tip and blending with the darker colour to the top of each petal. Work on one flower at a time and apply three coats. Choose any of the flower colours to paint the flower buds.

Flower 1:Dark Lavender and Irish Heather . Flower 2: Piggy Pink and Baby Pink

6. Paint the flower centres with two coats of Banana Custard, then one edge with mid green. Blend all together.

7. Using the tip of a wet Sumi brush, pick up a darker contrast colour to the flower you are working on and pat down both sides of the centre of the flower to make a nice soft line.

8. Repeat step 8 using a green around the edge of each centre.

9. Marble swish the background with the soft goat brush and a 70% water / 30% mix with Spearmint. Repeat once more.

10. You may wish to add depth by using your soft goat brush and Damson or Marine Blue, pat under the outer edges of the flowers and leaves.

11. When thoroughly dry, using the fan brush, carefully apply two coats of clear glaze, taking care not to disturb the underlying colour.

12. Fire to No 06 with 30-minute soak to help the colours blend.

1. Clean the bisque with a damp sponge, to remove any dust.

2. Trace on a pattern if necessary -this is a very easy project and one may find it is as easy to draw it onto the piece or even paint it onto plain bisque.

3. Put out all the colours onto a tile. Thin if necessary with a little thinner or water.

4. Using a tiny sponge on a stick loaded with blue, pounce groups of berries as in the picture. Apply two coats, allowing each coat to dry before applying another.

5. Load the side of the sponge with a little Dark Lavender and pounce to the bottom of each berry. Repeat using Mulled Wine.

6. Repeat 5 but using Damson to the top of each berry

7. Load a no 6 round brush with Army Green and tip the brush onto where you would like a leaf to start, Apply a little pressure on and then take it off and pull to a point. Place two to three leaves round each set of berries.

8. Reload the brush with Army Green and tip in Sherwood Forest and repeat the same stroke over the top of the first coat to make it more opaque.

9. Take a no.1 liner and load with diluted Sherwood Green. Line one side of the leaf only and vary the pressure a little to add interest.

10. Using EZ Black put a little dot in the end of each berry and a little comma to the top where the stem would go.

11. Using the liner brush and diluted Aqua Lite, paint the lines of the background grid. When the first coat is dry apply a second coat.

12. Take a sea sponge and Biscuit, sponge around the edge of the trivet. Apply two coats.

13. Allow to dry for 24 hours. Glaze and allow to dry for a few hour. Fire to cone 06.

CHRISTMAS PROJECT 1

1. Wipe down the bisque with a damp sponge to ensure it is dust free.

2. Select all the glaze colours.

3. Apply three coats of all the colours, using the appropriate size brush for the area you are painting as follows. (Allowing each coat to dry well between coats.)

     . Beard area White

     . Hat Red

    . Skin Skin Deep

4. Select all the Ezs. Thin a little with glaze conditioner. Using the Shader Blender brush load with water then remove a little water onto a paper towel. Tip the very tip of the brush only in each of the following colour in turn. To shade the area, pat along the edge of the face and under the hat with a little thinned Black.

     . Cheek area Rose

     . Hat area Brick Red under the White French Dimensions.

     . In mouth Rose

5. Thin the Storm Cloud with glaze conditioner. Using a shader blender brush wiggle your brush through the beard area to create a hair effect.

6. Using an 8 round paint three coats of French Dimension to the rim and ball on the hat. Try to make it textured - like snow.

7. Block the eye in three times with Black and give it a little white EZ highlight in both eyes. Allow to dry over night.

8. Dip glaze. Dry foot. Leave to dry over night.

9. Fire to 06 or 1025C with a 20 minute soak/hold. Slow speed or 5 hours to first ramp of 600C.

CHRISTMAS PROJECT 2

1.    Using a damp sponge wipe down the bisque to be dust free.

2.   Select all the glaze colours, thin if necessary with glaze conditioner.

3.   Thin the Sherwood Green 50/50 with water. Apply a coat of the wash to all the ribbed areas of the scarf, hat and gloves. Allow to dry and then wipe back to an antique finish leaving Green in the creases only.

4.    Using the appropriate size brush for the area you are to paint, base coat three coats of colour allowing each coat to dry well before applying another, as follows:

                                              . Gloves Fire                         Engine Red

                                              . Hat and Scarf                     Citrus lime.

                                              . Tassels of Scarf                Lemon Zest

                                              . Nose                                    Tangerine

                                              . Bobble of Hat                    Citrus Lime

                                              . Snowman                           White

                                              . Eyes and Buttons             Black.

Allow all the colours to dry well before shading.

5.    Select the EZ colours and thin 60/40 with glaze conditioner. Using a Silver Falcon shader blender brush No 8. Dip in water, pat a little water off on a paper towel and then tip the brush with a small amount of colour. To commence shading put a little pressure on the brush which will bend like a shovel. Then pat a little colour along the areas you wish to shade. The water will let the colour bleed from the brush onto the bisque for a soft appearance. Pat your brush up and down (DO NOT PAINT) along the edge of the area you are shading as follows.

     . Around edge of Snowman              Light Blue

     . Base of Nose                                      Orange

     . Cheek area                                          Rose.

     . Along all the rib areas                       Royal Blue Green.

6.    Using the wooden end of a liner brush put an EZ white highlight in both eyes and the snowman's buttons.

7.    Dry over night. Dip glaze and dry foot if desired. Fire next day to 06 (1020C) with a 20 minutes hold/soak.