March '25 Newsletter

Published by Elise on Mar 3rd 2025

We’ve made it to March, mud maestros!

The air’s abuzz with warmer weather and we’re all enjoying longer days. As the season brings fresh inspiration to our studio, we also hope new ideas, vibrant glazes and exciting projects come to our customers and clay community. Let’s welcome spring with open hands and muddy fingers!

Upcoming Glaze Workshop

We have an exciting new workshop coming up this month: the Laguna Cone 5/6 Glaze “Try It Before You Buy It” Workshop!

Ready to test out some Laguna glazes and see how they work with your favorite clay body? Join us for a hands-on glaze exploration workshop where you’ll have the chance to experiment with 25+ Laguna Cone 5/6 glazes. Bring your own bisque-fired Cone 5 clay pieces to test layering techniques and discover new glazes you may not have used before.

Unlike our in-store sample pots, which are typically tested on one clay body, this workshop allows you to see how the combination of glaze and clay body produces different effects. It’s the perfect opportunity to find the best glaze options for your unique pieces.

What’s included:

25+ glazes to sample
Take home the last bit of glazes you used in class
A $15 off coupon for Cone 5/6 Laguna glazes

What to Bring:

5 bisque-fired Cone 5 clay pieces (clean, dust-free, and residue-free). We recommend:]
1 cylinder to test layered glazes on a vertical surface
1 tile or plate for horizontal surface testing
3 additional pieces to explore smooth vs. textured surfaces
5 or more brushes of various sizes
Boxes and wrapping to take your glazed pieces home

Ingrid King will be instructing. Firing is not included, but available for an additional cost.

Pre-registration is required – space is limited!

Clay of the Month
Charcoal by Aardvark

We love our black clay bodies, especially when they come from Aardvark, and Charcoal is a perfect example. This clay’s ideal for the medium-grit potter who wants a dark clay body both to throw and to sculpt, with enough oomph to hold up a piece of any size. Those who love a decorative base can find comfort in Charcoal’s depth, as the color tends to come out a rich, bold black, making a beautiful base for most glazes. Don’t want to use glaze, that’s a-okay! Charcoal’s gorgeous on its own. The sister clay to Aardvark’s Obsidian, bloating isn’t an issue for Charcoal (in our experience) - so strike that worry from your mind. A crowd favorite for clay the color of night.

We’re thrilled to be able to offer this amazing deal to our customers. Scoop up a bag before it runs out! Charcoal is regularly $1.14 per pound, but it’s only $0.70 per pound during March, for up to 100 pounds! That’s just $17.50 per 25# bag!

Want to see more of Charcoal? Check out this cool Reddit post featuring a lovely planter!

TOOL OF THE MONTH
SlabMat - 10% off

In honor of our booth at NCECA, we’re offering SlabMat as our tool special this month! SlabMat is the smooth alternative to canvas for rolling out slabs of clay. A proprietary non-woven material instead of canvas for slab rollers, or rolling slabs with a rolling pin, SlabMats can be used as a handbuilding mat, glaze pad and everything in between. SlabMat can also be customized in your studio with a blade and straight edge, cut to your desired size. For the smoothest slabs, use the smooth side of SlabMat touching the clay, or its woven side to add some exciting texture. Unlike canvas, the SlabMat can be used to roll multiple slabs in one studio session before becoming too saturated and causing clay to stick. Check out Ingrid’s Tip of the Month to learn more!

Want an example of working with SlabMat? Check out this helpful YouTube video!

GLAZE OF THE MONTH
All Laguna Pints and Gallons, 10% off

For the first time, Stone Leaf is offering all Laguna pints and gallons as our glaze special! I personally love Laguna for its vivid colors and floating effects. This special includes favorites such as the Rainforest series, the Moroccan Sand series and their crystalline glazes. The possibilities are endless! Known for their rich depth, reliable consistency and stunning finishes, Laguna offers a spectrum of options to bring your ceramic work to life. These glazes enhance form and texture while providing professional-quality results. Try layering different Laguna glazes for unique effects, as these glazes play well with others. No matter your style, there’s a Laguna glaze to complement your vision. Grab a brush, a pint and let the magic work!

Want some Laguna glaze combinations for inspiration? Check out this Pinterest search!

Staff Interview: Rebeca

For our new segment featuring a Stone Leaf staff member’s interview, we have Rebeca! Rebeca’s our young ceramic savant who specializes in making chains and tiny furniture out of clay.

[SLP] Kiss, marry, kill: throwing, hand-building, glazing?

[REBECA] “Kiss throwing, kill glazing, marry hand-building. Can I hug glazing instead? I still really like it.”

[SLP] What’s your secret weapon of pottery tools?

[REBECA] “Warm water!”

[SLP] What do you love about your art?

[REBECA] “The simultaneous dichotomy of creating out of a need to answer or ask a question.”

[SLP] If you were a clay tool, what would you be?

[REBECA] “Definitely a rib, I think I can be rather rigid but I’m definitely helpful!”

[SLP] What’s your favorite clay body recently?

[REBECA] “The cone 10 Everest porcelain from Laguna, [it’s] very nice to hand-build with and responsive. We don’t currently keep that clay in stock, but we can special order it for you if you want to try a box or two!”

Thanks, Rebeca! Tune in next time for another interview.

Ingrid's Tip of the Month

SlabMat is on sale, 10% off, at Stone Leaf Pottery in March. It is a multi-purpose product. The obvious use is to roll slabs. SlabMat’s sturdy construction means you can use it to roll, then move a slab with far less tendency of your slabs bending and becoming damaged moving from one location to the next.

SlabMat also makes a convenient work surface. A piece of SlabMat can be used to protect a surface you want to work on, but the surface may not be clay friendly. I like to use blue painter’s tape to tape SlabMat to a kitchen table, a card table, or another surface for a temporary work surface.

Slabmat makes a great wedging surface! Do be aware that SlabMat is not absorbent enough to wedge wet, sloppy clay.

SlabMat also makes great templates. Design an outline, trace the perimeter on your SlabMat with a pencil, cut out the template and place it on a clay slab. Cut around the template, through the clay. Set aside the template to use again. It’s easy to make matching cut slab pieces to build with, to drape, to fold into bowls.

Did you know Stone Leaf Pottery gives away free SlabMat scrap? If there aren’t pieces in the store marked as free scrap, just ask. Use it for templates, for a small project work surface, think of children who need both a work space and a guide for size restrictions. Have each person write their name on their piece of SlabMat. You can’t erase pencil, pen, markers, or Crayons from SlabMat.

Consider these tips to be sure to take good care of your SlabMat.

Keep separate sets for red and brown clays versus clays that fire white.
Don’t crease or fold your SlabMat.
Clean off dried clay with a rubber rib or an old gift card.
Never cut the surface of SlabMat with a very sharp blade, like an Exacto Knife. This can permanently damage or cut through SlabMat. A Kemper K-34 short blade works very well, and so does the edge of an old key card or spent gift card.
If you get your SlabMat too wet, it can lead to an uneven surface. Leaving SlabMat sitting under 50# clay boxes can help flatten your SlabMat.

Final Thoughts:

We’re so excited to be a part of NCECA again this year with another SlabMat booth! The National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) is hosting their annual conference coming up March 26-29. Swing by and say hello, we look forward to seeing you!

A reminder to our customers during the week of NCECA: we appreciate your patience! Our staff will be limited during this week, so we hope you’ll understand that we’re working to get you what you need with the best of our ability.

Did you know you can bring your dog to Stone Leaf? We’re happy to have your pup visit as long as they’re well-behaved and socialized! We have a couple of friendly staff dogs that run around the store, so be sure to keep your pup on a leash. Ask for treats behind the counter!

As always, dear customers, please be sure to check our social media for snow and weather closures. Our Instagram and Facebook accounts are listed at the bottom of this article. Depending on the level of snowfall, we may have staff available to help, albeit a small number due to travel constraints.

And, on the off-chance you weren’t aware, we’re closed Mondays! Our regular hours are Tuesday - Thursday, 9:00am - 6:00pm, and Friday - Saturday, 9:00am - 4:00pm. That means if you send an email later on Saturday, we’ll get back to you as soon as we can Tuesday.

Any further questions about our specials? Inquire at our front desk during regular business hours, our staff are happy to help!

That’s all for now, folks! Happy potting, and we look forward to seeing you soon.

Elise and the Stone Leaf Pottery Crew

All Clay of the Month purchases are limited to 100# of clay. The sale price is valid only in March 2025 and not combinable with other discounts.

It's not uncommon for us to run out of the clay(s) of the Month, so we always suggest you shop early in the Month to ensure the clay is in stock. Also, when purchasing Glaze or Tool(s), or Equipment of the Month, again, it's limited to products on hand. So, if we don't have it when you shop, come shop with us again soon! We replenish our shelves constantly—we'll hopefully have more soon! Got more questions about how this works? Please, please reach out to us!

During the freezing months, we will not accept returns on clay or liquid chemical products such as wax resist. As much as we wish we could take back that half-frozen bag of B-Mix, we can’t repurpose it. Thank you for being mindful.