Pottery journal with piece logs, glaze recipes and kiln firing records

This pottery journal helps you remember how each piece came to life, from soft clay all the way through the last firing. Its 50 undated pages include 20 single page piece logs, a test tile log for glazes, glaze recipe cards, a kiln firing log, a shrinkage calculator worksheet and pages for class notes. You receive it as a PDF in US Letter and A4, downloadable instantly, with nothing sent by mail.

Whether you work at home, share a studio or join a weekly class, your clay bodies, glazes and firings finally live in one tidy binder.

Why potters keep a pottery journal

Each piece has a page of its own. You write down the clay, the method and the size, date every stage from greenware through bisque to the glaze firing, and note the glaze combination, cone and atmosphere. A sketch box and space for results mean you can repeat the pieces that turned out beautifully.

Thirty two numbered test tiles and 12 glaze recipes, written as percentages with a batch column, keep a favorite surface from ever getting lost. The shrinkage worksheet guides you through a test bar and a handy multiplier table, so sizing a mug or fitting a lid stops being guesswork.

Who this ceramics journal is for

• New potters in a wheel throwing or hand building class who want to hold on to each week's lessons
• Hobby potters with their own or a shared studio who glaze and fire their own work
• Potters who mix glazes themselves and want recipes, test tiles and layered combinations together
• Anyone who would like a calm record of their pieces to look back on and see their skills grow

Design and printing

• Minimal and elegant: white pages with soft blush pink accents that need very little ink
• Wide margins on all sides, so your home printer will not clip anything
• Portrait pages in US Letter (8.5 x 11 in) and A4 (210 x 297 mm)
• Undated, so you can begin with any piece, in any year
• Only general material terms, so it suits any clay, glaze or kiln
• Works in a binder or on a clipboard, or can be spiral bound by a print shop

Inside the pottery journal: 50 pages

1. 1Cover page showing the contents
2. 2A welcome and guide to the journal, prompts on why you love clay, what you hope to make this season and where you work, plus a safety note on kilns and glazes
3. 3Your studio and tools, with a checklist of what you already own, tools and supplies still needed, a table of the glazes you have (cone, surface, color, amount remaining), the clay you usually buy and your supply shops
4. 4A reference to clay stages and cones covering all five stages, rough firing ranges for bisque, low fire, mid-range and high fire, kiln atmosphere (oxidation, reduction, other) and five glaze surprises that often happen
5. 5Shrinkage calculator worksheet showing the formulas, a worked example, a table for test bar results, a quick multiplier chart for 8 to 15% shrinkage and a table for sizing pieces up
6. 6Library of clay bodies, 6 cards noting name, cone, type, wet and fired color, texture and grog, shrinkage, best uses and notes
7. 7Index of pieces 1 to 20 listing clay, glaze, a heart to mark favorites and page numbers, plus the pieces you are proudest of and ones to repeat
8. 8 to 27The pottery log, a single page for each of 20 pieces, covering name, clay body, start date, method (wheel thrown, pinch, coil, slab, mold), clay weight, wall thickness, sizes when wet and fired, a dated stage table with notes (thrown or built, trimmed, bone dry, bisque fired, glazed, glaze fired), a sketch box, glaze and how it was applied, bisque and glaze cones, atmosphere, position in the kiln, notes on the result and a final verdict
9. 28 to 31Glaze test tile log for 32 numbered tiles, each drawn as an outline with room for the glaze or combination, clay, cone, number of coats, application and outcome
10. 32 to 34Glaze recipe cards for 12 recipes, each with name, cone, surface and atmosphere, a table of materials with percent and batch grams, additions, a total and notes
11. 35Table of 16 layered glaze combinations listing base glaze, top glaze, clay, cone, application and result, with spaces for combinations to try and ones to avoid
12. 36 to 39Kiln firing log covering 8 firings, each with date, kiln, bisque or glaze firing, cone, start and switch off times, a 6 segment schedule (rate, temperature, hold), peak temperature, total duration, how the witness cone looked, what was loaded and notes
13. 40 to 43Project idea pages for the project, who it is for, a target date, a box for a sketch with dimensions, inspiration, method, planned clay and glaze, steps, materials and tools, and possible pitfalls
14. 44 to 47Class notes for the class or workshop, teacher, date and topic, with lined space, a box to sketch the demo, key tips, ideas to practice at home and questions for next time
15. 48Skills tracker of 16 pottery skills, from wedging and centering through even glazing and kiln loading, each scored 1 to 5 with a note
16. 49Looking back at the season: pieces made, firings, glazes tested, a favorite piece, a sketch, the glazes you loved and what you want to learn next
17. 50Lined notes page

What you receive

• Pottery Journal, US Letter PDF (50 pages)
• Pottery Journal, A4 PDF (50 pages)
• Read Me First, a short printing guide as a PDF

How to download and print

• Check out with PayPal, a debit or credit card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. Your download page opens as soon as the payment goes through.
• We email the same private download links to you, so you can download your files again later.
• Open the PDF in a free reader such as Adobe Acrobat Reader and print at 100% or Actual size.
• Print only the pages you need, as often as you like, for your own personal use.

Good to know before you buy

• This is a PDF made to be printed, not a hyperlinked digital planner. You can import it into most note taking apps and write on it if you prefer.
• You are purchasing a digital download. No physical item will arrive in the mail.
• Colors on screen and on paper may differ slightly.
• For personal use only. Please do not share, resell or redistribute the files.
• Digital files cannot be returned, but if a file does not open or print correctly, email us and we will help right away.
• The journal is for keeping records and is not technical or safety advice. Always follow the safety guidance that comes with your kiln, clay and glaze materials.

How this was made

Designed and written by PetiteDiary. AI tools helped draft parts of the text, and some background scenes in the preview images were created with AI. Every page was designed, reviewed and checked before release.

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