Never too early for Christmas shopping

Well, I have finished all my shows for the year.  This is a month earlier than usual since I changed most of my art shows this year.

So now I am listing all kinds of new items in my Etsy shop.

I'm listing old favorites, like brie bakers and cracker trays, plus yarn bowls.

And new favorites, like butter dishes.

And sponge holders.
And for the first time, Ornaments

Also, new work can be found in a number of galleries and gift shops.  Ciel and Ruby's in Charlotte get new work monthly.  Mountain Nest in Black Mountain, Middle Earth Olive Oil Company in Florida and the Golden Feather in Hammonton, NJ recently received new work.  And next week the Wild Fern in Bryson City, NC will receive a shipment that I am glazing on Wednesday.

Just remember that many of my pieces are one of a kind so be sure to pick up anything you like, when you see it.  It is not to early to get started on your holiday shopping.

Show season

Shows and more shows.  I just got back from the Art in Autumn in Weaverville, NC. In two weeks I am back in Blowing Rock for Art in the Park and the a week later I am at the CCM Pottery Festival.

Then I am done with art shows for the year and it's time to concentrate on Holiday sales at the galleries and on Etsy.

You may have noticed that I am back to using my old display.  A woman had a diabetic attack (she was unhurt) while driving and ran into 7 park cars ending up ramming into my husbands truck over and over, so our truck is in the shop.  We are lucky we can use the crossover to haul the old display.  I am actually liking the old display for a few reasons.  One being that it's so easy to put up and take down.  Second I think it is more approachable for the customer.  I noticed that people seem to come into the booth for a look around.  The pedestals may be to fancy, making it somehow intimidating.

This week I am finishing up the orders from Mountain Nest and Middle Earth Olive Oil Company.  I will be doing the final glazing tomorrow.  Crossing my fingers because I will be delivering the Mountain Nest order in Black Mountain on Sunday.

Also, on Sunday I plan on picking up a new (used) larger kiln.  Hopefully we don't have any trouble getting home and get it wired without problems.  Here's hoping that I start getting more wholesale orders to fill up this big kiln.

Wholesale

While I knew that September and early October were going to be my busiest 6 weeks of the year with 4 shows, I did not imagine how busy it would end up being.  

First off, I decided about a month ago that I was going to apply for Wholesalecrafts.com, which for those that don't know is a website that brings artists and galleries/gift shops together.  I was accepted yesterday and my page is now open for ordering.  If you are not registered on the site and you are a gift shop / gallery send me a note and I will get you a guest pass.  The items I decided to wholesale are from the dragonfly line (see a few pieces to the left)  plus complementary items.  Crossing my fingers that I start getting some orders soon.

Then a little over a week ago I got a large order from Mountain Nest in Black Mountain.  She wants me to deliver the pieces when I go up to our cabin at the end of September so I am working full time on the order along with pieces for shows.  Of course, it is the hottest it's been this summer and the garage/studio is HOT.

Then last week I got an order from the Middle Earth Olive Oil Co. in Florida.   They want 20 of these olive oil bottles and 10 dipping dishes.  So they go into the rotation as well.

It is a great feeling to be busy and I am excited for the possibilities.

I am working on my Fall Newsletter so if you want to receive it, sign up on the right.

New Glaze Load and Art of the Cup Invitational

Spent this week glazing.  I mixed up a large bucket of the Spring Green and the Stormy Blue.  I am happy with the shade of green.  I doubled the green and didn't test it first.  All the pieces in green turned out great.

Meanwhile the Stormy blue is different from what it was before but it's nice as well (new color shown on mug below,  the way it used to be is pictured on the Irish mugs shown below).  Now it's more matt and has less depth.  Not sure what happened.

More pieced shown on Facebook. HERE

Finally made some more Mom, Dad, Nana and Papa mugs.  I have started listing them in my Etsy shop.  These will make great gifts.

Last week I sent off this teapot and the Irish mugs to the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans.  The pieces are for the Art of the Cup Invitational and the Teapot Exhibition.  The shows opening reception is September 4th and it runs until the beginning of December.  It was an honor to be asked.  This will be my first invitational.

If you follow me on Facebook you saw the other pieces I was considering for the show.  Some of the other pieces went Ciel for this months exhibition.



One of the shows I was excepted into this year was the Art in the Park in Blowing Rock, NC.  I will be there August 16th, September 6, and October 4th.  I will also be in Weaverville Art in Autumn on September 20th and the CCM Pottery Festival at the Barn on October 11th.  I was wait listed for the Carolina Designer Craftmen Fair at the end of November.

Creative Day

I haven't done much creatively the last few weeks.  Today I had to try again to make a container for my friend Lori for her tub of margarine.  The first attempt was too small from the first, so this is my second attempt and it is tall enough but won't know until after the firing if it's wide enough.  If not, I will try again.

The two pieces to the right are salt and pepper shakers.  I got bored with the other design and decided to try something new.


I have been using my new stamps that I made a few months ago and really like the designs I am able to make.  While I like the store bought stamps, I always feel a little like I am cheating by not making my own designs.

Just a few weeks until (perhaps) I will be teaching my first class.  As far as I know, no one's signed up.  If you are interested, check out the previous post for information.

Hand building class

I will be teaching a beginning hand building class for the first time in August at the Ciel Gallery.  It will be a bit of work since I have to bring everything we need to the gallery for the class, including water.  My hope is that if the class goes well, in late October and into November I could do a series of classes with more intricate pieces.   You can check out the details of the class and sign up here.

For an update about my Studio sale:  The sale was OK but pranksters stole my signs the night before the sale, so I am unsure how this impacted the drive-by customers.  This was especially annoying because the signs were special ordered and cost a bit.  I was hoping to use them for many years.

For those that were unable to attend, the online sale is going on until July 20th.  Use coupon code CIJ2014 at checkout for 20% off anything in the store.  Extra savings found in the clearance section.  And as always if you are in the area and would like to stop by my showroom, please call me at 704-408-7996 to set up a time that works for both of us.

Christmas in July Sale

Back by popular demand.  This is the best time of the year to get a great deal on pottery.  I ship all across the country.  Lot's of wedding, birthday, hostess gifts or just start your Christmas shopping early.  Shop online (be sure to check out the clearance section)  or stop by my home studio for an even larger selection of pots on July 12th.

Some disappointment and some fun

Well, I had a booth at the Boardwalk Art Show in Virginia Beach the weekend before last.  I had such high hopes that there would be art buyers at this show since the standards were so high.  I was disappointed.  Everything I sold was truly functional (bowls, pitchers, butter dishes and platters) no teapots and only one vase.  Lots of compliments but I can't pay the bills on compliments.  I can say that Virginia Beach is a great place to visit and I hope to go back for a visit someday but I won't be doing the show again.

 My niece Savannah is visiting me and I have been showing her how to make a few slab built items.  She has made a salt and pepper set, a spoon rest, a bowl and a cup.

We have also visited the Charlotte Motor Speedway, Nascar Hall of Fame, downtown Charlotte and Concord Mills.  My sister and her husband race cars in Montana and Savannah helps in the pits.  I couldn't tell you what type cars they drive but they enjoy it.

We also went to the movie Maleficent.  I really enjoyed it.  There was quite a great message in it.  I think that Mom's will enjoy it even more than kids.  Doesn't show Dad's or men in the best light though so Dad's may not like it so much.

Just a reminder that I am on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. 

Glazed pieces for the Boardwalk Art Show

Today I unloaded the kiln.  I had many pieces that I really liked and you can see the rest on my Facebook page.

The piece on the left was a new design.  It is a large vase and during drying it was against another piece and warped a bit, but I kind of like it.  The piece reminds me of a centipede.

The pitcher has the new green glaze.  I doubled the copper in the formula and I'm very happy with the hue.  Of course I didn't do a test of it  ahead of time and was very tense waiting for the firing to finish.  I have realized that I don't need to do three coats of glaze on textured areas as in covers the texture too well.

The platters design was a piece of wood trim I found at Michaels.  I just sprayed a coat of light blue in the middle then placed the trim over it and sprayed on the dark blue glaze.

Next week I head to Virginia Beach for the Boardwalk Art Show.  This will be a new show for me and will take a lot of effort.  First the wind and weather can be a challenge.  My hope is for mild weather but the forecast changes every time I look at it.  The second problem is that I am staying in a hotel right on the beach and this takes a huge chunk out of any profit I may have.  Load in will hopefully go well as I have signed up for the drive on program for set up but the challenge will be the tear down, where we will have to cart our wares a block or more to the truck.  The show looks promising for sales because there are around 300 booths and many potential customers.  The quality looks good as well as we can not have anything under $20 in our booth.  Everything has to be signed as well.

I am very excited about my helpers for this show.  My mom and my niece are coming from Montana to visit for two weeks.  It will be great to have company for the 6 hour drive and during the 4 day show.

After we get back from the show my niece Savannah wants to learn how to make pottery so I have started thinking of projects for her to make.