Dry already, will ya!

It took a lot of sanding to get the lid to fit again. 

I hate shrinkage!

Bowls, birdhouses, tumblers, flower pots and soap dishes.

Mugs and birdhouses

 

As soon as these banks are dry we'll get a bisque firing going.

And finally....









So this is what my production looks like.  Not dozens of anything but dozens of different things.  I guess we all have to work at our own pace and try not to compare ourselves with the Jones' too much. 

Note to Self:

Maybe if I write it down this time it'll sink in!  I'm sure I did this last year, too.  Trying to squeeze just one more order into the last Christmas firing.  Can you spell "Stress"?  'Cause I don't have enough I need to give myself a big, fat dose of more.  Really?  When will I learn?  What was Nancy Reagan's motto?  "Just say NO!".  But they really, really want this birdhouse: "It'll be perfect for Dad!".  And an owl bank inscribed for a granddaughter...   "NO!"  Well, I'm sure I won't be that harsh.  Middle-child diplomacy won't let me.

So, I'm getting it out there now:

Dear Universe,
I hereby declare the cutoff date for custom pottery orders for Christmas of 2013 IS December 1, 2013.  This is not to be changed, challenged or forgotten (hopefully) or pain of intense pre-holiday headaches, hair-pulling and hand-wringing will ensue with no sympathy of any kind to be given to the offender.

If I had a stone and chisel I'd etch it in.

I feel better now getting it out there so I can be held accountable when I'm wondering why big clumps of my suddenly grayer hair are missing next Christmas.

I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday enjoying family and friends.  I wish you all a happy and healthy New Year!

Coming off the High

What makes you "high"?

Hopefully, not drugs of any kind (insert disapproving Mom-Stink-Eye here)!  I mean a natural high.  Something that makes you feel stupid-happy.

I'm still riding an unexpected high from the craft show we did yesterday. 

Not from packing up the car the night before and feeling I'm forgetting something. 
Not from waking up late and missing breakfast. 
Not from rushing to set up before the show starts with no caffeinated beverage to fuel me. 
Not from realizing what I forgot was one of my main display shelves and having Craig run it out to me (he's the BEST!). 
Not from realizing some of my banks didn't have stoppers in them (lucky for me Craig hadn't left the house with the shelves yet). 
And definitely not from sitting for the first 2 hours of the show seeing plenty of customers with shopping bags that weren't mine.

There's always  trepidation for me at the start of a show.  What if we don't sell anything?  Worry and self doubt are familiar companions.

My mood change started with the first sale.  Not a big purchase but it got the ball rolling.  A couple of returning customers, which is still new for me, a Christmas order for a hippo bank (been there, done that!), more sales than I expected and lots of smiles and complements made for an intoxicating combination, apparently.  I was exhausted but high as a kite at the end of the day.

I guess I'm still humbled that anyone buys our pottery. Maybe it's because I haven't done a show in over 6 months that I'd forgotten the rewarding validation I get from seeing people admire and purchase our pots.  That one-on-one interaction is very energizing and inspiring for me.

Unfortunately, we're not doing anymore shows until next year.  So before it wears off I better get to making some hippo banks!

Good Things are a'Comin'

I just wanted to share a quick post to show you the latest bisque firing....

Birdhouses, bowls, leaf dishes, banks and mugs

.... and let you know what's coming up this week.

We're giving our very first pottery class tomorrow night (very, very exciting!) and ALL of the in-laws are coming in for the weekend.  You would think "Not so exciting." but actually it is.  There's no room at the "inn" so they're staying at the local B&B so that isn't exciting but it's less stress for me.  It's been many years since we've had the honor of all of them visiting at once.  It's gonna get loud!

The reason for the invasion?  Craig's dad is being honored for being an inspiring coach and roll model in Mount Olive HS football.  Some of the alumni and former football players have organized a weekend of activities and surprises starting at the season's opening game this Friday.  So you can imagine we'll be a little busy.

Hopefully, I'll get some pots glazed but I'm not optimistic.

The sunflowers are fading but the sedum and mums are gorgeous!

Everyone's enjoying the sedum.

Temporarily (I hope) Refocusing

Unfortunately, pottery as taken a back seat recently.  Fortunately, though, it's because Hubby's business is moving again.  That doesn't sound very fortunate since he moved in January but the space he's in now is zoned industrial only so he can't sell cars retail out of that location.  One of his dreams has been to have his own used car lot.  The arrangement he's been working with is a little complicated and I won't bore you with the industry lingo and details that I barely understand.  The new location already had a car lot there so that makes it super easy for him to apply for a dealers license.

I had a craft show this past weekend and usually that's my focus for the week leading up to it.  This time I had more of a "Oh yeah, I have a show Sunday." reaction when looking at my calendar.

Loving my new table covers, btw.

The hippo bank was my first sale of the day!

The show went very well and I really should have more scheduled for the spring but the thought of having to spend hours in the studio under pressure to get my inventory restored (did I mention the show went very well?) in addition to helping Hubby out with getting the new store ready, birthdays, getting pics done for eBay listings, bookkeeping, working on our ASP mission fundraiser (tickets still available!), entertaining In-laws, Easter, taxes, spring cleaning, more birthdays.... (gasping, head spinning, holding wall for support!)  Holy heart failure, Batman!  When did my life get so busy?

So, I'm going to take the spring and summer off from doing shows (though I might do the one in June at the Bethlehem ice rink.) and hopefully, hit the circuit really hard in the fall.  We'll see.

The Lions

After anguishing over getting my lion looking right and getting some great feedback from everyone, here's the final results.

Big Guy

Little Guy

Not quite Mufasa and Simba...

But they're sooo CUTE!

Meandering Through the Mire

So, again, I got stopped in my tracks when I let the dogs out this morning!  God's color pallet never ceases to amaze me.  Not to mention it's gotten up to 57 degrees for the past 2 days.  That makes me very happy!



Come on Spring!!!












But I digress.  I really wanted to share my latest "mini-me" banks.  I've been making larger animal banks for a while starting with 3 lbs of clay.  At Christmas I got a custom order for 3 smaller banks and decided to make some for my shop as well.  So, using half the clay of the big ones I made up these babies.
 

Penguin, ladybug, snail, owl & lion.

Unfortunately, I can't charge half the price.  The clay is the least of my expenses.  It takes less time to throw the main forms but the detail work and glazing are just as time consuming.

I struggle with pricing all the time, as I think most artisans do.  Putting a value on material and time is pretty easy.  But putting a value on your creativity and experience is so abstract and subjective.  To clarify my point I did a search on Etsy for handmade mugs and found prices ranging from $2 to $12,000 (yes, I double checked the number of zeros).  I'm pretty sure self-confidence is the driving factor here in both cases.  One undervalued and the other just a wee bit inflated.  I'm sure you can figure out which one had 200+ sales and which one had none.  =/

How do you evaluate your competition?  If someone is selling something comparable to what you sell and they're charging much less or way more than you, do you adjust your prices?  Up or down?  Or can you justify them and be confident enough to keep them where they are?  Just curious to see just how conservative I am.

It's a challenge finding that happy medium.  I know I can't make a mug for $2 and I'm pretty sure no one would spend an excessive amount (I can't even bring myself to type that number again!) on anything I've made.  When I priced my first birdhouse for a studio show I was embarrassed to charge anything!  Even at the prices I'm asking now some people balk.  I've gotten past the phase of second guessing my prices.  Enough people can see the time and creativity that goes into a piece to keep me in business.  It's not quantity (though that would be awesome!) but quality craftsmanship that's taking me to my target audience.  So I'll bypass the "price it to sell" marketing strategy and plug away where I am.  I'm comfortable somewhere between having low self esteem and being an ego maniac.

Well, this post went in a completely different direction than I intended but, like I said, pricing is something I struggle with.  I guess what it boils down to is realizing and defining your own worth without getting arrogant about it.

Lion - Take Three

I ended up scrapping the last lion I made.  He just wasn't talking to me.  I was talking to him, as I do all of my critters, but he didn't have much to say. So I started again from scratch.  I had pictures of various lions, real and not so real, to inspire me.

This, of course, is my favorite:

 

I didn't go for the red bow but I like the ringlet curls.  So this is what I came up with.  What do you think?

These are his buddies...

On a completely unrelated note, this is what I woke up to yesterday morning...

 

 

 

Oooooo pretty!

However, as the saying goes:  "Red in the morning shepherds' warning..." and it snowed and rained the rest of the day.  =(

Lion - Take Two

I really appreciate everyones feedback so....

Here's take two on the lion....

Is he a keeper? Or should I scrap him and start over?

Lion and Owl

I didn't have to ask the boys on these.  I love the owl but I'm on the fence about the lion.  I like his face but I'm not happy with the mane.

What do you think?

Three Out of Four Isn't Bad

I question myself.  Who doesn't?  Sometimes, when I'm working on a new design, I'll know immediately that I've hit the mark.  Mission accomplished.  Next.  However, there are those times when I'm too close to my work and lose my objectivity.  Then I question.

I spent the afternoon in the studio while hubby took our boys and nephew to pick up a fridge for his shop.  I had a second go at creating a hippo bank and thought I'd gotten it better than the last attempt but there was that question. I've kinda gotten into the habit of presenting a new animal bank or birdhouse design to my boys and asking them to identify it.  So when they got home I unveiled him and just asked "What is it?".  To my delight 3 out of the 4 said "It's a hippo!".  My middle son, (Mr. Contradictory) said "It's a pig!".  I've come to expect this from him.  He says everything I make looks like a pig.  So I don't count his vote.  But it still nags at me if he really thinks it looks like a pig or is he teasing me again.

What do you think?