I am honored to be blogged about by handmadenews.org

It's such a great feeling when someone else appreciates my work enough to feature me in their blog. Be sure to check it out here.... http://www.handmadenews.org/article/index.php?id=1748 Cheri just posted this, and I truly appreciate it!

How to spend a boring day at the office

At one of my jobs today, the boss was super sick and all appointments were cancelled, yet I still had to be there sitting at the front desk, waiting, waiting, waiting for the hours to pass until it was time to go home. I offhandedly mentioned how I wish I had a glob of clay to play with to keep me busy. A co-worker said, "well why don't you just run next door to your studio and grab some". So I did. I returned armed with a blob of clay, a small dish of water, a towel and a needle tool and proceeded to handform this "Pottery Making Dust Bunny", who is busy coning her clay......another day, another dust bunny is born.

(now just hoping I don't catch that nasty bug the boss had)

One good piece out of a whole firing

Here is one of the pieces I pulled from the kiln this morning. Most of the pieces I had in the firing were 'refires" a/k/a attempts to make better what didn't come out the way I wanted the first time. This one worked perfectly. The others were, well, shall we say less than stellar. Wish I was good at photographing glossy glaze finishes, this bowl turned out with really beautiful colors, the camera just doesn't do it justice.

Perusing Etsy can be so fun!

So I am spending a quiet Sunday afternoon putzing around in the studio, made a driftwood and earth pod set, a toothpick holder and a miniature, and I mean little, birdhouse. Ramble on downstairs to listen to the Nascar race (dang, Matt Kenseths car blew up and he is out of the race already......) not much point in watching the race anymore so I sit at the computer to search for other miniature birdhouses on etsy. Helps me to establish pricing to a certain extent. While looking I stumble upon this listing http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21704574 hilarious, I am laughing my butt off. Be sure to check out other dolls in that shop too. Love the humor!

My new arrival! I feel like a proud parent showing off....

Okay, I finally did it the other day. Right now I can ill afford this, but I couldn't help myself, I broke down and purchased one of clayflora's ( http://www.clayflora.etsy.com/ ) lovely handmade flowers. She custom made it smaller than her regular flowers so it would fit with my little ground orb like "earth sprout" vases. It arrived today, and I could not be more thrilled! I worried so that this fragile delicate piece would not arrive intact. Quite the contrary, it arrived perfectly safely in the safest and most professional of packaging methods including a styrofoam container wrapped in a special tubular bubble package all neatly tucked inside a box of peanuts. And just look......is it not just "to die for" gorgeous! HGTV, where are you. You don't know what you're missing.
Simply Stunning and such attention to detail! Can you believe it is made from clay. Although a much different kind of clay than I work with, it is an air dry clay - which she artistically paints to realism. The leaves, buds, flower petals, right down to the stamens are perfection.

I have temporarily placed it in one of my earth sprouts that I had at home, which is what you are seeing now as the pot I had intended this piece to rest in, is currently on display at my store. So I will be bringing it home tomorrow for my flower to rest in more permanently.
I wish her so much success in her craft, although with talent like this, who needs my wishes of success!
Thank you Tracy!

How much can a person do in one day

My first blog entry, so I will introduce myself.
I am a "lunch lady", a seasonal receptionist, a potter and a brick and mortar store owner (where I sell my pottery in addition to doing shows and selling online). Some days it all seems a little overwhelming. Hence, I am a part time person, but a fulltime workerbee.
I have a goal for 2009....well, actually I have many. One was to set up a blog to network with all my muddy, pottery making friends, especially the online etsy mud team friends, who have been nothing short of fabulous. I am going to feature one of those members here as often as I can.....they all deserve their 15 seconds of fame!
Then, I am going to get my paperwork together and start inputting all of my tax information for my preparer. Believe me this will be the most stressful of tasks I plan on doing in January. Last year it took me 3 solid days to get everything organized and completed. I will do better for the next tax year, and not let everything pile up for 365 days.
Can I get all this done in one day?