Fresh out of the kiln

I opened the kiln this morning.

I made a lot of Dot Cabochons.

And these larger Cabochons with the painted rim.

I really like that yummy bleed of color along the edge.  :-)

And check these out!   They are a collaboration between myself and Marla James.....  They are made from the bisque from her Bisque bead supply website.  You have seen her bisque work used by quite a few ceramic artists, but maybe you didn't know it.  :-)

I really like these bright clean colors.  I do love making this style of bead.

And I made some pottery!  I should have spread them out to take photos.  There are tumblers, and serving bowls and one "perfect" soup bowl.  I am going to be taking these pieces to the Accessories Boutique in Bethlehem (next to the Hotel Bethlehem-Moravian Book Store area )  But I felt bad sending them off so soon, so I decided to have a sidewalk sale and let my Facebook friends know about it.  :-)

Sidewalk sales are my kids' FAVORITE thing to do!  As soon as I said it, the kids grabbed their handy work and set up shop with me.  I sat on the porch and the kids sat out by the sidewalk.  Lydia sold 2 butterfly necklaces and Sonya sold 2 of her beads.  :-) 
Then they spent it all at the grocery store.... Belgian Waffles and ice cream for dessert tonight! 

I filled the kiln up again as soon as I emptied it.  I am kicking myself for it.  It's 8pm and I am going to be awake tending it for a while....... But tomorrow morning, when I get to see all my new pottery..... It will be great!

Sisterhood of the Traveling Beads Giveaway!

This is the post folks! This is the place where you can leave a comment and be entered for a chance to be the next person to win a turn with the "Sisterhood of the Traveling Beads"==== FYI~~~We're equal opportunity around here and brotherhood is ALWAYS welcome!

Here's the nitty gritty!
I'm going to be following Heather's lead and use the same rules.....So one international winner will be chosen from the entries placed from outside of the United States to win an Artisan Clay Grab Bag.... and sharing this blog post will get you an extra chance to win.

So here's the text from Heather's original blog post laying down the rules---

This is a box full of goodies from my studio purge.



One woman's tossed out beads is another woman's treasures!


The giveaway: The entire box of goodies, over $200 worth of beads.

 The stipulations: You'll pay for shipping: $15 for flat rate priority mail.

The rules: You'll take what you want from the box, add in items from your own bead stash to replace the items you took and do the same giveaway on your blog. We'll keep the beads traveling for as long as we can.

To enter: Leave a comment, include your email.


Bonus: Blog, facebook or twitter about it to enter twice. Leave another comment letting me know you helped spread the word.

Deadline: March 26 at 12pm (Central time) 
I WILL CHOOSE A WINNER ON FRIDAY THE 22ND----That way the box is leaving my studio in time for the two week deadline

International bloggers: I'm sorry, but due to shipping only those in the U.S. can play along. But I'm suddenly feeling really bad for my non-U.S. blog readers. If you are outside the states leave a comment and I'll also draw one international winner for a bead grab bag from my Etsy shop.
So for my portion of the Bead Box, one Grab bag of Artisan Clay Beads will be awarded to an international entry (please let me know you are outside of the US in your comments)

I will be blogging more about the contents and the items I am adding to the box soon, but this is the only blog post where the winners will be chosen.

Busy Busy Busy

Look at this mess! 
Can you feel it in the air?  The make is on!  The holidays are just around the corner for those of us who make handmade gifts.....  Are you feeling it too? 
I am happy to be swimming in ideas and struggling to get them made.  I set up a display at a new shop this week.  When I arrived the owner loved my work immediately and swooshed it right out front.  She wants a lot more and I couldn't be happier!  I am much better at making jewelry than selling it and I love when people are excited and want to do that for me.  

Right now I am firing the kiln with a pile of earring/charm sets so that I can add more to that store and possibly another one.....  and as long as I don't get greedy about it-- I think I will add more sets to my etsy shop.  The last sets went really fast.

This week I even went out to a handmade tile store and inquired about showing my work there....  It is possible to make things other than jewelry right???    I have a few really great tile designs that are doing nothing in my attic and I figure they might be happier in a tile showroom.  And I think I need to put my work out for the public more.  It find I make more time for dreaming up new ideas than for doing things with them once they have materialized.

I added this new cabochon to my store this week.  I REALLY love the color on this one!  It's my match for the Lagoon color that is "the season's hot color"   So I love it....  Would love to see it made into something really spectacular.....   Something I can't quite imagine myself :-)

I added this pendant too. 

I am really in love with this black center -bright outer thing.  I started going it for the fall/Halloween season and I think I will need to keep it up.  Sometimes I feel like I need to take photos of favorites and plaster the studio walls with them... It is a good idea.  I may have to do that now that I am in love with the picassa picture program.  There is something to be said about always making new ideas, but there is also something to be said for finding what works and not forgetting it. 

As long as I can make time for it today, I will be listing this donut in my etsy shop a little bit later.

And this one too--- First I need to clean house and studio because the pace of life has left a build up and it is keeping me from functioning efficiently--- (see messy desk above)-- and I even left out the messiest parts :-)