Made in China

On my way home from work I decided to stop by the pottery supply store to pick up a bag of clay
and a couple of jars of glaze to play with. While waiting for someone to ring me up I noticed a new display of glazed beads. Oh wow BEADS my heart fluttered! (I have discussed my addiction to beads in previous posts :P) I was distracted by the pretty glazes and it took me awhile to figure out that they were selling bags of already bisque fired beads in various sizes and shapes. Interesting I thought picking up a bag, As I turned the bag over there it was the "Made in China" sticker! Oh boy for some reason this pissed me off! While I know these places sell tons of bisque fired ready to glaze goods like mugs, plates and tiles, this disturbed me. I love the process of making my own beads from the beginning of digging my hands into the wet clay to the excitement of opening up the kiln to see the results after the final firing, knowing that wow I did that! So no made in china short cuts for me thank-you!

In Search for the Perfect Round Bead

The best thing about playing with clay is the ability to make your own beads and design them anyway you want! I have been a bead- alholic since the late 80's when my best friend at the time had taken up jewelry making it was the beginning of a life long career for her she does beautiful and unique work take a look at her website .
For me it was the beads, I fiddled around with making my own jewelry but I think it was just an excuse to acquire more Beads!! So coming full circle in this tale, I get to make all the beads my heart desires. The downside is I sort of thought it would be easier. I am starting to think that I have some sort of affliction that prevents me from being able to make round beads. I am having a great time learning and playing and trying to reach the Zen of the perfect round bead, and I am getting pretty good at making ovals and tubes.

Minimalist Earrings

Here are some samples of the earrings I have been cooking up with my ceramic charms. I have to say I am very pleased with the out come. I love simple clean looking jewelry so these are perfect to me. I made the earwires out of sterling silver and smacked them around a bit on my wee little anvil, a quite enjoyable experience hammering on the anvil btw :P

Autumn Craft Sale!!

This is where I will be tomorrow with plenty of skulls and other goodies. If you live nearby come on down there will be lots of arts and crafts vendors for your perusal. It should be a lot of fun! Buy Handmade :)

More Double-sided Pendants!

More fun from the kiln! I am really enjoying making this babies. They take a very long time to glaze but the it is a lot more fun too! I feel like I can get more creative with these, especially with layering the different glazes. I can't wait to make more. I will be putting them in my Etsy shop after work today.

Double Sided Skulls and Hearts

Two sides of the same pendant, twice the fun!

Tiny Hearts

Here are some tiny tiny hearts I made. Totally fun to make and totally cute to wear. I have more hearts that I used a fatter heart shape cutter that are just waiting to be bisqued and glazed. I will post them when they are ready for their close up :P

Oh I see a rogue oval charm snuck its way into the picture lol!

My Spore Creature, Hippiliation

Here is my Spore creature from the beginning to its current state. I can't find the picture of it as a wee amoeba
but here she is after she crawled out of the primordial soup. She looks fierce in her final state but looks are deceiving she is a vegetarian and charm, dances and sings her way into the hearts of other creatures that inhabit her world. I am having way too much fun with this game! My first creature was a carnivore and I winced and was heartbroken over every creature she had to kill, yes I know it's only a game but I just didn't like slaughtering those cute critters to feed my creature. So I started over and created my veggie dragon, she's cute huh?

Made my first Etsy Sale!

Yes, my first sale! How exciting! This is the baby that sold, Hurrah!
I am really enjoying this moment, because I had been terribly afraid of the whole online selling thing and put off listing anything for literally 2 years!!! I had made my shop in July of 2006, while I had not started up my ceramics as of that time, I had plenty of hand made items to sell. I have been a seed bead artist for over 20 years amongst many other trades I have dabbled in so I have quite a bit of handcrafted items tucked about my home, but I kept putting off listing anything and let myself become intimidated by it, I just put it in the back of mind of things I should get to. That empty shop haunted me so finally I just decided to do it. Now I am excited and want to learn more on how to make your shop better and how to take pictures that are flattering to your wares. Woo hoo go me!

Spore, oh why do you tempt me so!

Ahh... The long wait is over, and Spore is finally in the stores. Now the big question for me is do I go buy this game now and get it over with? Because I know that if and when I get this game and install it, my life will be on hold for awhile.... Not that I am the compulsive gamer that I used to be, I do in my wise age have some restraint. At least now when the house is falling down around me, with my sink full of dishes and laundry needing to be done I can blame it on compulsive ceramic bead making and although you can barely wade through the toys in my living room I do have the satisfaction of knowing that my kiln is quietly working its magic filled to the brim waiting to be opened the next day like a present on Christmas morning. It seems like when life gets stressful for me I do spend a bit more time than I should gaming. Well maybe after work today I will drive by Best buy just to look mind you!
Update! I was wrong release date isn't til' the 7th... which is Sunday. Then it will be mine!

Fun Stuff!

Something New, Fresh out of the Kiln!

Here is a picture of this morning's gift from the kiln gods. These spikes are about 2 inches long and were very fun to make. I love trying out new things in search of my niche in the ceramic bead world. It seems that everything has been done, so I am just going to go with whatever pops into my head.

Playful

I have not been posting lately, I feel like a slacker but the truth is I have been so very busy!
First was our two week vacation in Colorado, then the mountain of work I had when I got back to my job, then a visit from my husbands Mother.
Here is a picture of our trip to the aquarium this last weekend. This seal was so playful and fun my three year Bridgette was delighted with him. He would blow bubble at your hand with his nose when you placed on the glass. They had great fun upside down and all.

Colorado

We just got back from our trip to Colorado and boy was it beautiful! My Mother lives in a small mountain town called Woodland park, which is about 8500 feet and the sky looks so close to the the earth giving it a fish bowl effect. And yes that is snow in August on those Mountains!

Plankton

I am intrigued with the many shapes of plankton and am going to start working on some pieces based on these awesome creatures.
I just have not decided how I will approach this. I guess I will do some thumbnail sketches and go from there. I was in the children's
section of Barnes and Nobles yesterday with my daughter and found some great Ocean pictures books there. Children's encyclopedias are a great resource for large vibrant pictures and my daughter loves them so it is a win win situation!

Indiepublic

I always read my favorite blogs in the morning before getting ready for work and usually this gets me in trouble because it never fails I get all wrapped up in the online universe and loose track of time. So already way behind schedule I stumbled upon Indiepublic I made a quicky profile and then raced to take my shower and flew out the door to work. When I got home from work I checked my email and to my surprise I had "hello's " and friend requests from several of the indie artists there.
What a great site and the people are so warm and friendly. Today I went a bit nuts and joined a bunch of groups and I know I will probably join some more! So check it out its awesome.

Hearts!

More Pictures

Lower Fire Clay

I bought a block of low fire clay to see if I could get some better color effects to my pieces. I am very pleased with what happened! I have more pictures too! I also have more pieces to glaze today and fire tonight. I am so excited to see what happens next!

Buy Handmade Damn it!

What a great day yesterday was. My debut at the Handmade Brigade was a moderate success. I met lots of nice people and sold many of my pendants. It is trippy to think people will be walking around wearing something I made!
One of the best things about the Handmade Brigade craft show was being surrounded by so many talented Indie Crafters. I bought a cute little wallet from Mandalanda made from the inside pages of vintage books, what they do with the covers is they make the these awesome book cover purses very well made and cute as hell. I bought some nerd, geek, dork button pins from the ladies at Tired Girl Collective, I put my dork button on right away for the world to see and even wore out to dinner after the show. Nina from Taco's and Eggrolls was the coordinator of the show, who not only managed the show and the crafters but ran her own successful booth too, she was great and her jewelry funky and original. I chatted it up with the very creative Miriam Dema who makes beautiful screen prints and some funky button pins too, which darn it I didn't get a chance to buy any! I guess I am gonna have buy some from her etsy store :)
The Porterness booth went around handing out BUY HANDMADE DAMN IT! stickers which will go right on my car. All and all a very good day.

Fresh out of the Kiln

Ahh, the smell of fresh baked porcelain in the morning. I get so giddy with anticipation of seeing my pieces in their final stage that my child in me wakes me up extra early so I can open up my kiln. It's like Christmas, because you basically have no idea what your going to get. The glazes have a mind of their own, sometimes there are color combos that you didn't even use or the colors you thought you put don't show up. I know I put lots of purple, where did it go? But mostly I am always delighted with what the kiln gods bless me with. So here are some more beads and baubles that I will have at the Handmade Brigade this Saturday in Cerritos CA, at the Tall Mouse store from 11am to 5pm. There are lots of talented indie crafters showing their wares and it sure is to be a lot of fun! The Tall Mouse store is a family owned craft store, hurrah for family own independent stores just as they are supporting us indie crafters these businesses need our support too! So come on down this Saturday and have some fun, you can bring the kiddies :)

Etsy, My first Craft Faire and my MESSY HOUSE!

I am trying to figure out the whole Etsy thing. I have managed to put up two items and my shop looks so empty but I hear your supposed to post only one item a day. I may be making it harder than it really is, I tend to over think things but from some reason I feel like I am doing it wrong!
I also have my first craft faire this weekend and my display is killing me, it is not my forte'. I want to keep it simple and uncluttered and I can not find anything to hang my pendants on. Sigh I just need to keep positive and forge ahead, maybe doing the laundry , the dishes and a bit of Vacuuming would help clear my mind, ugh.

Wuthering Heights

I first read Wuthering Heights in my late teens. In my youthful almost adulthood I wallowed in the misery that book yielded. How romantic I thought Heathcliff was, wrecking his revenge on all for his love of Cathy. Now that I am rereading in my ripe old age of 41, I am seeing Heathcliff as the monster that he is, how could I have thought the traps , webs of deceit and revenge he wielded were romantic? It is the ultimate cycle of abuse story, that shows how families create their own chaos, and how the abused become the abusers. Makes me want to go back in time a slap myself and hand me a book about co-dependants save myself from some future misery, but I digress. Poor Emily Bronte this was her only novel and soon died after it was published, what state of mind was she in when she wrote this book ?
In my late teens it was then also that I discovered my love for Kate Bush, her song Wuthering Heights coupled with my Bronte book made a great catalyst for the self inflicted sorrow of my young mind. Kate Bush was only 15 or 16 when she wrote that great album The Kick Inside, which I still listen to, although not wallowing in misery I might add, now I just wonder about what a genius Kate Bush was at such a young age and if when she read Wuthering Heights in her youth did she wallow in delectable anguish too? And now if she reread it what would she think of it now?

Slow like Molasses

Everything is on hold ceramic wise until I buy a kiln. I have decided on Aim Kilns they have a few small test kilns that plug into a regular socket! They start out at 160$ on up up up but really they are the most affordable kilns I have found. Which I should mention I would not have found them if not for this wonderful forum Wet Canvas. I am thinking of the one that is 8" x 8" by 9" it's small, but for a beginner I am sure that it will suit me just fine. If I find that I need a bigger kiln I have this one that I bought off Craigs List for 100$. Boy this baby is an ancient 1975 Duncan Kiln, its pretty big for what I need and overwhelms me when I think of trying to work it. I bought it on a whim and maybe it will come into use later down the road. Lucky me I have two brother in-laws that are electricians that can help me install a new outlet for it because this one runs off of 220. I am going to continue to create more goodies with the clay and just store the green-ware until my kiln comes which can take Gulp, 2 to 6 weeks! But life is good and I am thankful for everything even the little bumps which cause us to slow down when we don't want to.

Little Skulls all in a row

I spent the afternoon making these babies and it was lots of fun! I plan on making more this afternoon maybe twink them out a bit. Here is a picture I know it is not great but I am working on setting up a space for pictures. These skulls are still green or bone dry Ha ha! When my army of skulls is complete I shall fire them and glaze em and post the results. Wish me luck!

Worker Bee

I bought some Nara 5 clay, which is delightful to work with. The clay has a nice creamy texture which at bone dry it doesn't seem to crack as much as the porcelain I was working with before. I am creating some new carving to make molds of, so far I have another bird and a sugar skull with flowers around it. They are both in different stages not worthy of a picture yet but I will post some when I am done. The sugar skull one is causing me problems though but at this stage it is difficult to tell if it will work. I have carved many sugar skull molds but have yet made one that I am happy with. Hopefully if I can produce enough pieces I can test out my ancient kiln everyone cross their fingers I have a lot riding on this beast working!

Basket of Rings

I had several small pieces left over from my ceramics class so yesterday I spent the afternoon gluing the backs to these awesome adjustable rings that I found at Rings and Things. It was a lot of fun and my son and daughter had a great time putting the rings on all their fingers modeling them for me. I am pleased with the results and am brimming with new ideas for future rings. The best part is that I only glued my fingers together once! I have a final this coming Tuesday for my ceramics class and I am trying different ways of showing off my pieces. My teacher and fellow students have watched me the whole semester make literally hundreds of these small ceramic pieces. I know some of them are curious to what I am doing and what I am going to do with them. I am going to string up some of my pendants and bring these rings to the class. I would also like to show my progress from the beginning of the class to the finish. In the beginning my pieces were crude and clumsy and slowly the became more of what I had in envisioned when I took this class. I am so very happy that I have found this medium to create things with it feels right and the possibilities are endless.

More Treasure to Hoard!!

Here is more stuff to add to my pile of treasure. I think most people get into beading so they have an excuse to buy more beads, there is something about them that is almost magical. I sometimes in the pretense of organizing take out my many boxes and containers of beads and just sit there looking at them daydreaming of the things I will do with them, it can be very relaxing. Several years ago when I lived in Santa Rosa, I used to frequent this lovely little bead shop where the owner once confided in me that one night after a busy night of buying beads and baubles at a trade show, her husband looked around at all the new piles of sparklies and asked her "what are you going to do with all of this?" She thought for a moment then answered " I am going to open a bead shop" and then her store was born. So I guess I have to start figuring out what to do with my hoard!

Dragons Hoard!

The fruit of my labor. I am wondering what the heck am I gonna do with all this stuff? I could just keep it in a pile like a dragon hoarding its treasure! I admit I am distracted by shiny objects and I don't blame my three year old for sneaking in and grabbing a couple because I know how fun they are to touch and look at and what a great sound porcelain make clinking together!

To Kill a mocking bird.

I am rereading To kill a mocking bird by Harper Lee. I found it last summer at a truck-stop that sold used books. Believe me this was a gem amongst some of the other books they had to offer so I snatched it up. I have not read it in years and oh boy I am enjoying it like I have never read it before. Maybe it is because I am older and more mature I can appreciate the story and writing than when I was 18. It is interesting to note that this is the authors only major work she ever published and that she won the Pulitzer prize for it. I just can't seem to put it down, but I am going to force myself to take it slow and really immerse myself in the writing rather than devour it like it's the last piece of chocolate on the planet.

Busy

It has been a busy week. My ceramic class ends soon and I am trying to squeeze in as much as I can before the last firing. I am just now getting the results that I want with my ceramics and don't want to stop! I have found a couple of local places I may be able to go to to fire my work until I can get my own kiln so that is nice. I am excited about getting my own kiln and having been surfing the net for ideas and prices so far I am leaning towards aim kilns as they are the most affordable I have found. We shall see!

Messy house!

Well we have visitors coming this weekend and the house is tore up! I have to go to work come home and clean so probably no playing in the mud for me today,bah! Going to try and stay in the now and not get overwhelmed but I didn't get enough sleep and my mind keeps wandering... I am taking the the New Earth web classes and it is helping immensely. Where are the little elves that are supposed to come and do your chores while you sleep when you need them? I was pondering posting a picture of my poor neglected house but decided against it. But I did get some new pieces fired in the raku kiln last night, I am really happy with the results so maybe I will squeeze that in later. Well gotta shower and get the little one ready for the day!

Quicky Little Bird Mold

Here is the quicky mold I made of the Little Bird Carving last night. I tested it this morning, and it works great, however I need to start looking into making my mold out of rubber or something that would last longer and maybe show more detail.

Little Bird Carving

Spent last night carving a little bird that I started last week only to realize that I had made the other side into a starfish Doh!
Oh well I am happy with the bird. I made a quick mold out of porcelain clay and tested it this morning it looks pretty good!
I am going to have to look into making rubber mold soon as I heard the texture is better.

Gratitude

Things I am grateful for today

1. My husbands morning kiss.
2. My son's smile.
3. My daughters singing.
4. The beautiful day it was.
5. The wild mustard growing on the hills, it is breath taking.
6. My friends
7. My daughters sleeping face.