Would I Trade My Finn For a Thousand Etsy Sales?

Not even a million!
With my production schedule going at a steady crawl, I can't help but wish I had more time for clay. Especially for the busy holiday season. However, when I look over at the little person playing in his playpen as I write this post, sales don't seem important. With another kiln load cooling off in the garage, I wonder if I should rename this blog " Finding Finn". We've sure been having fun these last few months and can't wait for Christmas!
Thanks to all of you who's patiently waiting for new work to hit the shelves. I appreciate you sticking with me! I am excited to take a peek inside the kiln today and take some photos of all the fun pottery.
I've been perfecting a new pink glaze... let's hope it looks fab!

Getting Back To Work

For the last few weeks, I have been carving out more and more time to spend in the studio. With Finn having more of a routine, it's becoming easier to plan around his schedule. Creating hand built work allows me stay in the house and work at the same time. While this places "limits" on the type of work I make, it actually helped me think outside the box and come up with new ideas. Speaking of carving,the Etsy Mud Team is having a Tile Challenge. Stop by and vote for your favorite, and receive discounts offered by our team members. I entered my Abstract Pears Tile, which I carved from high fire white stoneware clay. I really love the glazes on this tile. They are muted and neutral, yet still create depth.

Father's Day Taste Test.

When I can't mix glazes and work with clay, I bake. Baking and mixing glazes is pretty close to the same thing (in my mind anyway). Both require concentration, love and precise measurements. This Father's day, being my husband's first, gave me the perfect excuse. My husband is a huge chocoholic, and swears by Betty Crocker's Milk Chocolate Cake Mix, and Betty Crocker's Milk Chocolate Frosting. I on the other hand is a "from scratch" kinda gal. So I gave him a blind taste test. The cake on the left (Cake A.) is made completely from scratch using Beatty's Cake Recipe from the Food Network. The cake on the right (Cake B) is made from store bought Betty Crocker Milk chocolate Mix and frosting.

I first fed him a piece of Cake A, followed by Cake B. Upon tasting both, my husband stated that they were both great, but he preferred Cake B. A little disappointed (I preferred cake A of course) I pushed over the plate with Cake B, and said "here's your cake." He tasted it and said "wait a minute, very funny, now give me my cake!" HA! I win! I win!

Don't get me wrong, there is a time and a place for store bought cake mixes, and I have to say, Betty Crocker's cake was not half bad, and took no more than 20 minutes of prep. time. But I loved the richness of Beatty's Chocolate cake. It had a much firmer texture without being dry and the chocolate butter cream frosting was truly amazing. Makes me want to have a slice just thinking about it!

So the test revealed, from scratch is always better! Much like it is with glazes isn't it?

Future Potters of America

I would like to Introduce...

Finnian Patrick Hayes

Born on April 28th, 2010, Weighing 6 pounds, 12 ounces

Measuring 20 inches

It looks like he might be a leftie like his mama.

And Oh Boy has he been keeping me busy!

Move over Clay...

Here comes baby.

For the last nine months I have been working on a new exciting endeavor. Having a baby growing inside you really takes over your world and your life. Before you know it, it consumes you whole and it's hard to think or do anything else. After months of planning and purchasing every baby gadget made by man, I am at the end of the road. With my due date just a few days away, I am ready for this new and exciting stage in my life...(and I am really tired of being pregnant.)

The smartest thing I've done for me, and would recommend to all future moms, is to start and finish your nursery as early as possible. There are so many things to worry about towards the end, that having the nursery complete really helped me feel at ease. With so many unknown aspects, I found that pouring some of my creative juices on something I can control was a very comforting experience. I painted the room using pastel blue, green and cream. Variations of those neutral colors were placed throughout the room that tied everything together. I personalized the space by painting three jungle animal illustrations that fit in with the the bedding.

With the last month coming to a close, what I've heard from every mom is all too true. The last month is the absolute worst. The baby is getting heavy, your belly is stretched to about as far as it can go, all the while being punched and kicked from the inside at every angle imaginable. It's during these moments that my mind drifts back to pottery.

I haven't set foot in my studio for the last 2 months, and it's really beginning to eat away at me. I am over the being constantly tired and exhausted. I am fired up and ready to come back!!! We'll see what the baby has to say about that. Being a first time mom I have no clue what to expect. I have read what seems like every pregnancy book, including the bible "what to expect when you're expecting" followed by "what to expect: the first year". I have also armed myself with the latest and "hottest" mimijumi baby bottles to minimize "nipple confusion". Yup there's nipple confusion apparently and I am ready for it!

From Ladybugs to Bunnies

About a month ago, a customer who purchased a Ladybug in my Mug - Mug asked me if I would place any other animals or wild things inside my cups. I thought about it from a practical stand point and tried to come up with a shape that can be simplified to sit flush against the bottom without creating too much of a headache when washing the cup... and so came the bunnies. They were so darn cute I couldn't help myself and I placed them on all sorts of things!

TRAPPED

It maybe hard to believe, (with such fast turnover in electronics) but I've had the same Dell Inspiron Laptop for almost 8 years. This sweet little dinosaur has served me so well and gave minimal problems. Over the last year however, with my excessive pottery photo, and i-tunes downloads, it became really slow and started to overheat. To combat the problem, I've positioned it in such a way, that the fan portion of the bottom would hang off the desk slightly to create a bit more ventilation. (Can you tell I have a problem with change?)

However, it's time had come and it just had to go. So for my birthday, my dear, sweet, husband bought me a new HP Entertainment notebook. I thought this thing was great!!! It was practically weightless, and are computers really this fast now a days?

A big surprise came when I needed to install some of the basic programs, you know, the anti-virus and the printer. The damn thing was a complete lemon. It would not install anything, and when I attempted to restart, never turned on again.

Luckily, Best Buy's return policy is wonderful, and they took the awful thing back without a question.

Frustrated, I decided to stick with what I know best, and buy a new Dell. I ordered a new Dell Inspiron that weighs all of 5 pounds :) and so far (knock on wood) works splendidly. The new Windows 7 came automatically installed and is very similar to the type of function and look of the Mac Safari. (I suppose a way for PCs to compete)...

Oh but this story does not have a happy ending. Much like my ancient Dell, I also have an ancient (by graphic software standards) version of Adobe Photoshop 7.0. That version is no longer compatible with Windows 7, and has not been compatible with any Windows since Windows XP. After numerous calls to Adobe Tech support in India, I discovered that Adobe will not upgrade me to the New CS4 photoshop unless my version was Adobe Photoshop 8.0 or greater. So until I cough up around $700, I have no photoshop.

So while I type this blog post on my fast and efficient new Dell, I will have to edit and list all new pottery photos on my dinosaur. God give me strength.