• willow avenue pottery •

Pinterest.

2012-01-22T11:28:00.000-06:00

Pinterest is taking over my 'internet time'. You know, that time you allow yourself to be completely sucked in by the internet, no matter if it's productive or not. This time used to be for Facebook, but now that there's Pinterest, Facebook is not nearly as exciting. I can look at photos of pottery and food and home decorating ideas and and and... and never get bored. On one hand, that's a huge time suck. On the other hand, there is some seriously inspirational stuff on there.

Take the slab flower pot (vessel?) pictured below. I *love* this flower pot.... Not only for the texture or the partial glazing or the beautiful little succulents reaching for the sun, but for how soft and fabric-y it looks.

It speaks to me every time I see it.

I can't find the artist.. not really. I found a blog that is related to the photo, but there is no contact information, no online shop. So all I have is a photo of a piece of pottery that I love and the ability and tools to try to make a version of my own.

Source: imrevolting.net via Rebecca on Pinterest

Lettuce At One Degree.

2012-01-19T10:35:00.000-06:00

Good morning! It's cold here. Very cold. It's up to three degrees now, but it was one degree earlier when I went out to free the birds from the coop and feed the quadrupeds. Now they're all back inside, but they came out temporarily for lettuce. :)

Today is a full day. Pie plates and pottery students. Happy Thursday!

Carlos.

2012-01-16T11:02:00.000-06:00

Carlos is the big manly llama. Usually he won't let you anywhere near him. Giving him a wormer this month took three grown adults.. two to hold him, one to pry his mouth open and give the wormer. It was not fun. What is fun is animal crackers. Carlos will come running for animal crackers... but he'll only get so close. ;)

Road trip to Ely and Iowa City!

2012-01-11T13:35:00.000-06:00

Hey all! As promised, a blog post about my road trip yesterday. :)

Bright and early I got in the car and headed for Ely, Iowa to meet up with my friend Emily and visit Clary Illian. A friend of mine asked how I managed to swing it to visit Clary at her home and it was simple. I called and asked if I could visit. :) She was very friendly and said that it would be fine to come for a visit. Emily and I were there for two hours, talking about pots and all sorts of things. She showed me her studio and let me sit at her Leach treadle wheel (which, btw, will be my next wheel. I'm smitten). It took me *forever* to decide what pots to buy. Here's what I decided on.

Clary has completely switched over to earthenware. She decorates her pots with white slips and colors them with transparent glazes. The square mug on the left was the first thing that jumped out at me. The yunomi on the right was one that Clary said she was fond of. It feels pretty good to be adding Clary's pots to my collection. :)

I *love* the blue bowl on the left. The little cup on the right was actually two glazes mixed together (unintentionally!) and it was the only one of its kind, so of course it had to come home with me.

That's the extent of our time at Clary's. Emily and I also went to the AKAR in Iowa City, where I got to talk with one of the employees about their Yunomi Invitational. I've always been a little hesitant about applying to that show because it seems like 'the big time' and I'm never really sure if I'm 'big time' yet, so I've put it on the back burner. I think I'll apply for the 2013 show (it's too late to apply for this year). I feel like I might actually have a shot... and well, I guess won't know if I don't try, right? ;)

After the AKAR, we stopped at the Iowa Artisan Gallery, upon Clary's suggestion. Just like at the AKAR, it's an overwhelming amount of pots and artwork to look at (although the AKAR was pretty intense, I could have stayed there all day). I saw pottery from several artists whose names I recognize, including Allamakee Wood-Fired Pottery. I've talked via email with Hallie about helping/attending one of their wood firings this winter, so it only felt right to get my hands on a piece of their pottery. I went back and forth over a few things, and finally decided on this ice cream bowl. I think it's absolutely beautiful. I love wood fire.

(Ice-cream bowl, Allamakee Wood-Fired Pottery)

Other than the AKAR and the Iowa Artisan Gallery, Emily and I visited two pretty awesome thrift shops, ate at the Pita Pit, had ice cream at Coldstone, and drinks at a bar that Emily says is famous but right this second I can't remember the name of the place (and no, it's not because I had too many drinks). ;)

So, there you have it! It was a great road trip. I got to hang out with my friend all day, meet a famous artist, see a load of awesome pottery, eat some good food, and enjoy the 55+ degree day. Now that I'm all inspired, I think I'll go make some pots. :)

Yunomis, and getting back into the groove.

2012-01-08T16:56:00.001-06:00

Well, I guess vacation is over. That's ok. I'm all rested up and ready to make some pots. I took the week between Christmas and New Year's off not only to clean the house, but to work on much overdue house projects.

Last year (back in August! See the HH post HERE) we ripped out all our living room carpet. It was old, shredded, and ready to go. Since then, we were just walking around on the plywood floor. In hindsight, it was awful. At the time, it was better than the dusty, pet fuzz riddled stinky carpet we tore out. The project I spent that vacation week working on was the floor. Our living room is pretty big, and it was going to be a *major* expense to either A: put down carpet again (I was very much against this, it will just get trashed again) or B: put down some other type of flooring (omg.. so expensive). So I resorted to my original flooring plan. I painted the floor. I know, I know, it's not fancy. It's very trendy-loft-painted-sub floor with all the imperfections that go along with plywood, and I love it! It's easy to clean, it's a nice neutral color, I hope it looks great with rugs (so far, no rugs, but we're on the lookout). It took three full days of prep work, priming, painting, and sealing, but it is industrial which is great for a country farm house with cats and dogs. I won't make this the longest post ever with all the photos, so click HERE to see the Hippie Homesteader post for all the pics from start to finish.... and if you have the urge to do a floor in your home like this, feel free to ask me any questions, I'm almost an expert (almost!). ;)

Yunomis!
At the very last minute, I made a bunch of little yunomis for Christmas gifts this year. I think I mentioned in my newsletter that I pretty much sold out my entire inventory. All that is left is pottery that is going to get the hammer. So the little yunomis came out better than expected (well, what I expected for last minute items, that is). They're a great size, they have the dents which seem to be very popular with customers and friends alike.... and of all the pots I've made in the last few years, these little yunomis just 'feel' right. I actually hoarded a few of them for myself because I enjoy drinking tea out of them every day. Not only the yunomis, but the new version of the eggshell glaze is really getting me excited about making some pots. It came out different than I thought it would. The eggshell glaze has a chemical that skyrocketed in price, so I went on the hunt for alternatives and what I came up with made a beautiful (imo) semi-matte glaze that fits the clay well and has a subtle color and texture.

Little yunomis, trimmed and drying.

Some with one dent, some with two... tall, short, fat, skinny. I'm vowing to spend more time this year on individual design of each pot, and not as much time on cranking out pots that look the same. People aren't all the same, and our pottery shouldn't be either. :)

The dainty foot rings.

This is one that I swiped from the Christmas yunomi group. It has the bone glaze on the inside, and the new Eggshell on the exterior. It has a foot ring and a single thumb dent on two sides. I'm working more with texturing with the rib. It took me a long time to realize the interesting pottery is not so much 'perfect' pottery, or what we think of as perfect pottery (perfectly centered, perfectly smooth, perfectly even in every way). If it's made by hand, it's going to have marks of the maker that might seem imperfect... but after living with a piece and using it every day, you'll learn to love those marks. They signify that a human made this pot with their hands, not a machine in a factory. Look for the finished little yunomis in a few weeks. :)

Down To The Wire and Sheep Drama.

2011-12-18T09:30:00.000-06:00

So Christmas is just a week away. I remember writing something in my last newsletter about not being a procrastinator, and here I am guilty of procrastination. It's crazy how one second it's Thanksgiving, and two seconds later it's.. well.. today (December 18th!). In past years, I would have the whole dining room table covered with gifts in progress by the first of December. Usually I give some sort of pottery, maybe something that goes along with that pottery, and a little something extra to each person. Kids normally get some kind of artsy/crafty materials to get their creative little minds running. This year I am *so* behind. I sold pretty much all of the pottery. There is nothing ready on the dining room table. What's left is pieces that are destined for the hammer. So, two days ago, I started cranking out some new pots as gifts. They're firing today, glazing tomorrow, and firing again tomorrow night. That's what I call 'down to the wire'... the only way it could be more last minute is if I were firing the kiln next Saturday (eek!).

BUT, in my defense, I've been pretty much working non-stop since after harvest. We got done early and that's when I realized I didn't have enough pots for Art on the Prairie (well, what I thought wasn't enough pots, anyway). I marathoned-pottered for two weeks to get a full kiln load. Then I sold more than 50% of it at Art on the Prairie, which means I didn't have enough pots for Market Day, my home shows, or the Sample Sundays... which resulted in more marathon pottering. Between all those shows and my online sale, it's pretty much gone. Please don't think I'm complaining... I wanted to sell it all! I like the idea of selling all the inventory to make room for all the pots of the upcoming year. I might do it every year, which means an online sale before Christmas every year. I think customers can agree that the sale is a good thing, and I like selling pots in my jammies with an eggnog chai from my computer. :)

SO, I have a week to get ready for Christmas... and thrown into that week is possibly a day of helping Maggie skirt fleeces (more on that later!), trading in Clyde, and a shopping trip to Des Moines to deliver pots and get some gifty items that I can't get out here in the country.

*sigh* Trading in Clyde. I know you read it and said 'What?!'. Clyde is the little wether sheepie with the horns. He was banded (fixed) when he was two days old. He was born last spring so he's not even a year old yet, but he's lived his entire life in a pasture with other sheep.. with almost no human interaction. No one has ever seen him try to ram anything with his horns, until he came here. He became the only boy sheep in the herd, and he started to get ornery. I think it's probably because of a few things. He's getting more human interaction (chin scratching, grain treats), he's the only boy sheep, and he's getting older. Between all those things, and possibly the stress of a new home, he's started using his thick noggin and horns. He's rammed my leg, the wheel barrow, the water bucket, the fence gates, Brian's leg, and the worst thing yet - the llamas faces. He got Starr pretty good when they were eating one day.. that's the first ramming I've noticed, and that scares me. If he rams one of the llamas hard enough in the face/head, he could seriously injure them. So, I talked with Jean and told her about what was going on, and she's very surprised that he would know how to use his horns at all, but she also understands why I can't have him here. So Thursday, we're going to load him up and take him back for a more feminine model. Clyde will get a coat and be turned out into the big pasture with all the other boys and live his days as a fiber sheep with minimal human interaction. I'm pretty sad about him going, as I really think he's a wonderful little critter, but the threat of someone getting hurt freaks me out. Yesterday, two groups of people with children came to visit the llamas, and I had to fence off the sheep just to make sure he didn't hurt anyone. I don't want to have to do that, or watch my back when I'm around him, or carry a baseball bat to defend myself. That's not the kind of fiber herd I'd imagined when I started picking animals. So *sigh* he's going back.... :( On the flip side, I'm getting another little girl sheep. Jean just recently sold all but two of the yearlings, and she's going to trade me one of those for Clyde. Hopefully the new little girl and Bonnie will get along fabulously. We'll have to come up with a new name for her. Any suggestions? Bonnie and ______? :)

Well... off the load the kiln. Have a great Sunday! For all of you in Iowa, 51 degrees today! Woohoo!

The sale is over!

2011-12-15T18:22:00.000-06:00

Well.... the sale is over! I really don't have that many pots left, which is wonderful. I ended the sale a couple days early because I don't have much left (like, 4 listings!). Now my slate is pretty much clean so I can get to work filling it up for a spring show (which I'm super excited about.. so many ideas!).

Thank you to everyone that visited the sale and bought pots! Everything that needed to be shipped is out in the world on the way to their new homes. My pots are pretty much all over the nation at this point.. New York, Florida, California, Tennessee, Nevada, and of course Iowa. :)

Next up: I'll be writing and sending out the newsletter (probably just after Christmas) with all the information about the wheel throwing lessons. Classes will start right after the first of the year and I've had quite a few people interested, so make sure you keep an eye out for that newsletter. If you're not signed up for it, and you'd like to be, click HERE to sign up on the right hand side of the 'Contact' tab on my website. Don't worry, I won't sell your information or jam your inbox with junk. Just a newsletter about once a month about the pottery and our little farm.

First Ever 'Clear The Showroom' Sale!

2011-12-07T14:07:00.021-06:00

Hey all! I was standing in the showroom at the end of my last Holiday Home Show thinking 'Dang, there are still a lot of nice pots here... it's a shame to see them sit here all winter when they would make great gifts!'... and then the tiny Christmas tree light bulb went off over my head. ;)

I thought "I should offer up some of these pots online at a good price where the biggest crowd of folks can see them. With a great shipping deal, they could find new homes to make room for new work!" Whaddaya think? Yes? OK!

So here's how it works. Below are photos of pots or a group of pots with a number to identify them. Below them is the normal retail price and the sale price. The shipping is a flat rate of $10 in the United States (you can upgrade the shipping for a fee if you need it sooner). If you're local and would like to pick up your purchase, just ignore the cost of shipping. If you want to buy more than one thing, I can pack them together and save you some $. If you'd like to buy something as a gift, I can gift wrap it, add a note from the sender, and ship it to the recipient for you.

For payment, I can take credit cards by phone, check by mail, cash in person, or I can send you a Paypal invoice for the amount. I decided to do this on my blog instead of my Etsy Shop mainly because I enjoy conversing with my customers and I figure if you read my blog, you might already be a customer and you deserve a sale... or you're on the very edge of being a customer and a sale might all you need to become a customer. :)

The sale will go from today (December 7th) until December 17th at 5pm.

If a piece strikes your fancy and you can't live without it, all you need to do is email me at RebeccaJDBrandow@yahoo.com. Tell me the identification number of the pots you'd like, how you'd like to pay for it, the address you'd like me to ship it to, and if you'd like gift wrapping. I'll get back to you asap. You can also call me at 515-778-9442 if you'd like to talk to a person. :)

#28 Small Dent Bowl, Eggshell

Retail $16 ~ Sale $11

(4" wide on top)

#29 Small Green Bud Flower Vase

Retail $22 ~ Sale $15 (SOLD)

(5" tall)

#30 Mismatch Blue Bottles

Retail $44 ~ Sale $30 (SOLD)

(4" & 5" tall, come with corks)

#31 Matching Powder Blue Mugs

Retail $56 ~ Sale $40 (SOLD)

(4" tall, microwave and dishwasher safe)

#32 Sage Flower Bloom Ring

Retail $16 ~ Sale $11

(5 1/2 inches wide)

#33 Powder Blue Bud Flower Vase

Retail $22 ~ Sale $15

(4 1/2 inches tall)

#34 Sage & Bone Flower Bloom Ring

Retail $16 ~ Sale $11

(5 inches wide)

#35 Rootbeer & Powder Blue Flower Bloom Ring

Retail $16 ~ Sale $11 (SOLD)

(5 inches wide)

Also, I have a *ton* of buttons that need homes. I usually sell them for $6 each or 2/$10. For this online sale, they'll be $4 each... a steal! I have them in most of my glaze colors and textures, and because they're small compared to pots, the shipping will be a flat fee of $5, no matter how many you buy. They work great on scarves, bags, pillows, cowls, or pretty much anything you can use a button on... a great stocking stuffer for the knitter on your list. :)

So... there you have it! Again, you can reach me at RebeccaJDBrandow@yahoo.com or 515-778-9442 to snap up some of my pottery at 25-30% off the normal price. Remember, the sale ends on December 17th. :) If the crowds go wild and all the pots fly off the virtual shelf, I might be persuaded to add some more items. Also, while most of my items are one of a kind, if something you wanted is tagged as 'sold', I do have some similar items in the showroom. It doesn't hurt to ask, and I'll honor the sale prices. :)

P.S. To everyone that reads my blog, buys my pots, and supports my business... I sincerely appreciate it..... but I have one more tiny request: Please share this sale with your friends! Facebook, Twitter, email, paper airplanes in the office... however you can (without getting in trouble with your boss). I really want to find new homes for these pots to clear the showroom for all the new ideas that are ponging around in my head. Thanks!

The llamas and sheep have arrived!

2011-12-06T17:59:00.000-06:00

Good afternoon!

I just wanted to give you a photo update of the sheepies and llamas. Maggie and I drove to the llama farm yesterday. We helped give shots, wormer, watched them clip toenails, and I picked out my two Shetland sheep. Then we loaded the whole party up in the trailer and headed back to the farm. Everyone seemed to settle in just fine. It was a little windy, and pretty cold last night so today Brian is putting a wind blocker up on part of the shed.

Here are some photos from yesterday.

And some from today...

They all appear to be doing well. We got four big bales of corn stalks for bedding put in the shed behind the new wall. It's supposed to be really cold until the weekend... but then sunny and in the low 40's!
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On another note... if you've been wanting to buy some pottery, or on the fence about buying pottery, check back tomorrow afternoon for a special sale I'm running for the holidays. :)

Holiday Home Show this weekend!

2011-12-01T15:47:00.000-06:00

Hey all! I just wanted to remind you that Willow Avenue Pottery will be open for business both Saturday and Sunday from 10-5pm. I still have lots of great pots that would make awesome gifts for this holiday season (I'd for sure be ecstatic to get pottery as a gift). ;) There are plenty of mugs, tea light lanterns, knot pendants, bottles, bowls, and only 4 of the oval bakers left! Also, I have photo greeting cards and small photo prints by my friend Jill Brown and holiday silk floral arrangements and corsages by my Mom, Judie. This weekend is my last official open hours of the year, so please stop by! :)

Oh, and I had my fingers crossing that my llama/sheep herd would be here today to welcome you to the farm and studio, but sadly, they won't. A broken down pickup is to blame, but as soon as it's fixed, we'll reschedule their delivery date. Stay tuned for photos and video as soon as they arrive... until then, take a look at these funny llamas trying to maul me (not really, but it looks that way). :)

A good holiday weekend...

2011-11-27T21:45:00.000-06:00

It was. I won't lie to you. :)

This long weekend started off with a great Thanksgiving dinner. Then the Black Friday Market Day on Friday. Then a two day Holiday Home Show. Overall, crazy busy... but I'm pretty happy with the results of all the hard work. I still have a lot of great pots for sale in the showroom. I went into overdrive after Art on the Prairie.. I managed to throw, dry, fire, glaze, and fire again an entire big kiln load of pots. There were some long nights, but I got some really great pots out of this firing, which was a relief after I was half-way sleepily glazed over when I was glazing mugs. ;)

So... on to the next event. Well, the next event isn't pottery related, but still fun. *Hopefully* the llamas will come to their new home on Thursday. That's the plan, assuming the weather cooperates. If it's blizzarding (oh no!) then we'll wait to move the 'herd'. I think I can officially call three llamas and two sheepies a 'herd' now. We've almost got their new home all set up and ready to go, and we'll finish that up on Tuesday. I'm so excited! I know, I'm acting like a little kid... but I've always loved animals and I'm just silly excited and I can't help it.

So I probably won't sleep much this week, which I assumed would happen... That means if you swing by the studio for the second Holiday Home Sale next weekend and I look a little sleepy, it's because I was excited about my livestock. I'll be open for business both Saturday and Sunday from 10-5, so stop by... pick up some nice pottery for gifts and say hello to Starr, Foo, Carlos, Thelma and Louise. :)

Have a great night. I'm going to *try* to get some sleep.

Giving Thanks.

2011-11-24T07:10:00.000-06:00

Good morning, everyone. It's about 6:45 here in central Iowa. I just finished my homemade chai tea latte with my cat, Asti, purring like a chainsaw next to me at the computer desk. I'm still in my pajamas, but I was up early to unload the kiln that I fired Tuesday night. Brian and the puppies are still asleep and the sky is just starting to brighten up to the east.

It's on nice mornings like this that I am grateful for many things. I am happy that I married Brian as I can't imagine any other man that not only loves me but allows me to do the crazy things I want to do without asking too many questions (uhm.. llamas! one week!). I am happy to have the pets that I do. My kitties have been with me since I was 15. Magpie has been with us for 9 years and Shelby Lou nearly 6 years. Our chickens and ducks, although new this year, seem to be pleased with their home as they've been laying eggs for over a month now and don't appear to be slowing down. Soon we'll have llamas and two little sheepies and I'm sure I'll love them just as much as I do the others.

I am thankful for my friends.... my extended family.. my 'tribe'. It's not a huge group of people, and some of them I don't see as often as I'd like, but they are there. If I needed something, I'm confident that they would be there for me as I would be for them.

I am thankful for my family. I'm lucky that most of my family lives within an hour or so drive. It doesn't feel like I've been able to see them much recently, but now that harvest is over and the holiday season is upon us, we'll hang out more... and even more so after the holidays when I don't have shows to prepare for. :)

Every day I get up, make my tea and come to the computer. I'm so happy I live in a country where I can do this. Not only because it's physically possible (hello, high speed internet!) but that I can make some sort of a living doing what I do. Granted, it's not always easy (omg.. glazing pots for 10 hours on Tuesday!), and sometimes I get discouraged, but the awesome thing is that if I keep trying and keep coming up with new ideas, it will hopefully work out for the best. With that, I ever-so grateful for my customers. When someone decides to trade me their hard-earned cash for a piece of my pottery, they're supporting this crazy life that Brian and I have put together. They're supporting me, the critters, and the farm. They're supporting creativity and my dream. They're supporting someone they know instead of complete strangers on the other side of the world, even if it might be a little more expensive. We appreciate this more than you know. Without customers, I would have to do something else... and if you're a long time reader of my blog, you know that the only other thing I'm really qualified for is truck driving and lemme tell ya, that isn't a fun life. So thank you, dear customers. I hope the pottery you get from me makes your day a little brighter every time you use it. :)

So.. with that, I should probably get going. I'm hosting Thanksgiving this year and there is bread to bake and potatoes to peel. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and again... thank you! :)

Construction Progress

2011-11-16T08:26:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I took a little break from the studio because A: It was nice outside (not snowing, raining, or -15 degrees), B: Brian had the day off work. C. Maggie was available.... all that together spells 'Fence Building'! We started around noon and got all of the main area around the shed put up. Maggie took a few pics with her iPhone... all that is left is the sheet metal on the shed, the two gates, and to string up the electric wire and hook up the energizer. THEN the llamas! :)

'Creative' fence building right here...

Getting closer! This was the last long stretch, then two little pieces and.....

Done!

For the record... we're not professional fence builders, BUT we are fearless do-it-yourselfers. This was done with the fencing that Maggie and I got for free back in August, a rented post hole digger, 100 foot measuring tape, and a vintage metal post hole driver. They're not perfectly straight, but I think it looks really nice. I hope the llamas like it. :)

Art on the Prairie, 2011

2011-11-14T12:00:00.000-06:00

Art on the Prairie was last weekend and it's pretty much the best show I've done. Not only did I sell a bunch of pottery, but it's so well organized! They advertise like crazy for it, plus it's the same weekend that local businesses have open houses. Saturday was so busy, I'm glad I brought in extra pots after the set up on Friday. ;)

Anyway, here are some photos of my space plus the other artists on the top floor of the Carnegie Museum Library in Perry. The Carnegie Museum Library is just one of five buildings that make up Art on the Prairie. All the buildings are within walking distance of each other in downtown Perry.

So, now that Art on the Prairie is over.. time to get ready for the next show. Sample Sunday at Prairieland Herbs next Sunday from noon to 5pm! I just got everything unpacked from the weekend... so time to get back to work! :)

Art on the Prairie Preview

2011-11-11T07:00:00.000-06:00

In case you were on the fence about coming out to Art on the Prairie, let me show you some of the pots that the kiln gods gave me yesterday... not that my pots should be the deciding factor, but they might be! Either way, you should come to Art on the Prairie. Art. Music. Poetry. Fun stuff for kids. The works. ;)

Oval Baker

Pie Plate

Pie Plate, Detail

Pitcher

Serving Plate

Mug

Another Mug

Just one more MUG. ;)

....annnnd the spoon/necklace tree. :)

Is that enough to get you to drive to Perry this weekend? I hope so.

I'll be in the Carnegie Library Museum, right east of the new library, across the road from the Hotel Pattee. 10-5 on Saturday, 10-4 on Sunday. See you there!

How will I pay my quarterly sales taxes?......

2011-10-31T12:45:00.000-05:00

With a cat on my arm? Darn.. I guess they'll just have to wait until later. :)

Mmm... custard!

2011-10-30T17:50:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post here... my friend and partner in crime, Maggie Howe, got chickens at the same time I did. She got 12, two have moved on to 'better places' and so now she has TEN hens laying eggs. TEN. Maggie has an overwhelming quantity of eggs so she's getting creative in what she makes with all those eggs. The latest thing is custard. Maggie texts me the other day and says 'Hey, can I bake in your pots?' to which I say 'Sure!... but they don't like thermal shock so heat them up with the stove' which I guess works perfect for custard because you're supposed to heat them up from a cool oven. I wasn't sure what pots she was using, as Maggie has collected many of my pots over the last two years... but I just opened my email to find a photo of little individual custards in my pots.................................

If only she lived closer to me or I lived closer to her, I'd gladly taste test them for her... but alas, we are 25 miles apart.... hopefully not forever. ;)

The Oafing Shed is going up!

2011-10-30T09:19:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure if I told you yet why it's called an oafing shed, but I will now. When I first decided to buy the oafing shed, I texted my friend Maggie and told her I was buying an oafing shed for the llamas/sheep/cow. It was supposed to be Loafing shed, not Oafing shed... but my big fingers and tiny cell phone buttons sometimes don't get along, so it's an Oafing Shed (which we thought was hysterical, btw). ;)

So Roger finally got his hands on a post hole digger (that works) and he came over with his wife, Brandi, yesterday afternoon and dug holes for the Oafing Shed.

So now we have post holes, and if the quikcrete in the bottom is set up, hopefully by the end of today there will be framing done! :)

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I love this huge pretty yellow tree. :)

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Brian finally got all the pieces to finish his shop woodstove. He bought one of those two barrel stoves already put together from his friend Joe but it needed a few pipe pieces to finish it up. He was so excited to take this last piece up on top of the shop to finish putting it together.

Brian. On a ladder. Eek!

The woodstove. It actually heats up our 30x50 shop pretty well. That'll be good for working on cars that break down in the winter, which is when cars usually like to break down. ;)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the pottery front, I'm crankin' out pots as fast as I can for the upcoming Art on the Prairie. Today is Plate Day. I've got a few ideas for new decorations that I'm going to try out. It's cold and windy today... a perfect day to stay inside and make pots. :)

Harvest 2011!

2011-10-25T19:26:00.001-05:00

Well, harvest is over. It didn't last nearly as long as it had in the past, but we also had very few (I think zero) rain days. My time book shows we started on September 28th and yesterday was our last day. 22 days of trucking, and I'll tell ya.. I loved every minute of it, but I am TIRED and ready to get back in the studio. The holiday show season is coming up and there are pots to be made!... but more on that later. Here are a few photos I took of the truck at the elevator. I couldn't tell you why I don't have photos of everyone else and the big machinery, but Laura (sister of my cousin's wife) came out and took some super awesome photos of us and if I heard it on the radio correctly, one of them is going to be in a John Deere publication. :)

These first four are mine, taken at the Heartland Co-op in Avon, pit #3 at sundown.

These next five photos were taken by Laura Richardson. Awesome, huh? Probably the best photos we have of the equipment and crew. Thanks, Laura! :)

(From left to right: Matt, Calvin, Dale, Me, and Toby the Brown Dog)

Not pictured were the behind-the-scenes people that make the work easier: Mary Beth, Ashley, Abby, Russ, Janet, and everyone else that helped move equipment, give rides, and lended a hand in various important ways. Thank you!!!... and especially a big thanks to Mary Beth who every year invites me to crash at their house instead of driving the extra 45 minutes to my house, which is the best thing ever after 12 hours of work. :) Also, we had no accidents, no injuries, and minimal/minor equipment breakdowns. It was a great harvest!.... and now... on with the pottery!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I took today off, can you blame me? Brian had the day off as well and we went to Des Moines to pick up the remaining materials for my loafing shed. Roger the Mailman/Loafing Shed Builder came out today and we marked off the spot for the shed. He's going to be back to start putting it up on Thursday. :)

One of the nice things about harvest is that it gives me time to think about my pottery. Unless you own a creative business, it's kind of hard to wrap your mind around how it works. I went into this business without a clue as to what I was doing. I thought 'I'll make pots and sell them!'. Seriously, I thought it would be that simple. It's not. Not even a little bit. It's one thing to make them, but then after a while it becomes obvious that certain pots sell, some glazes are more popular than others, and some pots that I thought were so very awesome have been sitting on the shelves for months. Right now, all I have is 'smalls' in the showroom. Little pots that are priced at $25 or under. I was thinking that with the economy and people wanting to save more money, the 'smalls' would go faster and all I would have is big expensive pieces..........

Boy, was I wrong! People might be saving their money on large items (cars, TV's, a timeshare in the Keys), but it appears as though they still want big pots! Of course I won't be making ALL big pots, but I think I'll make a few more for inventory than I usually do for this coming holiday season. Speaking of, it's coming right up! Christmas is a mere 2 months away, and my schedule shows a whoppin' SEVEN events! That's a lot of chances to get your mitts on some locally handmade pottery for gifts this year. Below is the list where you can find me, which can also be seen on my website Here or the Show Schedule tab up above.

November 12th & 13th, Art on the Prairie, Perry Iowa (website)

November 20th, Sample Sunday, Prairieland Herbs, Woodward, Iowa (website)

November 25th, Black Friday Market Day (pending), Des Moines, Iowa (website)

November 26th & 27th Holiday Home Show, Willow Avenue Pottery Studio, Panora, Iowa (directions)

December 3rd & 4th, Holiday Home Show, Willow Avenue Pottery Studio, Panora, Iowa (directions)

December 11th, Sample Sunday, Prairieland Herbs, Woodward, Iowa (website)

December 18th, Sample Sunday, Prairieland Herbs, Woodward, Iowa (website)

That's about all I have for right now... Tomorrow morning I'll be back in the mud! Yay! :)

A tree post.

2011-09-24T16:20:00.000-05:00

I did a little post on the Hippie Homesteader blog about my tree trimming. I'm pretty excited that we were able to save this big maple tree instead of cutting it down. The Tree Guy thinks that it's over 50 years old, so you can imagine how happy I was.

Read all about it and see the photos at the Hippie Homesteader blog. Click HERE. :)

A little bit of waiting...

2011-09-21T14:37:00.001-05:00

This, strangely enough, is a time when I can't really do much of anything. I can't start any new pots right now because harvest could start tomorrow... or the next day. I can't go work at the farm for harvest yet because the beans aren't dry enough. So, I wait. Well, I'm not completely bored. I'm doing laundry, dishes, cleaning the house, paying bills early so I don't forget them later on when I'm tired from trucking, and lots and lots of list making. Lists of things to do, pots I want to make, fiber animals I want to buy next spring (and the baby cow!), things for Brian to do while I'm gone, and any other random thing I don't want to forget. This is also a good time for a blog post! :)

Let's back up a bit...
Last Thursday, I picked up my beekeeper friend Zan from the airport in Des Moines. She was here to teach Beekeeping 101 and Beekeeping 102 at Prairieland Herbs in Woodward. We had lots of fun including, but not limited to: A visit to Orcheln's (Zan had never been to a farm store before), Middle Eastern dinner at Maggie's house, Beekeeping classes, stopping by Picket Fence creamery where I had to be physically removed by Zan so I didn't steal a baby Jersey heifer (her story, not mine), Magical 13th Birthday Sample Sunday at Prairieland Herbs, a visit to Sally Jo's alpaca farm, we checked my bee hive to find that the queen is gone (eep! new queen en route to my house via usps), a long road trip to Donahue Iowa for a Zan-hand-off to Cathy at Miss Effie's, and the icing on the cake.... a visit to Crosswinds Farm and I met Corinne aka Sheepie aka My Sheepie Supplier for next spring.

I don't think I forgot anything. It was a crazy busy weekend and we packed in a bunch of stuff. Here are some photos from the weekend.. my camera was a little wonky, so that's why there are only a few.

Zan and I finally got a chance to check my bees on Monday when the weather cleared up. Unfortunately, I think my swarmy queen is gone. She bailed, and took half the hive with her. On the up side, I have a new queen on the way, my hive has 13 frames of new workers and drones, and the entire top deep super is packed with honey. This photo is of a really nice frame of honey that will hopefully keep 'em going all winter long.

Oh sheepies... I'm goofy smitten with fuzzy animals. These ladies are Shetland Sheep. Their fiber is what my friend Maggie dreams about. These girls will be bred for next spring when I will put lots of mileage on my car visiting Corinne's farm. *sigh*

This is one of Corinne's guard llamas. I believe his name is Andy, and I love his ears. His Mom also lives at Crosswinds Farm, but she's ornery... although Corinne said they are both very good guard llamas. I'll have to find one to protect my sheepies.

(photo credit: Crosswinds Farm)

This is Helios. He's for sale.. and if he's still around next spring, he might come live at our farm. Corinne showed me that it's a good idea to scratch rams under their heads instead of on top so they don't get the urge to.. well... ram you. I was scratching his chin and neck through the fencing and he fell asleep standing up with his head in my hands. *sigh* ;)

On the barn front: My mailman, Roger, is apparently a builder in his spare time. He stopped by on Monday and we talked about the barn. He's supposed to get me bid this week, and if I'm happy with the bid, he'll start building mid-October. I might have a barn up by Thanksgiving! Then we'll just need to get the fencing put up next spring and we'll be able to get some fuzzy fiber animals... and a cow... and maybe some goats.... and.. and.. and.. ;)

Ok.. I'd better get back to... waiting! See ya on the flip-flop! (btw, Maggie, that's more trucker talk). :)

Some plowing farmy stuff.

2011-09-13T20:16:00.000-05:00

My neighbors Dave and Jane came over today to plow up our pasture for the clover/wildflower field next year. I'm putting in the clover/wildflower for my bees so they have more food a little closer to home.

Read all about it at Hippie Homesteaders.

~~~~~

Tomorrow!
I'll be at the Des Moines Wednesday Farmer's Market from 11-2pm. It's on 13th Street between Grand and Locust right in Downtown Des Moines. I'm signed up for next week too, but I might not be able to make it due to harvest potentially starting up... so if you want/need some pottery, it would be a good idea to buzz down to the farmer's market tomorrow. Otherwise, I'll be at Sample Sunday this weekend from 12-5pm and then that's my last scheduled show until November and the holiday season!

OH, and Sample Sunday this weekend is the 13th Birthday of Prairieland Herbs... watch out, we're dressing up. I'll hopefully be doing demonstrations. If you bring a donation for Panora P.E.T.S., you'll get a free bottle of Faerie Dust... you can read all about it here at Praireland Herbs.

Well... I'd better get packed up for tomorrow.. have a great week! :)

I didn't even know.

2011-09-11T09:51:00.000-05:00

Not until much later. I didn't even know the planes had been hijacked and hit the twin towers until long after the buildings had collapsed.

On 9/11/01, I was in California, a far cry from where I am now. I was in school at Brooks Institute of Photography. I rented a room in a condo owned by a man that believed television was a waste of time and so I didn't have access to the news coverage until much later that day. I don't even remember hearing anything about it on the radio.

That morning, a beautiful California morning, I drove to campus to work on an assignment in the darkroom. I don't remember the assignment. I don't remember the class. I remember my friend Robyn coming to the darkroom and telling me that someone flew two planes into the World Trade Center and they collapsed. I remember feeling kind of blank. Later that day, we watched the news at Robyn's apartment and I very clearly remember thinking

'Who would do such a thing?'

~~~~~

I've been thinking about it all day today. I've been awake since 6am. I've gone for a run, washed the dishes, taken care of the pets, and written this blog post. I know that my thinking about it is small compared to the memorials that are being held around the country.... but I think at least thinking about it and remembering is better than ignoring the day altogether.

If you'd like to share where you were that day, please do so in the comments. I don't think anyone can forget where they were, who they were with, and what they were doing when they first got the news.

New camera!

2011-09-06T17:33:00.000-05:00

So Saturday was my birthday, and normally my husband and I don't give each other gifts for birthdays. I think it's carried over from when we first got together and we were both really broke so we just decided that instead of giving gifts, we would be able to pull rank as 'Birthday Girl' or 'Birthday Boy'.. meaning, if the dogs needed to go outside at any time on Saturday, I'd be able to say 'Birthday Girl!' and Brian would have to let them out.. this goes the same for doing dishes, making dinner, or any other chore that the birthday individual didn't want to do. I'm completely OK with this arrangement, but this birthday, for some reason, Brian decided to give me a gift.

Brian has been with FedEx for over 10 years, and of those 10 years, he hasn't had one accident. Not one! So when you drive every day for a living, and you have a record of not hitting things with your work truck, they give you an award plus a snazzy gift of your choice. Brian could have picked lots of things... a tent, a watch, a stereo, but no... he picked a new digital camera because he knows my little point-n-shoot camera was on its' last leg. Isn't that nice of him? It's a nice one, a Pentax OptioS1.. 14 megapixels and it came with a 4gb card. It even does video. :)

So here are some booth photos from Saturday at the fair. For some crazy reason, I didn't go out and take photos of the fair.. that would have made too much sense. ;)

My little garage space at the Guthrie County Fair.

Pots for sale!

Dad even came for by a visit and brought Minnow with him. She was very popular with the kids. :)

Nice pictures, eh? Now I'll just have to try it out in my super fancy homemade light box with some pottery and see how it does with the daylight balanced bulbs. :)

~~~~~

In other news, I'm quickly getting addicted to the idea of little fiber animals. I've gotten my name on the sheepie list at Crosswinds Farm (Shetland Sheepies!) and I'm keeping an eye out for all kinds of fiber animals. Also, I visited the sheep/goat barn at the fair and now I think I need some Nubian Goats too. Fortunately, Brian is now getting on board with the farm critters. We have a contractor coming out on Friday to give us a bid on a 20x30 pole shed for our critters to sleep in. Next the big (FREE) fence goes up and I can start getting some fuzzy four-leggeds next spring.. so watch for photos of progress here and on the Hippie Homesteaders blog that I co-write with Maggie and Zan. :)

That's all for now! Oh wait! I have an Open House this Saturday from 10-6. If you're out and about, stop by and check out all the pots that I made at the Iowa State Fair.. they're all fired and ready for new homes! :)

Guthrie County Fair!

2011-09-01T16:39:00.000-05:00

Hey all!
I just got my booth setup for the county fair today. I still have some more pots to pack up (a LOT more pots to pack up) and get moved over there tomorrow morning. If you're sitting around, wondering what fun there is to be had this weekend, take a gander at some of the highlights of the county fair. BTW, this is NOT like the state fair... it's only $3 for adults to get in, kids 10-14 are $1, and under 10 is free! The food is similarly inexpensive and a lot of the events are free with admission. Here are a few:

Friday

5-10pm Thomas & Thomas Carnival Rides ($1 per ride, or wristband for $20)
6:30pm Mutton Busting (I don't know what this is, but it sounds fun)
7:30pm Grand River Rodeo

Saturday

10am Parade in Guthrie Center (get to this early, it's crazy busy!)
Noon Mud Volleyball signup, competition starts at 1pm.
Noon Horse shoe pits open
Noon-10pm Thomas & Thomas Carnival Rides
1pm Grandstand: Nuts on Wheels Motor Cross
2pm Swine Jackpot Show (what?! but still... fun!)
7-11pm Grandstand: 'SPAM' singers <~~free show!

Sunday

Noon - 10pm Thomas & Thomas Carnival Rides
1pm Grandstand: Demolition Derby (super fun!)
2pm Garden Tractor Pull and Tractor Pull
4-5pm Arm Wrestling at Sheep Show Ring... seriously, how much fun. :)
8pm Grandstand: John Conlee followed by fireworks (yay!)
9pm to midnight: Teen dance! :)

Monday

11am Mud Bogs! Mud Bogs! (I saw them hauling dirt for this today during setup)
Noon - 6pm Thomas & Thomas Carnival Rides

This is just a few of the events listed in the schedule brochure. If you go to the Guthrie County Fair Website, there's an entire list of everything that's going on and when. Parking is very close to the gate and there is a shuttle to take you around the fairgrounds. :)

(I won't be here this year... I'll be outside instead!)

OH, one last thing! If you visited me last year in the Community Building, you won't find me there this year. I'll be in one of the outside vendor stalls, on the east side of the driveway... stall #17. Bonus: If you come up to me on September 3rd and say "Happy Birthday!", I'll give you a 10% discount on any piece of pottery. :)

Iowa State Fair, 2011!

2011-08-22T18:06:00.000-05:00

Hey all! I'm back from the land of fried food on a stick. This is the second year I've done the Iowa State Fair with fellow potter, Sheri Heiland. Sheri has had the same booth space for about 15 years, and she asked me to come back for a second year. It's nice to have two people in a booth so one person can demo, the other can sell pots, or take a nap, or go get something to eat or just go wander around the fair. Here are a few photos from this year. For some reason, I didn't take a ton of photos.. probably because I was too busy having fun. :)

Here's our display setup on the side of the booth. I started the fair with 9 large boxes of pots and went home with 4 1/2 boxes of pots. :)

Here's the whole booth setup. The wheel throwing demonstrations were a big hit. :)

The sand butter sculpture by my friends Brandi and Greg from SandScapes. They were here last year and did the Star Boars sculpture. We're hoping they come back again next year!

Brandi and Greg, working in the sand.

People watching Brandi and Greg, working in the sand.

Like I said, I didn't get many photos taken. The Sunday before the fair I participated in a little (three person) triathlon, then Maggie and I pulled fencing on the Monday before the fair.... I guess what I'm getting at is that I was tired before the fair even started! I'm glad I could be there again this year though. It's a lot of fun. A big thanks to everyone that came out to the fair to see me! It's always nice to see a familiar face walk into the booth. :)

~~~~

Now it's time to get ready for the next round of events. I have an open house this weekend here at the studio, the Des Moines Wednesday Farmer's Market next Wednesday, the Guthrie County Fair over Labor Day weekend, a few other smaller shows.... and then harvest starts! I took today off from any pottery work to clean up the house after having been gone for 11 days, but tomorrow I'll be back at it. I'll start bisque firing work from the fair tomorrow, I hope.

Happy pottering! :)

A new blog!

2011-07-31T08:20:00.000-05:00

Hello faithful blog readers!
Don't worry, I'm not ditching this blog. I've had it for so long, and spent so much time gazing at my computer screen while I try to get my blog just right that I don't think I can ever give it up. I am, however, starting a new little blogging adventure with my friend Maggie Howe. Maggie and her mom, Donna, own Prairieland Herbs in Woodward and Maggie also dyes and spins her own yarns. We're both beginning newbie homesteaders (well, I am anyway.. Maggie's been doing it for a while) and so we thought we'd start a blog about it... not only to share our experiences with others, but to record all the craziness that comes with homesteading. The nice thing, for me, is that now I have a place to put all my bee/chicken/gardening stuff and keep my pottery related posts right here for the people that might only be interested in pottery. I'll have a link on this blog to the Hippie Homesteader blog in case you'd like to read both, or feel free to buzz over there and 'follow' us. Keep in mind, it's a new new new blog right now, so there's only a few posts, but don't worry... we'll have all kinds of good stuff on there in the future. Also, please feel free to leave us comments. We ♥ comments. :)

Click HERE to go to the Hippie Homesteaders blog.

I just posted a little snippet about gardening. :)

Little Salt Domes.

2011-07-20T15:26:00.003-05:00

Well, they sorta look like little domes anyway. A while back I watched this video by John Britt and thought "Dang, those little guys look like my house, and what a fun idea!".. so I made up a bunch of these to sell at the Iowa State Fair this year (August 11-21).

Here are my little salt domes. John makes it look easy, but these can be a little tricky.. he says he uses 1/2 to a pound of clay and I ended up using about a half pound. About the 10th one in, I really started to figure it out and I think I cranked out about 20 of them (minus a few that went right in the reclaim bucket). :)

Back to work! I have the rest of this week, and part of next week for production, then it's glaze-a-thon time! :)

It's really, really hot.

2011-07-18T17:46:00.003-05:00

Not the kiln, which is usually what is really, really hot.

It's hot outside.

Iowa, and many other states, are experiencing a lovely summer heat wave. Right now, my little weather.com desktop temp box is saying it's 95 degrees outside, and that's just the temp.. the heat index pushes it up into the 110-115 range. Seriously, Mother Nature? I'm not going to ask what we did to you, because years of pollution would make me a little unstable too, but 110-115 is cooking the tomatoes on the vine. I'll have baked potatoes before I even dig them up. :/

I had the ducks in the pool for most of the day, but they haven't learned how to get out on their own yet, so I went out at about 4:30 and let them out. Omg. It's oppressive. It's hard to breathe. I wonder what the humidity is... oh, I just checked. 83% here, compared to a nice dry 26% in Tuscarora, Nevada today.

Now, don't get me wrong. I don't want you to think I'm complaining, although it might seem that way. I will always, ALWAYS, take sunshine over snow. It's just so darn hot, I can't do anything except stay inside. A friend of mine who lives a few miles away doesn't have air conditioning. I don't know how she does it (believe me, I tried to get her to come over to the a/c). ;) I would be knocking down the door at the library or some other public building with a/c, at least for an hour or two so I could think straight. Heat like this can make you think goofy.

Anyway, since I'm lucky enough to have a/c, I've been inside... finishing reading books that I borrowed, making some pie plates, and now I'm moving onto salt and pepper shakers. The fair is 24 days away and I still have a lot of pots to make, bisque, glaze, and fire!

Stay cool, everyone... and remember to water your outside critters extra this week! My six chickens and two ducks can go through 3 gallons of water in one day when its this hot!

:)

A Chicken Post.

2011-07-11T10:19:00.004-05:00

It wasn't that long ago... my chickens were little. They were cute. The peeped instead of clucked. They all fit into a 2x2 foot box. They looked like this:

Now they're huge.

... as are the ducks.

The chickens are a roaming flock of vicious carnivorous bug eaters. They roost in the strangest places.. under the tractor, in Brian's shop, on the highest branches of a downed tree, on the edge of the deck when they think no one is looking. ;) They visit me while I'm weeding the garden. They look at me with questioning faces from outside the fence that say "Hey, tall lady. What are you doing in there? Can we come eat the tomatoes?" I love them. I don't know why we waited so long to get chickens again. We had broilers when we first moved here, 6+ years ago, but broilers are different. They're bred to eat, get fat, and be eaten. My little birdies are layers and they are totally different. I'm so glad we got them... and even though he might say different, Brian really likes them too. Word is that he's referred to them as 'his' chickens. ;)

Anyway, that's my little chicken post for today. I realize I'm behind on blog posts, and that there is so much going on here that I've not spent as much time taking photos, blogging, and generally keeping up an online presence. I'm blaming it on nice weather and SUMMER. :)

I am, however, going to add some more non-pottery stuff to my blog. Brian and I are really getting into more homesteading/self-sufficient type activities. If you haven't read my blog before, I'll tell you a little of what's happened just this year. First of, the chickens and ducks joined us. I set up my first (of hopefully 8 total) beehives. We joined a local CSA (Small Potatoes). We have a garden now, which never really happened before. We've planted strawberries before, but never any quantity of things that could actually be canned/frozen and stored for future use. I'm going to can food this year. I'm so tired of prices at the grocery store, not to mention all the waste in packaging, fuel costs to get it here, fuel to go buy it etc etc. I took a soapmaking class, and made my very own soap! We're toying with the idea of making/selling our own little line of fancy handmade soaps. :) I learned to make butter (Seriously, so easy. Everyone should do it.). I'm on a kick to see how much of our regularly purchased foods I can make from scratch.. next up, peanut butter and vanilla (also easy.. vodka and vanilla beans!). ~~~ If you read my blog for all the pottery stuff, don't worry, I won't let you down. Pottery is by far top on my list because after all, that's how I make most of the cashola. All the other stuff is just means to save that cash... or at least not spend too much of it. :)

So, that's it for today! I have butter bells to finish up from Saturday, regular house-wifey stuff to do (ugh... laundry), and start another round of pots this afternoon. Have a great Monday! :)

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T08:15:00.003-05:00

Hey all... I just wanted to wish you a Happy 4th of July. We already had our big 4th of July bash on Saturday, but today we're going to the zoo with my sister, her family, and some friends, so that should be a good time. Be sure to have fun... eat some good food, maybe light some sparklers, and remember to thank a veteran. :)

Here are a few photos from our shindig on Saturday. Fireworks courtesy of Danny Moss. Photographs courtesy of JAG Photography Services.

:)

... and the winner is....

2011-06-30T09:51:00.002-05:00

Is it you? If you're RebelMama, it's YOU! Congratulations! :D

RebelMama said:
I completed all the steps! Yay! I adore these boxes! I have a large pickle jar that I use to save spare change. My children like to "count" it. Yeah...count, more like pocket it. It's ok but Id love to be able to have my own "secure" bank. We have very little money and it's a huge bummer. Never been on a vacation and my oldest is starting college this fall. I would like to save for a family vacation somewhere close, even. I'd love some time to cuddle my babies somewhere where I don't have anything to clean or fix. Somewhere with no distractions. Anyway, thank you!

RebelMama, now all I need is your shipping address. You can send it to me at: RebeccaJDBrandow[at]yahoo[dot]com and I'll get your Box Bank shipped out right away!

Thanks to everyone that entered, and if you didn't win, stay tuned for another giveaway before the Iowa State Fair in August. I'm going to skip the giveaway for July because of MAJOR production mode for the fair, but August will be a good one.. so be sure to check back! :) Have a great 4th of July weekend!

June Giveaway Update

2011-06-28T08:08:00.003-05:00

Hey there, blog-o-sphere. :) Happy Tuesday.

This is a just a little update to say that tomorrow at High Noon, when I should be randomly drawing a name for the June Giveaway, I might be in Minneapolis loading clay into my pickup. See, living in central Iowa, the options for clay and glaze supplies are very limited. The one place I could just walk in a buy a box of clay closed up about three weeks ago.. and it wasn't even the kind of clay I use. My friend Sheri turned me into a Continental Clay user last year at the Iowa State Fair (thank GOD.. that stuff I was using was a pain the in *bleep*). Sheri usually goes up to Minneapolis once a month to visit her family, but she's not going again until July, and I am completely out of about 10 glaze chemicals, and I'm running on reclaimed clay right now. Eep!

So, I might be gone on Wednesday, so that means that if I am (pending a pickup repair today, fingers crossed!), I'll do the drawing Thursday morning. Check back to see if you're the winner!

Thanks.. and have an awesome Tuesday! :)

Ya know, because I can.... GIVEAWAY! :D

2011-06-20T16:40:00.003-05:00

I was feeling like something on my blog was missing, and sure enough, I missed the May Giveaway! Dang! I was so busy finishing up my special orders and working on inventory that I completely forgot to do a giveaway last month.. well, don't fret, blog readers... I'm not gonna forget the June Giveaway!

So, this month, I decided that I should give away something that everyone can use. I made a 'prototype' for this last month and since it's been in use, I have no idea how much money I've saved, all I know is that I'm throwing every stray dollar, every quarter that I find in my pocket into.... a Box Bank! The sneaky part about these banks is that you either have to A. Be crafty to get the money out the same opening it went into or B. Break it with a hammer (just like the old piggy banks!).

Now, before you think "Dang, that is a lazy potter... she didn't even put a hole in the bottom to get the money out!". Let me tell you how EASY it would have been to put a hole in the bottom.... cut a hole, add a rubber plug after firing. It would have been a piece of cake, and that would have made it super easy to get the money out... but that's the problem! We have a piggy bank in our living room. I've been putting quarters in it for YEARS, and strangely enough, the quarters keep getting pilfered from the piggy bank.

I'm not gonna say who done it. You guess. It's not me. It's not the dogs.. and it's not the cats. ;)

Anyway, so I wanted to make a bank that was really a bank. So I made Box Banks. They're made from slab and I did some black glaze inlay decorations, but otherwise they're the raw clay. They're simple, interesting to look at, and you WILL save money when you use them because you won't want to break it unless it's an emergency. Not only that, but they don't really look like banks (a couple people asked me what they were at the last open house). You could put it on a bookshelf, or on your dresser (the BEST place because you can empty the change from your pockets there), or maybe next to the place you set your keys when you come home. Before you know it, the Box Bank will be packed and you'll have a bunch of money saved up without realizing you did it. :)

SO, I'm gonna give one of these babies away! No cost to you whatsoever! I'll pay for the shipping, you get the bank for FREE! All I ask is for you to follow the rules (listed at the bottom!). First though... some pics of the Box Bank. The one I'm giving away is the smaller version, measuring 4 1/2 square.

Kind of a little steam punk-ish, huh? I'm really starting to LOVE this clay body. I might start leaving it unglazed on other things too. :)

So... here are...

THE RULES:

1. Follow my blog. There's a place to hit 'follow' right above my blogroll on the right side of my blog.

2. Sign up for my mailing list! There's also a place for that on the right side of my blog.

3. Share this blog post on Facebook and Twitter and whatever social media you happen to use. By doing that, more people visit my blog, more people will buy pots, I'll sell more pots and be able to give more things away on my blog. ;)

4. Be a fan! There's a place on the right for you to be a fan of my Facebook Page. I love fans, and Facebook is the best way to keep track of what I'm cooking up in the studio. :)

LAST: Leave me ONE comment indicating that you completed #1,2,3 and 4. (Not one comment for each number.. just one comment). ;) After that, you'll be entered in the drawing!

Optional: Tell me what you're saving for! I'm just curious. :)

On Wednesday, June 29th at high noon, I'll assign every entry a random number (1 through however many people enter) and put that into a generator at Random.org. Whatever number it generates is the winner! :D

Easy enough, right? You can do all the steps listed in the rules from right here in front of your computer. Thanks a bunch for playing, and good luck!

~~~~~~

Impatient? You don't want to see if you're the winner, or if you're not the winner.. do you want a box bank anyway? I just posted three for sale in my Etsy Shop!

Hot pots!

2011-06-17T21:31:00.008-05:00

I wouldn't really call it 'down to the wire' when I'm unloading hot pots the day before an open house. I would only call it that if I were unloading the kiln at 400 degrees a half hour before the open house was supposed to start. ;) Luckily, all the pots are sanded, priced, and organized in the showroom... and it was done almost two hours ago. :)

SO, I didn't have time to take the fancy photo-box pictures, but I did snap a few of pots in the showroom, so you'll have to excuse the flash and funny tinted photos.

Pots, right out of the kiln. They're still toasty.

These are the 'large' banks. I haven't quite decided what to call them yet... 'break-em banks', 'bookshelf banks', or maybe just 'box banks'? In a nutshell, it's a bank without a hole in the bottom to empty it out. I realized some time ago that the piggy bank I got from Art Thomas was getting pilfered and none of the money I actually put into it was being saved. My immediate thought was 'I need to make a bank like the old piggy banks... one that has to be broken to get the money out'... so I made these. You don't actually have to break them, but you're going to have to get extra creative to get the money out the tiny little cut-out in the top. Since we've been 'using' the prototype, I think we've saved more spare change and random bills in the last month than we have in the last year. Eureka! It works!

This is the smaller version, with a different design. I decided not to glaze these because A. Glazing a self contained box with only a tiny hole seems like trouble when trying to get the excess glaze out of the inside (from dipping the whole thing in glaze) and B. This clay bare has a pretty awesome color/texture... it just needed something to liven it up, so I added texture and black inlay glaze. A little steam punk, right?

Whee! The shelves are full again! Last week when Brian was on vacation, and it was 90-100 days THREE days in a row, I got in quite a bit of studio time . Two-serving baker/crocks, YARN BOWLS, box banks, big hurricane tumblers, and serving bowls. Phew! It felt good to be productive. I *think* I have all the special orders done, and I'm taking a little special order hiatus to get ready for the Iowa State Fair in August... yes, already.. the fair. It's 10 days long.. thousands of people every day. I feel I need a stellar inventory for such a big 'show', so I'm putting all my efforts into that. For now, I'm happy to have the showroom stocked.

Hey, remember when I said I was having a Seconds Sale tomorrow too? THIS is the seconds shelf. No joke. Everything on this shelf is either a second or a discontinued glaze. There are at least 50 pots there, all going to be discounted 15-30%. :)

That's all I've got for tonight! I'm crossing my fingers for a busy day tomorrow. The weather man says isolated thunderstorms, but really... isolated thunderstorms are kinda cool at our house. Big country skies mean you can watch the storms roll in. :)

OH!, and if you come out tomorrow, keep an eye out for our flock when you come up the driveway! They're not sure what cars are yet, and they will actually walk right in front of your car to investigate. :)

Just a couple bee pictures.

2011-06-14T08:03:00.005-05:00

Good morning!

I just thought I'd put up a couple bee photos from last week. I was getting kind of nervous about my bees because on those three really hot days last week, the bees were doing a funny bee dance. They were on the outside of the hive and it looked like they were stuck on repeat... they'd walk forward a few steps, then back a few steps.... over and over and over again. My bee expert, Zan Asha from The Renegade Farmer, consulted with HER bee expert (her Mom), and they were both under the impression that the bee dance could be one of two things. 1. The queen bailed and all the worker bees were confused (oh NO!... that would be bad. I'd have to get a new queen)... or 2. It's just really dang hot and the bees are not impressed with the heat, so they're just loafing around, waiting for better weather.

I had my fingers crossed that it was the second option, but a little nagging voice in my head told me to check. Good news... it was the second option! After a couple days of cooler temps and some rain, the bees are right back to normal bee activity. I did check them, however, just to ease my mind.

Brian took photos for me this time... which makes it a LOT easier. :)

This first one is of a baby bee coming out of her cell. There were several of these going on at once... may 6 or 7 babies being born on several different frames.

The almighty queen! This is the first time I've found her since I released her from her little queen box when I set up the hive. I was SO happy to find her. . :D

This photo is just a good shot of a full frame of brood. There was a little capped honey at the top, but mostly baby bees! The queen is REALLY workin' her little beeehind off. ;)

So, the bees are doing great. They were doing a little bit of artsy comb building, so unfortunately I had to scrap it off so they'd go back to combing up the frames. There wasn't a lot of it, so I don't think I set them back too far, but it's hard to extract honey from flying-saucer shaped comb. ;)

~~~~
On the pottery front, I'm firing Helios right now. About 300 degrees left of a VERY packed bisque firing. I finished up 5 yarn bowls yesterday morning and then candled the kiln for nearly 6 hours before actually starting the firing. I just want to make sure everything was dry, as those yarn bowls were still very leather hard. ;) I should be able to unload, glaze, and reload tomorrow for a Thursday glaze firing that will be cooled off just in time for the June Open House and Seconds Sale... going on this Saturday from 10-6pm! :)

Well.. better go let the chickens out, an then get back to work!
Happy pottering!

June Open House and Seconds Sale!

2011-06-09T14:38:00.003-05:00

Hey there, faithful blog readers! Between chickens, ducks, bees, gardening, making pots, doing shows, and SLEEPING, I haven't had a lot of time for blogging. Occasionally I'll get something put on the blog, but not like I used to.

*sigh* 'Tis the season for being BUSY!

Well, I'm going to try my darnedest to get back to the way things used to be. I really enjoy blogging, and I love it when readers comment. It lets me know that someone is out there! :) I *should* get back into the swing of things shortly. My little point and shoot camera has been a tad wonky, so I haven't been getting videos of the chickies and ducks like I wanted, but I think I have it fixed... so watch soon for videos of all types of things (including some pottery... what? On this blog?!). ;)

For right now, I wanted to tell you all about my upcoming Open House. It's only a short nine days away! I've been working on some new things, including the *perfection* of the hurricane mug, bank boxes, and some big serving bowls.

Also, I'm having a Seconds Sale the same day! Usually I'm pretty picky about what makes it into the shop, but there are some pots that have the tiniest flaw..... but otherwise are great pots. A blemish in the glaze, a chip on the foot... nothing that would make me toss it into the shard pile, but enough that the customer will get a hefty discount (15-30%)!

So, I promise to be a better blogger. For now, I hope you'll all come out to the Open House and Seconds Sale. June 18th is ONE day before Father's Day, and if you bring a Dad that you know (even if he's not YOUR Dad), you get a 10% off a single piece of pottery (first or second).

Well, back to work! Have a great weekend! :)

Up on Etsy

2011-06-01T10:23:00.002-05:00

Hey there.. I just got those five Hurricane Mugs listed in my Etsy Shop this morning.

Use the coupon code 'FathersDay' for a 15% discount. :)

Hurricane Mugs

2011-05-31T17:01:00.008-05:00

I've been working on this new shape that I'm calling a 'Hurricane Mug' simply because it reminds me of a hurricane oil lamp shade. My resident mug tester and daily coffee drinker (Brian) claims that they are 'a pleasure to drink from' and 'the shape of the mug helps prevent spillage for the coffee drinker that walks with their beverage'. I'm not kidding. He actually said that. :)

Anyway, here are five of them, with a number before each one. They're all in the my studio shop right now and for sale. If you prefer to purchase via Etsy, let me know and I can list a mug for you. Thanks! :)

One ~ Hurricane Mug in Eggshell with Lava (lower 1/3, exterior only)

Two ~ Hurricane Mug in Sage with Bone (Interior)

Three ~ Hurricane Mug in Sage with Bone (Interior)

Four ~ Hurricane Mug in Sage with Lava (lower 1/3, exterior only)

Five ~ Hurricane Mug in Sage with Bone (Interior)

So, if any of those trip your trigger, contact me at RebeccaJDBrandow [at] yahoo.com, or via my contact page (click HERE).

Happy pottering! :)

Chickens, ducks, bees, and an awesome space suit!

2011-05-21T12:56:00.007-05:00

Well, it's not a space suit, it's a bee suit. It's a "I hope this suit is bee-tight so I don't get stung" suit. So far, it's working (knock on wood). :) I checked on my bees today.. it was a little over two weeks ago that I released the queen from her little box (no candy cork, so I had to set her free). Since then, the bees have been workin' like crazy. Here are some pics I just took of my bees.

The bee suit, aka Space Suit (Brian's terminology).

Nice suit, huh? It's hot as bleep, but I'd rather cook in my suit then get stung, which I hear is really unpleasant. ;)

~~~~

You saw the photos from the last post about the baby chickens.. well, I broke down and got two little ducks as well. I was going to get them on Wednesday when I was at Orcheln's (when they had TWENTY ducks available), but I didn't for some crazy reason. I went back Thursday and there were just two lonely little yellow ducks left in the cage, huddled together under a plastic ladder. I think someone must have missed them when they took ALL the other ducks because the cage door was open and the heat lamp was off. I figured it was fate that those two were left, so they came home with me. They're so stinkin' cute. :)

The chickens are doing really well. I've had them outside 5 or 6 times and they really like being out there, eating bugs and flappering around. They're all getting really big, and they're all getting 'big girl' feathers. :)

~~~~

Maggie and I decided to 'put on our big girl pants' and build our chicken coops ourselves with as much scrap lumber as we could find. She cashed in with curb crawling outside of Dallas Center, and we already had a bunch of stuff here, plus my Dad contributed some left over lumber from the shop builder guys, plus all the power tools required to build anything. Here is Maggie's coop, which still needs the outside layer and the roof put on, but I really think framing is the hard part.. figuring out all the dimensions so it fits together. She's coming over again on Monday so we can finish hers and start on mine. :)

Our progress so far.

Taking a break. Construction is hard work. :)

The coop with the door just sitting on top, to get a visual.

Brian pretending to open the coop and see multi-colored chicken eggs. ;)

~~~~

On the pottery front, I'm still working away on special orders. I had to take a little break from them to stock up on some regular inventory items. My shop shelves were looking pretty bare from the Grand Opening. I fired the kiln last night, and it should be ready to unload tomorrow morning. There are a TON of special orders in there, so *hopefully* they all turn out beautifully and I can get them delivered to their new owners. So, if you haven't gotten your special order yet, don't worry, it's on my list. :)

Have a great weekend, and happy pottering. :)

My new 'girls'.

2011-05-14T09:40:00.003-05:00

I guess this year is THE year... the year I'm getting critters for the farm. In the last month, I've acquired bees, and then last Thursday, I bought some little baby chicks. We have a decent chunk of land, and I feel that we should be using our property productively, so time to get some 'livestock'! :) By September, we should have honey from our honey bees (I named the hive 'Lucy'), and by next spring, we should have eggs from our little flock of six hens. I bought two Rhode Island Reds, and four that are called 'Rainbow Layers', which means they lay those pastel blue, green, and pink eggs. Here are the new 'girls'.

:)

Noodles, anyone?

2011-05-09T19:41:00.003-05:00

Hey all! I am just now getting time to take a few pictures of the new noodle/rice/hot pot bowls. This is my first go-around of these, but I think they're going to become a regular item. I *still* need to make 10 of them for the monthly hot pot nights, but I wanted to make sure they were going to work out first. So, here they are! I have 6 of these available, two of each color (Sage, Eggshell, Powder Blue).

(My camera is was acting a little wonky, so these are a little 'overexposed'.. I think I fixed it... after reading the manual). ;)

Powder Blue

Eggshell

Sage

I don't have these up in my Etsy shop right now, but please contact me if you'd like to purchase.. I can get them listed for you, or if you're local we can do business in person (the old fashioned way). ;)

RebeccaJDBrandow[at]yahoo.com.

Open House Today!

2011-05-07T09:20:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone, and Happy Saturday! It's GORGEOUS outside today.. already 65 degrees at 9:30am! The studio is all ready to go.. I have loads of pots for sale, some munchies and juice, and I'll be doing wheel throwing demonstrations off and on all day. Stop out for some gifts, and then take a little scenic drive around Panora. I also have a handout with a list of great places in the area to visit, including my neighbor Kandi at Britches 'N Bows Country Store. :)

The Open House runs from 10-6 today, and if you need directions or have a question, please call me (Becky) at 515-778-9442.

Thanks! :)

Busy Week, Open House, and Bees!

2011-05-05T10:09:00.006-05:00

Hi everyone, and HAPPY SPRING! I know it's technically been spring for a while, but it's only been the last week or so where it's really felt like spring. For a while there, I thought it was fall (cold, rainy, cold, more rain). Ugh. But not anymore! Two things happen around here when the weather turns nice. One: I start running outside again (yay!), and Two: Planting season!

I can honestly say that I am a fair weather runner. I'll occasionally run in the cold, but only when I'm desperate. ;) SO, I've dusted off the running gear, picked up a new pair of Saucony sneakers, and hit the trail a few times in the past week or so. After the triathlon last year, and finding out I had some asthma, I got an inhaler from the doctor and it makes ALL the difference in the world. So now, less wheezing, more happy running. :)

The second thing: planting season. Last Monday I started hauling liquid fertilizer for Day Farms. This is my third season working for my cousin and his business partner, and I've gotta say.. I couldn't have found a better part time/seasonal job. They're so easy going and fun to hang out with. They farm over 2000 acres, and about half of that gets the fertilizer, which is called '32' or liquid nitrogen. It's basically salty syrup. It gets sprayed on the fields that are going to be corn this year. It is NOT that anhydrous ammonia stuff you see in the white tanks everywhere. That stuff is horribly nasty, and my cousin refuses to use it. *THANK YOU DALE* :)

Anyway, so I've been busy this week. Beekeeping class on Saturday, setting up my hive that evening (more on that further down), Sample Sunday at Prairieland Herbs on Sunday AND I fired the kiln while I was gone with Brian checking it for me every hour. Trucking on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Yesterday (Wednesday), I came home around 6pm and glazed an entire load of pots for the open house on Saturday, and then fired it overnight, getting up every hour and a half to check the kiln. Today I get a little break this morning and then back to trucking this afternoon. We're almost done tho.. yay!

~~~~~

What are you giving your Mama for Mother's Day? If she like pottery, you're in luck! I'm having an Open House this Saturday from 10-6pm. I'll be doing demonstrations, and I'll have a fresh batch of pots from the kiln, including 12 bloom rings (see header photo). If you're in the area, or just want to go for a nice drive, swing by and get your Mum some pottery for Mother's Day. :)

~~~~~

Bees!
I took a Natural Beekeeping class on Saturday at Prairieland Herbs in Woodward. The AMAZING Zan Asha from The Renegade Farmer from the Bronx, NY came all the way to little old Iowa to teach us about beekeeping. I stopped by Spring Valley Honey Farms in Perry to pick up my hive, bees, and my favorite - the beekeeper suit! (not to be confused with a bee costume). ;)

Anyway (eep! the boss just called, gotta wrap this up and go trucking!).. I set up my bees on Saturday after the class. They BEEhaved pretty well and went into their hive. I suited up yesterday morning and released the queen from her little queen box and now I have to WAIT.. yes.. WAIT 7-10 days before I can open up the hive again to check their progress. *sigh* I suppose I'll just have to keep busy and try to let them do their thing.

Well.. better get going! Matt is going to be waiting on me! :)

Oh, and I couldn't do a post with NO photos.. that's some kind of bad blogging etiquette. ;) Here's a picture of Zan Asha from beekeeping class that Maggie Howe took. I ♥ bees. Thanks again, Zan! Come back and visit us again soon! :)

♥

Everybody's workin' for the weekend!

2011-04-28T07:03:00.005-05:00

Usually the lyrics to that Loverboy song make me think that people are working FOR the weekend... like, we're working just have a couple days of peace and quiet. Well, it's kind of the opposite for me. This week I've been chipping away at the special order list, which seems like it never ends. I think after I get this list done, I'll probably take a hiatus from special orders for a while. I really need to spend some time building up some inventory after the very welcomed clearing of the shelves during the open house. :)

But besides the special order list, I've been working on some flower rings for the Open House on May 7th (one day before Mother's Day!), and a few oval flower vases. This weekend, however, is a busy one.. so everything that is in progress at about 3pm on Friday is going to have to wait until Monday to get finished.

Friday: TyGuy's birthday party from 5 to ?
Saturday: Beekeeping Class from 1-4 at Prairieland Herbs (yay!)
Saturday night: Birthday/Anniversary party at a friend's house
Sunday: Sample Sunday from 12-5 at Prairieland Herbs, and I'd like to get my bees settled if the weather is nice.

Busy, right? Yeah.. it is. Somehow this last weekend in April snuck up on me with all this stuff, all at once. It's ok though. I'll gladly take a busy weekend with forecasted *semi* nice weather over a slow weekend in a snow storm. :)

~~~

May Open House ~ I'm planning an open house for May 7th.. so mark your calendars! It's only a week and a few days away. I'm going to try to have a 'special item' for every one of my open houses.. something that I've worked the previous month on. This month, it's the flower rings. I first saw something like this in Hawaii when Brian and I got married. There was a pottery on Kauai and the artist had plumeria blooms in it. I bought one, but it didn't survive the trip home. Bummer. Anyway, so I made some for Christmas one year and gave them to all the plant/flower people I know.. and I kind of forgot about them after that. After my Grandpa passed away, the flower ring I had made him came back to me. It's in the studio now, with daisy blooms in it. Since then, I've been asked by several people if I'm still making those, I decided to make them the May special item. Below is a photo that Missy took of my Grandpa's flower ring from the opening. They can be used as decor, a centerpiece (say, with a candle in the middle), or to start plant cuttings. We've used this one to set Christmas Cactus leaves upright while they develop roots. :)

These little guys are going to be $18 each, and so far I have about 10 of them. I'm going to try to make some more next week. They aren't glazed yet, so if you are coming to the open house and you'd like one a specific color, send me an email and I'll see what I can do.

Happy pottering! :)

Earth Day

2011-04-22T09:52:00.002-05:00

Good morning, everyone, and Happy Earth Day! Earth Day, for me, actually takes the back seat for the day. Today is my Mom's birthday. How lucky is she, right? To have your birthday on such a great day. That probably explains why my Mom is such a plant/flower/outdoor person. She always told me that Spring is her favorite season, and I can bet it's because of the birthday/Earthday/end of winter trio. :)

This Earthday-Birthday for my Mom is especially great.. because it's her last day working for the big-box giant, uh.. store? I don't even know what to call Target anymore. It's not a grocery store, or a department store.. it's just a big STORE. Anyway, Mom has worked there for TEN years. TEN! That's a long time. I was 20 when she started there. She was part of the first round of managers hired, and in the ten years, she's been the manager of several different departments. I'm not sure if I can even name them all.. front end (cashiers), photo, health & beauty, soft lines, jewelry, and domestics (is that all, Mom?). Much like my Grandpa, Mom always took a new opportunity to learn new jobs within the company.

So, since today is her last day.. you might ask, where is she going? Retirement? Nahh.. Mom got a job as the manager of her own Dollar General store. Woot! THE store manager! Not assistant, or shift or anything like that... the store manager. She gets to run her own store, which I think is pretty cool. Not only that, but it's near by, so less driving, and Mom can even ride her bike to work. How's that for some Earth-day love? :)

So, Happy Birth-Earth Day, Mom! I hope your last day at work is *wonderful* and I KNOW you will Loooove clocking out for the very last time as a Target Employee. :)

Everyone else, have a fantastic Earth Day! Plant a tree, hug a tree, lay in the grass, play in the dirt, go for a walk, pick up some trash, recycle a pop can.. whatever you want to do to appreciate this amazing planet we live on. :)

Peanut.

2011-04-20T09:30:00.003-05:00

Happy Wednesday! It's overcast and cold and a little rainy outside, but I'm in a GREAT mood.. wanna know why? :) We FINALLY bought a new car! Yay! I emphasize the 'finally' because Brian and I are the most indecisive car buyers ever. It took us nearly 4 years to actually buy the car we wanted.

Four years ago when the Toyota Yaris came out, we were *sure* that we *needed* a new car and we went right over to Toyota of Des Moines and ordered a new one. Well, that was a mistake. The dealership called us about a week later, telling us they found the car we ordered. I guess Toyota doesn't make cars to order.. if you want one, they look all over for one and do a dealer trade. They said they found the exact car, so (all excited) we drove to Des Moines to find that it was NOT the exact car. We wanted a manual transmission (better mpg) and the power package (power windows etc).. this was an automatic, without all the power stuff. THEN, to make it worse, the salesman pretty much told us that we were wrong, we didn't order the car that way, and that we had an obligation to buy it since they paid to have it shipped to Des Moines... uhhhmmm.. no? ;)

So, we didn't buy the car. We put off buying a new car for as long as possible. Brian is very mechanical, and he does a really good job of keeping our cars running as best he can. Brian will find junk yard parts, borrow or rent specific tools, and work on cars until wee hours of the morning just to AVOID buying a new car. Well, I think he's over it. He tells me he's wants to work on cars for fun, not because they constantly require work to even stay running, which I completely understand. Just thinking about all the work he's done makes me tired.

The last car we purchased was the white Ford Festiva for $1000 from a Mennonite carpenter in Dallas Center almost 5 years ago. The one before that was the blue Festiva (RIP Little Blue!) that he bought from Renee for ONE DOLLAR, and that was right after we moved the house, so 2004? Yeah, we were thinking it was about time. The Avenger was up in the 190k mile range, and it was systematically falling apart. Tie rods, bearings, batteries, tires, wheels, shocks etc etc etc. It was just getting really expensive to fix.. all.the.time.

So, we started hunting about 2 months ago for the Yaris and last Sunday, a new one popped up on AutoTrader.com. I went to the Dennis Sneed Ford website, and sure enough, there was our new little car, all adorable and perfect. I called the dealership on Monday and talked to Chris, the salesman. He was so nice, and not pushy. Have you ever talked to a 'pushy' salesman before and just felt like running away? That's pretty much our experience at Toyota of Des Moines. But not Chris, he was awesome.. his voice actually reminded me a little the actor Sam Elliot, who was the cowboy/narrator in The Big Lebowski. A little cowboy, a little southern. I already liked him. :)

Monday morning, I went in to talk with our banker, Brandon, at Guthrie County State Bank, and he gave us the green light for pre-approval. Yesterday morning, bright and early, we drove down to Gower, Missouri to 'see' the car (but we were pretty darn sure we were going to buy it). We got there, talked with Chris, drove the little car around, looked it all over, and then went back to the office to make a deal. Brian is a smooth talker, and we ended up getting new tires on the car (the old ones had nearly NO tread on them). We also got a good deal on the Avenger for trade-in value, which I was impressed with (4 years ago, Toyota of Des Moines offered us $300, and Dennis Sneed Ford gave us $500... that's WITH 190k miles). We were preapproved at our bank, but we wanted to see what loan rate the dealership could offer us, and I'm glad we did! We got a rate half of what our local bank could give us.. but that's big bank vs. little bank.. and when it comes to paying loan interest, less is always better. :)

So now we have a new little car, and we'll keep it for as long as we can. It's a 2008, and if it lasts as long as the white Festicruiser does, we'll have it well into 2026.. *hopefully*. :)

Oh, and one more thing.. I have managed to fit an entire pottery show into the Festiva before, so I'm sure I'll be able to fit as much into the Yaris (who, btw, we've named Peanut). ;) I can fit three fold-up tables, five wooden boxes packed full of pottery, and my show box into the Festiva, so we'll see how Peanut measures up. :)

Here she is!

Peanut and Festicruiser.

Me and Brian getting ready to leave the dealership. :)

:)

Only 2 days left, and 16 items.

2011-04-16T20:03:00.007-05:00

Happy Saturday, everyone!... just an update on the After Opening Sale in my Etsy Shop. I started with about 36 items, and it's down to just 16 left! It's been a great sale, but I really want to see all these pieces find new homes.. and better yet, find new homes at sale prices. So, if you'd like a new piece of pottery, or maybe a gift for an upcoming birthday, now is a good time. :)

Here are a few of the pieces that are still available.. click on the link above each photo to be taken to the listing.

Twin Dent Bowls. These little guys would be perfect condiment bowls, pinch bowls for cooking, or they'd be great ice cream bowls.

Extra Large Dent Bowl. Again, a dent bowl.. but this one is pretty big. Four servings of cereal, anyone? ;)

Dainty Bowl. This little bowl was made as a demonstration for a student, but it's just so cute and dainty that I kept it. You could use it for loose change, earrings, candy, or... again, ice cream. ;)

Lavender Pendant Necklace. It is what it says.. it's lavender (or purple).. it's a necklace. I think it's quite pretty. :)

Three piece sushi set. I call it a sushi set, but you can use slab trays for anything... a loaf of bread and two dishes for oil to dip in, spoon rests, trays to hold a collection of candles or flower vases.. the options are endless. :)

So, if you'd like to get any of these, or all the other items listed in my Etsy Shop at the sale prices, snap them up before Monday night. They'll all go back to 'regular' prices Tuesday morning. Thanks for shopping! :)

After Opening Sale, going on now!

2011-04-13T11:45:00.012-05:00

As promised, here is the After Opening Sale! Here are a few items in the sale... visit my Etsy Shop for all 30something pieces listed.

Click on the link above to the photo to be taken to the Etsy Listing for that item.

Twisty Tumbler

Eggshell Thumb Tumbler

Oval Baker

Hurricane Mug in Sage and Bone.

Table Lantern

Twin Dent Bowls

Twin Pinch Bowls

3 Piece Sushi Set

Deep Sage Bowl

Sage Knot Pendant

There are quite a few more, so please take a second to check out the Etsy Shop. Everything goes back to 'normal' prices on April 19th! :)

Grand Opening Photos, Round Two.... and, a SALE!

2011-04-12T14:30:00.007-05:00

Happy Beautiful Tuesday! It's a glorious 70 degrees in Iowa today. I spent the morning hauling liquid fertilizer to the farm, but now I'm home and I'm going to get to work taking pictures. But first, round two of Grand Opening Photos. :)

My good friend Jill of Jill Brown Photography was here to help out ALL DAY on Saturday from before the first customer to after the last one left. Jill does all kinds of photography too.. weddings, portraits, fine art.. all of it. She also took photos on Saturday of the house because I wanted some killer photos for a little project, but I'll leave that for another post... but I'll show you the photos now (again, in no particular order)!

Do I know some great photographers, or what? :) Thank you, Jill! As always, you rock. The panoramic views of the inside of the house and the studio are actually a series of photos stitched together, but you'd never know because they are seamless. :)

~~~~

A Sale!

I'm spending the afternoon getting ready for my After Opening Sale in my Etsy Shop. I'm going to mark down a whole bunch of pieces and post them from April 13th (tomorrow!) until April 18th. After that, they go back to full price. So, be sure to check back here tomorrow morning for photos of the pots that are in the sale, then click on the adjoining link to be taken to the shop. If you decide to purchase something, I'm going to wait until the end of the sale to ship all the sold pieces, so they'll all get boxed up and sent out on April 19th. Thanks a bunch! Time to go take pictures! :)

Happy pottering!

Grand Opening Photos, Round One!

2011-04-11T10:43:00.009-05:00

Good morning, and Happy Monday! I had SUCH a crazy fun weekend that I slept in until 8:30 this morning. I might have slept longer if BRIAN hadn't called to check on me. ;)

Anyway, the opening went SO well. I counted 60+ people on the guest sign-in book, but after looking at it, I realized that several people I knew didn't sign in, so there must have been more! The whole day flew by in a blur.. it wasn't until maybe 2pm that I had a chance to sit down and take a break.. that's great though because it means it was busy!

In case you didn't know, I have a small army of photographer friends. Missy, Jill, John, and Maggie are all photographers and so the paparazzi came to Willow Avenue Pottery on Saturday. It was absolutely wonderful because I knew I wouldn't have time to take any photos myself.

Here is the first round of photos, taken by Missy Stukenholtz from Gorman House Photography. Missy also owns and operates The Sound Farm, so if you know any recording artists that need to cut an album, check out her website.

... and here are Missy's photos from the day, in no particular order. :)

Fantabulous photos, right? Missy is a wonderful photographer. :) She also does portraits, weddings, commercial.. the whole nine yards. Check out her website for more info.

Thank you so much, Missy! :)

Tomorrow!

2011-04-08T18:27:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone! Just a reminder... the Grand Opening is TOMORROW! It runs from 10-6pm at my home in Panora, Iowa. If you need directions, click the 'Grand Opening' tab right above this post.

I spent the day getting everything ready. All the pots are priced. The food is ready to go. I have bags, business cards, brochures, a door prize drawing, photos of the studio in phases from start to finish, and did I mention pots? Lots of pots! I'm so excited. I hope I can sleep tonight. ;)

See you all tomorrow!

Becky :)

You tell me. ;)

2011-04-03T17:32:00.003-05:00

So, I've been going back and forth about something for the past few weeks. The grand opening is drawing near, and I can't decide. Then I thought "Heck, I should ask to see what the PEOPLE want!".

So, here it is: Should I, or should I not do demonstrations at the grand opening? I plan on doing them for all my other open houses, so why not, right? *Hopefully* I'll be way to busy selling pots to do anything else, but ya never know! After my first year at the Iowa State Fair with Sheri last year, I realize that I love doing demonstrations on the wheel and explaining to people what I'm doing so they know how their pottery is made. I'm leaning towards doing a few demos when I have time, but you tell me! Yes or No? :)

On another note, Helios is firing right now. I have several large oval and squarish bakers in there, plus yarn bowls, and a few more table lanterns (cuz they're so much fun to make!). I'll glaze them Tuesday and fire them again on Wednesday. Thursday is my last run to the big city for supplies, Friday is set up day... and then, Saturday! YES! I've waited alll winter for Saturday!

I'm sure I've told you all this before, but just to remind you (again), there is a little link to the right with information on how to get to our place. Also, I want to let you know that it's supposed to be in the 60's on Saturday! Nice weather, refreshments and hors d'oeuvres, tons of pots, AND possibly demonstrations?! Craziness. ;)

Not only all that, but my neighbor down the road is having an open house too! Kandi at Britches and Bows will also be open on Saturday. She has a big sign on a wagon in her front yard, so you can't miss it. I'll also have a community handout with all the cool places to visit in the area. Sounds like a road trip to me! :)

Well, I'd best get back to work. Have a great week, and see you next weekend!

Roadtrip!

2011-04-02T19:03:00.004-05:00

My friend Jill invited me to go on a road trip with her and Missy to Cherokee, Iowa today. Jill has a month-long exhibit of her barn photography at the planetarium there, so it was a ROAD TRIP! Here are a few photos from the day. :)

Jill's show, and Jill!

... and then a few photos of the clouds on the way home through the tinted window of Jill's car, which turned out to have a nice polarizing effect on the pictures.

.. and you can't drive past a wind turbine without taking a photo of it. We actually went right up to one and took photos, but I really like this silhouette best. :)

That's it for today! Back to the clay tomorrow. :)

It's getting a little crowded in here...

2011-03-31T10:45:00.006-05:00

Literally. I unloaded the kiln yesterday and this morning I rearranged the showroom... again. The pots are piling up, and I have one more firing of 'big stuff' to do next week. The big stuff is yarn bowls, oval bakers and flat pieces that take up a ton of room in the kiln.

Not only will I have pottery for sale at the opening, but I have work hanging from several of my favorite artists, a few of which are photographers that will have prints for sale too.

Here are a few pictures of the showroom, as of this morning.

Mom was out yesterday, and we got a TON of stuff done... one thing that I really wanted to do was get some plants. The studio was missing something and I decided it was plant life, so we stopped up at the local greenhouse and picked up two airplane plants and one mixed-bag pot (shown in the back on top of the wood stove). Brian came downstairs last night and said "The plants make it happen". ;)

Nine days until the opening! I still have a to-do list that should begin dwindling in the next few days as I really get stuff done. I have one more bisque fire on Sunday, and one more glaze fire on Tuesday or Wednesday and that should be it. :)

Have a great Thursday.. I'm off to drawing class, then back home to work some more. :)

Fresh pots!

2011-03-25T18:27:00.003-05:00

A few of my favorites... available at the Opening on April 9th. :)

:)

And the winners are...

2011-03-23T12:05:00.004-05:00

Ready? Here it goes:

1. Abby from Swan, Iowa
2. Tanya Hermann
3. Jessica Asmus
4. Staci
5. Enchanted Tree

You're all winners of a $20 gift certificate good at my opening on April 9th (10-6) OR if you live far away or can't make it to the opening, the gift certificate is also good at my Etsy Shop After Opening Sale (April 13th-18th). Please email me at RebeccaJDBrandow[at]yahoo.com and tell me if you plan on coming out on the 9th, or if you want to purchase something at the Etsy sale.

Thanks to everyone who entered into the contest. I'm not going to have a giveaway in April because of the opening and about a million other things going on, but I'll continue the giveaways in May. Thanks again! :)

My Sign.

2011-03-22T10:23:00.005-05:00

Good morning, blog readers, and Happy Tuesday. :)

Today I'm working on some special orders and more kiln filler for the next firing, but first I wanted to show you my new sign! Jen from Onion Grove Mercantile hand painted my new sign. It's a nice piece of distressed wood with reclaimed paint, both from ReStore. It's the perfect size to hang in my picture window, right above my wheel, in the studio. :)

Brian was going to hang it for me last night after he got home from work, but we've been having vehicle issues, and he had to take a day off from work to fix cars (which lasted nearly ALL DAY).... so my sign didn't get put up last night (hopefully tonight!). It's beautiful no matter if it's hung up or not, so I thought I may as well take some pictures and show you all.

Nice, huh? I thought so. If you need a hand painted sign, talk to Jen. Visit her blog to see her work and contact her about a sign.

~~~~~~~~~~~
In other news, I've been glazing up a storm. Here's a 'before' photo of all the pots cleaned and ready for waxing.

.. and by the magic of the internet, here are some of those pots glazed, fired, and on the shelves.

I still have probably another two kiln firings, plus everything that I'm throwing this week and next, so there should be PLENTY of pots for the opening. Speaking of the opening, are you coming out? You're invited! Check out the Grand Opening page for directions. It's less than 3 weeks away, so be sure to check back soon for photos of my favorite pieces that will be available. Also, remember to sign up for the March Giveaway drawing! I'm drawing tomorrow at noon, and FIVE people will win a $20 gift card. Click HERE to be taken to that post, or just scroll down. ;)

Back to work.. have a great day!

March Giveaway! <~~~Read Me!

2011-03-18T08:50:00.003-05:00

Good morning, blog readers and pottery lovers. Today is the day!

March Giveaway!

I contemplated giving away another piece of pottery, but then I had an idea. While pottery is nice, I think people come-a-runnin' more for free money. Now, this isn't any old free money, it's gift certificate money. Gift certificate money to use for pottery (how sneaky am I, right?). The money can only be used at either my opening (if you're planning on coming out on April 9th to the opening) or at my Etsy Shop at the After Opening Sale that runs April 13th-18th (if you can't make it, or you live far far away from Panora, Iowa).

Here's the super fun part. I'm giving away FIVE gift certificates, of $20 each. WHAT?! I hear what you're saying... "Crazy girl, giving away money!" Well, ya know, if I didn't have pottery fans and customers, I wouldn't have a business (and yikes, I'd have to get back to 'real work'!). ;)

(source)

So, five lucky people, $20 each. Do you want to win $20 in pottery money?

Here are the rules for the March Giveaway:

1. Follow my blog (click 'follow' in the right hand sidebar)

2. 'Share' this blog post on Facebook or Twitter (or both!) and be sure to invite your friends to enter in the drawing too.

3. Sign up for my Mailing List HERE.

4. Last, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, leave a message in the comment section of this post indicating that you have done 1, 2, and 3. If you leave your comment on a FB post, I can't guarantee that you'll get in the drawing. I'm only putting names into the drawing that are listed in the comments section. Also, if you're commenting anonymously, be sure to put your email or real name so I know who you are. :)

There ya go.. that's it! Easy, right? It'll take you five minutes, and that might be the most lucrative 5 minutes you ever spent (if you're one of the winners, of course). I'm going to let the March Giveaway run until Wednesday, March 23rd at Noon. Then I'll take all the names, which have been entered into a spreadsheet and assigned a number, and put them into a random generator at Random.org. I'll hit the generate button 5 times, and those are the winners!

Good luck! :)

Heartland Fiberpalooza and Crafty Sample Sunday

2011-03-09T10:13:00.006-06:00

Here are a few pictures of goodies for the Heartland Fiberpalooza, going on this Saturday in the Jackson Building at the fairgrounds in Winterset from 9am-5pm. If for some reason you can't make it out, come out to Crafty Sample Sunday at Prairieland Herbs in Woodward the next day. *Hopefully* I'll have some items left.

Buttons: $6 each, or two for $10. These are BIG buttons.. perfect for bags, scarves, cowls, or anything that needs a big sturdy button. :)

'Needle holders'.. incidentally, they're food safe if you choose to drink your coffee from them (while you do a fiber related activity, of course). ;)

Yarn bowls! I have 14 of these for the show on Saturday, and they usually go pretty quickly, so if you want one, come early!

~~~~
That's it for now... Happy Wednesday! :)

Progress.

2011-03-07T11:25:00.011-06:00

We're making progress! :) Here's what has happened since my last post (yikes, two weeks ago?!). I hauled in two loads of rock. We rented a skid loader and Brian finished the driveway, walkway and walkout (most of it). RD came over last weekend and we finished the main shelves in the showroom. I mixed glazes and found a couple of new glazes that I LOVE and will use in the next two firings for the opening. I fired the kiln full of yarn bowls and buttons for the Heartland Fiberpalooza this weekend (still cooling, no pics yet). We bought a new door for the walkout (hopefully installed next weekend). I'm going to buy a bakers rack today to go on the short wall in the showroom. Hmm.. what else... what else...

Oh, sad to say, I probably won't make it to 1000 pots. When I gave myself that challenge, it seemed reasonable, but now, thinking back, I had a TON more stuff to do then I originally thought to get ready for the opening. So, I'm going to put that 1000 pot challenge on the back burner and use it next winter, when I'm NOT trying to pull a showroom and opening together. ;)

Ok, without further ado, photos!

My studio turned into a construction zone for the shelf building. Here are some 'before' cleanup photos.

After cleanup:

RD came over on Saturday AND Sunday and here's what we got done. Shelves!

I remixed some of my best glazes, and tried out a few new recipes and commercial glazes. Here are the results.

Sage

Waterfall Brown (which is hard to see in this photo, but it's behaving the way it's supposed to). ;)

Powder Green with Spearmint

Moon Dust (aka, Floating Blue, but with slight adjustments)

Eggshell *new favorite glaze*

Commercial glaze: French Mustard

Powder Blue with Waterfall Brown rim

Lava and Raspberry

Commercial glaze: Twilight (with Bone on the interior)

Black, Bone with Waterfall Brown rim

Caribbean Sea Green with Bone

Commercial: Buttercream (with Bone)

Commercial: Rust Red and Retro Blue-Green

Tired of photos yet? Sorry, I've got more. Here is Brian's handywork outside. He moved most of the dirt and rock with the skid loader. What he didn't move with the skid loader was all those field stones, which are all placed by hand!

The new U-shaped, drive through driveway.

The path leading around the house to the studio door.

Notice all the retaining rocks? Brian LOVES rock work. ;)

The studio door.

Pictures say 1000 words, right? :)

Back to work! I should have yarn bowl, needle holder, and buttons photos tomorrow afternoon or Wednesday morning.

And the winner is...

2011-02-23T12:03:00.003-06:00

Are ya ready? I'm clicking the 'Generate' button right now at Random.org... and the winner is... Weaver from Danbury! There were 83 entries, and Random.org picked #44! You're the winner! :)

Now all I need is for you send your street address to me at RebeccaJDBrandow[at]yahoo.com so we can ship out your prize. :)

A HUGE 'Thank you!' to everyone that participated in the February Giveaway. I find that I LOVE giving stuff away. Everyone that comments is so excited and I just love that in this world of everything costing so much, I can honestly~ 100%, give something away. I hope you all enjoyed the giveaway, and yes, there will be another one for March. Because my opening is April 9th, the giveaway is going to be a gift card to use at either my opening or my Etsy sale following the opening. Check back often, but be sure you come back near the end of March for the gift card drawing.

Again, thank you!, and have a great day! :)

February Giveaway Update!

2011-02-22T09:15:00.003-06:00

Hello everyone! Just ONE MORE DAY to sign up for the February Giveaway! Sign up now!

A little birdie mentioned to me that I don't have any yarn bowls in my Etsy Shop. I realize this seems nutty, to give something away but not have any more available for sale. Lemme tell you all, if I could keep yarn bowls in stock, I'd be a happy potter. Yarn bowls sell as fast as I can make them, and sometimes even before I make them! Currently I don't have any available, but I absolutely will take special orders for them. If you want a yarn bowl (or bowls), and you don't end up being the lucky winner of the giveaway, please contact me for a special order and I'll make you one, or two, or three. :) My email is RebeccaJDBrandow[at]yahoo.com. They take about 3-4 weeks from start to finish, so get your order in as soon as you can. :)

Oh, and one more thing. Please be sure to add your comment that you did all the steps for the giveaway. That's where I'm getting all the names for the entries. :)

Thanks, and have a great Tuesday!

February Giveaway! <~~~ Read Me!

2011-02-18T08:17:00.004-06:00

Hello blog readers! It's time for the February Giveaway, and it's a good one! Last month I gave away just a single shark bowl, wondering how the giveaway would be received... and holy cow! The January Giveaway had the MOST hits I've ever had on a single post on my blog. Over 400! I guess when you give something away with NO cost involved, people come a-runnin'. :)

Well, February is even better because my friend Maggie has sweetened the deal. WE are giving away a yarn bowl, 6 buttons, a set of knitting needles, and a skein of yarn (handspun by Maggie!). How awesome is that, right? Check out the photos below, the info on the pieces, and the rules for entry into the drawing. It could be YOU! Oh, and if you're not a knitter, and you think you could never have a need for something like this.. remember: mother's day, birthdays, and maybe even stash it away for next Christmas. ;)

First Up: The Yarn Bowl. This is a large yarn bowl that easily holds a ton of yarn. It's made from stoneware clay on the wheel, trimmed, carved, and had a little needle holder added. It's glazed with 'Sage' and is very solid. It won't fall over if you give the yarn a good pull.

Next: The yarn... omg.. the yarn. This yarn is handspun from locally produced and processed Rambouillet wool from Whispering Acres farm in Van Meter Iowa (plus yarn scraps). It's 112 yards, 3.5 oz.

You can't knit without: Needles! These needles are Size 9 Surina needles. Surina Knitting Needles Website

Last up: Accessories. If you're knitting something that needs that little extra oomph, how about some handmade buttons? These little oblong buttons have my 'lizard' texture on them and are glazed a calming sea green. You could use them on a pair of wrist warmers, or to add accents to the end of a scarf. They're also made from stoneware clay.

So how's that for a giveaway? It's valued at:
Yarn bowl: $30
Handspun yarn: $30
Surina needles: $10
Handmade buttons: $15
Total value: $85!
Your cost: Free, if you sign up and win! ;)

The Rules:

1. Sign up for Willow Avenue Pottery email list. Click HERE.
2. 'Like' GirlWithASword Productions on Facebook. Click HERE.
3. 'Like' Willow Avenue Pottery on Facebook. Click HERE.
4. 'Share' this blog post on Facebook with all of your friends and encourage them to enter the drawing too!
5. Leave ONE comment for this post that says you completed steps 1-4, and you're entered in the drawing! (If you're commenting anonymously, please be sure to add your name so we know who you are!).

Last, but absolutely not least, I want to give a special thanks to our photographer. John Gibney took the wonderful photos of our goodies for the giveaway. If you'd like to see more of his work, visit his photo blog by clicking HERE.

The giveaway will go until NOON on Wednesday, February 23rd. At that time, all the names will be given a number and a random generator will choose a number. Last month we had over 100 entries. Let's try to beat it this month! :) Good luck!

Want to check out more work from both me and Maggie? Visit our Etsy Shops!
GirlWithASword Etsy Shop (Maggie)
Willow Avenue Pottery Etsy Shop

Glaze tests!

2011-02-06T10:08:00.007-06:00

I think one of the greatest things about working with clay is the glazes. You can have the most beautiful vase, but without the glaze, it's just a boring bisqued vase. Glaze is like the icing on the cake. It brings out texture that would otherwise go unseen. I think glaze testing is something I could probably spend a LOT of time on.. but there has to be balance. If all I did was make glazes, I wouldn't have time to make pots. So what I do is a big batch of glaze testing, choose a few that I like from the results, and work on those to make them the best glazes they can be. Then that glaze gets grandfathered into my archive of good glazes. So far, the glazes that are in are: Powder blue, Powder green, Sage, Raspberry, Bone, and Clear Gloss. They all have interesting characteristics on their own, plus several of them do cool stuff when overlapped with each other.

The glaze testing I did yesterday was fun because I was trying out ash glazes, which I'd never tried in oxidation before. Ben Parks has some ash glazes at the Tuscarora Pottery School, but those go into a reduction soda kiln, which I do not have (yet). I got the recipes from 'CeramicsArt Daily' and did a little tweaking and overlapping over glazes I already have. Here are the results:

This first round is (from left to right), Green Wood Ash over White Matte, Blue Wood Ash over White Matte, and Sage Ash over White Matte. They're ok, but I wished they would have run together a little more. It LOOKS like an ash glaze over a matte glaze. Not quite what I was going for...

Second round: Same as above, only the base glaze is Bone instead of White Matte. Much better! I was hoping for drippy ashy glaze. The sage ash glaze actually looks nice and runny on this chip (far right) instead of the brown glop on the above photo. I should say that the Sage ash comes from Tuscarora.. I have a 1 gallon bag of it that I brought back from pottery school. The wood ash comes from my studio wood stove. It's sifted, but not washed.

Round three: Lava without any colorants (far left). This glaze isn't food safe, but I can see it on the exterior of a pot or on a hanging wall piece. It has the best texture, and I didn't even layer it on. I think if I caked it on there, it would get really bumpy, just like lava. Then it's Blue Wood Ash over Powder Blue, which turned out really pretty (I think). Next is Eggshell with a little dip of Raspberry.. which, omg.. does anyone else think it looks like Shino?! I'm pretty excited about that. :)

I did a few more test chips, but none of them turned out all that great so there's no sense in sharing them. I did a test of Green Wood Ash over Powder Green, which turned out alright, but I think I need to do another test of that one on a bigger piece.

I also had a bunch of special orders in this firing. One is Jen B.'s butter bell, and the other is Amanda's bowl/giant coffee mug.

There were other pieces, but one of them is the secret February Giveaway piece, so I'm not ready to show a picture of that yet. I'm collaborating on the February Giveaway, so I still need to get together with that person and do pictures. :)

That's all I have for today. I'm going to finish up some special orders, plus crank out as many yarn bowls as I can for the Heartland Fiberpalooza next month where I'll be sharing a booth with Maggie Howe and Jill Beebout. If you're local, and you're into knitting, be sure to come to Winterset for Fiberpalooza. Click HERE to be taken to their website.

Ok, have a great Sunday.. and check back in the next week for the February Giveaway!

Happy pottering! :)

Missy and Connie + clay = pots.

2011-02-04T16:46:00.003-06:00

Yep, you read that right. My new friends Missy and Connie came over... I gave them clay and a little instruction, and the end result is two really nice pots. We had a blast.. had there been any alcohol involved, we might still be acting goofy, playing in the mud, and not paying any attention to the time. ;)

Anyway.. here is the evidence.

The more times I have the opportunity to teach pottery, the more fun I have doing it. Teaching one-on-one is great because you can really help someone to learn how to throw. :)

Happy pottering!

Lights!

2011-01-30T18:50:00.004-06:00

Well, it's official. My little showroom is actually starting to resemble a showroom. One little step at a time, right? :)

Yesterday, Brian and I went to the big city to pick up some materials for the ceiling. We were going to go with 1x4's, but then this nice Home Depot guy suggested plywood with a pine bead board finish... oh, and it was half the price of our 1x4 idea. How awesome was the Home Depot guy, right?!

So today, Dad came over with his expertise (read, he did ALL the finish work on the interior of our dome ceiling). Between the three of us, we got the bead board up and stapled. I think it looks really nice, and I'm hoping that eventually I can have the whole studio ceiling covered with this stuff. The studio probably won't be 'finished' for the opening, but I'm so excited that the showroom will be done.

Keep in mind the trim work isn't done yet, nor is the header that our heating ducts run through, but that is minimal considering all the work that has gone into making this place look presentable. :)

Pictures!

Here's Brian going "You want the lights THERE?!"

Yes, I'd like the lights right there.

Imagine shelves full of pots.

So, what do you think?! :) I love it. I'm so excited to start putting pots up... but first, the shelves. After much debate over the types of shelves, sizes of shelves, quantity of shelves, my good friend RD and I have come up with a plan. BTW, RD and I worked together at the Menlo Ethanol plant, and when I quit working there to go back to truck driving, leaving all my wonderful friends was the worst part about leaving. I'm so lucky to have RD as a friend, not only because he's so nice, but because the guy is a genius woodworker. He brought over a bunch of tools yesterday, and he's ready to build shelves just as soon as I get the lumber purchased and moved in. How awesome is that, right? Hopefully we'll have all the lumber here for next weekend. *HAPPY DANCE* :)

I'd like to give a HUGE thanks to my Dad and Brian. I absolutely would not be able to have this great studio and all this construction work done without them. Brian is extremely patient with me as well... with all my crazy mind-changing (crazy right brain!).

Anyway, that's all for today. We have a pizza ready, the movie 'Inception' ready to play, and a tiny container of PhishFood ice cream with my name on it. Have a great night! :)

A snazzy shirt.

2011-01-29T08:57:00.005-06:00

Good morning, blog readers, and Happy Saturday!

If you're a potter, or an artist of any kind, or you know a potter or artist, you know that being creative is not a clean endeavor. At any time, I might have clay on me. Well, no.. I usually have clay on me. I used to change my clothes to do things that required going into public, like going to the post office or the grocery store. That practice wore off pretty quick when I realized how crazy it was. No one in my little town cares if I'm dirty, right? There are lots of construction workers and professional painters that don't change when they stop at the gas station, so why am I freaking out? Anyway, I found that the first few times I went out with clay all over my pants, I would tell people that it's clay. I'm a potter, so it's ok that I have clay on me. Then I gave up telling people, but every once and while I get a funny look from someone at the grocery store and wonder what they're thinking of my filthy appearance.

Well, I fixed that problem (I hope). I finally went onto CafePress and designed a shirt for potters that don't want to change when they head up to the store. I think this will also come in quite handy at the Iowa State Fair next year. Sheri and I do demonstrations all day long, so it's standard to be covered in clay at the fair. The shirt comes into play when we leave the booth and just become another fair-goer. It's explains everything, right?

So guess what? You can BUY these shirts now! I didn't know that I could open a little CafePress shop, but it was easy. Not only can you get shirts, but there are also aprons, hats, bags, and even shirts for your dog.

So, if you're interested, click HERE to be taken to my little CafePress shop. Thanks!

Happy pottering!

Working on...

2011-01-28T14:16:00.005-06:00

everything!

I'm working on everything. Special orders, 1000 pots, technique, form, glazes... everything. I also worked on my blog a little. I cleaned it up a bit by changing to a white-ish background with neat little boxes for all my sidebar widgets. How does it look? Better? Worse? You didn't notice? ;)

Anyway... I don't have a ton of special orders right now, which is a good thing because I really have a LOT of pots to make for the opening. The bisque is starting to pile up, which is really nice. I don't remember making pottery like this before. I used to make enough for a kiln load, bisque it, glaze it and refire (perhaps that was because of the near-every-weekend shows?!). I never boxed up bisque ware with intention of glazing at a later date. It's actually quite nice to not have to worry about all the aspects of pottery making from start to finish all at once. I pulled 27 cups and 17 bowls from the L&L and put them in 'storage'. I read on other pottery blogs that this is a regular practice, which makes me wonder if I was doing it wrong the whole time. Either way, it's working out now. Brian came down to the studio and looked at all the bisque and asked "Where did all this come from?" ;)

My 1000 pots is coming along nicely. I'm throwing as much as I can every day, working specifically on the shape and form, but also giving attention to the functionality of a piece. It might be the most gorgeous mug ever, but if it doesn't fit in your hand or do it's job as a mug (hold liquid, allow you to drink from it without spilling hot coffee everywhere).. well, then it's a pencil holder (or worse, a dust collector).

I recently found a wood ash glaze recipe for cone 6 oxidation that seemed so easy that it might not work at all. It calls for nearly 55% ash in the recipe, of which I have PLENTY. The example is beautiful, and it says you can go green or blue, which I think would be really pretty on the outside of big mugs. I'm going to do some testing with it soon and see where it goes.

What would the post be without photos?

A special order for Amanda.

Mugs and more mugs.

That's it for now. There is a bag of pre-weighed clay balls downstairs calling my name.

Happy pottering! :)

Hot Pot!

2011-01-25T08:01:00.004-06:00

It's become a tradition now.. once a month, we have hot pot. HOTTT POTTT!

For those of you that don't know what hot pot is, I'll tell you. Hot pot is pretty much family style eating, but instead of bowls of different types of food, you have one 'hot pot' in the middle of the table (or two, or three, depending on the number of people). Each person gets their own little bowl with an egg yolk and 4 or 5 different kind of sauces, and a pair of chopsticks. A Wiki search shows that hot pot may have started with Mongolians, but it also says it's unclear where it started. At this point, it's been tweaked for what we like to put it in the pot, so it really might not resemble the original hot pots anyway. We put in: broth, the egg whites, tofu, noodles, shrimp, fish Twinkie (our name for it, we don't know what it's really called), beef, fish ball, cabbage, scallops, and whatever else we feel like throwing in. Everything sits in there and cooks for a little bit while we all stare at it and ask 'Is it time yet?!'. Then, when it's all ready, you open the pot and dig in with your chopsticks! It's really a great meal for really picky eaters because you can choose what you want to put in your bowl. We usually have a non-meat pot on the table for me and Maggie, and a non-egg, but with meat pot for everyone else.

Last night we had TWELVE people at Jill's house, which made a really awesome hot pot. Here are a couple videos I shot with my little camera of the hot pot madness. (For you, Brandi! Just think... 7 months until the fair! You should start counting down.)

*Please note: I am NOT a videographer and I was hungry, so they're short and to the point. ;)

There ya go, hot pot! It's really good.. and this time I made up some dumplings, only fried instead of boiled (yuck!). They turned out pretty good considering they were an experiment. :)

Anyway... I'd better get back to work. Those 1000 pots aren't going to make themselves! :)

1000 Pots.

2011-01-21T11:37:00.003-06:00

That's a lot, I know. Well, for me that's a lot. I'm sure there are potters out there cranking out pots galore. Someone said once that a potter should be able to throw 50 pots a day, easily. What?! Are these GOOD pots, or just 'pots'? I don't want to throw 1000 crappy pots. No one will buy them, and omg.. think of the reclaim!

So, this is my goal. I'd like to have 1000 pots thrown (or built), bisqued, glazed, fired and ready for sale in time for my Opening in April (tentative date, April 16th). Does that seem crazy? Yes? Well, believe me, it feels crazy. That gives me 12-ish weeks, with one week prior to the sale where I'm freaking out about other things instead of the quantity of pots. That's about 12 pots per day, but we all know how other things get in the way and I won't be throwing every.single.day in the next twelve weeks. For the sake of numbers, let's take out the weekends. That means roughly 17 pots per working 'weekday'. I'm sure this is possible, but oh my.. those are big numbers.

Here's the catch.. it's not just MAKING the pots.. they have to be good enough to sell. No cracks, no seconds (well, maybe a few seconds), no crappy glazes.. nada.

So, that's my personal challenge. 1000 sale-worthy pots between now and April 9th. I want to make it worth the drive for everyone that comes out to my opening, and variety (I think) is the key. :)

I'm only counting the 27 tumblers yesterday in the total so far, but they aren't fired yet. Only 973 to go (if all the tumblers survive). Oh.. and hey, does anyone want to join me? I know Lizzy said something about 'friendly pushing' each other.. it's like a diet, or training for a triathlon.. minus the lack of carbohydrates and wheezing.

Happy pottering! :)

Is organic-y a word?

2011-01-20T09:33:00.005-06:00

I don't know if it is or not, but I'm using it. It best describes the direction these tumblers are going. I made two tumblers for Angie (see the previous post), and I liked them so much, I figured I'd do a big run of them. I was going to try to throw them all yesterday morning (har har) but that didn't happen because everything gets in the way.. dogs, computer, laundry, dishes etc etc. I did, however, get 26 thrown yesterday. They're all over the place.

I wrote a status update on FB that said "Willow Avenue Pottery spent the day channeling my inner Mackenzie. I made 26 organic-y looking, no-fuss tumblers.. and I LOVED it. Might be a new direction, me thinks." I really like them. I made a few similar to this in Tuscarora and they just fit in your hand so well, and have a nice texture instead of an absolutely smooth side. It really got me thinking about my pottery. An instructor once said that I was too picky, to much of a perfectionist, to anal retentive (yes, he said that). I guess my problem is that I'm trying to make my pottery look too much like dinnerware that you can buy at JCPenney or Kohls. First of all, that's impossible because that stuff is made in China or Mexico or wherever and it's made by all machines. Pots that don't pass quality control (aka, perfect and exactly like all the others) get tossed back into the slop bucket or worse, the trash pile. I'm coming to terms with the fact that handmade pottery isn't supposed to be that way. It's supposed to have marks of the maker, not marks of the machine.

SO, I threw these 26 tumblers yesterday. All of them are different, unique, and every one of them has two of my thumb prints on them. They all started out roughly as one pound of clay, but some are tall and slender and some are short and fat. I like them. I like making pottery that isn't fussy. The reason I said I was channeling my inner Mackenzie is that I've watched several videos of Warren Mackenzie throwing and he throws no-fuss pottery. He doesn't agonize over little pointless details, he throws basic functional pottery. I like it. I think I'll try that and maybe I won't freak out as much over the little things. :)

I had a request for pictures of the no-fuss tumblers. Here they are.

..and in case you don't know who Warren Mackenzie is...

:)

Cracked it open...

2011-01-18T10:01:00.004-06:00

... the kiln, that is. Here are a few things that came out.

This is a new thing I'm working on... slabs. I made some of these before and called them 'button servers', but now they're starting to morph into plates that you could use for eating.. this one is tiny, like an appetizer dish, but I have several more in the works that are larger.

I've been using reclaimed clay with two different clay bodies and I really like how they blend together and make this wavy, pressed earth-over-a-million years design.

Buttons! Jill gets first pick. :)

New pendants.. not cleaned up or on necklaces yet, but I tried out some new pre-mix glazes that are interesting on small things.

Cups for Angie! I really like this style.. tall tumbler, not perfectly straight-sided, with a thumb print on both sides for gripping. Angie bought one from me at the Black Friday Market Day, and then she GAVE IT AWAY for a Christmas present. ;) It's completely ok though, because then she ordered white cups. :)

That's what's going on.. back to work! :)

Coming back to life...

2011-01-17T15:26:00.003-06:00

... just barely. I started getting a little sick last Wednesday, and by Friday, I had a full blown cold. I told a friend that Friday I was in the 'zombie-like, mouth-breathing, TV phase' of being sick. I couldn't do anything except drag myself around to get food, sleep, and put on a new movie. It was NOT pretty. In years past, I'm one of those 'two sinus colds' a year people, but usually they happen in spring and fall. This year, I didn't get either of those so I thank my lucky stars that I got one cold in the past year, and it happened A. after harvest and B. after the holidays. :)

I'm doing much better as of yesterday. I did a bisque fire and today I unloaded, glazed and reloaded the kiln full of special orders, glaze tests, and knot pendants. Unfortunately, I have no photos to show of all this progress, so you're just going to have to believe me. I'll have photos of finished product, and that's really what you want to see anyway, right?

Today, as I was glazing, Brian was putting up more lights (day off, yay!). All the studio lights are up, and now we're going to start working on the showroom ceiling and lights. I'm so excited... for some reason, it doesn't feel like I can really dig in with production until I have places to put finished pots, which is silly, but it's stuck in my head. Finished pots can go anywhere, but I want SHELVES, and I can't get those up until we get the ceiling done. *sigh* ;)

Anyway, I don't have the photos of actual work for you, so I have one of Asti.. she insists on helping me write blog posts.

OH, and a P.S. THANK YOU again to everyone that entered in the January giveaway. I'm so excited to have met new pottery fans and I hope you'll all come back for the February giveaway. Thanks!

:)

And the winner is.....

2011-01-10T12:04:00.004-06:00

.... drum roll, please.....

LISA From Phoenix!

Lisa, you are the new owner of one Powder Blue Shark Bowl! Now I need you to email me your address so I can ship the bowl. :) It might be a few days, as we're having a lovely blizzard in Iowa right now. My email is RebeccaJDBrandow@yahoo.com. I'll try to have it shipped by the end of the week! Congratulations!

NEXT MONTH:
So I said I was going to do this every month, and I wasn't fibbing. Next month is going to be a good one because there will be a couple extras with the pottery that I'm giving away. Now, if you're a knitter or you know someone who is, you should check back frequently for the giveaway. I'm not going to tell you when I'm doing it, because where's the fun in that? :) Let's just say that it's going to be in February. I'm going to give away a YARN BOWL, with a few yarn related goodies to boot. Sounds good, right? :)

I want to thank everyone that entered in the January Giveaway. There were 100 entries and I gave everyone a number for each entry they submitted and then used the generator at Random.Org to choose one number, which was 24, which was Lisa! :)

Thanks again, and come back and visit often. I ♥ blog readers! :)

FREE SHARK BOWL! <~~ Read Me!

2011-01-07T07:56:00.003-06:00

Hello blog readers! I was sitting at the wheel yesterday, thinking about how I need to reach more people with my pottery. If you didn't know, I live out in the sticks. I'm 3 miles from a small town, and 50 miles from a big city. It's hard to meet new fans when I spend most of my time elbow-deep in clay. The thought popped into my head that maybe my readers could help. YOU know people.. YOU have friends that might, just like you, love pottery!

But wait... people don't want to do something for nothing... Hmm.. What if I gave you something for your effort? Well, that is a LOT of free pots to give away... how about a drawing instead? Would you tell your friends about me for the CHANCE of winning something? You WOULD?! That is so awesome. What if I do it once a month for the next year? Would you KEEP sharing with your friends on Facebook and Twitter? You WOULD?! That's so exciting! :)

Here it goes! I have this lovely Powder Blue Shark Bowl. Every time I see it in the inventory box downstairs, I think, "I wish someone would buy that bowl so it has a nice home instead of that darn box!". What do you think? Should I give it away? Yes?

OK!

Here's what you need to do to enter:

1. 'Follow' me on my blog.
2. Click on the title of this blog post, and Share the link on Facebook.
3. Share the same link on your Twitter account (or any other social networking site)
4. 'Like' my Willow Avenue Pottery page on Facebook. Click HERE.

Easy, right? Well, that's not all... after you do each one of those things, write a separate comment for this post indicating you did each one. That means you get entered FOUR times for the drawing instead of just one. I'll take all the names and put them into one of those online random drawing thingmajigs. If you're the winner, I will send you the Powder Blue Shark Bowl for FREE. No shipping, no charge whatsoever. I might even put a little extra fun thing in there. What have you got to lose? Start sharing!

This giveaway ends on Monday at Noon, so you have all of today, the whole weekend, and Monday morning. Good luck! :)

Funny man.

2011-01-06T09:48:00.006-06:00

My Dad sent me the link to this comedian. If you're having a crapola day, watch this guy. :)

A nice way to start out the new year, I think.

:)

2010 Photo Year In Review!

2010-12-31T15:20:00.015-06:00

Hey there, blog readers. It seems that a lot of people do blog posts or articles about resolutions or what they expect for the new year and maybe throw in a little bit about what they're doing for New Year's Eve.. and well, I want to participate! :)

My good friend Jill said that she's not doing resolutions anymore. I think I stopped doing resolutions a long time ago, but I never really replaced them with anything. Jill decided that she is going to have ambitions instead. Ambitions seem a little more within my reach, and that way I don't totally feel like I was so terrible at something in 2010 that I'm RESOLVING to 'fix' it in the new year. I like Ambitions. I'm going to aim to do productive, positive, fun, challenging, creative things all year long. I think anyone that is their own boss has to constantly be doing these things, and always trying to think outside the box when doing them. If not, I'd make the same pots every day and do the same shows every year and never aspire to anything else. Well, if you (reader) know me at all from reading my blog, you probably know that I have the attention span of a 3 year old when it comes to making pots... and by the time a pot has made it out of the kiln, I'm already thinking of ways to change it or move right along to the next idea. I'm completely ok with this, btw. I could never be that artist that cranks out 20 of the same thing... so, if you see something you want, you'd best buy it up quick, because I probably won't be making any more of them. ;)

ANYWAY, I got off track a little there. What I really wanted to do was post a 2010 Picture Year in Review. I have thousands of photos from this year, but I'm going to limit myself to 24 (yikes, that's a lot!)... two photos from each month of this year. Enough to tell a little story, not so many that you'll get bored and leave my blog (please don't leave!). So, here it goes. Enjoy.

January

Gabber's 10th Birthday Party... JENGA!

Prep for my first big 'show' at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.. notice the lack of drywall in the studio.. less than a year ago!

February

Again, more prep for the big show.

The 'big show' in which I had to change my booth set up to fit in a 'walk through' space... that I didn't know about until the day of the show. *grumble*

March = construction. Notice the mayhem in the first photo of the studio... be sure to compare with a photo later in the year. I'm a slave driver. ;)

Dad and Brian putting up walls. YES!

April

Brian found this awesome vintage jacket and insists I put him on my blog. ;)

Tyguy's Birthday party!

May

A sad month.. my Grandpa was very, very sick and passed away in May. This photo was from Christmas, 2008.

Brian's Dad, Larry, is a member of the Marine Corps League. He's one of the riflemen at the Memorial Day ceremony at the capitol.

June

My first ever teaching experience... a handbuilding class. Whatcha doin', Jill? :)

OMG.. is it summer yet?! I want to go for a motorbike ride!

July

I feel July should be honored with a video, for the killer fireworks display that Danny put on. This is the finale of his show.

August

I went to Tuscarora again last summer... this is a spacey photo of me in the light of the soda kiln, near the end of the firing. Danny.. you think you're a pyro, catch me around a gas firing. ;)

I helped out my new friend Sheri at the fair this year and made some wonderful new friends, Brandi and Greg. They're sand sculptors, and here we are showing our job-related dirt. :)

September

Another fair! I set up a booth, and my wheel at the Guthrie County Fair.. which turned out to be a TON of fun. I saw a bunch of people I know and sold a bunch of pots!

What kind of a fur-mom would I be if I didn't add a photo of my little girl? Here she is, squinting and wearing what looks like a triangle window hat.

October

I can't believe I don't have a single photo in my archive from this October. It was harvest, and I suppose I was too busy driving the truck to take photos. Here's one from last year. :)

November

My first trip to Chuck's Bargain Barn. More stuff, literally, than you can shake a stick at.

The studio is sort of starting to look like a studio and less like a cave. Look! Drywall!

December

November and December were extra busy... I spent ALL of my time making pots for shows, only to nearly sell out at a couple of shows and have to go home and rush another load of pots. I did, however, find the time to set up my little tree in the dining room.

This was the last Sample Sunday of the year... I ♥ twinkly lights. :)

I had lots, and lots, and LOTS of photos to choose from, so this is by far a very tiny representation of the events from the past year. I just realized there were no hot pot photos, which I was introduced to this year, and now I am an addict. I didn't get photos of all my family or friends, but you all know who you are and what we did this year. ;) So much goes on in a year, I'm surprised I was capable of condensing it into 24 photos... so how about a list? Yes, I LOVE lists.

Stuff That Happened This Year (not listed in above photos)
10. Quit my full time job in exchange for being a potter (yes!).
9. Made a ton of new friends.. there are so many, I don't even want to try to list them for fear of forgetting someone. I love not driving full time.. it allows me to have a life that I haven't had for years. :)
8. Bought a new kiln, Helios.
7. Mixed my own glazes... from scratch.
6. Rode the train to Elko, NV and had all my credit cards stolen. Booo!
5. Made a LOT of pottery (wait, that was kind of assumed, right?)
4. Learned more things about running a business than I ever thought I would... and most of it the hard way.
3. Did NOT crash the truck during planting or harvest season. WOO!
2. OMG.. hot pot.
1. ...and.... I wrote a year in review blog post (with fingerless gloves on, while it snows outside and Brian tries to work on the pickup front end in the shop while he has a cold! Blech!).

SO, that's it! Happy New Year! Remember, Jill says aim, not resolve! :)

Oh wait.. and what am I doing this New Year's Eve? Making dinner, drinking champagne, and watching a freebie Netflix movie.

See you next year! :)

The Salvation Army Red Kettle

2010-12-23T09:29:00.004-06:00

Hi there, blog readers. I just wanted to share this with you, and hope that you'll share a little in return. Every year we see the Salvation Army Red Kettles out at all the stores... usually there is a half-frozen person standing there, ringing a bell and hoping that you'll drop your extra change in the kettle. I've always wanted to be a bell ringer, but I know I won't be able to handle the cold. That's really sad, because there are thousands of homeless people that endure the cold, go without food, a place to sleep, and kids that go without all those things (not to mention no gifts for Christmas!).

Now, I've been broke before.. in college, after college, and later during our house move. We've lived off Ramen noodles, drank only water, and had no money for gifts... but we have never been so without that we don't have a place to sleep, or a little bit of money to buy the Ramen noodles. There are people out there that are doing without anything, and that's when the Salvation Army comes in and takes care of them during the holidays and the freezing cold winter. SO, I decided to start my own virtual Red Kettle and I would sincerely appreciate it if you could donate a little bit to help people in central Iowa. Currently it is 29 degrees outside and we're expecting snow for the next two days. Please donate a little so people in Iowa can get a good meal tonight. Thanks! and Merry Christmas!

♥Becky

Click HERE to donate to my kettle. Thank you!

New Etsy Listings.

2010-12-18T09:59:00.007-06:00

I have one more show before the end of the year. Sample Sunday tomorrow. :)

I went through my inventory and picked out pieces for that show, and the rest of it is GOING ON ETSY!

I don't have any shows planned from the first of the year until my opening in April, so that means produce produce produce. I'll be glued to that wheel for the next 3 1/2 months, making pots to fill the shelves in the showroom. That means my only link to the outside world (and potential pottery buyers) is the internet! Get ready, ladies and gents, for blogs posts, pictures, videos, Etsy listings, and my website with tons of pottery fun!

Here are a few of what went up on Etsy this morning. Click on the link above each photo to be taken to the Etsy listing.

Red Hot Tumbler

Light Yellow Infinity Pendant

Slate Bowl

Two Buttons: Coral, Royal Blue, Minty Fresh

Visit my Etsy Shop to see more. :)

A process post... save your wrists!

2010-12-17T11:40:00.009-06:00

I don't know if it was the years of truck driving, the clay wedging, or just a variety of daily activities... but my wrists are toast. Well, not completely toast, but they don't like it when I abuse them and then expect them to work. Here's a little post about how I'm wedging reclaim clay from here on out (or until it rains money).

First I should say that you (meaning me, and every potter/clay artist out there) can buy a machine that does what I'm about to show you. It's called a pugmill and they are very, VERY expensive... from 2-5 thousand dollars expensive. SO, being that I'm an artist and I don't want to have to sell enough coffee cups to buy one of these things, I came up with plan B.

Plan B is much more time consuming than a pugmill, but it's free and all it takes is a plastic bag. Plenty of those around, right? So what I do to reclaim clay is first put it in a bucket of water and slurry it down to mush... then it goes onto a drying rack.

Reclaim, some mush, some dry pieces...

Very mushy, with a little grog mixed in for good measure...

My drying rack... I'm doing reclaim in small batches because I found that giant batches dry out too fast, no matter how much plastic I wrap them in. The rack is an old screen on top of a laundry basket with an old bed sheet on top to hold the clay.

While it's drying, I'll fold it over, flip it around, cut it into chucks... whatever to TRY to get it to dry evenly. Clay never wants to dry evenly. It's like making pancakes... the outside edge cooks fast, the inside is still mush. After it's dry enough to handle, I'll take the chunks and put them on a drywall board to dry out some more. (OMG, so many steps to recycling clay).

Next comes the fun part. I chop the chunks up into smaller chunks and add 'new' clay, straight outta the bag. 1/3 recycle, 1/3 Continental Clay, 1/3 Amaco stoneware. The reason I do this is because the recycle is a mixture of the other two clays... the CC clay is super soft, and the Amaco is nearly as hard as a brick. By mixing them, I get a pretty nice clay, with grog (but not too much) that is nice to work with and has a pretty buff color when it's fired. :)

Ready for 'mixing'...

Then I take 5 or 6 of these little piles and smash them together on the workbench.

I put the two piles together and stick them in one of those heavy-duty plastic bags that clay comes in. I don't think your average grocery bag will work... I'm pretty sure it would split in the next step.

Then the really fun part... take the bag, hold it by the opening, and smash it onto the floor... a bunch of times.. flipping it over until the clay sorta looks like a pancake.

Clay in the bag, smashed on the floor.

Clay pancake out of bag.

Next I slice the pancake in half put the two pieces together, then slice it again into a pie shape and put 'em together again. I do this process (bag, smash, cut, repeat) three times per lump of clay. It really gets the different kinds of clay wedged together, plus it gets quite a bit of air out without having to wedge each 2 pound ball 50 times.

After that, square up each chunk and double wrap them in plastic. I let them sit for a day so the dry pieces in the clay can absorb some of the water in the wetter pieces of clay. It seems to work pretty well though... I haven't found too many air bubbles doing it this way... but I also give it a little wedging right before I use it to make sure it's de-aired.

I've never liked doing the reclaim, but I think this is way more fun than wedging clay one little piece at a time. I used to add grog to my clay when I was wedging it, which was even less fun... so by adding the grog into the mush, mixing it with my hands and then blending the clay with this 'floor' method, I think everything gets distributed more evenly and my wrists/hands are happier. :)

Happy pottering! :)

Way cool.

2010-12-14T08:51:00.002-06:00

I know, I get excited about the most ridiculous things... like adding the food coloring to my wax resist. I finally decided to do this because it's impossible to see the wax resist on some pots and well, why not purple?

A funky little jar...

Back to work. :)

A little early...

2010-12-12T13:21:00.004-06:00

I wasn't planning on opening my Etsy Shop back up until after the holidays. If you are an Etsy Shop owner, or you know one... you are well aware of the time it takes to list an item. Well, I've had several people asking where they can get my buttons, so I took a couple hours today and got some listed. I'm going to try to get a few things listed per week to keep the online inventory fresh. After all, it is just one giant, virtual art/craft show, right? :)

:)