Who is new among the Gnomes & Friends?

Hello everyone. I have listed the house again and you can see the information here. It has been on the market for 3 weeks now, hopefully it will move quickly. I am more than ready to move forward. I have been struggling to create because of needing to keep the house showable all the time. Clean-up takes away from creative time... But, as I may have mentioned before, a friend asked if I could make her a Highland Cow (Coo). I told her I could only promise that I would try. After a few unsuccessful attempts, and lots of thinking about how to create one, I finally had success last weekend.

I ended up making 4 last week, and they are currently cooling from their bisque firing. I made 6 more this morning. Keep in mind that this is the very same friend who asked me if I could make her a gnome, and we know how that went! Also in the kiln are some more snowmen with hats and an owl with a book (another request attempt). I hope everyone is enjoying Spring.

Getting ready for Mistletoe Market

 With Mistletoe Market coming up on November 1st, I have been busy in all my spare time creating.

Even though this year's Mistletoe Market is only 1 day, I have over 250 pieces that are slated to go, not counting the wooden pieces. That is, if everything makes it through the firings.

Flat pieces to become magnets, pendants, pins, or whatever I think they might want to be, and squirrels.

Glittery paper stars that I plan to use in my booth.
Some as a yet-to-be-made garland, and some loose as a give away for the kids.

The results of one of my glaze firings.
I had a special order for one of the snowmen and a black chicken.

I mentioned the bit about "if everything makes it through" because of my weekend run-in with an inhabited Joro spider web at the kiln. And, when I say run-in, I mean face first into the web. That caused me to jump, drop the tray of pieces slated for a bisque firing, and losing about 80% of them. Hopefully, the few that survived will make it through their firings. 

Using a very long stick, I relocated the spider. cleaned up my mess, and then after an hour or so calming my nerves, I remade most of what was lost. Luckily, it was a small batch of many.

I know that Joro spiders will not hurt me, but when irrational fears jump in (arachnophobia - big time), that knowledge goes out the window. When I went to do another firing the next morning, I took a leaf rake and a can of bug spray with me to be sure the coast was clear.

As always, I look forward to this show. It is such a wonderful event space, fabulous staff & volunteers, not to mention great fellow vendors. I usually do a good portion of my Christmas shopping there.

Hot summer!

I have been working on some stock pieces, as well as requests for Chickens and Squirrels.

These are some of the chickens I have drying, waiting for the bisque firing. (There are a couple of squirrels hanging out in the background as well.)

I'm still struggling a little with my creative flow, but I am definitely moving forward. 

Now if the weather will cooperate, I can get these bisque fired in the next few days. 

(There is a threat of thunderstorms again today...)

When finished, the Chickens and Squirrels will look somewhat like these completed pieces.

I have had someone request a turkey... I will try, but I cannot promise anything.

Now to get my photos ready to send to Mistletoe Market for their social media blasts.

I hope all is well with anyone reading this. We are in the midst of what might be classified as a Heat Wave (not sure if it's officially one yet). I am ever so grateful to the inventors of air conditioning!

 

A Busy Fall

So, I have been busy. 

At the end of September Hurricane Helene came through our area and left her mark. 

Fortunately, the tree uprooted in my yard (that fell over the street) did not hit the houses on the other side of the street. And, neither my house, Terri's house, nor the store had any damage. 

There were trees down all over town, most of them uprooted. BIG oak trees, and at one time there was no way to get in or out of town. We all were blessed that as bad as it was, it was nowhere near as bad as the mountains of North Carolina. And there were places in South Carolina that were hit worse than we were as well. We knew we would have wind and rains, 

but never expected to have such strong winds for so many hours.

We lost two days of business because there was no power at the store. 

Terri and the store were without power for 2 1/2-3 days. 

I lost almost a week of production time due to having no power at my house for 6 days.

However, I was able to continue to create enough Gnomes and Friends to stock my booth at Mistletoe Market at the Anderson County Museum the beginning of November. 

I had a great show and have brought most of the remaining angel & gnome stock to the store. 

My booth at Mistletoe Market.

Limited Edition Christmas Gnomes in the background.
Penguin and Polar Bear ornaments, and Black Bears.

In between, I had house guests (my sister Regina & her husband Matt, as well as my brother Bill) who were in town for a surprise 70th Birthday celebration for my sister Sue. 

(Brother Rick also came to town but stayed at my nephew's house.) 

Sue's comment when she saw Bill & Regina the first time was "It's not nice to surprise old people!"

The whole family that was here including Sue's children (Bobby & Karen), son & daughter-in-law (Matthew & Shelly), grandchildren (Blake, Logan, Cara, and Sawyer), and grand dog Tic, Terri's husband (Rodney) and son (Ben), Rick's wife (Alice), his dog Wrigley, Regina's husband  (Matt), Aunt Celeste, and Betty (Dad's friend in his later years).

While everyone was here we took to opportunity to place Dad's ashes in the columbarium with Mom's. This was something that Terri and I did not want to do with just the two of us, 

we wanted as many of our siblings to be there as possible. 

Dad in the car on the way to the church's columbarium.

Dad on the kitchen counter wearing his Elon cap that Rick gave him and Mom's crab hat giving him a hug. The urn was designed by my father-in-law Wally Higgins and made by my sister-in-law Laurie Higgins Lang.

At the beginning of October Terri created a scarecrow display for Scarecrow Season in Pendleton. Those scarecrows are only 12" tall! The title of her display was "Fairies of the Garden".

Faeries of the Garden

Now we are prepared for Christmas at the store. And, I need to get my house listed for sale again...

 

Busy Summer

 I didn't realize just how long it has been since I last posted. My apologies to anyone who may have been looking for any kind of update.

The painting is complete, and the house has been back on the market for 3 months now. 

I decided to introduce a new friend to my collection, as well as a new Limited Edition Christmas Gnome.

Black Bears (Brown/Grizzly/Polar to come soon)

A Black bear came to mind, inspired by a couple of my favorite clay artisans. Theirs are SO very different yet very inspiring. I have made 17 so far, and only have 2 or 3 remaining finished ones. I am making more for Mistletoe Market!

In addition to the Black Bears, I will make some Brown/Grizzly Bears, Polar Bears, and more Gnomes, Cats, Fox, Owls, Ghosts, Snowpeople, Pumpkins, Angels, Santa Hats, Mushrooms, Penguins, Bluebirds, Cardinals, Hedgehogs, Mice, Bunnies, and maybe more... Ideas keep percolating in my head.

2024 Limited Edition Christmas Gnome

As I was making some Polka Dot hat gnomes, I decided that I would make the dots multi-colored, like the Christmas Trees I started making. The background colors so far have been black, purple, and yellow. Anyway, that inspired me to create the Limited Edition Christmas Gnome for this year with a Christmas tree for it's hat. I have pre-orders for 40 of them! I will make plenty extra to bring with me to Mistletoe Market.

In other news... I am frustrated with the fact that nobody has come to look at the house in 2 months! I had both bathrooms worked on (as per my previous post) as well as painting the one bathroom, and painting the large kitchen wall. I then hired a crew to trim the greatly neglected trees and shrubs. We lowered the price. We would rather not lower the price too much more. The house is 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2,300+ square feet of living space with an out building and 1.55 acres. Our agent grew up on this street and her dad still lives in the neighborhood. Any pointers on getting people to at least come and take a look?

I know it will sell when the time is right. I just am stressing about how long it is taking to get to the right time.

I will do my best to update things before Mistletoe Market (which is November 1 & 2 this year!)

Renovations complete! (Now to paint.)

 In the effort to get the house ready to put back on the market, I hired a contractor to completely re-do the small bathroom and to put new flooring and toilet (plus some cosmetic upgrades) into the larger bathroom.  I cannot say enough good about the job they did (local peeps - try to hire Carter's Remodeling & Construction LLC). 

Now, I need to finish painting the kitchen and the large bathroom. The small bathroom needs absolutely no more work.

Why did I go to this expense if I am selling the house? Because the only feedback from potential buyers last time was "How much would it cost to re-do the bathrooms?"

And, I need to get my hands back into the clay again and do some creating! I was accepted into Mistletoe Market again this year! Happy dancing!

The new floor & toilet in the larger bathroom.
I still need to paint.

The view of the small bathroom from the door.

The new vanity in the small bathroom.

A closer look at the new shower in the small bathroom.

The kitchen wall that has been colonial blue from the chair rail down 
is becoming all white. It needs at least one more coat, probably 2.

Busy creating for Mistletoe Market

I've been busy creating stock for Mistletoe Market. The show is in 1 week. The creative flow has been difficult at times because I need to clean and put everything away every time I leave the house for more than 10 minutes, just in case someone wants to view the house.

Glazed and ready for the final firing.

Some angels ready to assemble. Other items I ran out of time to glaze for tonight's firing.

The last of the items formed for next weekend's show. (I will make more after the show too!)

Collapsible bar that comes with it's own carrying case.

And a shelf underneath for boxes, bags, and tissue.

I have stopped shaping things for the time being so I can finish those that are already shaped. I will resume after the show so I can build stock for the store. I also found this wonderful collapsible bar that I can use as my wrap stand for the show.

Still packing...

I can fully understand why moving is often on the list of most stressful activities. (The Top 5 Most Stressful Life Events: 1. Death of a loved one, 2. Divorce, 3. Moving, 4. Major illness or injury, 5. Job loss.) I am STILL packing! I will work for hours, fill boxes and turn around to see that it appears I still have the same amount to go. FRUSTRATING! On the up side, I did fill out my application for Mistletoe Market. Again, I won't know for sure I'm in until the jury makes their decisions. I am eager to get the house sold, move to a new-to-me home and get creating! I miss it so much!

Thank you!

 

I had a wonderful Mistletoe Market. 

Thank you to all who came and adopted my creations.

I am posting in my group on facebook (Cindy's Gnomes & Friends) what I have left so non-locals (and those unable to make it to the Market) can pick. I am making more!  I have wish lists for more that what remains. That makes me smile.

I have taken the week off from creating because I needed a little break. 

Again, thank you to all. I appreciate you and am humbled by how much people love my creations. I get so much joy out of their creation, and even more joy seeing the response and knowing they are going to loving homes.

Ready or not...

 I unloaded the last glaze firing destined for the Mistletoe Market this morning.  I just need to add the accents and sign, number, and price them all. Easily done.

I started more packing of product for Friday. It is amazing how many gnomes, snowmen, etc. fit into one of my cases compared to mugs and coffee pots...

I'm ready. I'm looking forward to this wonderful show.

Home Stretch

 Mistletoe Market at the Anderson County Museum is one week from today!  EEEEEEEEEEK!

That being said, I am 95% sure I am ready.

Some of the hand painted wood ornaments I will have this year.

This piece is sold, but I can take orders. It is larger than the rest and the tree is attached to the snowman.

This piece is also sold. Again, it is larger and the tree is attached to the Santa Gnome.

A few of the friendly snowpeople.

A close-up mug of the newest friends of the batch - Hedgehogs!

Some of the trees (and a few cardinals in the background).

I am excited. I love, Love, LOVE this show! 

The organizers are wonderful, the customers are too! 

And the other creative folk showing are fab-u-lous!

I have most items that are finished already priced, some packed, some in progress still, but I only have 2 - 3 more kiln firings, one glaze firing tonight, and maybe just one more glaze firing, I think it will all fit. If not, 2 glaze firings, I have time for that. 

(And time to add the gold and other acccents, sign and price them.)

I wish all of the exhibitors at the show a wonderfully fun and profitable time!

I thank the museum staff and volunteers for all they do to help this be such a great show.

See you Friday!

Life

 

I am back creating the Limited Edition Autumn/Halloween Gnomes. It was difficult to jump back in, but I know it was the right thing to do, and putting it off was not in my best interest.

The 40 in this limited edition are all spoken for, and are all shaped. I have bisque fired half of them, the others are drying. I will begin glazing this week.

I also will be making some commemorative pieces for my family. When Mom was half way through her treatments in 2000, a tree was dedicated in her honor at the SC Botanical Garden in Clemson. At the time of her passing in 2011, we took a few tablespoons of her ashes (at Dad's request) and sprinkled them at the base of the tree. we did the same with a small amount of Dad's ashes last week. We also took a few snippets of leaves from this gorgeous Japanese Maple. I will impress them into clay and make ornaments for my siblings. I will share photos when I get them started.

Below is the labor of love my family contributed to and my nephew's wife put together for the funeral. A life well lived with much love. He will be missed but we all must continue on with life.

A New Limited Edition Gnome

 

The Autumn/Halloween Limited Edition Gnome is ready for pre-orders. I drew the concept a few weeks ago and shaped the prototype this past weekend.

Pre-orders will end at 11:59PM on Monday, August 22, 2022.

Choice of hat color will be purple (as on the gnome to the left in the photo below) or green (as on the angel in the photo below).

Once pre-orders end, I will make 10 more than the amount pre-ordered. 

They will all be signed and  numbered

There will be no more like them made in 2022.

As with any of these handmade pieces, there will be variations from one to the next, 

no two will be exactly alike. 

When completed, they will be ready for shipment/pick-up no later than mid October.

Keep in mind that I am also preparing stock for Mistletoe Market the beginning of November.

Some new Friends added

 I have been making the Angels for 8 years this coming November.

 I started the Santa Hats a couple of years later, but only made them for 2 years. I have brought them back this year. Now stoneware rather than porcelain, they will be easier to make. (Porcelain can be finicky to work with.) I just need to figure out a better way (in my view) to create the hooks.

I started the Gnomes last fall, introducing them at Mistletoe Market in early November. Since then I have made over 300 of them, including some limited edition ones and some custom requests. 

I have added new since then... first the Mushrooms. They come in all sorts of color combinations.

Now I have addes Owls.

Snails...

Penguins...

Cats... (including a couple of custom ones to look somewhat like specific pets.)

And I am making a sample Fox! Who knows if I will make more or not...

The Fox is still drying and I have not figured out exactly how I will glaze it... 

I am also painting some wood ornaments to add to the price variation for those who may not want to spend 10 - 20 dollars on a Snail, Gnome, Angel, or any of the others thus far...

I got in!

 I received my acceptance email for Mistletoe Market!  Now I no longer need to stress about it this year!

I will send my booth fee out tomorrow!

Some fun things...

 A few things I have been working on lately:

Mushrooms

Owls

The inside of the shipping boxes for the Patriotic Gnomes 

(limited edition gnomes - sold out.)

The Limited Edition Patriotic Gnomes

Sold-out

owls (angels in the background)

I am thoroughly enjoying the process of making the gnomes still. 

Each of them has their very own personality.

About two months ago, I started with the mushrooms as well, and then recently have begun work on the owls. They are not finished yet.

There are so many additional ideas for decorations on the hats of the gnomes, and ideas for other things to add to the collection of friends that are floating around in my head. (As you can see in the background, I am still making my angels as well! I will also be bringing back the Santa Hat ornaments.)

Recently, I submitted my application for the Mistletoe Market at the Museum (Anderson County Museum, Anderson, SC) again for this year. I am always on pins and needles waiting to see if I get juried in or not. I understand the process, and the fact that the jury may be different people each year.

I hope the year has been good to everyone so far. We have been busy at the store. I am still the President of the Pendleton Area Business Association. Dad will be 91 this August. My car unfortunately needs a new head gasket... the possibility of buying  new-to-me car is out of the question right now.