A bit of production

As I was working with the clay this past weekend, it told me in no uncertain terms that some of it needed to be ghosts. So, I now have added Ghosts to my Gnomes and Friends!

Limited Editions...

 

I have the photo of the glazed Valentine Gnomes. I had pre-orders for 25 and made 41. I only have 4 left that are not spoken for. Not too bad in my opinion.

These are photos of the prototype for the limited edition St. Pat's gnome. I have pre-orders for 24 (the cut-off date was 1/28/23), decided to make 35, and have had 4 additional ones ordered from that surplus. Again, not too bad, in my opinion. 

This guy has a red/brown beard to be close to the traditional depiction of Leprechauns.

Today I received the glaze I want to try for the upcoming limited edition Easter gnomes. The prototype is on my to-do list.  I will have pre-orders start in mid to late February. I usually make 10 - 15 extras, depending on how popular they seem to be.

Keeping busy

 In my "off" time from my full-time job, I try to find times to create. The gnomes and angels have been well received. The mushrooms are a little slow on the uptake, but still moving. I do plan to bring back the Santa Hat ornament this year. 

That being said, I have worked on some new ideas that seem to be doing pretty well, and they have not even been finished yet! The owls are leading the pack at the moment with a few requests for them already. The first two are in the glaze firing now to see if I like the glaze technique I used. The kitties have had a few requests as well. The snails have been a little sluggish... (OK, you don't have to laugh or even grin at that.)

Here are a few pictures of some of what I have done the last week or so... 

A painted gnome on a wood plaque.

Gifted to a friend.

Some of the Patriotic Gnomes after they arrived at their destination.

Bride & Groom Gnome

Shipping box art.

New friends...

A few more kitties.

Gnomes!

 I have been busy, busy, busy making mini gnomes since November!

I made 40 for the Mistletoe Market and then they started flying out of the store. By the end of December I had made 94!

I then decided to make some limited edition ones for Valentine's Day, St. and Easter because a friend had asked me to. Silly me didn't think they would be in high demand, so I made a limited run of 12 each. I now have people waiting in line for me to finish any gnomes!

None of the ones in any of these photos are still available...

they have all been claimed or sent to their new homes.

The only ones I have that are not claimed yet are these 30 every day gnomes that are not finished yet.

I am not complaining at all! But, I do need to get some more angels made as well, there are only 4 of those left.

Thank you all for appreciating my creative venture. I appreciate you!

PS: The facebook group Cindy's Gnomes & Friends was started to help people see what I have available and to let people know a little more about my process.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1302988350199628

Where is the time going?

What a crazy time we are living in right now!

So much has happened since I was last here to share. States all over the country shut down just about everything in hopes of keeping the COVID-19 virus from spreading too fast to too many people.
Our schools here in SC were closed the week of St. Patrick's Day. The restaurants, gyms, hair salons and other "close contact" businesses were not too far behind. They closed retail businesses on April 7th. We worked in the store, with appointments for curbside pick-up as well as shipping that week. We then took Good Friday and Saturday off before Easter. Starting that Monday, we spent a week working from home, filling orders and meeting customers as needed. The state allowed us to re-open on April 21, but we decided that we would limit our days and hours to 4 hours a day for 3 days a week. The numbers are still too high for comfort. Yes, they are probably not accurate, but still, neither of us wishes to be responsible for one of our high-risk family members contracting the virus because we did not follow our instincts.
Just this week, we decided to add one day (still 4 hours only). Restaurants, gyms... are all open again, and attractions were able to open this past Friday.

What we did to help with people who suddenly were needing to find things to do at home was to make up kits for creative things. Most have been greeting card kits, but we have done a simple beading kit as well as face painting on a cloth mask. Each are only $3.00! check them out on our Facebook page or our website.
As of yesterday, we had sold over 575 in 2 months! I spend my working at home time cutting the parts and assembling these kits. The living room has been taken over!

Other than purchasing a much needed new tablet on amazon, most of the stimulus money that I have spent (which is only about half) has been spent with independent businesses. I purchased masks from two friends who have Etsy shops. I purchased beads from an independent bead shop. I buy takeout meals from independent restaurants. I was a strong supporter of the Shop Local/Shop Independent movement for a long time before all of this hit the fan.

I hope whomever happens upon this post is doing well. I am grateful that at this point, I do not know anyone personally that has been diagnosed with the virus. I do know people who have had friends or family members that have.

Be safe. Be well. Be respectful of others who may deal with all of this differently than you do.

A photo for inspiration

These are two angels I made last year for a special order.  I plan to glaze more of them white this year, as well as the other colors I have on hand. No more sticking to a set color palette.  Whatever color I feel like glazing is what color they will be.  I will still make some for special requests, within my reasonable capability.

I did have a productive day "off" yesterday, making 16 more angels before having to stop due to my fingers getting all wrinkly.

Kiln troubles

One of the things about creating with ceramic clay is that it needs to be fired in a kiln to finish it. And as fate would have it right now, BOTH of my kilns are off the operational list.

The larger kiln needed a new power cord and had to be re-wired.  I think I made a mistake because it tripped the breaker when I tried turning it on. I have the wiring diagram now and will need to take a closer look at it. 

The smaller kiln is firing things too hot.  That is something I have not had a problem with before.  I may need to replace the kiln sitter tube (it is cracked) and sensor rod.  Both things I cannot afford to replace at this time.  In a couple of weeks when I get paid again, maybe.  Other bills take priority at the moment.

I am looking forward to getting my hands back into the clay, but not until I know that I can fire them.

Meanwhile, I am working on designing cards for classes at The Mercantile.

Keep cool in this hot weather and let me know you were here.

Feeling lost and celebrating a find!

This is one of the saddest days of the year for me.  I used to adore Valentine's Day and celebrating love and romance.  These days, not so much.  I would rather stay at home and eat a peanut butter sandwich for dinner than go out and see all the couples gaga about each other (or at least putting on a good show).

Yes, I love my family and friends, but I have nobody to call my own.  Simply telling it like it is.

OK, enough about my intense dread of this day.

The find is thanks to my sister-in-law Jan.  She noticed a pair of plates advertised by one of the local antique shops in my home town.  She thought she recognized them and posted them to my facebook page.  Sure enough, they were plates that, along with Laurie - another sister-in-law (and probably others as well), I helped produce in 1990 while working for my father-in-law.  My contribution was the decorating.

Long story short - they now belong to me and safely made the trip via USPS.

The latest to be completed...

I have been working on creating for stock and for Mistletoe Market again.  Most of what I have at the moment are my angels.

First, what they look like after the first firing but before glazing and assembly (no, the pumpkin and the bowl will not change into angels...):

Once they are glazed and fired again, I add gold highlights and the heads and halos.  There is a hook at the top to hang on a tree if desired, but I have a lot of people say they leave theirs out on a shelf all year round.

9/29/16 update - B3, R1 and P2 have sold.

I do have more I am creating, after-all, I did sell over 200 of them last year (YAY!).

The angels are one-of-a-kind, no two exactly alike.  I create whatever the clay tells me to when I pick it up.  If anyone requests anything the guidelines are: size (larger/smaller - none are over 3" to the top of the ceramic robes), arms or not, and color (from the four colors I routinely offer - Blue, Purple, Red or Green - as shown in photo).  I can also personalize with a name in gold at no extra cost.  Other than that, it is whatever my hands create, I cannot even have people choose wing style, because they are what they are at that moment.

The cost is $20/angel with shipping additional, if needed.

I wanted to update everyone and let you see some of the results.

Off to a new pet-sitting job this evening... an adorable Westie!

Sun & Sea Creative Bead Chat Challenge 2012

I have been part of a group on facebook called Creative Bead Chat.  Bead lovers from all over share their creations and tips and all sorts of things.  They are a wonderful support group, personally as well as creatively.
I was chosen by Random.com to be one of the recipients of the beads for the Sun & Sea challenge.

Here is what I started with.  I pulled together some things I thought would go well with the ceramic, polymer, shell, copper & glass I was provided with.

My own textured & patina'd copper sheet & wire with the challenge goodies.

 The first item I made is this double strand copper necklace & earring set.
I took 1/3 of the sheet of copper & made it into charms.  The bail of the donut is embellished peyote stitch.  The copper ear wires are hand made by me.  The beautiful copper clasp provided is on the back of this piece.

Ocean Breezes

Ocean Breezes Earrings

 This bangle was next.

Shell We Dance

 Adding some pearls, aquamarine & sponge coral helped set-off the beautiful components provided.

On The Boardwalk

 The glass beads were beautiful enough that I wanted to spotlight them on these hoops.

Sunrise

I had so much fun creating with the items supplied by some very talented bead artisans.

My pottery is still my first love, but beads and creating things with them come in a fairly close second.

Thank you to all who organized this challenge!  And thank you to all of the others who have participated.

Feel free to comment below, I won't know what you think (good, ambivalent or bad) unless you do.  And, I don't bite!

Please visit the other blogs that have participated in the challenge.

Most of all, have fun!

http://www.yayjewelry.blogspot.com/

http://cswdesignsbyhehe.blogspot.com/

http://alice-dreaming.blogspot.com/

http://blog.aimeesjewelrytreasures.com/

inspiration?

What inspires your creativity?
For me, I envision a piece and then try to create it, whether it is beaded jewelry, paper arts, pyrography, or pottery (to name a few). The finished piece does not always end up as envisioned, which is alright with me, I usually like it better.
Sometimes I see something that inspires me to create something else.
Right now, I am not seeing anything that inspires me to actually get in gear and create. And I have a show to do in 2 months! That is not a lot of time!
Yes, I have made this or that, and done a little, but then I lose all interest and momentum.
I have it set in my mind that I will spend Sunday morning creating. I re-set my work table so it is ready, my molds have been cleaned and my clay is ready and waiting... and once I get started, I should be able to do a little each morning and evening during the week (unless I have a class to teach at the store). Sounds like a plan...
One friend on Facebook suggested I try to slow down the rest of my life to find that creative vein again, unfortunately, that is much easier said than done these days. Someone else suggested I find a bigger shovel to dig myself out of this creative slump I've been in.
I'm looking for feedback. If you have any additional constructive suggestions for lighting the spark of creativity, please let me know.

The process

I said I needed to take new photos of my Ebonyware. Well, I have some new photos (taken yesterday) of the process.

If I had been thinking about it sooner, I'd have photographed them full of the porcelain slip.

The photo shows the molds after they have been opened, but the porcelain is still drying a bit before handling to remove to dry.

Now there are still a lot of 'ceramic studios' out there that mold items and allow people to come in and do the trimming and decorating (for a fee of course) and take them home. This is the same concept except for the fact that they purchase their molds from 'Hobby Ceramic' mold companies. These molds were made by my ex and myself from models we designed and made ourselves. Nobody else has them but me. So, from an artists perspective, although I have not hand thrown or sculpted each individual piece, I am the designer and have had my hands on every single step of their formation. Even when my ex was making the models, I was there for consultation and assistance. He made some of the molds and I made others. And in the 17 or 18 years since beginning production, I have made 95% of the porcelain pieces myself. And in the last 14 years I have made 100% of it.

I know, I sound like I am defending myself, well, I am, sort-of. Some shows do not accept molded items. But they are referring to items from commercial molds, mine are not in that category.

Oh, if you go to the Celebrate Clayton web site, you can click on the 2008 Artist Award Winners and see a listing of the winners this year (including me!!!). Still no photos from this year's event there, and still none of my samples on the Washi Quilted card site. I'll keep you posted.