Therapy!

The house listing went live Saturday morning (6/10/23). I had some free time on Sunday and I gave myself a small dose of clay therapy.

I only ended up making 6 gnomes, but it was so restorative to my peace of mind. I was house & dog-sitting over the weekend so I couldn't spend the whole day creating, but those few gnomes made a LOT of difference! Here is the listing for the house, in case you want to see it. (Hover over "house" and click there for the link.)

FINALLY!

The long, emotional haul is nearing the end. The house should be listed by tomorrow. I don't have the kind of attachment to this house as I did to the house I spent most of my growing-up years in. Although, I have lived in this one longer. This was a safe place to land when my world was turning upside down. There are memories of my looking for a job. Memories of my marriage breaking up. Those years of Mom in cancer treatment (as well as all the wonderful years in between). Memories of finding Dad after he died. Memories of the emotional struggles I went through in the 23 1/2 years living there. There has been quite a bit of anxiety laden times during the cleaning and packing. I am more than ready for a new, fresh life in a new-to-me home... wherever that may be.

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!

Moving on to the next holiday gnome...

2023 Limited Edition Easter Gnome

I have the prototype finished and started taking orders on Sunday. I take orders for 2 weeks and then make my decision on how many extras over the pre-orders I should make. Once I reach that pre-determined number, I stop making them, afterall, that is what Limited Edition means. 

With these, the hats will all be the same color purple, but the eggs patterns and colors will vary.

Mouse #1

The mouse was made for a special order. It is my first mouse, but I love how it turned out and I will make more!

Valentine flowers

Being single isn't always easy on Valentine's Day. Some friends invited me over for dinner and gave me the purple Daisy Mums. I added the Jonquils from the garden at home. 

2023 Limited Edition St. Pat's Gnomes ready for glazing

I have a total of 35 LE St. Pat's Gnomes to complete this year. I started glazing them yesterday and will hopefully finish before the weekend. My deadline is to be able to send the ones that need to go travelling to their new homes before the first of March. I am on schedule for that time frame.

My younger sister is coming to visit next week to help me finish sorting, cleaning, and packing up the house and getting it ready to sell. 

I found a house I would love to buy, but haven't heard back from the bank yet... many years with NO credit, I am having doubts that I can get a loan. This has my anxiety level quite elevated. I will most probably miss out on what I consider the perfect house for me, which will make me very sad. I haven't seen anything else that even closely fits my needs and budget (from the proceeds of Mom & Dad's house).

 

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.

A Long-time Wish

 

Many, many years ago (not sure of the date), the Metropolitan Museum of Art contracted my father-in-law (Wally Higgins) to create a mold for their unofficial museum mascot William the Egypyian faience hippo. Fast-forward to the early 1990's when I was working for Wally. The Met contacted Wally again to re-work the mold and create a master (mother) mold (used to create more working molds). Wally was semi-retired at the time and passed the project along to me. In the background of this OLD Polaroid photo is William and the old mold with the new mold. 

At the time, the reproductions were being made in NY by a studio. I always wished for a sample piece.

Fast forward yet again to this week. I FINALLY have my William! I have been checking the museum's on-line shop for a long time, waiting for him to be back in stock. Using a small amount of the money inherited from my father, I ordered him! 

There is a group on facebook that is wierd and wonderful secondhand finds, or something like that. Well, they have a thing of looking for house hippos. It stems from a Canadian tv commercial. William is now my House Hippo!  But, I wanted to slightly re-name him to reflect my history with him better.

When I was in college, my dad was one of the academic advisors for one of the fraternities. Dad's first name was William, with a second initial of "A". He mainly signed things with "W A Earl". The guys at the fraternity lovingly referred to him as "WA Baby". My father-in-law's first name was Wally.  My hippo will be known as WA Baby, as an homage to both my dad and my father-in-law.

Preparing for the first Limited Edition of 2023

 Last year, about this time, I decided to create some Limited Edition Gnomes for Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, and Easter. I made 12 of each. I had NO idea that they would be so popular! I had so many requests afterward that I decided in the future I would take pre-orders for any of the Limited Edition pieces. It has worked well.

I am now working on the Limited Edition Valentine Gnomes for 2023. I am taking pre-orders until next Saturday, January 14, 2023. I will have them finished before February 1 so I can ship (those that need it) and have them arrive at their new homes prior to Valentine's Day.

As of this morning, I have taken orders for 23!  So far, I have made 27. I plan to make 10 or so over the pre-order total so I can have a few for those who may not have seen the pre-order post in the facebook group. Not everyone does facebook, I totally understand that.

I will post a photo of them once they are finished.  The plan is to give them white hats and a red heart with gold accents.