Handmade Gifts $30 and Under

The holidays are upon us! Try giving a handmade gift this year, it's easy and affordable.  Here's a round-up of items in my shop for $30 or under.  I'm even offering coupon codes during the month of December for the first time!  Use coupon code TURKEY20 until midnight tonight to receive 20% OFF your order of $30 and over!  I'll keep dropping the discount down until Christmas.  Check out my facebook page for the latest news.  I ship your order within 24 hours of purchase via USPS Priority mail.  For gifts I am happy to include a note to the recipient.

This handmade tile retails for $24.  It comes with a notch in the back for hanging.  I hang these with two drywall screws spaced about an inch a part for maximum stability.  I even include screws with your order!

These small versions of my square bowls were fun to make and are the perfect addition to a holiday appetizer table.  They make a great hostess gift!

My porcelain tea strainers are one of my most unique gifts and come with a small bowl to set the strainer in after steeping their tea.  If you know someone who loves loose tea this is the gift for them!

I only have two of these sweet ice cream dishes left, for $24 each.  They are the perfect size for a scoop of ice cream, and one my most popular forms.

I have two of these adorable small cups left!

I have several styles of this hand-formed jewelry tray.  Each tray has 5 little divots perfect for jewelry to settle in.

Check out my etsy store for more ideas!

The Walk to the Studio

If you've been reading then you might have picked up on the fact that I recently moved to a new studio I am VERY excited about. Here is the moment you've been waiting for, some pictures! One of the things I love about my new studio is the short walk from my apartment to the studio. Here are some shots along the way:

Right now the queen anne's lace is everywhere. I remember it growing along the railroad tracks by our house as a kid, and now it grows near the tracks on the way to my studio. I had kind of forgotten as I don't think it grows much in Florida. After I cross the railroad tracks, I reach the Cortland Corset Company, affectionally referred to as the Corset Factory.

The Corset Factory does manufacture undergarments under the label "Cortland Foundations".

The building also houses graphic design firm Hopko Designs and photographer, Roger Williams and has provided temporary space for sculptor Vaughn Randall an assistant professor at SUNY Cortland and his National Endowment for the Arts project this summer. So the building has already been a really exciting place to be. On a side note in the right hand corner of the shot below is my new car. After several months of being a full time pedestrian, I know have four wheels instead of two. Although I am not sure that these wheels will inspire any blog posts or revelations about function vs. form. Time will tell...

I thought I would miss Singleton's Seafood Shack, but now all I have to do is cross the railroad tracks to get some delicious fried seafood, or fresh seafood to take home. And they have real shrimp! I'm not sure if they supply us with any fuel at the Corset Factory, which is run on biodiesel, but something tells me they have plenty of fryer oil, as that is the only utensil in their kitchen. So up two flights of stairs, through the room of sewing machines, and then the pattern room:

And then I arrive in my studio, when I took these photos they were still in the process of finishing the walls.
So far my studio set up is some carts, a huge table, and my trusty old kick wheel I bought from Keith Renner about six years ago. I intend to put a glazing area in the right hand corner of this photo. Also more shelving will probably be in order.

My main focus right now is building up an inventory of work. I began with a series of dress vases which was really fun, and some larger bowls. I just finished a big quantity of cereal size bowls and big tumblers. I am focusing on making much bigger cups now thanks to a little nudging from Jeff. Next in the plans are more big serving pieces, single serving teapots, mugs, carafes and pitchers, working big, testing new clays, an earthenware project, the possibility of plates, and breathing.

Works in Progress

Today I continued a series that I have decided to call my tulip series. My boyfriend was sweet enough to buy me some beautiful tulips a few weeks ago, that I then did a water color photo of just before they wilted and fell apart. I love tulips because they remind me of when I was a kid and my mom would cut them for us to take to our teachers. I remember being young and going to school when school was still fun! She would always wrap the stems in a wet paper towel and then foil. After a few years it became seriously uncool to give teachers presents or even like them, but I remember when it was still ok, too. Here I have a new shape I am exploring, the sundae cup. You can view the first ones I made on my etsy page. I have made the new bowl lower and wider, and the stem taller. I am trying to avoid them looking like a goblet. For some reason I hate clay goblets. They make me cringe, something about a goblet just requires it to be made out of glass. For me. I don't care if people use my sundae cups as goblets. That is up to the user. I am also working on a different shape of bowl. It is made with slightly less clay then the one I have been making for the past year, and designed for a single serving. I made the bowl cup in slightly, and then cut the edge, in a lotus style, kind of like something I saw in China this summer. It really does look like a flower. I am covering it up in plastic for the evening, amd trying to decide if I stop myself, and excercise some "economy of design", or indulge myself and end up making something that might appeal to a smaller audience. It is really a question that is coming up for me now that I have more work available online. Who is my audience? Tulip lovers?