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!

Finally!

That's really the best title I can come up with. My blog is always on the back of my mind, but things get away from me. I have been super busy working full time, getting ready for the holiday season, and you know being pregnant! This season I will be doing two holiday craft events, one is November 6th in Rochester, NY. MayDay Undergound! It looks like it should be a really fun event, and my mom will be there helping us out. Also depending on when baby decides to come out, I may be joining some other local artists here in Cortland for an evening of shopping, wine, and appetizers at Hairy Tony's. This was a great event last year, so I am hoping that little baby stays in until at least his due date. The event is December 8th, and I'll try to post more details later. Here are some shots of what I've been up to lately. I'm trying out a more graphic look and would love some feedback! Thanks! xoxo




As always all of these treasures can be found on my online store......and these new works will slowly replace any sale items, so get the sale items while you still can!

Summer Cleaning???

In lieu of spring cleaning (in spring I was in the first trimester and glued to the couch or bed most of the time) I have done a little "Summer Cleaning" in my online store. I don't like having a lot of old work sitting around especially, because I have been doing a lot of new things this year. Anything that was made a year ago has been marked down 50%. This is obviously a pretty significant savings. I also have some pieces in my sale section that are seconds. These are less than perfect items and the description clearly states these flaws. I won't be keeping these up for too long, because I also really don't like selling a bunch of cheap stuff. Grab these up while you still can!

Brownie Sundaes

I made these sundae cups over a year ago. They have been featured on blogs, in treasuries on etsy, and I have gotten a lot of feedback from them. I also marked them down to a ridiculously low price as I often do when items have been sitting in my shop for a while. I just don't like keeping old inventory around as my work is constantly evolving. But, still no one snatched them up. So last night when it was time for dessert, (this happens every night now that I am pregnant) I decided why not just keep this set for us? I rarely keep things I make, but I like having a sundae set. They looked great and worked great with brownies and ice cream. I do have plans for more ice cream bowls, but I think they will be more bowl-like so they are more versatile to a potential buyer. Later I'm making frozen greek yogurt to go in them with local blueberries mmmmm......

What to do With A Snow Day

After living in Florida for four years I forgot the beauty of a snow day. (And yes, these icicles are attached to my house) Yesterday was all about cleaning, relaxing, and then making a mess again. Today (Snow Day 2) will be an extra studio day.

Step 1: clean house til satisfied, take online yoga class, then make delicious lunch, while preparing for making a massive amount of cookies.

The lunch if you are wondering was eaten off bowls made by Jeff Huebner, and was a salad of Fingerlakes lettuce and Tofu Khan with capers and rice noodles tossed with leftover curry sauce. I spent most of the afternoon doing nothing while waiting for V to return from his snow sculpting adventures with chocolate chips for Pumpkin Chocolate Cookies. One evening, 18 inches of snow, and some serious shoveling later I return to the kitchen to prepare a big breakfast (grits, collards, eggs, AND potatoes) and am back at square one with the mess.
But, who cares about the mess, I've got another snow day!

Step I'm not sure which number: Create promo in online store to celebrate the gift of two free days the snow has given. Save 20% all weekend long!

The Little Things

Today I was having the worst day! None of my clothes were fitting, I was trying to make appointments and meeting dead ends, my camera battery died just when I got the settings right, and I ended up going out wearing five shades of gray. (I'm not sure why, but all the warm clothes I seem to find are black or gray) But then, the little things started happening. I made a sale on etsy, I found a seashell in my seaweed salad, got a note from a gallery, and found the most beautiful piece of fresh fish on sale at the market. My boyfriend came home with a lovely shelf he made for my cup collection. Instant turn around. Now dinner is on the stove, my camera is set to go when the light is better in the morning, and I have a package to ship. And two show applications to go out, including these little teapots.

When Life Hands You Lemons...

You can make the most delicious risotto.


For the past few weeks I have blatantly ignored my once per week goal of posting. What have I been doing? Living. As an artist I usually get a feeling of anxiety when I feel like I'm not working enough. Balancing a part time job and studio work can be stressful, and often times simple joys in life get pushed to the side. Since moving to New York I have been able to add to my studio time a lot, and I have felt calmer as a result. So last weekend I trekked to Ancram, New York in the Hudson Valley and met up with some friends and headed over to Ayumi Horie's studio sale. Ayumi is a kind of a household name amongst contemporary potters, so it's really exciting for me to be able to make my second visit to her studio. This year her sale featured another potter and a furniture maker as well as her own work. I was so overwhelmed to see so much work in person! Usually I look at things I like online or in books, but here were hundreds of pots to choose from. After some cider and treats and much back and forth I left with a great plate, and an ice cream bowl. I spent the rest of the weekend at a harvest party, picking apples, playing with five year olds, and enjoying great food and wine. It was the perfect weekend for driving through central New York. Fall is my favorite season, and I didn't realize how much I missed it over the past four years. When I got back I made a gluten free apple crisp with my apples.

I like all the steps involved in cooking, peeling the apples and the way the different shades of the peels look so beautiful together. Chopping, mixing, the smell from the oven. Oh, and the eating. Yes, the eating. And the way the ice cream melts into the crisp.

So, the theme of the past few weeks for me, has been enjoying fall and the simple things around me. My days at the co-op go fast and I relish the time I can spend on my work. But, I also have to remind myself to relish the time I can spend doing simple things at home. With the cool weather, risotto had been on my mind. When I spied some meyer lemons in the produce department, I knew that this would be perfect for the dish. Risotto is a slightly longer process than most dishes, and requires care and patience. But it is worth every minute. As I prepped my kitchen before friends came over I was struck by a parallel feeling I get when making work. The thing about risotto is that it needs constant attention. So I had to get all my ingredients within reaching distance. The other two requirements are a glass of wine, and a back up person in case your arms get tired. I began stirring the rice and adding the ingredients. Anxiety set in. What if it doesn't turn out? The guests will be here in 30 minutes. Similarly, what if the kiln I am firing right now shuts off early or over fires? Ok, if the risotto is gross I have some pasta I can boil really quick and toss the ingredients in, Vaughn can't eat pasta, but he doesn't have to eat does he? I keep stirring the rice, is this how it looked last time? Should I be doing this in a cast iron skillet?

This must be life imitating art at it's best. Because I'm also thinking, did I put the glaze too thick? Was I rushing? Do I use too much of that new celadon glaze? Do I have other pieces I can apply for shows with? And then, the rice starts gently puffing up and getting creamy from the starches, and I know instantly that it will be good. I sip my wine, and get back-up help with stirring. The remaining ingredients are added right before the guests arrive. I sprinkle the top with meyer lemon zest and relax. Once I get out of my pajamas I'll open the lid of the kiln. I can only hope the kiln is as good as the risotto was.

CSMA Arts for All Marathon

I've realized a lot since moving. Sometimes I hate the process of moving, the packing, the money, the changing of jobs, the stress settling into a new studio can create. But I also love moving. I love shedding all the junk, I love decorating a new apartment, I love starting fresh. I have also discovered, surprisingly, that I really like the Northeast. I also discovered that over five years in Jacksonville I had made a lot of contacts that it's hard to walk away from. I've been invited to do several really excited things since I've left Jacksonville that I had to turn down, because I am no longer their local artist. So in the central New York area I am going to proactive in building those connections. My first step is participating in the Community School of Music and Arts "Arts for All Marathon". The Arts for All Marathon lasts 26.2 days just like a regular marathon is 26.2 miles. Artists can basically create their own way of participating, which really drew me to their cause. They are also having a post-it note show that Vaughn and I will donate an item to. Artists donate art on post-its that are sold for $5 each at the closing show. I really like how accessible they are making art to the general public while raising money. The CSMA offers a great variety of classes, and the money raised in the marathon goes to their scholarship fund. For the duration of the marathon, September 26th-October 24th I will donate 26% of sales on regularly priced items in my online store to the CSMA Arts for All Marathon. In addition my sale items are now 26% off. And I am promising to post new work before the end of the marathon. You really can have it all...fabulous pottery and donating to a good cause all in one!

The Process of Good-Bye

Yesterday afternoon I loaded the gas kiln for the last time at Atlantic Pottery. I still have two weeks in North east Florida, but our class session just ended. For the rest of the month I am having a big sale in my online store. I'm struck by how thoughtful I've been lately about moving. The past four years have gone fast, and at times really slow. When I was in China last summer, the process of leaving was lengthy, and I'm feeling the same way as I prepare myself for the next chapter in my life. At least this time I gave myself three weeks to pack and prepare, but I think that sometimes when I'm packing I'm not making much progress, I'm just organizing and purging things from my life that I don't need to be attached to. Papers, clothing, random objects, so many things that I want or need and don't need at all. This is the part of moving I love, compacting my life into boxes and shedding all the dead skin. The personal good-byes are harder. As an adult I've never been afraid of picking up all of my stuff and moving somewhere else, this may have something to do with the fact that I don't really own any furniture, and since college I can't say that any of the places I've lived (mostly cheap apartments) really feel like home. I'm starting to relish things that I do for the last time here, like the kiln loading yesterday. Usually when I load the kiln I've got it down to a science, where some people may spend a day, I take two hours. I knock old glaze off shelves with a chisel, and don't think twice about anything, after all I've done it a hundred times. Yesterday it was hot, hot, hot! The heat index was 105 or something. But I got out the grinder, and really paid attention to the shelves, as I put them in. It didn't take much longer than usual, and I felt better about it when I was done. I have a lot of spare time right now, since I'm really only packing and working part time. But I think I'm learning full-time about the process of good-bye.

MOVING SALE

The Rumors are true....I am relocating and having a big sale in my online store! Come July, my studio will be in Cortland, NY a small town outside of Ithaca. The area is beautiful and a huge change from my beach life style. I couldn't be more excited. As I spend the next three weeks packing and saying good-bye to northeast Florida, YOU can benefit from my need to downsize. For the month of June anything I made in 2008 is marked down 25% off, a significant savings. Please visit my online store for more!