friday and a beautiful weekend

Mother nature has a beautiful weekend planned for SE Pennsylvania! I am extremely grateful for this because tomorrow I am heading back to 2nd and Pine for the Creative Collective Craft Show and couldn't be more pleased. If you're in the city please stop by, I have 2 new tea cups designs and a dozen or so wee vases that I've been playing around making. All are cooling in the kiln right now. And I also have some discounted items : )

This is my new favorite picture, I just love dogs and beagles, oh my! They are just the most loving breed. Milo(left) is our neighbor beagle and Miss Marley's BFF - if he didn't have super loving parents I'd want him for myself. It doesn't come thru in my work but I am so inspired by these creatures. I guess it started with a general love of dogs but after meeting Healy (my first beagle as an adult) and taking care of him, I am amazed at the amount of love and loyalty they give. Miss Marley is getting there, we're forming that strong bond but I do admire her free spirit and how she loses her mind from time to time. It's so funny to see her run and jump and have no idea why, just puppy energy! I think what I take from knowing them is their genuine spirit, I hope that vibe is felt in my work.

Happy Friday and Labor Day Weekend!
Remember summer isn't over just because school's starting! We still have a little time to play and enjoy the season.

random friday

Mentioned! I received a nice e-mail this morning from Lynn Dotson at Handcrafted - The cure for the common wedding.
She has a lovely blog featuring great ideas for the engaged!

Home Projects - Dining in the dining room is now a real possibility for us. As you can see we need a new table - or maybe we'll refinish this one... we'll see what the fall brings. Our next project is going to be painting the living room, I'm so excited about this one!

Studio - I owe this blog pictures of my studio, maybe this will be a 2 post day. It is nice and clean and now worked in and the new layout is helping me to keep things orderly.

A week or two ago Erin at Happy Living Design tagged me for 8 things and I've been slacking on posting them, so here are 8 blogs I'm inspired by this week.

1. Lena Corwin
2. Amy Rice
3. decor8
4. The Cabin House
5. sew green
6. dooce
7. Rae Dunn
8. Lisa Congdon

it is time for stormy weather

It's been raining like mad here for the past 3 days, and it's suddenly fall. I love this type of weather, it gives me a moment to just be. The sound of rain outside the studio is a reminder to be thankful for a nice dry place to work and live. And once it truly is fall then winter, I will feel blessed to have a nice warm place to do all the things that need to be done.

The studio is nice and cozy now, I am trying to sneak in a bit of painting to freshen it up. I also dove in with both hands and started to work on my line restocking. I have some outings planned thru September and early October and will need to have a nice display. I decided to join in with the Creative Collective in Philly for a few more Saturdays and I will be doing a very nice show in Chestnut Hill in October. For those that are not familiar with Philadelphia, we have a beautiful fall, spotted with rain but nice clear days where the air feels extra good to breathe. I hope those pretty days land on the days I'm out showing.

carving & etching & inscribing

Happy Friday! and oh boy am I glad this week is coming to an end. I haven't made a thing all week, I think! On monday eve I decided to put up more shelving in the studio which required taking apart my current shelving and reassembling all of it - this led to purging old work (terra cotta sale coming) to oh my gosh, reorganizing everything. I'll post pictures when I finish - just a few finishing touches left, then hopefully I will be ready for the fall and the holidays. This AM I am taking a break from the chaos to pack & ship orders and say hello here!

Picture: I would like to share a part of my process that is often overlooked. All of my designs are carved, inscribed and etched into the surface. It adds a subtle texture that I feel lends itself nicely to tableware. When you hold my work you can feel the love - its in all the carved lines. Not only is my work hand formed (potter's wheel or slabs) it is lovingly inscribed with my original designs and then the colors are painted on. This step also makes each piece one of a kind since everything is done free hand.

I wish you a happy weekend! Its supposed to be a lovely one here in SE-PA : )

a path

Where to go, what to do, which path to follow? This bowl is my pebble design, it is inspired by a a garden path. Most of my designs come from nature in both representational and inspirational ways. This is also one of my first official Little Flower Designs patterns. I finally have it available thru my site on a bowl, This is one of the designs I fell in love with right away because it helped to define my path as a potter. I am often asked by aspiring crafters how I figured out what I wanted to do and how I come up with my designs. I believe everyone has their own aesthetic and that you might need to work thru many styles and processes before you find the one that works for you. My work is labor intensive (meditative) and not everyone is cut out to spend hours on end carving and glazing but I love it. I have over 10 steps to complete each piece plus all the biz stuff that goes into Little Flower, sometimes its nice to just sit and carve or glaze, my hands already know what to do and my brain can daydream my new designs or figure out what to make for dinner! My path as a potter came about by a love for the medium and the lifestyle I observed after working for a tile making couple over 10 years ago. I often think of them in their studio and how wonderful a life they had made, bringing their dogs in, hiring artists to help out on big projects. The awesome sculptures they made during slow times. Today I am 9 months in(doing Little Flower full time) and know this is the right path for me. I question alot of things in life and second guess myself, but moving ahead on the potter's path keeps me focused and inspired.

weekend update

I had a busy weekend and now I have a summer cold. Just me and David Letterman (he has a cold too!) Not sure how I got this one but I am going to push thru it...

I meant to update here a few days ago but I've been busy, busy and didn't want to get absorbed into the internet.

On saturday I went into Philly for the Buyer's Market Show or the Rosen Show, which ever you'd prefer! I had signed up for a wholesaling workshop and tour of the show. It was quite educational, Bruce Baker spoke about doing business as a crafter and gave lots of good tips, he is a very good speaker and well worth listening to. I went to see if I wanted to do this show - it is a show for galleries and boutiques to come place orders from crafters in person. People come from all over the country and maybe the world to do and shop this show. It is put together very well and the organizers seem to truly want to help the crafters build their businesses. I am lucky to be near Philly and have a show like this so close.

After the craft show I went to another show! Steve had entered his motorcycle into the local car & bike show. So I got home, picked up Miss Marley and we headed to town to check it out! This was Miss Mars-a-lotties first big outing. She had so much fun giving people hugs and kisses and saying hello to other dogs. Congrats to Marley for being such a good girl at such a crowded event. The big news is that Steve's bike took 2nd place, he even got a plaque - boy was he happy!! He's been working on the bike for about a month and entered it at the very last minute at the urging of the local bike shop owner. Congrats to my sweetie.

Studio: It's been crazy hot and humid here, which just isn't good for drying out clay. I am hoping to fire tonite so I can get my orders out by the end of the week. The tiles seem to be dry enough but the tea pots are taking a bit longer, so if you are waiting on one, they are made, I just can't rush it or they'll crack. And no one likes cracks!

Happy Steamy Tuesday - How many more weeks 'til fall??

in the studio

I have a special project I am working on and I am pretty excited about it. I am doing a special order tile for The Sampler, they will be doing something called The Sampler Select to be available in the fall. I am making 50 of these tiles + one for their archive. Pretty snazzy! And now you have an idea of how I make the tiles.

And for your reading pleasure, Crafty Synergy has posted an interview with me. I am in very good company, Patricia who runs the blog has interviewed some of my favorite designers and makers. It's one blog I'll be keeping my eye on.

Happy Thursday!