getting ready

This week has been so hectic, I am preparing for the Buyer's Market of American Craft which is a show I've been quite apprehensive to do for about 3 years. The show offered etsy teams the opportunity to show together as a group for a discounted rate in the hopes that we'll all do well and come back to the show in a full booth to build our businesses. Shortly after I joined Handmade Philly (the local etsy-ish team), I saw a post in our forum about this and jumped at the opportunity. I'm even organizing our wee group of 3. The Buyer's Market is a huge deal in the craft world, buyer's come from all over the country to view our handmade wares and place orders. The show seeks out the top crafters in the US and the buyer's rely on their strict jurying process to create a show that will dazzle! So here I am doing the show for the very first time and while I feel like I know what to expect, I am nervous. I've had about 6 weeks to prepare but this was during a very busy show season and wedding gift season. So most of my prep work has been in the past 2 weeks, yikes! I'm getting ready to put about 1/3 of my samples in the kiln today. The only pattern I have completely ready is pictured above, my Anemone pattern. There are 2 new items in the line - the large rectangular platter and the tall vase. They will be available on my site shortly after the show. But for now, I'm going to freak out until I finally set up the show on friday - it seems like the natural thing to do!

xo, Linda

Free Tickets to Handmade Nation!

I am beyond excited that Faith Levine will be in Philadelphia saturday to show her movie Handmade Nation. The movie is at 6pm, Saturday August 1st at the Philadelphia Convention Center, and yes, Faith will be there to do a q&a. If you would like the tickets, please e-mail me right away with your name and address so I can put them in the mail to you - if it's last minute I can give them to you at the movie : ) This is a super special event for the craft community, gush, gush, don't let these tickets go to waste!

locked in the studio

The summer has been a busy one filled with shows and orders. Thank you to everyone that keeps my little biz going. I finished my last retail show which went by quite easily and nicely. It was Artscape in Baltimore. Aside from selling I am most amazed by the number of people who signed up for my e-mail list. Everytime I looked at the page it was full! It was a record setting boost to my list! I've been back all week, unpacking, organizing and making wares. I need to re-stock everything. But first, I am making samples for another show, I will be at the Buyer's Market of American Craft in Philadelphia next weekend. This will be my first show of this kind and I'm locking myself in the studio from now until I am ready to go. After the show I will restock my site - I already have it penciled in! For now, wish me luck! My samples are drying out and it's crazay humid out, so we'll see how this goes. Have a terrific weekend! Linda

Artscape this weekend!

What is 3 days long, filled with purty handmade goods, vibrating with every kind of music you can imagine and taking place this weekend? Artscape! Come to Baltimore for a fun filled weekend, it's huge, quite overwhelming but lots of fun. I will be set up in the DIY section with a great group of handmakers. Also, this is my last retail show for quite some time so take advantage of shopping in person and to eye up your holiday gifts! I will have a little bit of everything from my line as well as a few one of a kind pieces. Hope to see you this weekend!

http://www.artscape.org/

Artscape countdown!

Panic! Artscape is coming up so quick! Just 10 days to finish getting ready and pack up the studio again. Yikes! I do have quite a bit of work ready and I'm sure I will be fine with just that but if it's not made I can't sell it or show it so I'd better use my time wisely. Today should be my cut off day for starting new work. My strategy is to finish what I have started and only throw enough today to fill one kiln load. I've been working on tall vases, which was quite the dramatic challenge the other week. I just couldn't get the height I wanted - so I watched a few youtube demo's and got it! It's hard to be alone in the studio when a technical challenge pops up. And books just don't compare to seeing someone else do what you can not. So I googled "throwing tall pots" and found this, an 8 minute pot! Ok, I'm more like a 20 minute tall vase, but that's better than the hour long mess I was making! Followed by self doubt and second guessing my career path. I had to conquer this challenge, how can I be a professional potter if I can't throw? Well, throw tall, throw anything I can imagine, right? So, tall pots are now my reality. When I got it, it was like a stream of light came down from heaven and the gospel choir sang! Finally.
Have a great monday!
xoxo, Linda