Category Archives: General
Snow and Leaflets
We didn’t wake up to much snow the other day, instead it started falling during the day and gradually got thicker. It has been so nice to see it all so close to Christmas. Hopefully it will stay like it for a while!
Molly ventured out into the snow for the first time, she didn’t quite know what to make of it at first but once she’d been all round the garden she didn’t want to come back in! Her paw prints looked cute, and she kept sneezing every time a snow flake touched her nose.
There were lots of icicles about too – very pretty!
I had a nice surprise last week when my leaflets were delivered, especially because I got an extra 100 free. It took me ages to design them, so it was nice to see all the hard work finalised. They look great in the leaflet holder that I bought.
I’ll have the holder on display at craft fairs, give some out to the galleries that stock my work, and put one in with every order that I send out.
My Folksy Shop and Online Store direct from my website will still be open during the holidays.
Not sure if I will be blogging again before Christmas, so if not I hope you all have a brilliant time, have lots of festive fun, eat & drink plenty, and go careful in the snow!!
Snowflakes!
This brought back memories, I hadn’t made snowflakes for years. I decided to decorate the windows with them. Molly seems impressed!
Check out this snowflake curtain by Lupin, it’s amazing! I didn’t have the patience to get that far 
You can find out how and why she made it here.
You can find out how and why she made it here. 
Handmade custom boxes
Its been a busy weekend sales-wise for me, it is very exciting!! My online shop seems to be attracting a lot of visitors since I added more new items, and I’ve also had sales on Folksy, plus my first ever sale on MISI. I had some spare sheets of cardboard lying around so Dave suggested he could make me some custom handmade boxes for my orders.
Here are a couple of them. They are made to size to fit the product, plus extra space around the edges for packaging. They look fantastic, isn’t he clever?!
The lady who bought one of my clocks asked me to send it direct to her son because its a gift. She wanted this on the gift tag… “Time goes quicker as you get older.”
….. it really does!!
My tree is up!!
Its feeling very Christmassy around the house now that the tree and all of the decorations are up. The theme this year is pink and gold. I like going home every day to walk into a nice cosy decorated house. My favourites are the hanging stars, and of course the ceramic Merry Christmas plaque that I made! The plaque is for sale in my Folksy Shop.
Molly has already discovered the baubles and that they eventually drop off the tree if she keeps poking them with her paws. It’s funny watching her chase them around the house!
I wanted to put tinsel around the big pine tree in the garden but I thought the birds might try flying off with it.
I’m nearly there with my christmas shopping, just a few more little bits to get. It will be a relief once its all finished. I’m looking forward to cooking some mince pies and sausage rolls on christmas eve.
Merry Christmas wherever you are!
Secret Santa
I took part in a secret santa swap on the UK Crafts Forum this year, it was fun!
I posted my gift last week, I made this decorative wall hanging with 2 red ceramic trees and a white oatmeal star at the bottom. They are all attached together with thin wire. I hope the recipient likes it!
I received my gift yesterday, and have been a bit naughty! I kind of opened it… but I didn’t realise that it was my secret santa gift until I’d opened it! It was this pack of 10 cards made by Emma of Kullakita Cards, they are all perfect for me because they all have photos of natural things on the front which is what I love. I think I am going to use them as Thank You cards. The cards with pebbles on are my favourite. I want to say thank you to Emma but I don’t want her to know I’ve opened it!
I think I am just about ready for Christmas now, but its hard to know when to stop buying presents!
What does Christmas mean to you? This blog – ‘Creative and Faithful‘ is an interesting read. I’m looking forward to viewing my entry which will be posted on there in the next few days.
Exploding Box – Gift for Mum
Well its 1st December already! Where has this year gone? Time to start talking about Christmas and presents, woohoo!
I’m thrilled with this handmade personalised exploding box for my mum, its for Christmas and I can’t wait to see her open it! It was made by my friend Kaz of Kazzells Crafts, she is brilliant! Check out her blog to view some of her other amazing creations.
The box literally ‘explodes open’ in your hand when you have untied the ribbon and taken off the lid. It’s full of photos of me and my mum, decorated to my requirements and contains personalised wording such as “Always remember our special memories.” My favourite is the little enveloped pocket… once you think you have looked at everything inside the box, theres more inside the pocket! The middle section also spirals out and opens up like a flower, revealing another surprise photo.
The box is completely handmade from paper and card, and has also been hand painted. I feel very lucky to have had 2 of these boxes made for me as gifts now, Kaz is very talented!
Do you remember the other box I asked Kaz to make me for Dave? Click here to see it. Amazing aren’t they?
Whats your favourite photo?
I was looking through some old photos and found these 2 favourites from a holiday to Egypt with Dave in 2008. I can remember how relaxed and happy I felt when I took the first picture, and the second picture really makes me smile!
I would love to see your favourite photos, and it would be fun to hear what you write about them. Join in by posting a link to your favourite photos on your blog, Flickr, or anywhere else. Can’t wait to see them!
and the winner is…
Congratulations to Shaz of Oddsox for winning a handmade ceramic brooch, magnet and hanging star on my blog giveaway. Shaz was one of many other possible winners who left a comment on my Blog Giveaway Post, telling me what they like about my work and suggesting something new for me to make. I loved Shaz’s suggestion of making some ceramic buttons, which I will start on soon! Thank you to everyone who entered. I’ll be having another giveaway when I reach 200 followers
The giveaway was also a great opportunity to browse some lovely new shops. Just look how cute these Stocking Pocket Terrors are! All handmade by Oddsox who creates a mixture of creatures from socks, recycled woollen jumpers and fabrics. Check out her shop to view more latest additions, the hedgehogs are cute too!
And congratulations to me too! I won my first ever giveaway this week, it was these hand knitted tree decorations from SophieCat. I received them this morning, they were wrapped up in a box – I hope I wasn’t supposed to wait til Christmas to open it?! I’m putting my tree up next week so they will hang nicely on there.
I’m a bit worried about putting the tree up this year… what if Molly knocks it down by climbing up it or pulls off all the decorations? She is 6 months old now but still a little rascal. How do you other cat owners find it at this time of year?
I’m hoping to have some new decorations for the tree this year, from the Frankfurt Christmas market in Birmingham that I’m going to this weekend!!! I’m so excited, I can’t wait to smell all the Christmassy smells and see lots of handmade crafts and gifts. Will let you know what its like when I’m back!
Free surprise with every purchase!
From now until Christmas, all customers will receive a free surprise handmade gift with every purchase made from my online store or my Folksy shop!
New items are constantly being updated in both shops so be sure to keep visiting.
Just remember to e-mail or message me quoting “FREE SURPRISE 09″ after completing your purchase.
Thank you to my recent customers
Latest News & Commissions
Here are two latest commission pieces that are now settled in their new homes. The new owner of this hand built ceramic sculptural vessel piece has placed it outside at the bottom of her driveway, as she didn’t have a sign leading to her house. She lives deep in the countryside and plans to fill the vessel with gravel. I think it will look great in the natural surroundings.
This dish was made for a customer who wanted a nice earthy and organic gift for his mum as a Christmas present. I really like the flowing shape of it, and the colours which aren’t much different to those used on the vessel above. I melted some recycled green glass into the bottom of this dish which was pooled in the centre, producing a nice glimmering effect when the light catches it. The customer was pleased, I hope his mum is pleased with it on Christmas day.
My new online shop on my website is going well. I’m slowly adding more and more products so keep checking back to see whats been newly updated.
You might remember the class of autistic students who visited my exhibition in September, and used my work as inspiration for their clay project. (To view the post, click here.) I sent the students and their teacher a bowl and lots of decorative magnets today, as a thank you to them and an early Christmas gift. The teacher knows to expect the parcel but it is a surprise to the students, and says she will display my bowl where all visitors will see it. I hope they like it!
In the meantime I’m preparing for my next craft fair on Sunday. I’ll let you know how it goes next week
Busy couple of weeks
I am enjoying everything that is going on at the moment… I’ve been really busy!
My solo exhibition has been going really well, I got back from the gallery at the weekend after discussing a commission that has been requested by one of the galleries customers. He wants me to make 4 large ceramic ‘half’ frames to go around a couple of old wooden church pew ends that he wants to display in his house. I’m in the middle of making some samples at the moment. I think this commission is going to go on for some time, but I’m really excited about it!
I also had a gallery in Bristol contact me, wanting to stock my work. The gallery owner said she has been researching various different ceramic styles, but has found nothing that she prefers more than mine, which was a huge compliment! So I’ve got lots of work to sort out, and maybe even make, to take there.
I got a big delivery of clay this week. Have had to store bulk loads in different places for now as theres not enough room in my workshop! Even after completely reorganising and tidying all of it – which is only going to go and get messy again soon. I got some new casting slip, can’t wait to start using it. I love mixing it up before I use it, it looks a little bit like runny chocolate! Shame it doesn’t smell like it though. It’s gonna be vase city in my workshop once I start using this slip.
The work I’ll be stocking up on is going to be ready for one of my Christmas craft fairs in November – The Contemporary Craft Shopping Experience – details in an earlier post. The website is more up to date now (check out the image of my work on the main page!), and I have been handing out loads of leaflets in preparation for the show.
I received my free sample of business cards from Moo the other day. I’d really recommend them, I was very pleased with the quality. I chose different images of my work and personalised the back with my banner and details. I got 10 sample cards completely free in this cute little pouch – ideal for keeping in your handbag to prevent your cards getting grubby!
Molly
I got a kitten on Sunday!! Molly is 9 weeks old and loves playing with strips of ribbon. Her fave food so far is roast chicken and pumpkin by Applaws, its good stuff! She’s very dependant and seems to always follow my feet wherever I walk, bless her. I’m enjoying buying her lots of little treats – the latest is a mat that she can scratch her claws into, and a fleecey pet blanket so that she stops sleeping on mine!
Isn’t she adorable?
