You win some, you lose some...

January and February seem to be the big application months in pottery land.  As Christmas time is typically the biggest earning period of the year for most potters, the November and December shows are highly sought after, requiring a selection process well in advance of the event.  Deadlines for Christmas loom around Feb or March for the bigger shows, and May-June for the smaller affairs.
In all, I have applied to 9 shows thus far, with 4 others not having posted their apps online just yet.  So far, I've had 2 rejections and 3 acceptances...
For my first year at this, I'm happy.
The oddest thing for me is thinking about Christmas in March! From this moment forward I will be making Christmas specific items and building up stock in readiness for the winter madness (yeah, I'm assuming that if "I make it, they will come").
So, Merry Christmas all and enjoy the spring weather!

Trading overalls for full body lycra

I feel I must explain my absence from the blogging scene these past few months.  A madness has taken over those close to me, including my husband....we have taken on the London Marathon.
I really thought I could manage potting and training, but alas muscle soarness in netherregions I never knew existied and incredible fatigue post runs have rendered me useless in the land of pottery.
Conversations have reduced to the never-ending use of running terminology - with phrases like "stress reaction, interval training, negative splits, calcaneo cuboid joint instability, hip abductor strain, carb loading" worming their way into any discussion being had.  Sadly, we've even taken to sharing and analyzing toilet rituals pre and post runs.

Even more frightening is my comfort level when donning full body lycra.  I've taken to wearing it to bed, to make the morning fight to get out of the house at 5.30 a much easier process - slip on my shoes and go....

I am getting too comfortable in this stuff, even having visions that the "me" who is in the tight black running gear is some form of alter-ego super-hardass who would fit very rituously alongside the Marvel greats.  I haven't thought of a name for this "super me", so any suggestions are welcome.

Gym sessions keep me away from home on average 4 hours each go, three times a week, inclusive of travel.  The long runs can last up to 3.3 hours, once a week.  But if I had to rate my usefulness after these bad boys, my score wouldn't even hit the radar.  A big meal and commute home ends in me plonking on the couch with my feet elevated for the rest of the day.  Hubby knows not to dare ask for ANYTHING on those days....

Add a work schedule to the fun and you have the makings for a very exhausted little potter.

I'm nursing a foot injury at the moment which isn't what I had imagined for my training experience.  But, with only 4 weeks to go, the light at the end of the tunnel is certainly getting brighter.

Never you worry though, you'll be happy to know I had a very successful February from pre-made stock on sale in folksy and some custom orders too!

So, keep your fingers crossed and  thanks for being patient.  I'll be back on form (hopefully) after 26 April, allowing for a week post marathon of doing nothing of course!

Resolution Number One - Sort out my folksy home page!

After taking most of last year to develop my new range of work, I was finally able to photograph the work in late November in my makeshift light box.
All in all, I have managed to document 80% of my range, with a few hiccups preventing completion of the remaining wares. I still have to load all my mirrors online and photographing them has become a real issue (more on that later....).
I know I need to improve the light quality on some of the photos, but for now, I am happy with a cohesive brand. Finally!!!
Let the sales begin!!! Please!!!
http://www.folksy.com/shops/jmlpottery

Round Two: Piggy Banks with stained clay and glazes

Well - my first go at using coloured clay in an actual item finally came and went . It was so exciting getting the coloured piggy banks out of the kiln! As I made them, the percentages of stain in each clay body didn't really look like much but once fired with a clear glaze over them - they looked fab!

What was really upsetting about the entire exercise was the costing of the pigs with stains inclusive! After punching through my numbers, pigs with NO stain cost 3/4 less to make than those with stains!

As Joe and I had already agreed a per pig price prior to use of stains, my profit margin shrunk by a third when I added them in! No good for me!

Luckily, the results of some glaze tests with stains in them also came out of the kiln at the same time as the pigs! I had tested 2, 5, and 10% stain additions in two white base glazes. One didn't take the stains at all, but the other really reacted!

I tested green, a pink, blue and yellow - here are the results! I LIKE!

When examining the costs of adding these to the glaze instead of the clay, it worked out to be a far cheaper alternative! Joe ended up liking the results as well, so to save costs we decided to go forward with the coloured glazes.

The only thing left to do now is see how my new ceramic transfers with Joe's company's logo that I ordered from Ceramic Digital will look on top of coloured backgrounds!