OK, to the untrained eye, this might not seem like much.  However, I’ve been on the lookout lately for a new prop for finished pieces of jewelry, besides the slate.  I was following the little man back up the hill (after our morning of playing with the forklift, boom truck, tractor–life with a little boy…) and I looked over towards the edge of the path and found this weather-worn branch.  So check this out:

It has the perfect little fork in the branch to use as a prop.

Back to work…until we meet again!

I’m going to spend the next week or two making pieces for a bisque firing. As I was thumbing through the latest issue of Stringing, I though to myself, “what should I be making this time? I’ll be adding more beads to the mix, but I thought I’d throw it out there for your vote. Let me know what you want to see! Feel free to make more than one selection, and if I’m missing something on the list, go ahead and fill in the blank!

Thanks!

I’ll set up another poll for colors as I draw closer to glazing.

I spent all day Saturday at the Mill Festival in North Berwick.  It was HOT.

Anyway, here is my display:

Aren’t you loving the Vera Tablecloth that I used?

So glad I picked up these drawers this spring.

Well, I wouldn’t say it was a huge success.  Actually, the only real sale I had was at the end of the day, as I started to pack up.  Another jewelry artist stopped by and looked at every piece.  She was familiar with the process of making ceramic beads, and I was able to pick her brain about the kinds of stuff she looks for.  The day came this close|| to being a total waste of time.

My thoughts:

• So glad I didn’t spend a dime on this.  Actually, I did have a banner made, but since it arrived late (and I can use it in the future), it doesn’t count.  Not sure what effect not having that banner made, but oh well.
• Only craft shows from now on, maybe even just bead shows.  Anyone been to Bead Fiesta?
• So glad I had that tent.  Did I mention that it was hot?
• I will be able to fit two of those drawers on my table; didn’t have enough stock for this one.

I’ve been busy the past few days getting stuff into the kiln. Here’s the results of last night’s firing.

I am totally loving the “sage” glaze; it’s sort of satin, with a stoneware look.  It looks incredible on the terracotta clay.  I have a couple of textured donuts in terracotta and sage that didn’t make it into the kiln last night, but they’ll be there tonight.   I haven’t been that crazy about working with the terracotta clay; if I’m not careful when I’m prepping the pendants, the grog ends up exposed on the edges, making for a rough pendant.  I’ve found a solution, so things are going better, and if the pieces are going to look like that….

Off to do some more glazing.  I’ll have a table at the Mill Festival in North Berwick, so I’m trying to get another couple of kiln loads ready.  Enjoy the sun!

The two pieces on the left are for rings (I know the picture sizes are misleading).  This is what I do for therapy!

I managed to get a couple of new rings listed this week in my Etsy Shop.  I have a board covered with little greenware pieces, all destined to become rings, earrings and charms.  They will be unveiled at the Mill Festival in North Berwick the weekend of the 15th, then any leftovers will be added to my shop.

Ugh.

I guess I didn’t do so well in July.  But then again, I didn’t really expect to.  I ended up spending a week getting a number of pieces ready to send on consignment up in Wiscasset (20 rings, 10 pendants, 10 necklaces), so that trumped anything else I wanted to do.

The urgency of getting beads and connectors listed on my web page was sort of quashed when it was discovered that someone at Creative Jewelry dropped the ball and my ad did NOT appear in the magazine.  Kind of blew my marketing plan for the summer and fall, but I sat down and thought, “boy that $310 will buy a LOT of Etsy listings.”   So there!

JULY GOALS

1.  Get the beads and connectors listed in the shopping cart. Nope.

2. Throw something on the pottery wheel besides a gushy lump of goo (it was quite funny–worthy of you-tube). Nope–Pete needed his garage to build a new concrete step mold, so I stayed clear of that mess!  Maybe this month!

3. Create some larger pieces for sale. I have a ginger jar mold that I’d like to experiment with, also some pitchers.  Decide if I want to offer slipcast pieces in my shop… Did not finish any large pieces.  I do think I’d like to offer larger pieces, but I’ll shelve that goal for awhile.

4.  Create some pieces for the ABS Challenges.  This month it’s the cave paintings in France…hmmm… Hey, I did get something done.

5. Figure out some way to make the rain stop already!!! Enough!!! I’ve grown gills and webbed feet!!! The rain stopped but it wasn’t my doing, so I can’t cross this one off!

August Goals

1. Prep pieces for the Mill Festival in two weeks (already started that, and ordered the banner for my tent).

2. Get stuff ready for destash at the Mill Festival.  I’m going to make little packets of beads to destash, offering them at $1-$3 a bag.

3. Write up a number of blog posts ahead of time so when I’m at home she’s still working!  Love that feature!

4. On that note contribute an article or two to the Etsy Twitter Team blog.

5.  List 5 new items a week in my shop.

6.  Get some more beads glazed that will match my pendants.

7.  The bug is back–get some pieces actually made up as jewelry and start submitting designs.

On Monday I had to take my husband to the chiropractor for an adjustment; you can only watch a 44 year old man walking around like an 80 year old for so long.  While he was at his appointment, I headed down the road to Goodwill to see what I was missing.

Well, apparently they had received a donation from a large store (I’m thinking Target, maybe..) of necklaces.  I picked up 4 double-stranded seed beed necklaces in various metallic colors, and then I found these:

I’ve been wanting to add to my wooden bead stash, as I think they make a lovely accent to ceramic beads.  I got some mahogany, walnut, black, and natural stained beads, along with a strand that has no finish at all (which means custom colors). Different shapes and sizes, too.

Lets just say I got a LOT of beads to add to the stash for very little money.

I just wanted to thank MaryAnn at Backwoods Creations for featuring me as the Etsy Maine Team Monday Shop of the Week.   It was an honor and a thrill to have my work recognized.  You can read the interview here.