Creative urges

{apologies on the poor picture quality - the lighting in the basement is really quite bad}

It's been such a busy couple of weeks all around. The "day job" is extremely chaotic, we've been trying to rent/sell the house, and continue unpacking, rearranging, and keeping up with daily life. Oh yeah, and a coping with a little morning sickness to boot.

Last night I was finally able to get into the studio for a couple of hours, but it was to finish some LONG overdue orders. Luckily, these gals are all friends of mine, and they rock, so they've been very patient with me. And not that filling the orders wasn't fun ... it was ... but I've been craving some clay time. My sketch book has page after page of designs and ideas that I want to put into products, but I haven't had the time.

Tonight, after dinner, playing with O, a much-needed haircut, a fast jaunt into the Teeter, and a quick load of laundry, I was able to get downstairs and roll out some slabs. We haven't moved the wedging table down yet (that's where I prepare all my clay), so I used my slab roller to wedge. Wasn't the best, but I got the clay manageable enough. Tonight was all about playing. I've been toying with the idea of actually drawing some designs on clay, and I'm really not a good drawer - I can sketch, but not all that well. But tonight, I didn't care. I used my underglaze pencil (which I'm liking even more after tonight), and sketched out some very basic flowers onto scrap slabs of clay. I really like the texture of them, and how organic they seem. I'll play around with some glazes and underglazes on them after the bisque firing.

So that's that. I only spent about 45 minutes down there, but it was enough. For now. Or at least until tomorrow night when hopefully I can play some more. What about you? What's been the creative (or not-so-creative) urge lately?

Inside the studio: clay and texture and orders

Just a couple of pics from the past few weekends where I've been playing with some new forms and new textures. I have some new vases going into the kiln shortly ... I'm so excited about the new designs!
I use my Great-Grandmother's doily (I think she actually MADE this doily) for texture on my small plates. And the rolling pin came from my mom from a yard sale (right?) many many years ago. I felt a little odd using antiques for my pottery, but they weren't getting any use sitting on a shelf.

My staple supplies: slab roller, apron, and Starbucks!

Storage for other supplies, including wax, underglazes, forms, and sponges.

An order I completed and shipped last week for wedding gifts. I hope they like them!!

Father's Day Promotion

I'm running a special on my website from now until the end of June. Buy one Postag and get a second one free. That's right: FREE!! Buy one for you and one for your Dad (order by June 10 to get it for Father's Day). He'll think you're swell.

New fabrics on the website

If you've purchased from me before, you know that I like to name new products and new fabrics after my customers. So head on over and check out the new designs I have available for belts, headbands and ponytail holders. And if your name isn't on a fabric yet, don't fear. I have a running list and you're probably up next!

Website & Pricing Update

Just a quick note that the prices on my Forever Vase have increased slightly due to a change in Priority Mail shipping this week. If you're local and picking up, this doesn't affect you at all. Price is $30 / price + shipping = $41.

TGIM

Thank goodness it's May!! Here's a recap of last week ...

Monday

Worked, did some pottery, took adorable pics of Owen playing in and around his new mountain climber outside (shown here with his favorite toy, Daddy's tape measure).

Tuesday

Flew out at 6pm-ish to Seattle for a business meeting for the "day job." Arrived at the hotel around 10:00 (1 am body clock time).

Wednesday

Up at 4am (7 am body clock time) cause I couldn't sleep. Sinuses start kicking in. Shower, breakfast, meetings all day. Drive past the needle. Down to Pike's Place to check out the market. Dinner at a conveyor-belt sushi joint. To the mall across the street to kill time before the 10:30 pm red-eye flight home.

Thursday

Arrive in Charlotte at 6:30 am. Nose is clogged; sinuses are painful. Home to crash. Wake at 12:30; can't breathe. Work from home for a couple of hours. Back to bed. Fired bisque kiln at night.

Friday

To work. Can't breathe. Coughing like a champ. Delighting my co-workers :)

Home - water main break in the 'hood so we have no water. KW isn't feeling well and it's getting scary. He has chest pains so we take Owen to Grandma's and KW to the Emergency Room. EKG, then Xray, then blood work. All is normal so we're discharged. Back to Grandma's house at midnight; still concerned as to what's up with Kevin's ticker ...

Saturday

Kevin is feeling better and we're hoping it was just stress and Wachovia-overload. At National Scrapbook Day I finish 19 pages and consider it a success. I'm addicted to digital scrapbooking and am turning my sister into the law for being a dealer. A couple of hours later we had dinner at Courtney's BBQ with our friends. Yummy! Opened a great kiln-load (thankfully) full of orders.

Sunday

8:00 Mass at St. Philip. Not Owen's best showing. He took EVERYTHING out of my purse and put it on the floor of the church, factfully stating its name as he did so ... iPod ... wallet ... cookie. Nice. Home to change, then to Target for supplies. Owen is getting very sleepy. We met some friends at Brixx Pizza for a long-overdue lunch, and Owen found it hilarious (read: he's DELIRIOUS) to throw everything on the table, as his new friend Matthew sat nicely and politely in his chair. After lunch, we thought he would crash at home, but alas, no. He played in his crib for an hour and a half before finally snoozing for a couple of hours.

Quick visit to Aunt Kimby and Unca Joel's house to drop off some things (like a very-belated birthday present). After a wholesome dinner of macaroni and cheese and leftover pizza, Owen had his bath and made us chase him around his room ... it was after 8 before he went to bed. He must have sang to himself for over an hour before finally settling to sleep. He kept saying, "Got it?", "Capiche?", "Understand?". I'm not sure if he was talking to puppy or bear, but someone got the message.

About 10:00 last night, I was able to start getting myself together for the week. Prepped supplies for orders to be shipped this week; sewed up fabric samples for Indie Peddler; cut Totally Indie Coupons to be sent out; started making custom stamps for new vases; paid bills; scanned new images; fell into bed totally exhausted around midnight.

Whew ... I'm still recovering! I've been meaning to post snippets and pictures and updates all week, but the time got the best of me. Here's hoping May brings more time, less stress, and more happiness to everyone all around!!!

Forever Vase

Finally - I've got the Forever Vase online. I've been working on several new product lines, and it's high time they were all photographed and uploaded.

This vase is about 10" tall and 4" in diameter. The word "forever" is hand-stamped into the clay, as well as the date of choice {shown with my wedding date, in case you were curious}. I think it's the perfect gift for anniversaries, weddings, even Christening or Baptism gifts {shameless plug, I know}. Production time is two weeks.

I'm slowly overhauling my website into a CSS-based format, and adding more products as I get them photographed. If only there were 8 more hours to my day ... and more Starbucks!

Pay it Forward

I jumped on the Pay it Forward contest over at Sweet Inspiration, and I'm hosting my own giveaway here too.

Here's the skinny: leave a comment here {cause I know you're reading ... I see you in my stats!!} and hold your own giveaway on your blog, or let me know in your comment how you plan to pay it forward. If you don't have your own blog, just do something nice for someone and tell them what it's all about. You'll be able to enter until Thursday night, and I'll pick a winner randomly on Friday morning.

You can choose from any of the luggage tags I have available on my website, and I'll personalize for free. And I'll ship it to you for free. Yes, for FREE!! How can you beat that?

In print ...

I haven't checked the paper yet, but Emily just posted to say our Observer article was up online. There's even a slideshow of all of us!! Thanks to Courtney for featuring us ... and go Mafia!

I'm at home with O today, so we're off to pick up a copy and a Starbucks!!

Tomorrow's Charlotte Observer

Be sure and check out the Style section of tomorrow's Observer for a feature on the Charlotte Craft Mafia. Thanks to Neesy of Heyday Fashion for catching the sneak peek in yesterday's paper!

Plays With Mud's First Employee!!!

I caught the little man filling out my Art on Main Application a few weeks back ... it seems he's pretty good at writing product descriptions!!

N.E.E.T. rocks!

N.E.E.T. Magazine picked up our luggage tags in their March 08 edition!! Check them out on page 115 in their "All Things to All Men" picks.

Upcoming Shows

Inspired by Lisa of Milkshake Crafts, I'm adding a side bar to my blog on upcoming events and my Etsy shop. Check it out and if you're local, stop by and say hello at a show!!

This week's projects

Here's a sampling of what I've gotten myself into this week:

• Finishing Natalia's rustic bread tray for the Cystic Fibrosis Auction
• Finishing this towering shirt-inspired vase {no, it's really not that tall ... I was getting a little artsy with the camera}


• Sewing this wrap-skirt from Craft Mag (and finding something clever to do with this swanky paper I picked up this weekend)

• Making a new set of promos for The Switchboards & possible The Sampler
• Filling out application for The Handmade Market

Oh yeah, and planning for the hubby's birthday this weekend. Whew ...

Support the Earth by ... shopping!!!

Rarely do we have the opportunity to engage with people who are truly making a difference. I had the pleasure of meeting Renee Garner of Wolfie and the Sneak at a show last year, and was impressed not only with her work (check it out here), but with her giving and thoughtful attitude. She's the type of gal who inspires with her art AND with her actions.

On February 1st, head on over to the sale Renee put together to support The Sierra Club. It's a collection of fantastic handcrafted items from some talented folks. And 100% (that's right ... all of it) goes to The Sierra Club. Plays With Mud is honored to be a part of it!! Thanks Renee!

Etsy

I just posted some new luggage tags on my Etsy. Cross that off the 2008 goal list ... :-)

Holiday Monkeys

Just wanted to share these little fellows that I just finished. They were commissioned as Christmas presents by a couple of my co-workers. They've been very patient with me while I finished these. Aren't they sweet??

Holiday orders ...

I've been totally swamped lately, which of course is a good thing, but have been meaning to post so many fun things that have been going on.

For starters, here's a sample of some fun holiday orders I've been working on. These are the Rustic Bread Trays that have been personalized with the last names of the gift recipients.
After handbuilding each of the trays, they go in for the first firing, or the bisque fire. Then I flip them all over and wax the bottom of the trays to prevent glaze from getting on the underneath side.

Next I rub a dark glaze into the piece, making sure to concentrate on the stamped portion of the tray. Then I use a clear glaze over the whole piece, and put them back in the kiln for the second, or glaze fire.

Here are the final pieces, ready to be shipped out!! I know I'm biased, but I love these trays. They are such a unique gift for that hard-to-buy-for person.

Circle Circle Dot Dot

{photo from Circle Circle Dot Dot}

Plays With Mud is excited to announce that a selection of our handmade goodies can be purchased at Circle Circle Dot Dot!! Head on over to check them out!!

my time away ...

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while ... the "day job" has kept me on my toes, and some recent Plays With Mud orders have occupied my time after the O Show has gone to bed. I haven't even had time to photograph my new creations, but I did shoot this platter a couple of weeks ago. I'm customizing the stamping on my rustic bread trays, so they'll make the perfect, personalized gift for the holidays (or for a treat for yourself!!). I'll post some of my custom works shortly ...