We hope to see you there–we’ll be debuting lots of new goodies that haven’t made it to our online shop yet!

Who else is going to be there? 4505 Meats — Chichar­rones | Botanas Felic­i­tas – Mex­i­can Snacks | Bernal Cut­lery – Knives | Clairesquares – Short­bread Caramel and Choco­late Bars |CMB­Sweets — Jams | De La Paz – Cof­fee and Teas | Deli­cias Sal­vadore­nas – Sal­vado­ran Pas­tries | Estrellita’s Snacks – Yucca and Plan­tain Chips | Kika’s Treats – Choco­late Cov­ered Treats | Mimi McCurry’s — Chimichurri | Mulatos y Zam­bos – Gift Cards | Neo Cocoa – Choco­lates | Sabores del Sur – Alfa­jores and Empanadas| Sajen – Indone­sian Drinks | Sin­ful Sweets — Cook­ies | Onig­illy – Japan­ese Snacks | Omni­vore Books – Cook­books | and more…

(Please note that a lot of items will be pulled from my Etsy shop tonight. All the items that did not sell will be returned to the shop tomorrow evening.)

Here’s a sampling of some goodies I recently added to the shop:

It is true that I have been working very intently since the summer, really trying to develop my more illustrative, creative ware and push my boundaries. This holiday season, too, I’ll be focusing on the Etsy shop and not doing as many in-person sales events as I did last year.

And so…I just want to build up some suspense, because I’m holding a promotion on Thanksgiving weekend! You will have to check back on Friday to find out what it is, and I think it will be a delightful surprise!

I’ll be back on Friday, then, for the big reveal!

Orin Zebest has made me an awesome all-new display that looks like an artist’s workshop (oh, if only I had a workshop to call my own…) and I’ll be there both Saturday and Sunday from 11-7.

Artists I’m looking forward to seeing there:

• 3 Fish Studios: The husband makes SF landmark linocuts, the wife makes adorable bear illustrations. I saw them there last year and their work’s even more fabulous in person.
• Bird vs. Bird: Illustrated coin purses made from recycled leftovers from vinyal signs.
• coo-koo-ri-koo: Textile jewelry ultilizing those little pom pom things. So delicate and elegant!
• Cynically Delicious: Cupcakes! I’m totally indulging in these little sugar rushes to make it through the long days.
• Diana Fayt: Beautifully formed, naturalistic ceramics.
• Elisabeth Soule Photography: Very artistic, dreamlike photos of animal toys.
• Foxglove Accessories: Jewelry made from vintage stamps. SO excited to see these in person!
• Gangs of San Francisco: Tees themed around SF history. I won’t know which one to choose!
• kg + ab: Cast porcelain animals, so pure and pristine.
• Caitlin Kuhwald: Awesome illustrations, and a really friendly face behind them too.
• Mama’s Little Babies: Jewelry made from Victorian illustrations.
• Matt Cipov: Pen and ink urban/animal drawings. I just love pen & ink.
• The Misanthrope Specialty Company: Intentionally unflattering portraits!
• Nora Aoyagi: Fine art illustrations, with a fairytale-like quality.
• Papaver Vert: Really impressive felted housewares.
• rebe: Beautiful skirts and dresses.
• Skeletal Dropkick: Skull-themed ceramics!
• small threads: Adorable, quality children’s clothing. I purchased a onesie for my baby cousin last year, and everyone loved it, my cousin included!
• Sofia Masri: Intricate porcelain jewelry.
• Sourdough: Gorgeous jackets.
• Tomoko Maruyama: Gorgeously soft, colorful illustrations.
• Sycamore Street Press: Awesome letterpressed cards.
• Treatzone: All kinds of cute stuff–I’m really digging their lightboxes.
• Wonder Thunder: Screenprinted textiles in lovely patterns.
• Woolie Originals: Beautifully felted, collaged creations.

I can’t wait to see you there, but if you can’t make it, after the show’s over there’ll be lots of new things in the online shop too!

A new batch of wee bowls will be going into the shop later this week. Lots of different colors available, and almost all the same size, so you could make your own little set if you wanted!

Because of the its size, and the travel involved, I decided to only use the big kiln when I have a lot of stuff to fire. This means slower turnaround times, but gives me an incentive to make stuff on a larger scale.

Earlier this week, I finally decided I had made enough greenware to make it worth the trip. Two days ago, Orin and I carefully loaded the backseat with well-padded boxes of goodies, and off we went. Everything survived the drive intact, which pleased me very much!

My dad’s house is in a very picturesque setting, right over the levee from the Sacramento River. While I unloaded the boxes and snapped some photos, Orin climbed the tree in the front yard.

Then he helped me load the kiln, which I think took at least a half an hour to do.

It takes my kiln about 8½ hours to heat up to Cone 07 (roughly 1800 degrees Fahrenheit), and then probably another eight or so hours to cool down again. We took the time to relax and have a little “vacation” of sorts.

Then, yesterday afternoon, everything was ready to come out again.

I remember, when I was in ceramics classes, my instructor often said that our ware would be hard to recognize after it came out of bisque fire, because everything shrinks, and items sometimes warp, crack, etc. And sometimes things sat around for so long before firing that you’d even forget you made them! Indeed, I remember occasionally not knowing my own work, and only realizing it was mine when I saw my signature on the bottom. It’s hard to say whether or not that has changed simply because, you know, everything in the kiln is made by me now. I would rather think it’s because my work is more defined now, because at the end of the day my work simply looks like mine. Which is a good thought to have.

And now I’m back home again, with my bisqueware in three big boxes, waiting to be glazed and fired again. I really like making lists, so here’s a nice numerical rundown of what I brought back today:

• 6 burnished white stoneware plates, for me to try some maiolica-style illustrations
• 1 special white stoneware plate with a complete poem stamped into it
• 12 (4 sets) descending canvas vases, in a couple different size variations
• 10 ice cream bowls in both red and white stoneware
• 6 wee succulent pots, significantly larger than that first prototype
• 18 wee bowls in red stoneware clay. I’m going to be streamlining my wee bowl line so that they come in two standard sizes; these ones will be the smaller size
• 102 flat porcelain buttons, in various shapes, sizes and textures.
• 31 rings; hopefully, counted among this number are the myriad custom sizes I’ve been trying to get for the last couple months
• 3 new button molds
• 29 poem drop pendants
• 5 big beads. My beads have suddenly decided to get popular, possibly due to some advertising I’m doing on Ravelry, so I’m planning on making a lot more of ‘em in the near future
• 22 big shank buttons. I’m really excited about these. I redesigned my shank buttons so they’re bigger, and made entirely of clay, rather than metal in the back. I’m making them from molds of vintage earrings.

Also: I’m now making all my little ware (beads, buttons, rings, pendants) out of porcelain, for extra strength and durability.

Entering is so simple. All you have to do is go here, read the rules, and fill out the simple entry form. That’s it! You can also increase your chances of winning by going to all the other participating sellers’ sites, and filling out the forms there as well. You can enter the giveaway once per site. You have until May 13th to apply.

EDIT: Signups are now closed, and winners will be announced soon. Good luck everyone!

Good luck!

Really, I just had to set aside the time to teach him my system. That’s harder than it sounds if you’ll keep in mind all those different hats I wear. When I set up my business I purposefully walked into this ever-whirling task-tornado; I think it took me this long (a year and a half) to adequately explain to someone else how I want to weather it.