Sunday, January 5, 2014

New Year Planning

A whole new year ahead! Isn't that a wonderful feeling?

2013 was possibly not my best year ever..... I tried to change to a clay that would be better for teapots and casseroles, then ran into a baffling problem with white dots in my decorations, then had to go back to my old clay.... in other words, didn't solve the problem. Then later in the season I suddenly realized I had taken on too many orders and had to work like heck to get as many as possible done before Christmas. I'm really not sure how it happened, except that a few of the orders sounded small but turned out to be large. Things like the customer who said she needed a few more plates and I said 'sure, let me know', and when she did, it turned out she needed a full set for 8, including cereal bowls and mugs. I actually had to call a couple of people and ask them if I could do their pots after Christmas. Luckily they all said 'yes' and I was able to send the last Christmas order home with a happy customer on December 23rd.

Whew.

This is not going to happen again! I'm going to try hard to stay focused this year.  No more thinking I have plenty of time, so I might as well go ahead and try this little idea..... or make just a couple of those..... or maybe whip up a really nice peach colour that will only take three days of mixing tests..... those tangents are lots of fun, but no more! 'Real' work first, then fun!

Maybe.

Tomorrow is January 6. I'm shopping for clay and throwing mugs.... there, see, not behind a bit.

Yet.