tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23842212040994715652024-03-14T01:45:50.065-04:00The Studio On The RidgeAn occasional blog about pottery, making pots, and living the life of a potter.Lishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816600563832631710noreply@blogger.comBlogger134125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2384221204099471565.post-26753012723499664372021-01-02T14:44:00.002-05:002021-01-02T14:44:31.242-05:00Happy New Year, and a Look Back at 2020<p> Happy New Year, Dear Reader! </p><p>So how did 2020 work out for me? Not an easy question to answer.</p><p>The biggest and, I guess, most important thing is that neither I nor anyone in my family or immediate circle became ill with Covid-19. For that, I am truly grateful. </p><p>The next biggest, most important thing is that my pottery business has survived. My income was seriously less than 'normal', in fact only about half of what it should have been. Luckily, and like most craftspeople and artists, my income from my pottery was only part of my total income. I did have to use some of my savings, but not all. No holiday, no fun purchases, and I didn't do any of the home maintenance things I had hoped to do in 2020. But I survived and I'm still making pots.<br /></p><p>So. Details?</p><p>First, I gave up on Shopify. I had the naive idea that a Shopify store would have some advantage over the millions of other online stores selling handmade studio pottery, but of course that was completely not the case. Not only does Shopify not help at all with getting your store seen in the online world, they are expensive. When I saw how much it was going to cost me to keep a store going, month after month, I backed out. So the free trial they offered worked, but not the way they wanted it to!</p><p>I tried 2 other online platforms, and that totally didn't work either. I got exactly zero responses from both. I won't mention which they were because I don't think it is their fault.</p><p>What did work was making a special batch of work (my children's sets, see previous post), and advertising it on Facebook, to my email list, and to those customers I did meet. All the work sold and sold quickly. And all of it to previous customers or members of my email list.<br /></p><p>I conclude from this that, probably, people are unlikely to buy a handmade product from a craftsperson they don't know, whose work they haven't seen, and who might not be local to their area. </p><p>Second, the Carp Farmers' Market was able to open in a limited way in early summer, and by mid-July I too was able to have a space there. It was outside and much much smaller than my usual display space, but I was so happy to be there! I only had one table to display pottery because of social distancing and other Covid-19 precautions, but it was a joy to be able to be there at all. And the customers were wonderful! They observed the precautions with no real complaints, and they bought. They were very happy to get local produce again, and also happy to be able to buy some pottery. In all, I was only there about half the usual season and my average sales per week were significantly less than in 2019, but it made a huge difference to me. It gave me a reason to keep making pots, renewed my contact with a lot of previous customers and acquaintances, and took the pressure off trying to make online selling work. </p><p>One small irony: I had had to get a new truck in late 2019 and I was a bit sorry that the only one I found was rather larger than I thought I needed, but it sure came in handy this year! I could put all my pots and display gear in the back with no difficulty at all. So easy! Normally packing your vehicle for a show is a bit of a job, but this was great!</p><p>Third, by early summer retail stores will allowed to open again, and I decided to have my studio open to the public on Saturday afternoons and Sundays. I won't say the public beat a path to my door, but some people did drop in and I had some sales. I also enjoyed meeting some new people who were just driving by. Some were charming, some were trying, but all were interesting!</p><p>Then, I wondered how to manage my usual end-of-year Half Price Sale. My big worry, or I should say, worries, were that either nobody would come, or that too many would come. My Sale has been a big hit in the past so there was a risk that many would come all at the same time right when the Sale opened which would have given me a serious traffic problem. With the Covid-19 precautions to follow, I couldn't have 20 or 30 people all crowding in and touching the pottery. So I put the pottery outside!</p><p>OUTSIDE! I had 6 tables of pottery in a line beside my little store, with one-way traffic up the line to the door where they could go in and pay for their selections, then leave. It was Dec. 12-13, so the weather was of course a concern. Luckily, it wasn't that cold, and luckily again the freezing rain which had been forecast didn't happen. The forecast did have a very good effect, though, in that not so many people came. The ones who did, bought quite a lot of the pots. Half way through Saturday afternoon it began to rain and I had to bring in and dry off all the pottery, and the wet made the price tags run, but all in all, it worked out very well.</p><p>Another thing I did before the in-person shopping part of my sale was I listed all the available pottery on my website, and took online orders from the Wednesday before the sale to the end of that Friday. This worked pretty well. Anyone who wanted to reserve an item sent me an email, and once I'd confirmed, they paid by e-transfer or PayPal and let me know if they would be picking it up, or if they wanted it delivered. I promised to do deliveries on the Monday after the Sale. That too worked out just fine; it took all day Monday and nearly a full tank of gas, but it got done and everybody was happy.</p><p>So now maybe I know better how to sell pottery in a pandemic situation. I've learned a lot, I have some new ideas on what I can do better, and I'm optimistic that I'll be able to cope with 2021.</p><p>What better way to start a new year? <br /></p>Lishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816600563832631710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2384221204099471565.post-56426085880862157782020-05-12T10:57:00.000-04:002020-05-12T10:57:00.801-04:00New! Children's DishesI've had fun lately making a series of Children's dishes. Each set is a plate, a soup bowl, a cereal bowl and a mug and all of the pieces are small to suit a small child. The decorations are a Speckled Hen, a Curious Bear, a Leaping Bunny and a Zebra-striped Fish. Sets are $55, tax included.<br />
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Great gifts for the 2-6 year-olds in your life! <br />
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I've posted the info on my Facebook page, but you can also order through from here by sending me an email. There are only a few of each set, so you'll have to decide quickly!<br />
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Once I confirm your order, we can work out how we'll get it to you. I can deliver if you are in my area, or I can mail it, or you can come to the Studio to pick it up (safely).<br />
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Meanwhile, Stay well!Lishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816600563832631710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2384221204099471565.post-5673766640870410072020-04-30T10:29:00.000-04:002020-04-30T10:29:25.654-04:00Towards a New 'Normal'There has been a lot of talk lately about what the new 'normal' might look like. Lots of speculation about changes businesses will see, changes in consumer behavior, all serious stuff like that. Taking it personally, and how else can one take anything, I certainly see some changes ahead for me. Some have already happened, others are coming.<br />
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For example, I find I can no longer wash my hands without counting to 50. For the rest of my life, I'm going to be counting to 50 while sudsing the digits.<br />
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Another thing: like a lot of offices and businesses, one of the volunteer groups I'm involved with has gone to online conferencing instead of face-to-face meetings. I'm getting fairly used to it although it's actually not quite as easy as the people selling conferencing software would like you to believe. For example, if you have a person who tends to talk a long time, it can be hard to break in and give someone else a chance to speak. What feels natural enough in person seems really rude online. Me, I just wish the conferencing programs would let us 'fast forward' some people.<br />
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With the pressure off to prepare for various sales and other events (more about this later), I've been spending a lot of time at the computer getting caught up on admin stuff, dealing with the numerous emails from the above-mentioned groups, even getting my paper filing up-to-date. We won't mention spending hours surfing around reading scary articles, taking free webinars which purport to teach you something but always try very hard not to be free, and just plain zoning out on Facebook. With one thing and another, I've been spending a lot of time at the computer. One effect is that now when I sit down in front of a lump of clay on my wheel, I find myself looking for the keyboard...<br />
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Seriously, and it's very serious, all my events in the near future are cancelled. My stores are all closed. Wholesale orders are a thing of the past. My much-loved Carp Farmers' Market is postponed, and when it does open, it will be for food sales only. My studio tours, at least the Spring and Summer ones, are cancelled. During the current lockdown, I'm not even allowed to have my shop at the Studio open. I can do online orders, to be mailed or picked up or otherwise delivered, but I'm not supposed to have my pottery available to walk-in customers.<br />
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You can imagine the effect of all this on my income. And my stress level. By the way, I think we should have a new phrase: 'pre-traumatic stress syndrome'. After all, at that instant when you become aware that the light ahead of you is not the end of the tunnel but a fast-approaching freight train, your brain is hardly in the best condition for calmly devising a solution. No doubt this is one reason I've been spending so much time on the computer - it's easier and it reduces the stress and allows you to think you're at least doing something. But it's also an insidious way of avoiding taking any real action. It makes staring down the bright headlight a little more bearable, but it doesn't get you off the tracks.<br />
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So. What to do.<br />
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First, I'm setting up a Shopify store. It'll have only a few items, and delivery will be pick up or mail only, and we'll see how it goes. If I get a good response, I'll add more items. There are also several other online platforms I'm looking at, and since they all reach different audiences, I'll likely go with one or two of them as well. I'm still in the middle of setting up at Shopify, making the stock (I figure it's important to have stock on hand as nobody will want to wait for their order), taking the photographs, sorting out the payment options and so on. Once it's ready to launch, I'll send the info out to my mailing list, Facebook etc. And yes, I'll post about it here too! Of course!<br />
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Another thing I'll do, once some of the lockdown conditions are relaxed and more businesses are allowed to open, is try to encourage more in-person shopping at the Studio. Social distancing is probably no problem as more than one or two shoppers at once would be rare, and if it does happen, one can go into the shop and the others can wander the garden. With lots of hand sanitizer and some other precautions, it should be quite safe. Safe for the customers, and safe for me. One thing I'll need is a new sign at the road... the last one blew over in the windstorm of May 2018 and the estimate for a new one was so high I've never replaced it. More than a few people have told me I need a sign at the road, and every time they do I think to myself, 'yes, but first I need about $4000 which isn't urgently needed for something else' and I just smile and agree with them. May have to make another temporary one. The last one lasted 20 years.<br />
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And I may, only <u>may</u> at this point, look into setting up some kind of new fine crafts market this Fall. There will be plenty of fine crafts workers looking for selling options, and there should be lots of customers eager to browse high quality, mid-priced local crafts. It's a possibility. What you call your definite 'maybe'.<br />
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So, I guess I can jump off the tracks.... now, can I hang onto the side of tunnel and avoid getting sucked under the wheels?<br />
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Meanwhile, stay well!Lishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816600563832631710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2384221204099471565.post-71856294883582106502020-02-11T09:04:00.001-05:002020-02-11T09:04:59.977-05:00A Day in the Life...I know potters (and other artists) are always very curious about other potters' studios and love to visit, snoop around, ask questions... but I sometimes wonder about the rest of their lives, and maybe you do too.<br />
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So here's a glimpse at what it is really like around here.<br />
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Last night, just as I was getting into bed, I realized I had a couple of people coming in the morning to discuss An Event, that they were what you might call Good Housekeepers, and that I hadn't vacuumed or dusted or washed a floor in several weeks. Nothing for it but to set the alarm.<br />
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So this morning we started with a game called Olympic Vacuuming. Rosie won handily as she loves to bark at the vacuum and, if possible, nip at the beater bar. Entire living area vacuumed in under an hour, whoo hoo! Next was Speed Dusting, which was a draw. Rosie was only able to steal the dusting rag once, when I put it down to adjust the slip cover on the Dog Chair, and I got it back with no blood shed. Floor Washing in the kitchen I won totally, she's a dog, she doesn't do floors.<br />
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All spiffed with half an hour to spare. <br />
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I need guests more often!Lishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816600563832631710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2384221204099471565.post-29410768522810076872019-03-25T19:30:00.000-04:002019-03-25T19:30:57.522-04:00Bird DesignsSometimes making pottery is fun! Often, it's work, enjoyable work that keeps me challenged and interested, but still work. My 'Bird' pattern, however, has been fun lately!<br />
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Last Spring I didn't have time to make all my designs before the first craft sale (Maple Run Studio Tour) arrived so I didn't make any Bird pieces and I told customers who asked for it that Bird had gone south for the winter and hadn't returned yet. This year that would almost make sense as the winter is hanging on rather longer than we'd any of us like, but as it happens I have made a lot of Bird pottery. Here are some bowls waiting to be glazed:<br />
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I'm quite pleased with them although I have to admit they are starting to look like fabric designs.<br />
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I make too make designs. If I just made brown bowls, I'd be able to get caught up and I'd always have whatever people asked for. If they asked for butter dishes, I'd have them. If they wanted honey jars, I'd have them. Plates, mugs, teapots, I'd have them. But am I smart like that? Noooooo, I have to make a line decorated with Pansies, one decorated with Tulips, one with Pine Branches, some in a reddish-brown glaze that I call Red Fox and so on. So I'm never caught up and customers are forever asking for something I don't have. Frustrating for both of us!<br />
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I have a hunch that if you only show blue mugs, nobody will ever ask for green ones, or red ones. But the minute you put out mugs in several colours, they ask for them in any other colour than what you have. Put out blue ones, pink ones, white ones, brown ones... and somebody will ask for orange. In my next life I'm only making mugs and bowls and all of them brown.<br />
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But for now, I'm pleased with my Bird pieces. Here's a nice Cream and Sugar set with Birds:<br />
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Oh, and the <a href="https://mapleruntour.com/" target="_blank">Maple Run Tour</a>? It's April 6 and 7, all around Pakenham and area. I'll be at Cedar Hill Schoolhouse. My Birds and I hope to see you there!Lishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816600563832631710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2384221204099471565.post-6654887367548586752019-01-01T11:43:00.000-05:002019-01-01T12:03:04.935-05:00Looking AheadA new year! To paraphrase Anne, of Green Gables fame, "just think, a whole (year) ahead with no mistakes in it yet!"<br />
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So I have one resolution for 2019, and it is: try not to make so many mistakes.<br />
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I've made a Plan. I've listed all the events/sales/markets etc. that I usually do. I've listed some new ideas I'm definitely going to work on. I've listed what equipment needs maintenance and how I'm going to do it. I have Goals. As they say, a Goal without a Plan is just a Dream, but I cleverly made the Plan first.<br />
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I'm not going to spend January and February doing paper work. It's already done! Soon as the T-4s arrive, boom, I'm getting my income tax done. No procrastinating, then rushing, then getting something wrong, then racing around to correct it.... nope, not this year.<br />
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I'm not going to push away thoughts of a big order I knew darn well I needed to start on in June until the end of July and then working long days to get it done by deadline. Customer doesn't get their s..t together to finalize their order so I can start on it, I'll them I can't do it. For sure. Maybe.<br />
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I'm going to make those large Red Fox mixing and bread making bowls which were ordered if it kills me. I'm not going to get too much glaze on them so that it melts and runs and attaches the pots to the shelves... I'm not going to accidentally over-fire the kiln so the bisque fires to glaze temp and the ware is ruined because now I can't get the glaze on... I'm not going to finally achieve half a dozen nice looking bowls which, when I bravely measure them, are all 1" too short. It can be done. Concentrate, pay attention, bribe the Kiln Gods... whatever it takes, I need those 3 customers off my neck.<br />
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I'm never again going to listen to customers who sail into my booth, look around, and ask for some design which they don't see, and then promise to make some soon. They never meant to buy any, they were just letting me know they weren't buying my work, and IT WAS MY FAULT. So phoo on them. Don't see any <u>Pine and Winterberry</u>? Tough bananas.<br />
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See? I'm all ready for 2019! So is Rosie-goof:<br />
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<br />Lishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816600563832631710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2384221204099471565.post-78095269040104822632018-07-15T16:11:00.000-04:002018-07-15T16:11:46.347-04:00Still WeirdThings are still kind of weird around here.<br />
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After my Rotten Week in May, it took all of June and some of July to get back to feeling normal, at least as normal as it ever gets around here. In addition to all the stuff happening here at the Studio, we've also had the Ontario election, and no rain. Not that there's a connection there, but neither one of them has contributed to the general happiness at Pine Ridge. Add in the high cost of gas, which leads to low sales of pottery (yes, there is a connection there) and you can see why my mood has been, shall we say, low. I finally hit on the word 'defeated' to describe how I felt and I think that fits.<br />
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Last year, sales of my pottery were good. I ended up the year with some actual money in the bank, and, perhaps dangerously, the feeling that maybe I finally knew what I was doing. Ah, pride. Yes, even if it doesn't lead to a fall it does make the crash more painful. Sales this year were fine the first few events, then the election uncertainty took hold and they plummeted. So now I'm halfway through the year and sales are less than half of what they were last year at this time. Craftspeople often talk about sales: why they are low, what we can do, how we can predict... the weather is a handy scapegoat. If the weather is bad, we say customers didn't come because the weather was bad, when it is good (the weather) we say customers didn't come because the weather was good and they went to the beach instead. Could be, but what I am sure of is that the worst thing for sales is uncertainty. And an election upsets everybody, especially in a government town like Ottawa. Half the people are worried that if so-and-so gets elected their jobs will be at risk, and the other half worry that if so-and-so is not elected, their jobs will be at risk. Either way, everybody is worried. And worried people don't buy mugs and bowls.<br />
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And of course the more serious uncertainty in the Western world due to the sudden trade wars between ourselves and our Large Neighbour is of course making everybody even more nervous. And nervous people don't buy mugs and bowls.<br />
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Then there is the cost of gas. When it goes up, people have less 'free' money, and they buy fewer mugs and bowls... <br />
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I've had to warn Rosie that if things don't improve, Milkbones will have to be rationed.<br />
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Rosie is more worried about the continuing dryness. It makes it so much harder to dig up chipmunks, her favourite hobby. We really haven't had rain for over two months. Wind storms, extreme heat, a few sprinkles, but rain, no. The Maple trees in the woods are wilting, my rock garden is a more of a plant graveyard than a garden and my ferns are in dire straits. I know it's not as important as farm crops, but my garden, my ferns, and my woods, mean a lot to me and seeing things drying to a crisp is most depressing. I'm now watering, small bit by small bit, just to try and keep my ferns and my small conifers alive, but that's putting a heavy strain on my well and risking a pump failure. My well is only 5 gallons per minute, which is not a lot of water, and it is 275' deep. My line of credit at the bank and I live in fear of the pump failing. They aren't meant for continuous use.<br />
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But this past week, and in spite of everything, my mood seems to be improving. I've been in the dumps, now I'm starting to think positively again. If sales are low, I will build up stock. It might rain next week (supposed to, but can you believe forecasts?). Rosie can switch to no-name dog treats.<br />
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And I've got mugs and honey jars started. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Honey jars ready for glazing!</td></tr>
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They're waiting to be glazed and fired, and then they'll be ready for the Market on Saturday. It's Honey Day, so I'm at least on theme!Lishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816600563832631710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2384221204099471565.post-64683284998123502452018-05-16T09:39:00.002-04:002018-05-16T09:39:47.969-04:00My Rotten Week<b>Thursday</b>. My small kiln over-fires a bisque load. It wouldn't be too serious except that it contains the vases I really wanted to complete my display at the Carp Farmers' Market, which is opening in a week. This is my trusty, 30+ year-old Alouette kiln. Built by Eric Jackson, a true Free Spirit, who I always remember as telling me once: 'Everywhere I go, a slow truck is following ahead of me'. He built many excellent kilns and we potters were all sorry when he quit and took up motorcycle maintenance. Now I can no longer get the little metal prongs that support the mini cone in the kiln-sitter, nor can I get a new kiln-sitter. Today's kilns are all computer-controlled and the old manual technology is gone.<br />
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I heated the vases and dipped them in the glaze and fired them and they look OK but can't be sold because not enough glaze got on and they are rough. Sigh.<br />
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<b>Friday.</b> Everything set up at the Market - my booth looks great but needs those vases - and I'm feeling pretty good. I see on the news that we are to have high winds but it doesn't impress me. At supper time it's pretty gusty out there but I'm not concerned. At 9:00 pm. the power goes out. Ok, I'm impressed. I step outside and whoa, the wind just about knocks me off my feet. Rosie the dog won't go out... now I'm concerned. My roommate and I play Scrabble by the light of an old oil lamp and try to ignore the bangs and cracks and crashes and other horrible sounds coming from outside.<br />
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<b>Saturday</b>. In the morning there are trees down everywhere. There is one leaning over the driveway, one leaning ready to fall onto my hydro line at the next possible opportunity, one crashed down into my Crabapple garden, a huge Pine which was the visual corner of my Hillside garden is roots-up, the top of another huge Pine is flat across my septic field, and, scariest of all, the top half of a large Cedar is hanging over the driveway on the power line.<br />
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I am impressed, concerned, and dismayed. First question, who do I call?<br />
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<b>Sunday</b>. Power still off. Trees still down. Roommate and I go for a walk in the woods and it is clear, I no longer have trails. So many trees, old, dead, live, young, healthy, pines, balsam firs, spruces, all crashed down every which way. On my neighbour's side at least 12 of his wonderful 160 year-old Pines are down. One of mine, which had a diameter at the base of over 6', is roots-up with a root ball at least 12' high.<br />
<br />
Many of these trees were personal friends. I know they are only trees, but I feel bereft.<br />
<br />
<b>Monday</b>. Can't really work at anything. Trying to call tree companies, finally get through to Hydro to schedule a crew to get the Cedar taken off my line. Too dark in the Studio to do much of anything.<br />
<br />
Power comes back on at 6:00 pm. I was just putting some cold drinks I had gotten as part of our take-out KFC supper in the (warm) freezer, thinking they would stay cool in there for a few minutes, when the compressor came on. It took me a few seconds to realize that not only was this unexpected, but also it meant the power was back on.<br />
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Cedar is still hanging on the power line. I don't want Rosie going anywhere near it, but just try to keep a young energetic Border Collie away from a spot on the driveway.<br />
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<b>Tuesday</b>. Hydro says a crew has been dispatched. Worked in the pottery and got some stuff finished.<br />
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Trying not to look at the mess all around me. <br />
<br />
<b>Wednesday</b>. Culvert Man comes and digs up the driveway and installs a culvert. The driveway has been acting as a dam and not only is the area on one side consistently flooded (bad for Pines), but also when the water gets too high it washes across the driveway, leading to potholes, crevasses, mud swales and other vehicle-devouring artifacts. Dog wades around in the now-muddy water, drinks the stuff, and shakes herself dry all over Culvert Man. He laughs. I wash dog.<br />
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<b>Thursday</b>. 8am. Large Hydro truck arrives and tells me my power is going to be off for a bit. Since I was expecting this, having asked to have it turned off so the tree people could do their work, I'm not surprised, but it did seem an odd way to phrase it.<br />
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8:05 am. Second large Hydro truck arrives. Says, 'you asked to have your service temporarily disconnected, Ma'am?' We are standing around wondering why there are two trucks when a third one arrives. The Hydro men gather to confer.<br />
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8:10am. A large Davey Tree Experts truck arrives. Hardly room in my driveway for all this truck power! The Hydro guys sort themselves out, one telling me to have Davey Tree etc. call them when their work is done, one leaving, and the last one getting themselves into place to remove the hanging Cedar.<br />
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Davey etc. are three young guys who attack the various arborescent insults and reduce them to logs, piles of branches, and chips. Cheerfully, and with dispatch.<br />
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4:00pm. Fallen and leaning trees in the garden and driveway all gone. Davey Tree Experts experts all gone. Hydro gone. Power back on.<br />
<br />
Life is good.<br />
<br />
<b>Friday</b>. Finish setting up my booth at the Market and it looks good. Need fresh flowers in the morning, and must finish my poster for that blank bit of wall.<br />
<br />
Poster needs words to tie it to Mother's Day. Print some large letters on the computer and go to glue them on. Oh, too big. I get the x-acto knife out to trim them. First one, no problem. Second one, no problem, done this a million times. Third one, knife skids across the metal ruler and slices into my left thumb. Blood everywhere. Ran into the house and held my thumb under the cold water. I'm holding it closed and the cold water is slowing the bleeding but I'm feeling kind of queasy. My roommate (wisely) insists we go to Emergency.<br />
<br />
I told the nice Doctor that if he was going to stitch it I would need an anesthetic or else I would scream and scream. I still vividly recall getting another finger stitched years ago, without freezing, and how much it hurt. He laughs and says that because I cut it horizontally he figures his special glue strips will hold it, but I have to promise to keep it dry for 10 days. I promise, fast.<br />
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Nice week, huh?Lishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816600563832631710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2384221204099471565.post-60600932453750842452018-02-15T16:09:00.000-05:002018-02-15T16:09:26.841-05:00Making PlatesIt's been a plate kind of month! I had a lovely order for a dinnerware set, a workshop involving place settings coming up, and needed bisque plates to have on hand for stock, so my plate making systems got a bit of a workout during January and the beginning of February.<br />
<br />
Plates are paradoxically both easy and difficult. It's easy to make one plate. It's even easy to make eight plates, all more or less the same size. What is extremely difficult is to make a set of plates, all of which will stack neatly. Most customers want plates that will look good both while set out on the table and while stacked in the cupboard, and who can blame them.<br />
<br />
Early on in my pottery journey, I decided that trying to throw plates to satisfy this double requirement was just not feasible. I'd have to charge so much per plate I'd never sell one. So I looked around for other ways of making plates. I was delighted to find an ad in a pottery publication for a Jigger/jolley machine for sale. I called and arranged to come down and see it and said I'd probably buy it. Luckily, I had a new truck at the time, and the long trip down to Kincardine didn't alarm me. My husband and I had a fine time driving down, staying in several B & B's along the way, and duly arrived at the potter's home.<br />
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He showed me how to use the machine. It looked wonderfully like the solution I was looking for. I got excited. A price was agreed upon. He also wanted to sell an old old slab roller and all the molds to go with the Jigger. I got even more excited. A further, enhanced, price was agreed upon.<br />
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The men were sure the machines and molds would fit in the back of my pickup. We didn't discuss the weight! The Jigger, as I found out later, weighs about 500 lbs, and the slab roller not much less. Each mold, and there were over 80 of them, weighed at least 2 lbs. So you can imagine how I felt when the potter, who was well over 70, and my husband, a totally non-athletic absent-minded professor type, lifted first the Jigger and then the slab roller, into the truck. They said they used Zen!<br />
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We drove home slo-o-wly. The truck wasn't rated for that much weight but with care we got home. It took two hired movers men to get the gear off the truck, which, when you think about it, was downhill. Robert and the potter moved them uphill!<br />
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Here's the Jigger, nicely covered with slip to show it really is a working machine:<br />
<br />
<br /><br />Basically, you place the mold of your choice in the 'cup' -
which you can see to the right inside the grey rubber splash pan. Then
you place a clay slab on it, bring down the arm, and 'cut' the plate.<br /><br /><br />
I don't know the brand, or the age. I suspect Ratcliffe, and old. There is no info plate anywhere on it, and the innards are most mysterious. I just know to oil it certain places, and keep my fingers crossed.<br />
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Here's the sequence: <br />
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Of course, I do have other plate making tricks in the bag. There's a company called Pure & Simple that makes a system where a base fits onto a regular wheel on the batt pins, and then you makes plaster molds in the shape they supply that fits onto that base. Then you poeceed more or less as above. Here is mine in action:<br />
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Plates made like that do warp a bit. It's best for 'wonky' plates, which can be quite nice! Also, you can vary the foot rings, even make quite large ones to make plates or platters with pedestal bases.<br />
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Of course, you can make your own molds, and just sit them on a wheel. Here's a big one I made when I was trying to make round platters with foot rings:<br />
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The plaster mold is just sitting on top of the wheelhead. It works pretty well, but again, the platters do tend to warp a bit.<br />
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And the plates? Well, here are some:<br />
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My truck was OK, by the way. It went on to ferry myself and many plates for another 14 years.<br />
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<br /><br />Lishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816600563832631710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2384221204099471565.post-15743954469465660122018-01-06T17:09:00.000-05:002018-01-06T17:09:22.858-05:00A Whole New Year!With no mistakes in it yet! *<br />
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One of things I love doing in January is planning my pottery year: what workshops to offer, if any, what shows to do, sales... workshops to take, projects, challenges to take on... ah, dreamtime.<br />
<br />
One workshop I definitely will do again this year is the one I called <u> 'Making Marks on Pottery'</u>. We did it last year and it was a great success. The creativity shown by the people who came was awesome. On the first day we decorated (made marks) on pottery place settings. I provided the bisque ware pieces (three plates, a cereal bowl and a mug in most cases) and demonstrated some ways of decorating pottery, then the students went ahead and blew right past anything I'd ever have thought of in their wonderful original designs. Later I dipped everyone's pieces in a clear glaze and fired them. A few weeks after that we had a pot-luck lunch which we ate from our new dishes. I called that <u>'The Artful Meal'</u>. Seeing all the place settings on the table was totally exciting!<br />
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So I'm offering <u>'The Artful Meal'</u> again this year. On Feb. 17 you'll choose your place setting, learn about some pottery decorating materials and techniques, and then decorate your pieces. Mostly we'll be painting on the bisque ware so it would help to have some basic painting skills. It'll be a full day, starting at 10am, breaking for a soup & a bun lunch, and continuing until about 4pm. We'll decide on a date for our meal before everyone goes home. Including lunch, your place setting and all materials, there will be a cost of $50 per person. Since my studio isn't very large and I want to be able to give everyone enough attention, this workshop will be limited to 8 people.<br />
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Another definite on the agenda is <u>Clay Days</u>. This is for total beginners, or people who haven't done pottery for a while. The first day of the workshop, March 10, will be devoted to learning a bit about clay and the pottery process, and making some pieces such as small bowls, pendants, tiles or other such projects. I'll be concentrating on hand-building techniques, but if someone is keen to try the wheel we can probably manage that as well. Someone with some prior experience would be free to go ahead with their own projects. Then the pieces have to dry and be fired, so the second day, when we will decorate our work, will be the Saturday after. The cost per person will be $25 (2 days of playing with clay, lunch both days, and all materials included) and the class will be limited to 8 people.<br />
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If you are interested in signing up for one of these workshops, just hit the 'contact me' button.<br />
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March will be a busy month as I'll be at the Carp Farmers' Market Easter Market on March 31. The fun part is deciding what to have for sale that day, let's see, bunnies, bunnies... bunnies... ok, I'm sure I'll think of something more than bunnies well before then!<br />
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Right after the Easter Market will be the Maple Run Studio Tour. Have to have stuff with Maple leaves on it for sure, and maybe some bunnies... the Tour is April 7 and 8 this year. I don't know which stop I'll be at yet, but I'll post the info in the side bar once I know. This tour has some very fine craftspeople and artists on it and I feel honoured to be on it. It's a lovely area, too, and Fulton's Pancake House always has lots going on at the same time.<br />
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After that it will soon be Market opening and the busy summer will have begun. Until then:<br />
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* With a grateful nod to Anne of Green Gables' whose lovely line, 'Just think, a
whole day with no mistakes in it yet' expresses exactly how I feel about 2018!Lishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816600563832631710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2384221204099471565.post-79758577844386015242017-12-24T13:44:00.001-05:002017-12-24T13:44:47.245-05:00'Tis the Season...And all through the Studio,<br />
Not a creature is stirring, least of all the potter.<br />
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All the orders are done. All the shows are over. The fall Studio Tour is over, my half-price sale is done.<br />
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Now it's time to relax, mix some of my famous eggnog, read a novel, bake a Yule Log, and wish all of you, readers, customers, friends, pets, acquaintances and ships that have passed mine in the dark,<br />
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<br />Lishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816600563832631710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2384221204099471565.post-67728586238276436212017-10-23T10:20:00.003-04:002017-10-23T10:20:55.567-04:00Busy TimeI was a bit shocked the other day to see how many small orders I had waiting to be done. I'd just kind of hummed along the last couple of months thinking there weren't too many orders outstanding. Checked my notebook and it turns out I was wrong.<br />
<br />
So I made a list and now I'm working at it. Somehow, orders are never fun. When I am making something just because I want to, I have only myself to please but with orders I have someone else to please. So I get the odd feeling that I'm not working for myself, I'm working for someone else, and of course I can't always be sure just what they have in mind. So many little questions arise that I didn't think to ask... for example, I know that so-and-so wants a blue pansy ring, but I forget to ask her what sort of blue. Dark blue, light blue, purply-blue, greeny-blue??? So do I make about 6 of them and do one in each colour and hope somebody will buy the others? Or call her (which would mean admitting I forgot to ask) or just guess or use the dark blue because that glaze is easy?<br />
<br />
Another problem I have with orders is what I call Lis' rule of pottery making: "one will get shmucked." If you need 25 of something, better make 26 because one will get shmucked. Broken or cracked in the bisque or fumbled in the glaze or stuck to the kiln shelf or something, but shmucked. Unfortunately, this also means that if you only need 1, you'd better make 2 and thus all orders are automatically doubled. Sometimes I try to fool this rule by making the piece so early on that I'll have time to do it again if it fails the first time, but then the real insidiousness of the rule becomes apparent because it applies <i>every time</i>. Make one, it gets shmucked, make it another time and it gets... and so on. So you have to make at least 2 right off the bat.<br />
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The only time the rule fails is when you make 2 and both turn out OK. Then you're left with one that hangs around the studio for months until you finally unload it as a second. Or if you're really unlucky, the customer doesn't like either one and you end up with 2 you need to unload.<br />
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Of course, I'm exaggerating, it isn't always that bad. Practically all customers are just fine, they ask for what they want, in detail, and are quite reasonable when they see what I've made. Most of the time they are quite pleased, sometimes even delighted! That happened with some Toad Houses just now. I made 6 (she asked for 3) and they all turned out and she had a hard time choosing. She liked them all!<br />
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Well, I better get back to the shop. I need 1 butter dish with a twisty handle (eh?), a smaller than usual teapot, 3 mugs with leaves on them... unfortunately, the list goes on. It's beautiful out today, sunny and 15C so if I'm really good and work hard I'll allow myself to take Rosie for a long walk in the woods as a reward.<br />
<br />Lishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816600563832631710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2384221204099471565.post-55972999640410408472017-08-20T18:27:00.001-04:002017-08-20T19:34:03.260-04:00How's It Going With The Puppy?She asked. Well, I said, let me tell you.<br />
<br />
I've said 'No, Rosie', 798 times. In the last 3 days.<br />
<br />
A kind friend is giving me a new duvet. I'm passing the stuffing from the old one on to someone who makes dolls and uses a lot of stuffing. The damage was beyond stitching together and even patching looked dicey. All because Cat was on the bed, hissing.<br />
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She thinks her name is 'Rosie, bad dog'.<br />
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She's learned how to play fetch, that is, she's taught me to throw and she fetches. Then she won't let go and we have to tug-of-war. Have you ever played tug-of-war with a squeaky dog toy covered in slimy dog slobber?<br />
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The tennis ball, which flew through the air much better than a stuffed toy, is currently lost somewhere in the garden. It was very popular for a while, but then she ran off with it and I haven't seen it since. Only place I haven't checked for it is the pond...<br />
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Many plants have been successfully re-planted and will recover. There are holes ready for many more. It's my own fault for confidently telling someone, 'Oh, no, Border Collies don't dig.'<br />
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She obeys simple commands like 'sit' and 'go to bed' and 'out' very nicely, if you have a milk bone in your pocket. I learned this right after confidently telling the vet that Border Collies aren't food oriented and respond better to praise.<br />
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She much prefers cat food to dog food. The cat does not appreciate this. Speaking of food, she's learned to jump up and see what is on the counter. This explains what happened to my sandwich while I was at the sink getting a glass of water.<br />
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She's learned to throw her toys up in the air and catch them on the way down. Unless, of course, they land in the frying pan while I'm making dinner.<br />
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Border Collies aren't big swimmers, either. Which must be why I've had to fish her out of the pond about 6 times so far. She can leap in, but she can't climb out because the water is lower than the rocks that edge the pond. I'm planning on installing a ladder. Like a fish ladder, but for dogs.<br />
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Never get in the way of a puppy who is racing around and around the work table in the Studio with a stick in her mouth. Especially not if it is a large stick.<br />
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I didn't like those red garden clogs anyway.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rosie inspecting a cactus... carefully. Good Girl!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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So, how is it going? Well, I haven't laughed this much in years!Lishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816600563832631710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2384221204099471565.post-10182166688000088732017-06-30T18:14:00.000-04:002017-06-30T18:14:19.234-04:00Life with a PuppyLife with a new puppy can be very educational. I've taught my Owner quite a few things in the last couple of weeks.<br />
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For example, we now have a much better idea of how many small pieces of lumber and other sticks were tucked away under the counters in the Studio. Quite a few. This is something we were wondering about.<br />
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When done properly, a spot of digging can make dirt fly into the Studio, covering the entrance, the shelf of old pots beside the door, the buckets waiting to be washed, even the foot pedals on the wheels. The 600-lb rock step at the door might not get dislodged, but you can make a new and exciting gap between it and the threshold.<br />
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A bag of Styrofoam cups, when chewed and shaken by an expert, can cover a large territory. Half the driveway in front of the house, in fact. It will take Her 15 minutes of bending and scrabbling in the mud (it's been raining for 39 days so far...) to pick up most of the bits. The rest can wait. If it rains another day, it may not matter.<br />
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Bees are tasty. If you chomp them fast, they don't sting. But you may throw up later.<br />
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If you see a lovely small sponge you want, and She drops it into a slip bucket and it sinks, you can dive in after it. She might yell, but you've got the sponge.<br />
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Mosquitoes aren't much bothered by being barked at.<br />
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Turtles, on the other hand, don't care for it and tend to turn into small round things a lot like rocks, very hard to pick up and carry in your mouth. And they pee on you. Yuck.<br />
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Speaking of water, dropping large sticks into the dog water bowl is pretty cool. It makes a big splash and then you can lick the water off the wall. And you can get wet and then play in the mud from the hole you're working on as a surprise for your Owner, making it a double surprise.<br />
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Clay boxes are really fun to chew and rip. Newspapers are even better but they don't get soggy nearly as well. But if you chew on the corners of boxes with stuff in them, she makes with that 'No, Rosie, Bad Girl' routine. Does this make sense to you?<br />
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Don't chew on pin tools, ballpoint pens, or $90 red-handled secateurs. This makes her shriek.<br />
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But you can grab them and run. And leave them under various rose bushes... oh, gardening is so much fun.<br />
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Being a puppy is fun! <br />
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<br />Lishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816600563832631710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2384221204099471565.post-67020881543560483482017-06-07T19:56:00.000-04:002017-06-07T19:56:45.408-04:00New Puppy!!!Drum roll, please!<br />
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Introducing: the world's cutest, smartest and most lovable puppy, Elphin Rosie.<br />
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Here she is sitting and considering her new world:<br />
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It's a strange one, and a wet one, as you can see! But after a bit of thought, she sets out to explore. Clearly, she's a true Border Collie, she already has 'the stare' down pat, all she needs is some sheep.<br />
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Or a juniper that smells interesting:<br />
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Today the sun came out and we worked in the garden for a while. Rosie helped by dragging the trowel about 100' down the driveway, then making off with my phone (No, Rosie, bad girl....). After all that, a rest is in order!<br />
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So far, Rosie has managed to make Pepper the cat decide that she (Pepper) is never going into the kitchen again, has adopted an old oven mitt as her favourite toy, has raced a dangerous tea towel all around the Studio, and has taken on re-modeling one of the kitchen chairs. Yesterday in the Studio she did something I have never seen a dog do before. She found an old masking tape core in a box of empty clay bags and grabbed it for some serious and vigorous playing. It rolled, it bounced... she raced it around the tables. She growled at it, pawed at it, and raced it around some more. Then she walked over to the box, and dropped the tape back in.<br />
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Welcome home, Rosie!Lishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816600563832631710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2384221204099471565.post-24238422738644330142017-05-10T20:01:00.002-04:002017-05-10T20:01:58.709-04:00Catching UpCan hardly believe I haven't posted for so long... must have been busy! Let's catch up.<br />
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January, well, January was there. Not too sure what I did, shoveled snow, made stews and soups for dinners, tried to organize my paperwork...<br />
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February, shoveled snow, made soups and stews, tried to organize my pottery year.<br />
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March, shoveled snow, contemplated salads, made pots for the Maple Run Studio Tour and the Easter Market in April.<br />
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April, did the Tour (went very well, thank you to everyone who came and the organizers who did a fantastic job, you guys rock) and the Easter Market in Carp. Also went well although the space I was given had me stumped for a few minutes. Luckily a neighbouring vendor had a good idea and I put together the world's first V-shaped display booth. Having a pillar smack dab in the middle of my space forced creativity! It worked and again a big grateful 'thank you' to the organizers and our customers. Went home and shoveled snow.<br />
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May. So far, practically no snow, but dreadful floods in the Valley. So much rain and snow melting up north that the Ottawa River and it's tributaries rose to 100-year levels. I feel very sorry to all the people affected. I know houses and possessions are only things, but when you've worked hard to get them and keep them nice it's heart breaking to lose them like that. Water levels are now falling and soon the clean up can begin. I really would rather shovel snow.<br />
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So. I've been working hard in the Studio the last month or so, making what I think of as Spring pots. Pansies, tulips, Bird designs. I didn't get to making any Bird pieces before the Maple Run Tour, so I told anybody who asked that Bird had gone South and wasn't back yet. Now they're back, and when the Carp Market opens this Saturday, there will be lots of Bird pots!<br />
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I'm looking forward to seeing my booth at the Carp Farmers' Market this Saturday. I've made and collected a bunch of things to decorate for Mother's Day: cards, pillows, things-painted-turquoise and a fabulous turquoise chair. It should be a fine day!<br />
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And no snow. Lishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816600563832631710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2384221204099471565.post-51463746129815597322017-01-06T11:56:00.000-05:002017-01-06T11:56:04.594-05:00On the Constant Migration of ObjectsI don't know about you, but I find myself spending a fair amount of time moving things around. I really became aware of this this past week as I put my studio back together after my Christmas sale.<br />
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For the sale, I have to move all my pots into the studio. I am not able to heat the half-garage (which I call Crabapple Gallery) where I store my pottery. That's fine most of the year, but not so fine in December when it is apt to be well below freezing. I usually invite a few friends to join me with their art work, and they get the house. So all pots have to move into the studio. I carry my pots around in those Rubbermaid containers, more-or-less cushioned by pieces of bubblewrap. I think this year it was about 20 trips to bring them all in. Of course, there were also things in the studio which had to go in the garbage - trip to the garage- and things that had to be washed - trip to the house, trip back.<br />
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After the sale, things had to be put away again so I could have my work space back. So 4 tubs back to Crabapple, several trips to carry the tablecloths, left-over wrapping paper and bags and such, several trips to take my Christmas decorations back to the garage where they can get lost for another year...<br />
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So it took me about two days to move objects to get ready for my sale, and the better part of a day to move objects back to where they came from so I could get back to work. And this goes on all the time. This morning I planned to make small plates, but before I could start I had to carry water to the studio because the pail was empty, take the bowl of washing water in to the house and clean that up, then take the bowl and the washed things back to the studio. Then I noticed that the last firing had left several seconds sitting on my table, so they had to go to Crabapple, and while I was there I picked up some bags because my small stack of bags in the studio was depleted.<br />
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Seems I'm always moving objects around. Maybe I'm not a potter, just a clay-based beast of burden. Years ago, going canoe camping, I used to measure all trips in the number of portages involved. Maybe nothing has changed... or maybe we humans are only here to serve all those objects that want to move from place to place but lack the feet to do it with.Lishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816600563832631710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2384221204099471565.post-36126298851710713342016-12-23T16:54:00.002-05:002016-12-23T16:54:20.449-05:00<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/12528671/?claim=ks5eebpm3qh">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>Lishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816600563832631710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2384221204099471565.post-76012192353770060462016-12-08T12:38:00.000-05:002016-12-08T12:38:47.238-05:00Christmas StuffWell, folks, you'll all be thrilled to hear that I am now caught up to Tuesday. Hmmm, yes, I know it's actually Thursday, but that's the way it goes here. Worked like a demon from early this morning (still dark out...) and got the Studio tidied up to the point that I can now bring in all the pots that will be for sale on Saturday and Sunday.<br />
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Yes, my 1/2 price is this weekend. Both days, 10am to 4pm. All Pine Ridge Studio pottery on 1/2 price. And some seconds, too, all of them at $1 each. Whoo hoo!<br />
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Just so you have it handy, the official address is 6114 Carp Road. That
is <u>North </u>of the Village of Carp. Long driveway, watch the bumps and go
right through the puddles. I promise the puddles are solid rock at the
bottom and not very deep.<br />
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A few friends are joining me in the house, with paintings, jewelry, soaps, preserves and more. They have custody of the cider and cookies, so you have to go in the house to get some! Tricky, eh!!<br />
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We all hope very much to see you!<br />
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Oh, and do have a Merry Christmas and a very Bright New Year!<br />
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<br />Lishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816600563832631710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2384221204099471565.post-11630356222309759952016-10-25T20:07:00.000-04:002016-10-25T20:07:03.818-04:00Why I Never Get AheadIt's no wonder I never get caught up. I started tthree weeks ago to make some Fairy Houses. Several people had asked for them, and I was down to 3 and these 3 are not the coziest nests in the woods. So my plan was to make a dozen new ones and have them ready for the second Saturday (Market Day) in October.<br />
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Threw a dozen small cylinders for the bases. Then I started press-molding the roofs. While doing them I got a bit bored so I thought of other things to do. Took a break and washed the floor. Put the mop, an old stringy number, outside to dry. Went back to making roofs. Somehow it became the next day and I trimmed the cylinders and started to fit the roofs to the bases. I don't attach them, because the roofs are glazed in different colours and it is too hard to keep the colours from getting on to the bases... you know what I mean here. Seemed to have some extra roofs... plus I got the idea that a mushroom shape would be fun.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-piaRgqg8ks0/WA_sUZ1m42I/AAAAAAAACWE/gZ_IpCBYBssf-sW0u5Yr38vpk4CPAZhMQCLcB/s1600/ss-mop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="old string mop wet" border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-piaRgqg8ks0/WA_sUZ1m42I/AAAAAAAACWE/gZ_IpCBYBssf-sW0u5Yr38vpk4CPAZhMQCLcB/s320/ss-mop.jpg" title="wet string mop" width="211" /></a>So back to the wheel to make another 6 bases. While there I threw a dozen or so mini vases, the kind that people want to put brown weeds in every fall. About 2" high, any shape I felt like, some carving, some poking to make off-centre shapes. Fun to throw, fun to glaze, hell to trim.<br />
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It poured rain and the mop is soaked.<br />
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Had to make more roofs as the new bases didn't fit the ones I had. Made some very small ones and more bases to fit them.<br />
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Then I had to go do other stuff - shopping, banking, cooking, even a little cleaning because someone was coming.<br />
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Got back to the houses on Monday. Painted some of the bases, then got tired and spent an hour watering my geraniums - here are a few in the Studio window. I don't have nearly enough room for them for the winter so I took some cuttings and got them set up in little pots under a plastic dome. You can just see the end of the dome on the left.<br />
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In front of the Geraniums you see some of the colours I use to paint my pots. I've started giving each colour its own small tile palette and leaving them out. Messy but efficient, sort of.<br />
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After that I had to check my fern seedlings. They live in a shelf unit I made, under flourescent lights, until they get too big. Then they have to go outside. Going to be a bit of a problem this time as it's almost winter. Bad planning!<br />
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Went to get a lid for a small plastic container and the whole mess of lids stored on a certain shelf crashed down around my ears. Picked them all up, brushed off the dead spiders, sorted out the unusual ones and put the rest in a blue bag for re-cycling. Why do I have 396 lids and 3 containers without lids?<br />
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Back to the Fairy Houses. Had fun getting out buckets of glaze in neat colours for the roofs. Dipped all the bases in clear. Finally, two weeks after I started, the houses went into the kiln. Here are a few:<br />
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In all, I ended up with 25 Fairy Houses and one tiny weed vase.<br />
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That's a semi-matte white glaze over a shiny black glaze - an old and hackneyed idea but still effective. It's only a weed vase.<br />
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Only 2 weeks late and not really suitable for fall (the weed vase is, not the houses) but hey, I did them.<br />
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The mop may dry sometime this month, or else if I wait until it gets really cold, maybe it'll freeze dry.<br />
<br />Lishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816600563832631710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2384221204099471565.post-66920293892562886072016-09-22T17:21:00.001-04:002016-09-22T17:21:23.145-04:00Nine-finger ThrowingI threw 28 mug bodies today.<br />
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Not impressed? But I did it using only 9 fingers! A couple of days ago I was changing the die on my jolleying machine and hit the 2nd knuckle on my left index finger when the wrench slipped. It didn't hurt as much as I expected given the whack I gave it, but by evening it was most impressively swollen. I couldn't bend my finger at all. The next morning it was still very swollen and a lovely shade of red. It reminded me of the time about 10 years ago that I dropped a rather large rock on my right thumb. Don't ask exactly how I did this, because I never did figure that out. The point was that the long bone in my right thumb was cracked along its length. A torsion fracture, the doctor said. He insisted on a cast, saying that without it I might end up with crippling arthritis in the thumb. They put an odd sort of cast on, not the metal tube thing you see sometimes. It ended up looking a lot like a tiny barbell, fat at both ends with a thin part in between.<br />
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Throwing with the cast on my thumb was interesting. Turns out you need your right thumb to flatten inside the bases of things. The cast, except for really small inside bases, worked very well. At first I was careful to put the rubbery cover thing over the cast to keep it dry and clean, but after a while I forgot about that. When I went to get it off the technician said he had never had anyone wear out a cast before!<br />
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So this morning I tried throwing without using my left index finger and it worked fine. A bit awkward but do-able. Here are some of the plates I made on the jolley:<br />
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I'd show you a picture of my finger, now nice and green, but nah, look at the mugs instead.<br />
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Well, maybe not the greatest mug bodies I've ever made, but then I made them with only 9/10ths of my fingers!</div>
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Lishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816600563832631710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2384221204099471565.post-61402138192245537002016-09-10T19:25:00.001-04:002016-09-10T19:25:46.508-04:00There...I'm not sure where 'there' is, but I'm getting there. There were actual flashes of normalcy this week.<br />
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On Monday I changed the thermocouples in my larger kiln. <i>Before</i> they failed. How's that for pro-active? I felt quite impressed with myself, especially since I didn't need so much as one bad word during the whole process. Really it's pretty easy, but I tend to be a fumble-finger about these things and fiddling with wires and tiny screws is not my long suit. Ha, and it worked perfectly.<br />
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On Wednesday I took my trusty (and rusty) truck in for an oil change... and was told that it had little or no transmission fluid. I don't know much about the innards of trucks, but I understand that this can quickly lead to disaster. The good part was that instead of feeling that this was yet another calamity, I was perfectly calm and just saw it as another of life's little glitches, to be fixed, but nothing to get depressed about. In fact, I feel very lucky that it was caught in the nick of time. Then my totally helpful local repair shop got the parts in, a very kind friend drove me from and to the garage, and my dear truck got fixed on Friday. So instead of feeling stressed, I'm happy!<br />
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On Thursday a customer called and asked to come over and see what Herb Tiles I had available. This motivated me to finally get the place where I store my for-sale pottery tidied up and ready for visitors. Not much pottery, but now at least what is there looks good. I've been putting that off, it just seemed an impossible job. Guess what, it only took a couple of hours, including cleaning the windows, and I felt so much better when it was done. And it worked, she came and bought a batch of herb tiles. These are something I used to make quite a lot of, from plaster molds I made from herbs from my garden. I stopped making them when the interest in herbs leveled off, but lately it seems to be reviving. Our local Herb Festival has moved (new organizers) and seems to be perking up. I hope it builds some momentum because I still love herbs and all things herb-ish. I did go to the new Herb Festival this summer, but got rather lost. It was at a place called the Waba Lake Cottage Museum, and there is a village called Waba quite near by, so I assumed it would be there. I also assumed there would be signs. Nope and nada. A quick check on Google using my phone didn't help - their 'here it is' symbol covered the whole area...and I wasn't the only one confused, there were about a hundred cars in Waba, which is more cars than all the residents together can muster, all driving in circles looking hot and annoyed. I finally had to phone my friend (who was smarter than I and had looked it up at home) and then I was able to find it. But I digress. My point is that I got a chore done, enjoyed it, and felt cheered to have it out of the way.<br />
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I'm also slowly getting caught up on pottery orders. One is ready to go out, just need to take it to the Post Office on Monday. One tiny problem I keep having, and if anyone knows a solution, please tell me, is that the clear packing tape we all use, sometimes doesn't stick to cardboard. It seems to stick, then the next morning you find it has popped off. I was told once that it is because of a sort of 'mill glaze' on the cardboard, but why does it only happen with some boxes? I bought these at a local big box store, not wanting to drive for an hour each way to go to my usual supplier, and ended up sorry I hadn't. Had to use duct tape to close the boxes properly, and then of course the address label had to go over it and didn't stick, so more clear tape. My customer will need serious tools to get into these boxes!<br />
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So all in all a better week. Lishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816600563832631710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2384221204099471565.post-29395095022698718832016-07-11T13:07:00.001-04:002016-07-11T13:15:49.096-04:00Some Sad NewsAs some of you readers may know, my dear husband, Robert, was ill for a long time. Early this year, his health became even more precarious.<br />
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Sadly, he passed away on June 17.<br />
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I miss him more than I can say. We were companions for over 50 years, and that is a long time! But I intend to carry on with my pottery and my gardening, and to consider that his spirit is with me as I go about my daily life.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PCYaxDflBr4/V4PTaSClHKI/AAAAAAAACPs/-MX9Jnel6ggMfpopp8pywD3DQ-nRLkuXQCLcB/s1600/RwithDogs.0077.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PCYaxDflBr4/V4PTaSClHKI/AAAAAAAACPs/-MX9Jnel6ggMfpopp8pywD3DQ-nRLkuXQCLcB/s400/RwithDogs.0077.jpg" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robert with both dogs, Jake and Kip (hiding his face) looking out across the marsh from the rocky ridge behind our house. This is a favourite picture, and how I plan to remember him.</td></tr>
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The blog will return...<br />
<br />Lishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816600563832631710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2384221204099471565.post-91198416761947882902016-03-19T11:51:00.001-04:002016-03-19T11:51:49.396-04:00The Social Media ChallengeThere is an enormous amount of pressure on craftspeople these days to advertise their work, and a large part of that involves having good photos of their work. Any show or sale you want to apply to asks for images, stores want posters with photos to put near your work, and a veritable chorus of marketing advice tells you over and over that you must have good pictures, you must do social media, you must... Trouble is, if you ignore the chorus, you risk being over-shadowed by all the ones who don't.<br />
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I am trying.<br />
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Here is what I went through yesterday, just trying to get one decent image for my Facebook page.<br />
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First, I decided to include a few pieces, not just one, and to choose my recent Bird pieces. Then I got the idea that Bird would look good among some twigs... which had to be black... so I searched the woods for suitable twigs, cut them, cleaned them up and painted them black. Turns out that frozen twigs are hard to paint black, they thaw out and the paint doesn't dry and doesn't stick. But eventually I had some.<br />
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Then I moved all the plants that have been in my Studio window all winter. It's my only real light source. I've got some photo floods and a flash, but none of them really work as well as the window. Mind you, I can only use the window for a few hours in the afternoon, after the sun moves to the front of the Studio and before it shines directly into the window. The plants didn't complain, but I could sense disapproval.<br />
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Then I put up the white background paper. Not quite enough room for it but by hanging one end of the roll at the window and supporting the other end on a tall tripod, it works.<br />
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I arranged the pots and twigs. Here is what I got:<br />
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Pretty bad.<br />
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Definitely a job for Photoshop. First, I cropped. Then I adjusted the colour balance, then lightened and increased the contrast and the overall colour saturation.<br />
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Better.<br />
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Then I started a new file and gave it a graduated pinkish/mauve background. Moved my photo in, then added my logo, then some words. It was still pretty dull so I added some loose birds. Now it wasn't too bad, but I didn't like the way the pottery disappeared under all the other gumpf. So I went back and re-cropped the pots photo to concentrate the attention on the pots a bit better. While I was at it I added a fine black line around the image.<br />
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Of course I moved everything around about six times and re-sized things at least as often, but eventually I figured it would do. Here is the final image, ready for Facebook and Google+:<br />
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Then of course I had to do the posts, write a covering 'comment' and post it. And I don't even do Twitter, Instagram or any of the other social media sites. What I did do took pretty much all afternoon and early evening, maybe a total of 4-5 hours.<br />
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It's a question - do I advertise, or do I make pots? Lishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816600563832631710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2384221204099471565.post-22612895002874111132016-02-12T16:40:00.001-05:002016-02-12T16:40:27.465-05:00An Entertainment of a Different ColourSometimes you just need a break! So when I was invited by the organizer, who saw and liked my Bonsai pots, to participate in a new event called Seedy Saturday here in Almonte a week Saturday (ie, Feb. 20), I was interested but had to tell her I didn't have any Bonsai pots.<br />
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After some discussion, she agreed I could sell my notecards and promote Native Plants. In my other life, I'm a native plant nut, so my eyes lit up and the wheels began to turn and well, the rest of the week is now history.<br />
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I've been making photo notecards every afternoon for a week now. My mousing hand has developed a squeak, my printer is overheated, my paper cutter is exhausted, and I quite forgot that today is Loyal Husband's birthday.<br />
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time out:<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Happy Birthday, Dear! </span></b><br />
time back in.<br />
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I figured it would be a piece of cake, how hard could it be, etc. etc. Turns out, not hard, but time-consuming! First I had to go shopping (in the world of making stuff, invention usually leads to necessity, ie., shopping), then I had to find the images I wanted among the 35,000+ on my computer, then I had to edit each one, print it, glue it on a card, stick the card plus its envelope into a plastic sleeve, then make a poster for my table... oy. Not to mention agonizing over every little detail. I still haven't decided what colour of tablecloth to use on my table... hmmm, could lead to more shopping.<br />
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Here are some cards in progress:<br />
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Today I covered the salt dishes I've been making in the studio in plastic and devoted the entire day to making a sign for my table. Cut & paste, yep. And to think I once decided not to become a school teacher because the college told me to report for class with scissors and glue. My younger and not-yet-wiser self was horrified. I wanted to mold small minds, not glue things. Such youth!<br />
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But what the heck, it's February. Grab your boots <br />
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and head on over to Seedy Saturday <br />
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Make sure you come to my table to see my non-seeds and admire my gluing expertise!Lishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816600563832631710noreply@blogger.com0