Holiday Heap is TOMORROW!

That's right! Holiday heap is tomorrow, are you coming? You know I'll be there and so will my neighbor (at the show) and friend Monica from Sugar Paperie. So be sure to pick up some handmade holiday cards to go all your unique, one-of-a-kind, handmade gifts that I'm sure your going to walk away with tomorrow. And don't forget to get a box for yourself, it's always a good idea to have pretty cards handy, you never know when your going to need one!

Winterfest

Tomorrow night is the Jazz Preview for Winterfest at the Baltimore Clayworks. I am hoping to get there to see my pots on display and to check out the work of this artist Shanna Fleigel. I really love her work and am hoping I can afford to add one of her mugs to my collection.
Today I stayed home, hoping to have a work day but am stuck on the couch with the sniffles. I was up early to do a spot on the local news advertising Holiday Heap this weekend. When I got home I made this really yummy soup and I wanted to share the recipe with you.

Spiced Butternut Squash Soup:
Melt 1 Tbs. butter in a medium dutch oven or pot with a lid. Add 1 peeled and chopped apple (I used a honey crisp because that is what I had) and 1/2 of a chopped onion. Saute until the apple is soft and the onion is translucent. Add 1 tsp gar am Marsala, 1tsp curry powder and 1/2 tsp cinnamon, saute for another minute or so. Add 1 package of chopped butternut squash (or about 1 medium if you don't have it pre-chopped), 1 cup of baby carrots and 4 cups of low sodium chicken broth. Cover and simmer until veggies are tender. Puree in batches and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt on top! I almost added some spinach but wasn't sure it would go. After tasting it I think it would be good.

Holiday Heap is coming!

Only 4 more days until Holiday Heap! I just spent the last 2 days in the studio trying to restock from this past weekend. It must have been quite the site to see me and Michael down there in the middle of the night, me throwing clay everywhere and him standing there with the hairdryer speeding things along. If you are in the Baltimore area make sure you come out to this show...it's going to be great! Not that I am biased in any way ;)

Tugboat

Well I am back home after a great weekend in Pittsburgh. I sold lots of pots, had some fun bought some art and made new friends. Michael and I had the pleasure of having dinner and drinks with our friends from Baltimore, Rachel and Phil from Red Prairie Press and our new friends Valerie and Paul from Tugboat Print Shop. We had delicious food and hung out in their beautiful home/ studio which I am totally jealous of! I brought home one of their beautiful fox prints which is going in our upstairs room once we refinish it over the Christmas break.

Off to Pittsburg!

Tomorrow I am off to Pittsburg for a 2 day show. The car still needs to be packed but I am getting things checked off my list. I also dropped off some work to Baltimore Clayworks for their Winterfest. The Holiday season is off and running! There is no time once Halloween is over, phew! I am going to seriously need a break this Christmas! If you are in the Pa area stop by the Handmade Arcade and say hello. I'll be there Saturday and Sunday.

Shop Special!

Psst! Wanna know a secret? Well not really a secret, but you are the first to hear. From now until the Holidays I am having a special in my etsy shop. When you purchase $30 or more I will send you a super cute ornament FREE! They are listed in my shop for $10 that you will not have to pay. Well, what are you waiting for? Go get one!

Go Vote!

Tomorrow is the big day! Everyone make sure to get out there and vote! Then maybe you would like to buy this funky pendant by luna clay design to commemorate the event:)

Happy Halloween!

Don't eat too much candy or you'll get a tummy ache! The spooky image above is The Poe Sisters by DearDodo and is on sale this weekend in honor or Halloween!

Fun with Photoshop

This is going to be a quick post, I worked at school today from 8:30am-8:00pm and am super sleepy! I was playing around with my shots last night and decided to try out some filters in my photoshop collection. Here is one of the pictures, just for fun!

New Pots from the Kiln!

I just unloaded the kiln last night and I'm really happy with the new pots. I was thinking the glaze was going to be funky but it turned out great! I just hope I can make it do that again:) I will be bringing these with me to the Unusual Suspects show in Bethesda this weekend. Come out and say "hi" if your in the area! It's a great kickoff to your holiday shopping.

Studio Shoot

Today Michael and I were total rock stars today as we had a professional photographer in the studio taking lots of pictures of us. I'm leaving the reason for this a secret for now...I'll fill you in later but it's going to be super cool. Here is a picture of me that Michael took after the photographer left. I needed some shots of me for some other projects so we snapped a few while the studio was still clean.

Thinking ahead...

Ok, ok. I know it's too early to be thinking of Christmas but...craft show season starts for me next weekend which means holiday shoppers. (Also, I was tagged in my last post and am procrastinating about that, don't worry, I will get there!) So it's not that early...right? I also wanted to share these cute gift tags by Palomas Nest. They come as a set of 4 and are made from wood and porcelain, way nicer than the name written with sharpie marker I use as a "gift tag".

The Broken Plate

I am totally in love with this ring and pendant from The Broken Plate. They are both made from a Diana Fayt plate and are really lovely, Juliet has some other pieces in her shop from this same plate and I love them all. Plus $5.oo of each Diana Fayt pendant sold will go to Art with a Heart, a Baltimore charity who provides interactive, hands-on art activities to disadvantaged families and children, and to people with developmental and physical challenges. Make sure to stop by her Etsy shop and check out all the beautiful things Juliet makes from broken plates!

In the Theme

To go along with yesterdays post about yummy fall cookies, today I am sharing a yummy Pumpkin Spice soap! I have a hand lotion that smells like cinnamon apples and every time I use it a smile just appears on my face. The smell is so comforting and I bet this soap would have the same effect. Pop over to the Soap Store on etsy and grab some up while the leaves are still on the trees! P.S. the Soap Store is from the Pocono Mountains in Pa, which is close to my childhood:)

Flavors of Fall-Pumpkin Ginger Sandwich Cookies

Well, it's happening. The weather is finally cooling off and the leaves are starting to change. I have been craving a trip to the apple orchard to pick apples and sip hot cider...yum. I haven't done that in forever! I love fall food, the crisp apples and squash paired with woodsy spices and red wine. I have been trying to cut back on sugar but I think that if someone put these cookies in front of me I would have to eat them! They look so yummy and fall-like. Whimsey and Spice is one of my favorite shops to drool over. They have great photos and delicious food posted on their blog. You know me...pots and food and I'm a happy camper!

Clay problem solved!

My clay finally came in and now I have 10 boxes of beautiful fresh clay waiting for me in the studio. Well, most of it is still in the car waiting for Michael to unload it! I am stuck on the couch with a fever and zero energy. Figures right? (And for those of you who were wondering from the last post I use Stan's Red clay body with a coat of Pete Pinell's white slip and other underglaze colors painted and printed on.) Since I am stuck on the couch I have lots of time to search through etsy and I saw that Molly Hatch has added these lovely salt and pepper shakers to her shop. I just love her drawn details and have been a big fan of her work for some time. I might be purchasing a set of these since they are a steal at only $28! I am starting to think Holiday already and I have a feeling my mom would love these.

The three clays.

As soon as I have some time to work in the studio, I run out of clay. I ordered more but the delivery is running late and the later it gets the more worried I am about not ordering enough. I tried some other clays last night trying to find one that my supplier stocks but they just weren't right. One has too much grog for me and tears up my hands while I throw and the other has no grog and won't keep it's shape like I like. I am one who likes to throw with a soft body and have no trouble with porcelain so you know that clay must be super soft! Anyway, I have to call the supply store today and find out what's up. I really don't want to have to buy one of the not-right clays but I might have to suck it up!grrrr.

Waiting for Etsy...

Well I was hoping to get some more listing done in the shop tonight but etsy seems to be having a glitch. It's not letting me upload photos. I checked the chat rooms and it looks like it's been a problem for others too. Oh well, I guess I can share some of my new work here! Maybe this is fate telling me I need to go to bed! Check out my etsy shop if you are interested in something above!

Bowls?

Come see me next weekend at Crafty Bastard's in DC! Pick up one of these new bowls for your cereal, a toasty bowl of soup or a large helping of your favorite ice cream...yum.

BOB for Michael!!!

Ok. It's been a while since I've posted but my computer is being stupid lately and I have limited internet right now. Plus we just came back from a very wet weekend in Chicago. Anyhoo...on to the BEST news!! Michael just won the Best of Baltimore for Best Comic book! Hoooray:) We are kinda bummed that we didn't know in advance and missed out on the party:( We did celebrate over dinner at Clementine though. They also won Best of Baltimore....go Hamilton!