Another Peek...

Some more work just listed in the shop. The bunny plate sold already so I thought I would post some others:)

New work up!

New pots! Get 'em while their hot!

New York.New York.

This weekend Michael and I took a trip up to New York to visit some friends who live in the city. We are so lucky to live in an area that is so close to everything! It was a perfect weekend for being in the city, the weather was beautiful and everyone was bearing their white legs for the first time of the season, including me! We stayed with our good friends Laruen and Josh, you can see Michael looking out their window at the beautiful view of the city while sipping coffee on Saturday morning. During the weekend of sightseeing, eating and drinking I made a discovery that I had to recreate the minute we got home. Have you had Pinkberry? I knew the name of the company from the credit card commercials that were out a while ago but didn't realize that they were an actual company. They make this frozen yogurt that is just delicious (although our friends say that it can't compare to the yogurt stand at Bloomingdale's....did you know Bloomingdale's made frozen yogurt? cause it was news to me...) I found a recipe on 101 cookbooks (a fantastic food blog by the way) and gave it a shot in my ice cream maker (which had pretty much been collecting dust until another friend of our introduced me to Nutella ice cream). It turned out fantastic and it's pretty healthy since it's just greek yogurt, sugar (or splenda I guess) and frosty goodness. I also made a Raspberry sauce to go over it...yum. If you have an ice cream maker you should head on over to 101 cookbooks and check out her recipe, and also check out the Melon Sherbet, I plan to make that tonight!

Seedlings

I finally had a chance to try out my new paper pot maker and dribble set that I bought from etsy last week. I have a cute little seedling garden in my mud room now. I can't wait for them to start growing, hopefully I can keep them alive long enough to plant in the yard! It was nice to unwind tonight by playing in the dirt (not like I don't do that every day!). I taught my first workshop today to the lovely art teachers of Howard County and as much fun as it was I am exhausted from stressing over how it was going to go. It went smooth:) There was lots of interest in my process and it was nice to teach adults for once! Now I'm going to relax with the Wire....ahhh Baltimore.

Super Sale!

Check out my etsy shop for super savings! I'm having a studio spring cleaning sale and many items are marked down to half price. I'm making room for new work....just as soon as I scrape the glaze from my kiln shelves:)

Spring Bada Bing, this weekend!

This weekend I will be at the Spring Bada Bing Craft Show in Richmond Virginia. If you are in the area stop by and say hello! It's this Sunday at Planet Zero from 11am-4pm.
I will have some new work out but not as much as I would have liked. I just opened the kiln to find a total disaster. I am so overly paranoid about using new glazes, I tested this one first and it was beautiful so I made a whole bunch of plates with a nicely textured bottom that would look gorgeous under this stony matt glaze. Being so paranoid I didn't want the glaze to run so I made sure to stay far from the bottom and just for a little extra I put all the work on stilts. Well I fire my earthenware pretty high and since I don't normally glaze the bottoms I don't use kiln wash. Needless to say the pots all melted around the stilts, the glaze was not thick enough yet somehow managed to drip on 3 kiln shelves. Yep, 3...with no kiln wash. The pots are beautiful except for the underneath which is a nasty mess of badly applied glaze. Right now I am sitting on the couch, swearing off any more work for the night, giving myself a facial and trying to look at the positive. I really liked the new ice cream bowl set and now they will live in my cabinets plus I think I can make the glazes work. They are really nice when dipped but a hot mess when brushed. I am going to try adding some CMC and Veegum like I put in my other glaze. I really really want them to work since they are a nice satin and dry matt and I want that surface and color in my work! Ok. Enough whining. Shake it off and start again. Anyone have any suggestions for getting glaze off a kiln shelf???
p.s. I will be taking most of my work from the etsy shop with me so if you had your eye on something now is the time to get it while it's still here! I will relist when I get back:)

Spring Etsy Pick

Well I'm back. I had every intention of blogging daily during break but I got all wrapped up in the studio and didn't want to get sucked into computer land so I took a little break from most things computer. So now my break is over and I am back here at the desk typing away. Did you miss me? I missed you. There is something strangely comforting sending your thoughts into the vastness of cyberspace, if your a fellow blogger I'm sure you understand. So let me catch you up on a few things.
1. I have been a busy busy bee working away in the studio trying out some new mold methods and formulating some new glazes. The kiln is full and waiting to be fired tonight so hopefully I will have some pictures by next week to show for all my hard work.
2. If you are in the Richmond 'hood you should come check out the Spring Bada Bing happening this weekend. It's on Sunday and I will share more about that later.
3. In my last post I was tagged to share a few of my favorite blogs so that will also be coming soon.
4. I wanted to share this etsy favorite of mine, a paper pot maker from Wood Elements. I have been debating spending the $25 for a couple of days now. I love the idea of starting plants from seeds and I think this is such an awesome tool. I always have delusions of gardening grandeur at this time of year. I plan to plant veggies and herbs to have a bounty of home grown produce come summer time. Usually I end up with a few herb plants and maybe an overgrown tomato or two. Is it too late to start some seeds?
5. And finally, I have been thinking about re-working my blog to be a little less sporadic and a little more scheduled. It's still coming together though...

Spring Clean Out.

Today is our first real day of spring break, the weekend doesn't count because we would have that off anyway. It was somewhat productive but I can already see the days zooming by with out me getting everything crossed off my list, which is about a mile long. No, really, a mile. I did start the week by going to the gym and having my very out of shape butt kicked around by a young, very in shape trainer. It was my free trial for joining the gym.... Next I came home and sat on the couch drinking coffee and complaining to Michael about how sore my legs were after a whole 20 minutes of workout (he was not sympathetic). Then I mixed a few new test glazes and watched Michael play video games for a while and we ended the afternoon by cleaning the house and opening some windows (kittys are in heaven!) to get some fresh air. The house feels so nice and I'm working on getting rid of some things around the house that don't fit, collect dust or we just don't like anymore. I don't know how we get so much stuff when we hardly ever buy anything. Last night we went to our friends new house for pizza, beer and video games and I brought them a few of these little dippers for the new house. Hopefully this week will bring some new work and fresh ideas for spring. I'll keep you posted!

And the winner is....

Well this has officially been the longest week ever. Spring break is just a few hours away and I'm not sure I'm gonna make it. This years break is later than normal and everyone is feeling it. Tonight Michael and I are headed to the Hamilton Tavern (the H-Tav as we've come to call it) for yummy burgers and some much needed beverages! I will be headed straight to the gym after work in preparation! But I know what your really here for.....

The winner of my March give away! I think this is karma working it's magic because our winner is... Lillyella! A few weeks ago Lillyella featured me on her blog and today I pulled her name out of the hat, well ceramic bowl if you want to be technical:) Ok lillyella, you now have until April 7th to send me your address to claim your prize! (pinkkisspottery@gmail.com) If you didn't win this round don't fret, I had so much fun with this contest that I am scheming up another as we speak.....stay tuned for the next item up for grabs!

Last day to win!

Just a reminder that today is the last day to sign up to win the set of little dippers! Scroll down to see the post about it and thank to all who signed up to follow me, I will announce the winner tomorrow!

New Ideas.

This weekend I was busy at the Baltimore Clayworks taking a great workshop from Shoko Teruyama and Matt Kelleher. They did demos of building over a bisque mold and Shoko showed us all how she gets her lovely imagery on her pots. They were both really interesting to listen to and I'm glad I finally got some hand building lessons! I have been working more and more with hand building but I never really learned since I was so focused on the potters wheel in school. I pretty much feel like I've been making it up as I go but this weekend I learned that I wasn't that far off! Now I just need to find some time to get into the studio and try some of these new ideas out! Good thing spring break is only 2 days away:)

Follow me and win!

If you are signed up for my newsletter you already know about this giveaway and hopefully you have signed up to participate! I will be drawing the name of one lucky follower to win a set of little dippers just like in the picture! All you have to do is sign up to follow my blog in the box to the left. I will be putting the names in a hat and announcing a winner on April 3rd so be sure to sign up by midnight April 2nd. It's a fun and easy game to play and who doesn't like free stuff? Make sure to check back to see if you are the winner, I will need that person to send me their mailing information by April 7th or I will have to pick another name. So what are you waiting for? Go sign up to follow my blog!

Collaboration with The Broken Plate

A little while ago I gave Juliet from the Broken Plate Pendant Company a few little dishes I had in the studio. For those who don't know, Juliet makes lovely jewlrey from old and broken plates. Here is what she wrote about the collaboration....

One of my favorite parts of my job (you can call it that!) is being able to collaborate with some of the many talented ceramic artists of Etsy! This time around, I had the great pleasure of working with some pieces from Baltimore’s own, Pink Kiss Pottery. I have been in love with her work since I met her at a craft show many moons ago, so it was extra fun for me to make these. If you have not checked out her shop in a while, you are in for a treat because, armed with a new camera, her photos are as lovely as her new work!

As with all of my collaborations, $5 from each sale will go to a charity. This time we have chosen Art with a Heart , a Baltimore Charity that provides interactive, hands-on art activities to disadvantaged families and children, and to people with developmental and physical challenges.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them. They are now available in my Etsy Shop.

It's easy being green!

In honor of Spring and Earth Day I will be offering one of my handmade wash cloths as a free gift for every order in my etsy shop. These are made from 100% cotton and are fantastic for cleaning handmade pottery. They are very scrubby and tough on stuck on food yet gentle on the surface of your pottery. These last much longer than regular kitchen sponges and you can just throw them in the washer when they get dirty. So in honor of spring...it's easy being green, just head on over to the shop and pick out a new lovely for yourself!

Goat Cheese

One of my favorite things! It's a little tangy, a little creamy and can do so many things! Tonight I mixed up a goat cheese dressing by mixing it with some milk, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Sometimes I use a similar mixture over pasta as a cream sauce. It also yummy just crumbled over salad greens with cranberries and walnuts. I have made stuffed pork with goat cheese and figs...it's one of my staple grocery store buys because I know I can make something elegant and easy with it. Anyone have a favorite dish that includes goat cheese?

Necklace Design-first attempt.

I have recently been trying to come up with some jewelry designs. I don't really like making jewelry but I know of a show coming up that I would like to be a part of. I only want to participate if I can come up with something awesome so I'm trying to challenge myself to come up with some new ideas. I'm interested in the play between refined and rustic and have been experimenting with it in my pots as well as in the jewelry ideas. Here are some photos I took of the first one to come out. I made it more as a sketch, just with some beads and stuff I had laying around the house. The ceramic beads are made by me and finished with a metallic glaze just on the inside and around the edge. Hopefully they will get better but, boy, I am NOT a jeweler! I do have the utmost respect for them though:)

A sweet surprise.

Etsy Front Page 3/16/09 Admin
Originally uploaded by Etsy Front Pagers

What a nice surprise that my little garden mug made it to the front page yesterday for my birthday! I only just listed it Sunday:) Thanks etsy!

Happy Birthday to me:)

Today is my birthday, yay! I have realized that Monday is not the best day to have a birthday as all the best restaurants are closed. I am having trouble finding a place to go tonight. I'm sure we will find a place and we did celebrate over the weekend so I can't be too upset. I did receive some beautiful gifts from my friends and Michael that I will have to share as soon as I get some pictures taken. Where ever we wind up tonight I am definitely having some form of dessert!

Change in the S&P

I found a better font for the little salt and pepper pots. It's easier to read and a little bigger.

Teapot Update

Well I think these two are finished. Cute little sets, I think. I see some mistakes in both but I am now excited to make some more and improve on the design. What do you think?
P.s. I just listed some mini teapot "sketches" in my etsy shop! They would look so cute on a shelf as a little still life around your house.