Website, muddy2012 promo code etc.

First and foremost, I now have a real website! muddymissy.com
It's nothing super special, just kind of a hub for my etsy store, blog, etc and it's easier for me to say to people. Designed it myself =)

In honor of that, I've created a new promo code for 15% off that will be good through the end of June: muddy2012. I've made bumper stickers, magnets, keychains, postcards, labels, a banner... just a ton of crap through Vista Print, most of it was free sample type stuff but I'm pretty pumped about it and I'll be throwing a free piece of merch in with every online order while supplies last.

Moving on... the following pictures are from a couple of recent firings, I did a lot of before and after shots. This first picture is from the middle shelf of this past weekend's firing. I made a lot of beads because I want to start selling beads and pendants in the "Supplies" section of etsy soon. I tried using a small toaster oven rack to hang them from in order to get more out of the firing then I usually do just using the 8 metal posts I have.

 

Here is a better shot of why this whole rack thing was a bad idea:

I knew the metal was going to warp, and that's fine. I put it on lifts high enough to accommodate for that. But what my dumb ass did that completely screwed the pooch was put a bunch of herb markers underneath the stupid thing. Apparently I did not accommodate for that... It was not a complete disaster, maybe 3 markers and 8 beads got messed up. Still, a mistake that I shouldn't be making at this point. This next one is also from that firing.

I'm sending a package to TUIH today that has a bunch of shotties, some moon and shroom necklaces, salt and pepper shakers, aerators, a serving set, ummmm and other stuff that I can't remember. I fired a bunch more aerators last night for Finding Joy and shotties for Clover Meadow Winery outside of Shell Lake which is the newest place that will be displaying my stuff. Here's some pictures from last night's firing.

This is the sun that I made for my Mom's bday =) The pic to the left is of the bisque firing, I forgot to take a picture of it before I glaze fired. I am really happy with how it turned out and can't wait to give it to her on Feb 11th when her and Dad come to visit! I'm going to get some more pictures taken of it and list it as a made to order item on etsy with a couple of different color choices. It's about 18" from tip to tip and takes 6 or so hours to sculpt because I don't use a mold or anything. I'm thinking $80 for this size, it's going to be a pain in the ass to ship. Customers will need to allow 2-3 weeks and some variation in the finished product as it is hand sculpted so no two pieces will be exactly alike. 

A few more shots from after I unloaded the kiln this morning:

Lots of aerators for Finding Joy and muddymissy.com

A couple of small salt and pepper shakers that I sent off to Tangled up in Hue. 

Lately I have this motivation complex and it's really weird for me because it's the complete opposite of what I've dealt with most of my life... I actually have a ridiculous amount of motivation when it comes to making stuff. When I'm not at work I have to constantly have a piece of clay in my hands, whether it be that I'm sculpting, glazing, making necklaces or what have you. It's a completely new thing for me to feel guilty for laying down to watch a movie without making something. I used to love not doing anything, and now if I try to do that my mind is going non-stop about how to promote, what I should make next, new techniques... the only way to slow it down it to actually be making something. It's become therapeutic for me in a huge way, it's crazy the passion I have for this. I love it. Definitely flexing my multitasking muscles. Anyway...

Speaking of multitaskers... Xavier Rudd is the best there is! Check him out and have a great day!

1.7 Firing (happy new year)

Just a few pictures to post, had an awesome firing the other day.

 Lately I've been greenware on the bottom of my kiln and two shelves of glazed ware above it. This way if something explodes it won't fall down and stick to the melted glaze. Learned this the hard way. Making some new sauce/pickle/olive/whatever serving-type dishes with utensils and trying my hand at salt and pepper shakers. Lots of shottie sets because there's been talk of possibly selling some at Clover Meadow Winery outside of Shell Lake.

This firing is mainly going into TUIH and Finding Joy and then I'll make some time to focus on my etsy site.

Shipping some wine aerators, shotties, cork pots, necklaces and a sauce serving dish with utensils to TUIH in the next week or two. Hoping to get some saké sets glazed and fired by then. The wine aerators are sweet, my neighbor bought me one and I've been determined to figure out how it works and replicate it, finally made some that work! Check this out if you've never heard of them, http://vinturi.com/. I'm selling mine for $20 which is a pretty good deal. Should have some on the website soon as well.

Bringing a couple saké sets and some shotties over to Finding Joy today along with a few other things.

These are actually from my last firing - a couple custom order cork pots for some guys that Taylor works with.

That's it for now! Oh, Lily's new family took her home on the 3rd =( Bittersweet. I miss her so much but it sure is nice being back down to 2 dogs. Hope everyone had a fantastic New Years!