Preparing for the ceramic market in Maaseik

I have a few days off work and take this opportunity to prepare for the ceramic market in Maaseik on the 30th of June. The list to make is still long so this is just the beginning.

I love being a mom!

 

Dear Julie,

 

I'm so honored to be you mom!
Becoming a mom has changed me profoundly. The first months of your little life have been tough but also the most beautiful ones of my life. How much strength, confidence and courage that you have given me and I often wonder how I keep functioning after all those sleepless nights.
But my love for you grows bigger and bigger every day. Actually I barely notice the lack of sleep nowadays.
I'm so grateful that you came into my life and that I get to know you better each day.
My head and heart are changed forever and I would do anything for you.
(note to readers: yes, all the cliches about parenting are true)
I carry you in my heart and I'm so excited to see what the future holds for us.

love,
Mom

Launch new collaboration line 'Sea Level'

Today is the big day! Anna and I have been talking about tableware for some time now and at last we decided we should just make it. While I'm very busy with my 9 month old baby girl, Julie, I don't have much spare time to make the tableware myself so we decided to buy tableware which was already manufactured. Much easier as making and glazing the tableware would be such an intense, time-consuming job. Besides that the tableware we selected is such a fun collection that fits our goal exactly: it's innovative and looks great.

When we decided on the theme of the new line, Anna started drawing and since I love her work, I wasn't surprised to see beautiful illustrations. I ordered the transfers, applied them to the tableware & fired them in my ceramic kiln. I love the result of the blue tones on the white ceramics. It reminds me of Delfts blue but in a contemporary way. The collection is called 'Sea level' as the theme is plants and animals living in or by the water.

We made 4 different designs on 4 different tableware pieces: a bowl, a plate, a cup and a saucer. All pieces are available seperately and you can mix and match as you like. For the next few days I'll be listing all designs in my shop. Hope you will come by and check 'em out.
With every order of this new line you will receive this beautiful postcard to send or to frame.

Curious about the recipe of the cookie in the images? They are divine so I can recommend baking them.

They are called thumbprint biscuits and here's the recipe for you:

Ingredients:
225g selfraising flour
100g cold butter
75g sugar
1 egg
2 spoons milk
raspberry jam

Preheat the oven at 200°C and grease a baking pan or use a baking sheet.
Add the flour and the butter in a bowl and mix it with your fingers until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.
Add the sugar. Whisk the egg and stir it through the mixture.
Add the milk little by little through the mixture until your dough is soft. If the dough is too dry, add some more milk.
Scoop teaspoons of the mixture onto the baking tray. If all goes well, you have enough for at least 12 biscuits.
They grow a bit while baking so leave so
Make the top of the biscuit a bit flat with your spoon or hand and press your thumb into the middle.
Add a bit raspberry jam into the thumbprint hole.
Bake the bisquits 15 to 20 minutes in the oven until they are golden brown.

Take the biscuits out of the oven and let them cool down.
You can keep 'em 3 to 4 days in an airtight container.
me space in between them while baking.

Sea level

So excited! 

We'll be launching our new line tomorrow. 

I'm prepping the listings as I type this...

Stay tuned!

Porcelain rings

From the North Story line, we don't have all the designs in all sizes so when someone wants a certain ring, I need to check if I have it in stock. If not, I turn to Anna to see if she has it in stock.
If neither of these are the case, I check my blank rings and see if I can make one. But then when the blank rings of a certain size are not available, I need to make new ones and that's a process that takes a while. For one, I don't always have enough work ready to fire a porcelain kiln so I wait until the kiln is filled up. That usually takes a while. Thankfully we have some very patient customers who are willing to wait a few months for their ring to be ready.  Today I made a few new blank rings to put in the porcelain kiln. Hopefully they schrink to the requested size... otherwise I can start all over again. :)

My favorite ring is this one:

Workshop porcelain

Today I had a few ladies in my studio for a workshop paper porcelain. The studio was clean and tidy yesterday evening.

In the evening it was a mess which made for a happy heart as that means that the participants enjoyed themselves. They were very quietly working and very, very productive.

Can't wait to fire and send them their work and make happy smiles on their faces! :)

Wrapping up orders

Wrapping up some orders on Sunday morning! They'll be shipped from Holland today.