North Story - the process

Do you find it hard to imagine what work has gone into a finished product sometimes?
I do, especially if it concerns a technique I don't know anything about.

That's why I want to show you the process of how the brooches of the North Story are made.

It's a lengthy process that involves lots of sanding, 3 different firings and much patience along the way. But believe me, the result is all worth it...

Press a piece of clay into a mould.

Smooth out the back.

Lift it out of the mould gently.

Smooth the edges with a bit of water.

Let it dry in between plaster plaques.

After they are dry, sand the roughness away and fire it a first time bisque temperature.

After firing, sand again and do a porcelain firing.
And sand again after the porcelain firing.
Jip, that's 3 times sanding...

Meanwhile cut out the screenprinted images.

Put the decal in warm water.

Apply it to the porcelain by gently tearing away the paper underneath the screenprinted image.
Decals are normally used on glazed ware.
We're using unglazed material and this is trickier as the decal is more likely to let loose on unglazed ware.

Rub over it with a clay rib to get the airholes and water out.

Gently rub it with a clean cloth and then fire it at decal temperatures.

I apologize for the gloominess of the pictures - I blame it on the weather conditions! :)

And for the final products, keep an eye on our shops (LilaRubyKing & ArtMind), we'll be listing our new line later this week... :)

Flickr Favorites

1. reflection, 2. misty lake, 3. October sky*,
4. "Espera mãe. Acho que não está focando!"

Since we're lacking a lovely blue sky, I thought I'd create one in my weekly mosaic. What sad summer it has been here and I can see autumn already too. I don't mind as I love autumn but after such a crappy summer, I would appreciate if we would get a mild autumn with reasonable temperatures. But hey, we have to take it as it comes so I shouldn't complain.
I love the cat picture - what a great shot that is. Why is our cat not photogenetic like that? She never seems to take the right pose to make a fab picture but she is supersweet and I suppose not all cats can be supermodels, right?

Next week is the first Tuesday of the month so we play by theme. I'd love to see a teeny, tiny, mini, itsy-bitsy and wee mosaic. If you have a nice theme for next month, don't hesitate to let me know.

Hoera Hip Handwerk

Porcelain labels saying 'sweet' and 'just because'. I made more labels for a fair I'll be attending in about 2 weeks. The fair is on 'open monument day' in the fashion museum in Hasselt.
It's on Sunday September 11th from 10AM until 6PM and the entrance is free.
There will be a variety of sellers with handmade goodies plus there is a lovely new exhibition called 'prints' to see too.
If you have been curious about the new jewellery line that Anna (LilaRubyKing) and I are about to launch, you can come and see it for real then. :) Hope to see you there!

Moeders voor moeders

I'm part of a sew, crochet, knitting- group called the 'knappe knoopjes' or translated 'smart/pretty buttons'. We come together every 3 weeks to work on our projects together and chat the evening away. On our last get together, lots of participants helped to sew, crochet or knit for a non-profit organization called 'Moeders voor moeders' or 'Mothers for mothers'.
This non-profit organization is dedicated to families or single persons with children under 12 years.They help them with food parcels, clothing and more. The poorest children should not miss the fun times so they also help out with gifts for the children's birthday, Christmas, Saint Nicolas, etc.
They were in great need of dark blue and grey scarves and hats for primary school children to fit with their school uniform, so they called out for help for anyone who could help make 'em.
I too picked up my crochet hook and finished a scarf yesterday. It's pretty hard to photograph as it's quite long and very, very curly but I hope the child wearing it will love it and that it will keep her toasty warm. Well I suppose it will be worn by a girl as it's quite a feminine design. :)

Hand leaves

Another glimpse from the North Story...
Not much longer now before the new line will be in our shops!
Happy day everyone!

Flickr Favorites

1. napping, 2. Window (77/365), 3. ...

4. http://www.flickr.com/photos/suricata/4002494852/in/faves-artmind_etcetera/

Wouldn't you love to nap all day long like that baby? I kind of feel like I need a napping day. I've been working lots and lots lately so I think I deserve a day off sometime soon.
And I want to spend it quietly with a book, some scones with tea and perhaps even my crochet hook. I also found the picture of the mammatus clouds very intriguing. I've never seen such weird cloud formation but perhaps it's better that way as they are usually accompagnied by tornadic storms.

Tiny bunny love

Custom made bunnies for a moss terrarium. I couldn't resist an inquiery to make a set of tiny bunnies like the singing birds. However cute they are, they won't be added to the assortment of my Etsy shop. :)
They make me smile, and you? Happy weekend everyone!

Tiny diamond

If you were curious what I have been cutting the other day... All tiny images like the diamond above. These screenprinted decals have been applied onto the tiny porcelain discs.
The image designs are from the hand of my collaboration partner Anna (LilaRubyKing). We don't want to spill the beans all at once and give you an overdose so bit by bit, the North Story will unravel... :)

Remember that we asked a while back if you preferred glazed or unglazed jewellery?
Thank you so much for all your response and opinions. It was a very close call and there were only 5 votes difference between the two.
Anna and I both leaned towards the unglazed jewellery so we decided to go unglazed. Such tough decission as decals are much easier to apply to glazed ware. I did run tests on the unglazed ware and it's definately a bit of a challenge but it looks so natural, different & unique that we're all jippetyjappety happy with the result. Not much longer now before we show more...

Flickr Favorites

1. 324/365: bottle it up, and breathe it back, 2. .,
3. tv on the radio:halfway home, 4. 327/365: for the old of heart and the young of age

I love these shades of blue. So gentle and soft and the images are really strong.
This mosaic was made a few weeks ago and I put it in my concepts. It's not really my mood at the moment but I was too lazy to make another one.
I love the road picture a lot. It reminds me of my favorite poem 'The road not taken' by Robert Frost.

Work in progress

Making porcelain lace hearts for a commission.
What have you been up to?

Cutting

Cutting 'till my thumb hurts... Lots and lots and lots of teeny tiny bits.
It's for the collaboration with Anna (LilaRubyKing).
We're in the final stage of the process.
After I'm done, I'm sending it all to Anna who will finish it off and photograph all the work 'cause she has mad photographing skills.
We hope to launch sometime in September. That's only a few more weeks - can you wait?

Flickr Favorites

1. yawn, 2. The Gift, 3. Very old book from 1752 . . . . . . . HAR! Nothing scandalous, no puppies, babies, babes, bikinis or snazzy cars, but > 14,000 views anyway, 4. Ces soirs d'avril...

I felt like making a 'warm' mosaic because of the lack of sunshine we're having here. The last few weeks I thought it was fall: dreary, grey and wet. Being Belgian, I'm used to it and I don't mind too much. I kept myself busy in my studio as there is always lots of excitement going on there.
Perhaps I should take advantage of the weather as it's perfect to curl up on the couch with a good book, a cup of tea and some lovely sweets to keep you company.

Wrapping

Been busy wrapping today.
These are all happy to go...

Sanding

My very favorite activity... NOT! ;)
But all done now and it's firing away.

Feeling connected

Hello everyone! It's been a while since I spend some time here on my blog so I'm going to try to connect again after last months break.

No better way to do that with a custom piece I did the other day.
A very sweet woman asked me if I could help her with a wedding gift. She loved the feeling 'oneness' but wanted me to add a personal touch to it. As with all questions like these, I interrogate the customer and made her tell me more about the couple & their likes. After a few times back and forth e-mailing, she came up with the idea to use earphones as the couple both loves music. I was sold right away! What a fab idea & even more symbolic too to be connected by the wire of the earphones. :)
The wire is red because it's the color of love. Besides, an Ancient Chinese believe says
'An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet regardless of time, place or circumstance. The red thread may stretch or tangle but it will never break.'
I saw this saying for the first time on Lisa's beautiful blog which is also her company name.
I added a lovely personal message on the bottom, the couples names & wedding date.
It will be hard to part with these dudes as they make me smile big time!

So glad to be back here! Things are not quite back to regular routines yet but slowly & surely it all falls in place. If you care to subscribe to my newsletter, feel free to do so. I write one every first friday of the month (that's tomorrow) & if you don't like it, you can unsubscribe at any time! :)

Flickr Favorites

1. Back Door - Broken House, 2. this much i know to be true,
3. meadow flowers, 4. ~109/365~

It's the first Tuesday of the month so we play by theme if you like.
This week we go back in time with childhood memories. Things you loved to do when you where a kid, places you went and toys and food you loved...
Do you have a fun theme for next month? Don't hesitate to let me know!

When I was a kid, I was a real tomboy. I kind of still am in some way but I try to hide it by wearing a skirt and doing grown up things. I used to gallivant around the meadow picking flowers while trying to avoid cow poop, I played in the abandonned barn across the street, went down the road to the creek to catch tadpoles and I was queen of the swing and all the air around it. How great it was to live a carefree life and not having to worry about anything adults worry about. All advantages have disadvantages and every age has it's charm but somehow that carefree living is something I would like to go back to... but then as an adult. :)