Supermarketmagnets

So, they are finally ready to show you: the SUPERMARKETMAGNETS!
It has been such a fun project to work on and Anna did a terrific job on the illustrations. One is cuter then the other and I loved matching the colors together and applying the transfers.
There are 4 different color tones and 8 magnets in each of the color palettes. They hold a super strong neodymium magnet on the back and can hold lots of papers on your fridge or magnet board.
They are now available in my shop on Etsy.

 

 

Anna did a terrific job on the photographing of these supermarketmagnets don't you think?  :)

About groceries and food

Anna (LilaRubyKing) and I e-mail each quite often and while we talk about our collaborative work, we also quite often chat about other stuff.

So while we were discussing a new, small project, we agreed on a theme and then got distracted talking about food stuff and grocery lists and then suddenly, our new collaboration is all about food and groceries.
Huh? How did that happen, Anna?

Anyway, all supplies are ordered and I'm waiting impatiently for it all to arrive at my home. I'm always excited about new projects so I can't wait to get my hands on it all.
To be continued...

Sea level studs

New Sea Level studs will be added to the shop soon.  They are going to make their first appearance at the Ceramic Market in Maaseik this Sunday.

These are glazed and then there are transfers burned into them. Very fiddly work but I think the result is super!

Glazing earstuds & new designs

The other day I glazed some earstuds. Normally I apply the decals onto unglazed ware but with digital decals it is much harder to apply them to unglazed ware. So I had the joy of glazing fiddly tiny discs for earstuds.

When Anna made the new designs for the Sea Level line, there is always room left for a few teeny tiny designs for earrings. Below you can see a sample of some of the new designs. Yes, some, there are more then these but I didn't feel like cutting all of them out just to get a sample. :)

These new earstuds will be first available at the ceramic market in Maaseik on the 30th of June. 

In the mean time, there are still some pieces left of the MINORERROR work if you like to get a good deal. :)

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.

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:

Collaboration work in progress

While Anna has finished her part of the job, I'm waiting for the transfers to arrive so that I can start testing 'em. Can't wait for their delivery later this week and make the first samples!
Above you can see a postcard that Anna designed especially. When you order a piece of this new collection you will get it for free. Always nice to get a bonus! :)

Collaboration work in progress

Another sneak preview on what Anna & I are up to soon...
This tableware is not made by me but we loved it so decided to work with existing stoneware. And it's a big time saver for me too! :)
Put this together with last blogpost and you can get an idea what it will look like.
We're excited! :)

Collaboration work in progress

                                      images by Anna (LilaRubyKing & afjewellery)

A while back I told you that Anna & I are working on a new line. I asked Anna to send me some images of her sketchbook so that I could treat you with a sneak preview. We're excited about what we'll be doing next. I love the work that Anna did so far. Whales, waterbirds, sea dragons, krill, bubbles,...
All animals of the big blue! Can you wait? :)

New North Story rings

I made these rings a long time ago but never took the time to photograph them and put 'em in my shop. I came across them the other day and thought that I better do something with them.
They are in my Etsy shop now... More designs will follow soon!

Decalling

It's been a while since I did some decal work in my studio. But we (Anna & me) have some custom work waiting so I send Anna some porcelain pieces that she could decal. OOAK pieces are heaps of fun to make as not one is the same. You can have a preview of Anna's pieces in her blog. Although they are fun to make, I always twist and turn about placing a certain image somewhere. Is it too little? Is it too much? And the secret is to stop in time before you ruin the piece. 
I also like seeing how different Anna's pieces are to mine. I'm rather modest in combining an placing colors & patterns while Anna dares to use big color blocks. It makes her pieces really artsy I think.
Some of these pieces will be in our shops soon. :)
If you would like a OOAK piece of your own, please don't hesitate to contact us.

New start

A fresh year, a fresh start in the studio too. I'm finding it hard to balance my ceramic work with a little baby around but I'm sure things will get easier. Last fall, Anna (afjewellery & LilaRubyKing) and I have been discussing a new line. I find it so exciting to exchange ideas and discuss new work. And since Pinterest allows to have secret boards, we actually can have a joint inspiration board! Superfun!

Apart from that, I'm also doing a try out of a new product. It will take some time to develop and I hope it will work because I love the idea! Here's a sneak preview of work in progress...  I know it looks like a bauble but it's not! :)

Studio time

The last time I did any decal work was when Anna from LilaRubyKing was here in November. I do like applying the decals as it's so different from the usual routine I have in my studio. I do need a clean table in order to do decals so it's a bit of a pain to clear away everything.
But in a way it's good as it's always refreshing to start making a new mess again...

North Story - OOAK

When Anna from LilaRubyKing was here in November, we did some decal work together. Anna asked me to prepare some special shapes for that. She drew the shapes and I transferred 'em onto clay and handcut 'em. The process is the same as the other pieces but hand cutting each shape makes it even lengthier. And all edges need to be kind of rounded so that it's not too sharp to wear of course. But how fun it has been to work on them together. We were ooh-ing and aah-ing the whole time while making them and it was so much fun.
They have been turned into pendants with a sterling silver chain. And best of all is that they will be one of a kind (OOAK) as the images have been applied much like a collage.A fun detail is that even though we had the same shapes and decals to use, both our work is so different. You can find the ones that I made in my shop and the ones that Anna made in her shop. I went for minimalism while Anna went for artsy. :)
Do you love 'em as much as we do?