No shit...

Yesterday, the weather was kind of weird: lots of rain but also sunshine in between.
We decided to take a walk in the late afternoon. Well, it didn't take long 'cause after about 20 minutes big raindrops where falling down again and we weren't smart enough because we didn't take our raincoats! :)
But I did photograph a bit of spring...And aren't we lucky we can walk in an area where there is no horseshit allowed? :)

Brain matters

I made a few zombie feelings but when they came out of the kiln, the 'brain' came loose. That's because I didn't add enough clay slib while making them.
Hmm... I needed to find a solution to fix it. I didn't want to throw the bottom pieces away as they do take some time to make. But because they are already fired, they turned into ceramics so a clay slib won't do to fix it. So, I just added some glaze to it and put new brain on it wit my clay gun. When the glaze will melt, the clay will stick into it like glue.
So hopefully I can add some zombie feelings to my shop soon! :)

Ouch...

This is what I found on the bottom shelf of the kiln last wednesday...
The feelings 'angry', 'pain' and 'stress' exploded.
This probably happened because there was an airhole in one of them. Since the were standing next to each other, the one explosion blew the pieces of clay so hard onto the other that they exploded too. Well, I wasn't a witness but this is the most logical explanation.
This happens in ceramics sometimes and I guess you just have to live with it.
Stress takes ages to make though so I did curse when I saw it.
Oh well, hope they will do better next time! :)

My creative space

My creative space today is the kitchen table. I just finished a crochet Babuschka and I'm deciding which color to start next. I'm going to make 'em in all rainbowcolors because colors make me happy!
A while ago, I asked Tara from Mamachee if she could design me a crochet babuschka pattern. Tara has been quite busy lately as she has just opened a yarn supply shop on Etsy. Wooo, supplies are dangerous! :)
But a few days ago, I found a great pattern in my mailbox and I was SO giddy that I just had to try it immediately. This pattern is, like all Tara's patterns, just perfect!
I had been dreaming about crochet Babuschka's so I can actually say that a dream has come through! :)
She made it just for me but I hope she will sell it in her shop soon 'cause I think it would do really well! I'm certainly not the only one who is obsessed with babuschka's!
And yesterday I re-opened my Etsy shop with my ceramic work. I'm so thrilled to see it in there! But I have to say that it wouldn't be there if I hadn't had my virtual friends (Etsy, blog, Flickr, Twitter) to support me throughout the whole process of creating them.
I feel loved & it feels good. Thank you so much 'cause you made this happen too!
Let's have som bubbles! :)

If you want to play and show your creative space, please hop over to Kootoyoo's blog.

Display ideas for Mini Art Feelings

I have been busy taking pictures of the Mini Art Feelings yesterday. I was so pleased to have my tripod so all shots were quite steady and I didn't have to edit too much, beside cropping them.
The feelings on this picture below all have to do with travelling & exploring so I thought they would look good with my globe & antique world map in the back.
I also thought of a way how that the Mini Art Feelings can be displayed. I had a few IKEA Bas display boxes in my storage room that have been waiting for use for a long time.
The back of the boxes is white so I wanted to add some color to it. As I have some wallpaper books at home, I decided to see if I could find a pretty wallpaper to add to the back of them.
The feelings don't all fit in the boxes as some of them are too fat but most of 'em do.
I think it looks great like that. :) Do you like it?

Questioning packaging...

I have been playing with packaging materials and had a lot of fun.
Everyone loves to receive lovely wrapped gifts but at the same time I think of the waste of packaging materials. Up until now, I have always giftwrapped my items but I'm not sure if everyone likes the packaging waste after unwrapping. Even though lots of it can be re-used, not everyone does that.
I wish there was an option at check out to choose for giftwrapping or not as customers not always leave a message in the note to seller at Etsy's check out.
I might just write in the description that my Mini Art Feelings will only come giftwrapped when mentioned in the note to seller. What are your thoughts?

Work in progress

Yesterday was a lovely sunny day outside. Perfect as I needed to give the shelves of my kiln a bat wash. This is a mixture of kaolin, aluminiumhydroxide and quarts to protect them when glaze drips on them. I spent the rest of the day outside glazing some buttons & making more feelings. I love spring.