Around the house and our expanding view

Well the sun showed itself after much much rain and dark, so I finally had the urge to pick up a real camera (not just my handy phone) and take a few photos around the house after picking the boys up from school.  My sister and her little 3 year old collected all sorts of little mosses and twigs to make an airplant terrarium for me for Christmas.  So lovely, I'm enjoying it lots. And a few postcards from friends and artists I admire make an empty spot on the wall look fun.  I also love my new calender from Rifle Paper with sweet drawings of major cities and landmarks. 
And we have a room with a view (remember that movie?).   Anyways, there have been a few trees that were taken out giving us a bit more to look at over yonder.  One day that big California Redwood tree smack in the middle of our view may have to go.  As the neighbourhood story goes, there were a bunch of redwoods planted by a kindergarten class 50 years ago.  They are all so huge, so it's easy to see them and imagine little 5 year olds planting tiny trees in their back yards.  Little did they know that 50 years ago they would be the hugest trees on the block! 

Hope your year has started off well.  We are all looking forward to the weekend!

On the home front

Photos from the past couple of days.  I've been sick with a cold, so I spent a little time doing some serious spring cleaning of the boy's rooms, making soup and bread, baking cookies and generally trying to lay low.  My mom brought over some Tulips on her way to the Island to see my sister and her family, who are in the last stages of waiting for their 2nd baby to come.  So exciting! Once again I'm hoping to be at the birth, like with Oliver who will be 2 years old in March.  I remember this stage of life- having a toddler with a new baby on the way.  It's a busy time of life.
Well, I'm feeling good enough to get back to it, and boy do I ever need to finish up some studio work.  I have a glaze firing planned for later in the week so I'll be  hunkering down over the next few days.  See you soon!

2012

I seem to find New Year's Day a good day to clean up all the Christmas stuff, get the tree out of the house and purge my cupboards to make way for some new things that we got over the holidays.  Not that I've taken off my new 'Major Tom/ Lifetime' sweater long enough to need the cupboard space to put it in, but it felt as though clothing purge was in order. It's been a while since the kitty has been able to sit up and see herself in the mirror on my dressing cupboard. Christmas can seem so excessive: why is it that we always end up with more in our car on the way home from family gatherings then when we left the house?  

So, a new year! For some reason, I'm not ready to get back to the studio this year with full steam ahead.  Something inside of me (plus my low energy level from this cold that's hanging on) is telling me to sit back, take stock, and to think things through before getting back into the grind of the making cycle.  I've decided not to do one of the shows I had been considering for Spring because the dates conflicted with NCECA, a National Clay conference that is happening in Seattle this year.  I've been meaning to go to this conference for years, but either I couldn't afford it or it was happening in the eastern US.  I was hoping to do some sort of residency this year, but my family is still not quite ready for me to leave them for a month or 2.  With that in mind, a weekend conference in Seattle geeking out on clay ought to be a good substitution for the time being.  So that's about as far as my planning for the new year has gone.   

I hope you are having a restful day off- I'm baking bread and have started to clean out the kitchen cupboards now.  It's so nice to be at home.

Things are back in their place

After setting up the studio all nice and neat so that over 3000 people could walk through my studio doors without being distracted by all the stuff I seem to have to store while I make, the house was a bit of a gong show.  A quick trip to Ikea the other night solved 2 problems I was having: one being no place to put all my office stuff and lacking in desk space since Dean and I are sharing 1 desk for our laptops.  Also the shelving unit will come in handy for my booth display at the One of a Kind Show, coming up in a week or so.  Thankfully I didn't have to put it together- it was in the 'as is' section and I somehow managed to fit it in the back of the station wagon along with the 2 boys.  Sometimes all it takes is some determination and creative woman-handling to get things done!

The studio is winding down for the year.  I finished all 'wet work', as in starting with a ball of clay work, so what I have is what I have. I'll be closing up my online shops in a few days as I get closer to the show so that I don't double up on selling all my stock.  Plus, regular shipping to the US needs to happen by December 8th  (the 16th for Xpress post- a little more $) so things are starting to get a little tight for time.  I've been getting lots of special requests for things that I actually do have in stock, just not up in the shop, so if you had something in mind, just send me an email.  If I have it available, I'll ship it off pronto, if not, then put it on your wish list for next year!

Okay, off to read with the boys, soak in the tub and drink some tea.