Hooray! A give-a-way!

Hello, hello!  Well, here it is, it's finally here.  Little peeps and tweets later.  My website has been fully up-dated with all my latest work!  The shop is stocked with lovely handmade pots ready for all the Holiday mayhem that is about to ensue.  I've got a new favourite mug in hand and I'm ready to celebrate!  And what a better way than by hosting a give-a-way?!

A huge thank-you, for starters, goes out to my photographer and web developer (who did the up-date from his holiday in New Zealand for me!) for another great job helping me out with launching not one, but two new collections of ceramics!!  I'd also like to thank my summer assistant Kelly who helped me get all my wholesale orders finished this summer so I could have some time this September developing ideas that were on the back-burner for way too long.  Kudos to you folks!

Now for the give-a-way contest.  So here's how it will work this time around.  I don't believe I've ever asked you to visit my shop during a give-a-way, but this time around, I will.  Please visit my shop.  Stay awhile.  Click on work you like because there are some surprises, some goodies you might like.  And then comment about which collection you like.  There are about 4 right now:  my classic Poppy collection, the Yellow Ginkgo collection, the Stem Collection, and then the Stripe Collection.  I'd love to know if you have a preference.  Me- I can't decide quite yet.  But usually I'm smitten with the latest thing I've made, and I'm kind of biased to boot;)

So- entry #1- visit my shop, choose a collection
entry #2- become a fan of dahlhausart on facebook.  Don't forget to post on this page to confirm that you decided to 'like me'! 

That's 2 chances to win.  Win what? oh, well here's the good part.  You get to choose between a mug or a bottle vase from my stem or stripe collections!  Choices, choices.  Will it be this mug or this mug?  This vase or this vase?  Oh yes, either would make a lovely gift if you can bear to pass it along to someone else.
I'll be choosing a winner one week from today, Wednesday November 10th.  Best of luck to you, bon chance and thanks for stopping by!

Introducing: The Stem Collection

You know how they say that necessity is often the mother of invention.  Well that's a little bit how my latest stem series started for me.  I had a few too many bad batches of my red glaze this summer- the glaze I use for my poppies and the only commercial glaze that I use.  After several frustrating firings and a whole lot of bad poppies, I felt I had to come up with an alternative.  Plus, after making pots with poppies on them for 2 years now, I was getting a little tired of making them.  Don't get me wrong.  The poppy design came out of an old painting of mine that I re-worked into a glaze design on a mug, so my heart is still into making that series. I just felt like a change had come.

The stem series is kind of like a 'variation on a theme' for me.  Taking elements from both my Ginkgo stem design- namely the stem, and playing around with the shape of the poppy- making it more of a teardrop shape with the center of the bloom coming out of the stem, and thinking about a hollyhock- which has flowers and leaves coming off a tall stem and voila! the idea was formed.  Playing around with the glaze colours was next.  I'm such a turquoise/yellow/green kind of gal.  Really, pinks and purples don't even enter my wardrobe, let alone my ceramics.   I hummed and thought and tried and failed a few times before coming up with these glazes colours.  Literally there were sleepless nights.  But I'm pleased and loving the combos.  Best of all I like that I can switch it up a whole lot.  Blue, dk brown or pale yellow centers, with a few different turquoise blooms.  Green stem and leaves.  And I'm loving it!

I've just started putting the work up in my shop and on my Etsy shop- more to come soon... It's ready to ship- get it before the holiday shipping costs kick in, I say:) And please, let me know what you think about the new work!