Vacation!

I am leaving on vacation very soon and I am so excited! Before I go however, I have some custom orders that need to come out of the kiln, posted on etsy, purchased, and sent to the post office. Lets hope it all goes well, because if they are not buying their pot before 5pm (when the post office closes) they might not get for another three weeks!!! Talk about last minute! It was this blasted kiln schedule I swear! Anyways, besides that, I am really looking forward to my trip. My sister and brother in law are coming from Germany to meet us at Puerto Vallarta, Mexico where we found a nice place to rent. After our stay at the beach we will be visiting family in Guadalajara. I have declared that this trip will be all about food and how much of it I can stuff down my gullet.

the top picture is of a huge monster torta which I will be eating a lot of and the bottom one is coke light which I will also be consuming in extremely large quantities. It tastes much better than diet coke...not sure why and they come in glass bottles which is always better than plastic. I plan on making a food journal and maybe posting it all on Tumblr when I get back. I will be sure to share some photos with you guys too!

Been So Long!

Hello there! I know I haven't posted in so long. It has a little to do with summer fever, vacation planning, and mostly to do with the fact that I have little access to a kiln. I still haven't gotten around to getting my kiln hooked up (surprise, surprise!), and I have only a few chances to get my pots into the school kiln since school is out. Some good news is that a United Arts store has opened up near by and I no longer have to make my boyfriend take me downtown Chicago and circle the block while I haul out 150 lbs of clay. Here are some new things you will find in my shop.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/77591132/red-drop-vase

http://www.etsy.com/listing/77595311/fire-orange-and-white-bud-vase-with-lace

http://www.etsy.com/listing/75642043/geometric-chevron-coffee-mug

In that last one with the mugs, I actually made two originally and just got around to fixing up the second one to complete the set. I have also been working on some custom orders that should be ready at the beginning of next week. Here is a simple photo of some custom bisqueware (sugar and creamer and a honey pot) I have to get glazed tonight. 

Also before I go, a little something exciting to add. Danielle Oakey Interiors Blog featured me last week. The blog is great! If you like good interior design and decorating blogs, check her out. http://danielleoakeyinteriors.blogspot.com/2011/07/perfect-pottery.html

New Goodies Out of The Kiln

Just wanted to update on a few new pots I posted today in my shop. Of course I have one thing to fix. A large bowl I made came out with small grits on the bottom that need to be filed off and re-glazed. Got a whole lot of blue here. The mug was supposed to be a set of two, but only one came out right. The other has to be fixed, because the blue came out bad. To see more pictures of these pieces, check out my shop www.lizetpotterystudio.etsy.com

Summer Etsy Finds!

Summer has hit so hard recently. I melt on the way to my car! The good thing is that my pots dry super fast outside. I was checking out what cool things Etsy had to offer for summer. There is so much and below I have listed a few of my favorite finds.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/CrazyBoy?ref=seller_info

Love this bag! Wish I could make something like this. The Etsy shop is Crazyboy and she makes denim and leather handbags. There are also messenger bags.












Gypsy Moon Designs is an awesome little shop I just discovered. They have all kinds of jewelry. They have a great bohemian style which I really like and these earrings just look like summer. There are a lot with stones, but I can't get enough of these metal patina ones. www.gypsymoondesigns.etsy.com

These Turkish Towels are so pretty and they look so light and easy to carry around for a picnic or to the beach. They sell beach bags and different sizes of towels. www.turkishtowel.etsy.com

Finally Have Some Finished Pieces

This is just a quick update, because I will have some more pieces this Thursday. I just wanted to share a finished piece that people were eager to see (so was I!). Unfortunalty I got a few more pieces today that need some touch ups. So they won't be posted utnil next week. This blue one came out nice, but needs a touch up on the back. I love these color together. Oh yeah, and I fixed the small red bud vases. They look much better now.

This is the pot that was a lot of fun making and I couldn't wait to see finished. The one below is a little lace detailed pot that I got out today as well.

Other than that I have a full night of glazing ahead of me and touch ups. I just got done posting these and other new pots to my shop http://www.lizetpotterystudio.etsy.com/ and just sent my first submission to one of my favorite blogs! Can't wait to hear back from them.

More to Be Done!

Calling for a celebration: picked up my kiln this past weekend! It was very exciting and it was such a good deal. The next step is cleaning the garage (this is no easy feat, considering it is packed with stuff that isn't mine) and then getting the electrical hookup. The kiln is a monster. It is an old Crusader kiln with no kiln sitter. I will be doing a lot of cone watching for a while. I can fit inside of it myself and will probably only need to fire every few weeks.

Getting my new-old kiln, I have spending a lot of time glazing. I realize I can benefit greatly from taking time to sketch before it is time to glaze a ton of pots. I always sit down with only a few a good ideas and sometimes ruin pots due to lack of planning and creativity. Here are few I have recently finished and will be fired soon. 

The fish bowl was inspired by an art neuvo painting called 'Carps amongst the Lillies'. I have also had problems with glazes not covering well. I had about five pots that needed to be reglazed and refired before I can post them . Hopefully I can get them next Monday.

These are a few of the pots that came out nice and some that had to be reglazed. It might be hard to see, but the red ones came out kind of cloudy and splotchy. See more at www.lizetpotterystudio.etsy.com

What I Have Been Up To

Other than making some more of my chevron bud vases and bottles, I have been working hard on some new things. During vacation in France a few years ago, I noticed that we were often served white wine in small ceramic pitchers. This isn't so common in the states, but it makes sense. It keeps your chilled white wine very cold. The ones I have been making have no handles. This is one that is in the process of being glazed with a very random pattern of Chrome green glaze. I will finish it tonight.

I think I will do a few bud vases in a similar pattern. Here are few other pieces I have been working on. I made a few more like the one that has a curly lid. The other ones are going to be planters and are difficult to describe, so you will have to see pictures later.