In the Studio this week

And just like that it is November! I'm not sure how October flew by so fast but here we are in the first week of November. I have been busy finishing a project for a local shop, filling a couple of Etsy orders (pet ornaments) and working on the Fall Themed tiny houses. Staying busy all day everyday makes the time fly by. 

I also had part of my clearance sale last weekend and it took me a few partial days of packing orders. I sold a few of the shadow box wood shelves and that took me a few days to finish packing. I don't normally pack orders in such big boxes so I had to find boxes that fit the variety of sizes I needed. I also added a coat of paint onto one of the shelves and added hangers on the back of one of the shelves. 

I had hoped to have another clearance sale this past weekend but I just didn't have time last week to prepare. I need to spend time working on the fall tiny houses so that is what I'm doing this week. I took photos of the all of the rainbow houses that I have for the next clearance sale. I plan to have that this weekend. I'm working on that in my spare time. During the daytime in the studio this week I am cutting clay for more houses and making tiny house charms. The hanging pumpkins, hanging hearts.

I'm also adjusting to the time change. My brain wants to stay on the old time schedule but my body says otherwise. I'm slowly adjusting. But I am enjoy the fall foliage in our area this week. I need to go for a drive to see what Northwest Arkansas Ozarks look like outside of my front yard. It won't last long so I need to enjoy it while I can! 

Until next time, have a great week! 

In the Studio - October

Finishing rainbow houses and letting go. 

I'm glazing the last batch of rainbow houses this week. I hope to get them all in the mail by the beginning of next week so I can move on to the next projects, my Fall House orders and preparing for my sample, seconds, and extras sale. 

What is a Sample, Seconds, and Extras sale? 

Samples: During the process of making large batches of themed houses and accessories to go with the houses, I create samples of my ideas. I always make sketches of my ideas and work out the details on paper. Then I make a sample to see how that idea works. Sometimes I decide that something doesn't look right so I make another sample and change up what I don't like. The original idea may be perfectly fine, but it's not the final version. So that ends up being a sample. Sometimes I keep samples but since my studio space is limited, I can't keep every sample. I have picked out some samples that I have

decided to part with. I will put those in my shop to clear out my studio to make room for new samples. 

Seconds: I always end up with pieces that have small flaws with the glaze, or small cracks, or maybe it just doesn't look like I expected it to. Those pieces are called seconds. Some seconds have major issues so I don't sell those. I keep them on my own display shelves in the studio or if it's really bad, I throw it away, which I hate to do. 

Extras: When making batches of houses or accessories, I usually make one or two extras just in case something breaks or turns into a Second. I usually put those extras on my shelves and enjoy them, or use them as props in photos. But after awhile, my studio starts to get overcrowded so I have to thin out. I really find it hard to do this but I have to remind myself to let others enjoy my work. 

In the photo you can see some of the items that I have picked out for the clearance sale. I plan to add more to the sale, but I need to go through my studio and make sure I gather everything that I can part with. And if any of these items do not get purchased in my sale, I will happily put them back on my display shelves to enjoy myself! If you see something that you would like to purchase, watch for an email in October with the exact date and time they will be available. 

Let me know what you think. 

Do you find it hard to let go of collections? 

Until next time, have a great weekend!

 

Fall is Coming!

Fall Themed House Coming Soon!

I’m still working on the last batch of rainbow houses and hope to ship the rest out by the beginning of October, but I wanted to give an update and answer a few questions I have gotten about the fall themed house.

First let’s chat about the tiny houses and how I've changed the way I take orders over the last year. I started creating these tiny houses in 2024. Before that I mostly made bigger houses (Hearthomes) with a different style roof. I decided that I wanted to create these smaller houses in an attempt to be able to make more houses so more of my customers had the opportunity to order. I also wanted each themed house to be a little different than the rest of the tiny houses to make them part of a collection. Many of you started ordering these in July of last year when I started taking pre-orders of ‘subscription’ boxes. The first set was the Halloween set. I didn’t even have a sample to show you all before I took orders, but you guys ordered anyway! Thank you for that if you ordered that first set! I appreciate your trust in me! Most of you had purchased my Hearthomes before, or followed me on Instagram, so you trusted me to make something without even seeing the final product! But I know it helps to see what you’re ordering before you spend your hard-earned money. So, after that I have been trying to create samples before I start taking pre-orders. 

Last year I used the Halloween theme so this year I decided to make it a fall theme with the tiny pumpkin sign. I also made a tiny heart as an option to add on. I made this one a taller house and made the ‘front door’ on the narrow end to create a row house style of house/shop.

I’ve been working on sketches in the evenings and working on the current rainbow houses during the day. In my last blog post I shared the sketch of my idea. Last week I created my ‘first draft sample’. This past weekend I was able to fire and glaze the sample. I called it a draft because I usually change some details after I see what it looks like after it’s fired in the kiln but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out! 

So, this is my fall themed sample! I plan to make a couple more samples using a different color roof and give you roof color options when/if you place an order. I also added a little hanging pumpkin (or heart) by the door, to make it look like a tiny pumpkin shop sign (which gives me ideas for future tiny shops).

I created a fall option last year for my customers who did not want Halloween house. The majority of the orders were for the Halloween option.  

I had 2 options for the winter box. The red roof or the aquamint roof. I also added the option of adding the set of tree and a snowman. I love the accessories, but honestly, those are the things that take me so much longer! 

Let me know in the comments what you think about new fall house design! It fits in well with the rest of the tiny house collection. 

I’ve had a few questions about the tiny house pre-orders so I thought I would answer those questions here plus a few of questions that I thought some may have.

 Let me know if you have any additional questions! 

Q & A

Question:  Will you be taking pre-orders?

Answer:  Yes, I will be taking pre-orders for the Fall House from my website, but I will wait until I'm mostly finished with the rainbow houses. Hopefully by early October.  (Date TBD) 

 

Question: Will this be a subscription box pre-order?

No. This will be a one-time purchase. 

After I started working on orders for my first subscription box, I quickly realized fulfilling subscription boxes monthly, bi-monthly, and even quarterly would be difficult. It can take me awhile to finish orders. Especially when life gets busy! And my life became very busy about the time I took orders for that second box! But I love that many of you have continued to order these tiny houses and continue to add to your collections! I thought I would continue creating seasonally themed tiny houses, so you (my customers) have something different each time. 

Question: How will I know when/how to order?

Answer:  I will send out my newsletter to my email list with the date and time.

Sign up for my newsletter if you are interested in getting these updates. 

Question: Where can I place my Pre-Order?

Answer: Pre-orders will be taken from my website. 

There is a link at the top of this page. BethSMacre.com

 

Question: How long does it take to make and ship? 

Answer: 6-8 Weeks approximately. Maybe less. 

The pre-orders take me awhile to make but it depends how many orders I get. I usually make the houses in batches of 10-15 houses. (The clay starts to dry out too much if I try to make too many in a batch.) When I get a batch finished, I start shipping orders starting with the first orders. Then I make another batch, ship, then start the next batch, until I work my way down my list. 

Let me know if you have any other questions!

Thank you for following along with me! 

In the Studio this Week

Last week I spent most of my time glazing rainbow houses.  

I glazed some brights and pastel-colored houses. I am working my way through my list of orders. I will be shipping out some orders in the next few days. So if your order is in this batch, you will be getting a shipping notification soon. 

 

I also started cutting some clay blocks to make the next batch of rainbow houses and a few samples for the fall themed house. I hope to have a sample to share soon. We’ll see how much I can get done. I need to ship a dozen orders out first. 

 

I also worked on a batch of wholesale pig magnets for the local visitor center in Fayetteville. I need to make pig ornaments this week if I have a little time. I want to get those made and delivered before the next home Razorback game! I also make Arkansas shaped ornaments and magnets that are also sold in the Fayetteville Visitor Center in the square in downtown Fayetteville. I'm working on restocking those as well. 

 

So that’s all for this week. I have a lot of work to do!

 

In the studio

 In the Studio

 

 

August has been very hot, as usual, but the temperatures here in Arkansas have cooled down to a much more comfortable level this week. I seem to have more energy when the weather is nice so I am beginning to look forward to fall. I would say it's my favorite season but I love something about each season. 

What I’m working on…  

I shipped the first small batch of rainbow houses last week and finished making the next batch of houses to glaze. While those were drying, I have been sketching some ideas and thinking about plans for future projects.

I worked on some sketches for my next tiny house design. Last year I made Halloween themed tiny houses, and only a few fall themed houses, so I decided to go with fall this year. Many of my customers have become collectors so I want to make sure I offer a variety of themes for customers to collect. The photo below is my first sketch. I will make a couple of samples when I make another batch of rainbow houses. My priority right now is finishing the rainbow houses and hope to have enough time to get the fall houses made!

Ready to Ship Sales

Since I started taking pre-orders for the tiny houses, I have not been having many ready to ship restocks. The pre-order system seems to allow for more of my customers to purchase a house, but it takes me quite a while to fill all of those orders, which doesn't leave much time to make extra houses. However, I do have some samples and some slightly imperfect pieces that I will probably put up for sale in the near future, so if you missed out on pre-orders, make sure you are following me on Instagram or signed up for my newsletter to get notified of the details when those events happen. 

Link to Instagram: Beth Macre on Instagram

Link to Newsletter Sign up. Newsletter Sign Up

Blog post updates

Also, check back here weekly if you are interested in finding out what I'm working on. There is a link at the top of my website, BethSMacre.com. (See photo below)

I think email inboxes have become so full that many of us, me included, miss seeing the newsletters that get lost in the advertising emails. The social media algorithms don't always show us the accounts we want to see, so I thought that if I started blogging again, you can come to my website and catch up on what I'm doing, if you are interested. It won't disappear after 24 hours, it won't get lost in your emails, and it will be here as long as I am here. 

This blog dates back to before Instagram, Facebook, and all of the other sites that have come and gone. I originally started it to document what I was doing with my art while I was still teaching. I stopped blogging for awhile because social media kind of took over that goal. But time changes everything, so I thought I would get back to blogging and document what I'm working on again. I plan to create some long form videos for You Tube, but I'm still learning to create content that would be interesting to watch, and trying to figure out what I want to vlog about. I love to draw and paint and would love to do more of that and maybe create some drawing or painting how to videos. Working with clay is very difficult to video and my process with clay takes so long and would be kind boring to watch, in my opinion! Like watching grass grow. It is a slow process. 

So if you've made it this far, leave a comment below and let me know if you like to watch videos and what you would enjoy watching. I will share a link when I upload some video content. 

Until next time...

Ceramic Rainbow Themed Houses

What I’m working on…

This month I took pre-orders for my tiny Rainbow themed houses. I made several samples to try out different details so I had some examples to show my email subscribers.

Here are photos of the samples that I made. Each one is a little different but I selected one style to make for the pre-orders. In the second photo, you can see the style I chose and the progress I’ve made so far. 

I am going on a trip with some friends this month so I will take a short break then start glazing these and begin another batch. I work in small batches because the clay starts to get a little hard if I let them sit (in an airtight container) too long. 

This batch has a dozen houses. I need to make the tiny hearts that hang from the chimneys but the houses are finished and drying. 

I am currently using a white earthenware clay. This clay is gray while in its greenware stage. After it dries completely it will be fired in my little kiln and will turn white. It will then be ready to glaze and be fired again. I will post more photos when I get to that stage. 

Supplies used: 

Low fire earthenware clay, Nichrome 20 gauge wire, Mayco Stroke&coat glazes.

Affiliate Link

Nichrome wire : https://amzn.to/40svyno

Creating Little Clay Houses

Beth S Macre on Etsy

Little Clay Houses
I have been making little clay houses for 8 years. I sell them on Etsy and in local arts and craft shows. Although I am not the only artist that makes little clay houses, there are not many, that I know of. There are others that sell them on Etsy (that are very cute), but I feel like mine are unique to those. Not to say that mine are better than others. Just made differently. As with anything creative that you sell, you need to make your product stand out from the rest.

The Creative Process
Occasionally people ask how to make something like my tiles or my houses. All I can say to that is to explain what materials I use (see my list below) and suggest that they buy some supplies and start creating. I took high school art and a ceramics class in college that taught me the basics of working with clay. The rest I taught myself. When I see something that I like, I do the research about the process and develop my own process and try to make mine unique from the other works that I admire. All artists, makers, and small business entrepreneurs should be doing the same. Find what you love to do and add your ideas to make it your own. You shouldn't take one person's idea and copy it. But you can make something that has been created before and make it original. Add your own ideas to it. Do some online research to see what is being done in your medium. Don't copy. We have seen how plagiarism has gotten some people into hot water lately. Plagiarism is not just about copying words. An artist owns copyright to their own original creations just as a writer does.

I will happily tell you what kind of supplies I use and where I purchase them. What I will not tell you is a step by step process of making my little clay houses. For one, they are all different. They are all one of a kind, but I do add, to each one, something to make them unique to my work. That would be something that you will want to come up with for your own work. You would not want someone else to use your design, use your words, or use your ideas. So make your work original. Make it obvious that it is your creation. I have spent the last 8 years working on my designs and learning what works and what doesn't through trial and error. It is an ongoing process to come up with new ideas. I keep a sketchbook to jot down my ideas and work them out later.

What can you do to make your work stand apart
from another artist?

How can you be authentic with your own art?

Supplies I Use
Low fire white earthenware
  - I buy it locally from a shop owner that is about a mile from my house. But I used to purchase it through Blick.com.
Variety of Ceramic tools
 - I purchased my tools through Blick, several years ago. These tools last a long time. A good variety of wooden tools and carving tools would be a good start for a beginner.
Canvas cloth covered board
 - I used cotton canvas that I stapled to a piece of 1/2 inch plywood.
Small Kiln (for small work)
 - I purchased mine online, from Clay-King.com.
Variety of Low Fire Glazes
 - I use Mayco Stroke and Coat (shown in the photo) They can be purchased online also. I have purchased from Blick, but they only sell the Pint size bottles and the 2 oz. bottles in sets. I like to order from Clay-King or The Ceramic Shop for the 8 oz. bottles and 2 oz. sizes for testing new colors.
Watercolor/Acrylic type paintbrushes
  - I use a variety of styles of watercolor and acrylic brushes to apply glaze. You just need to experiment with a variety of styles and sizes to see what works best.

The supplies that I use are pretty basic supplies, except for the kiln. A kiln is not something that you would just go out and purchase without making sure that that is something that you really want to do.

So if you do not have a kiln, then you will need to find someone or some organization that does have access to one. I will talk more about my kiln in a later post. I wrote a little about the kiln in this post: My Little Kiln.

Until next time, have a wonderful week!

What I'm Working on Wednesday

It is already June?

This month I am playing catch up. Last month was spent taking care of family, so I didn't get much time to post here. Again. Family first though, you know?

I am signed up to be in two large art shows this fall. One in October, and one in November. I was a vendor at War Eagle Fair, in October last year, but this will be my first time at the show in November. The November show is a big local Boutique show.

This summer will be filled with creating lots of items to sell at each show!

Houses on a Hill

War Eagle Fair
October 15-18, 2015

NWA Boutique Show
November 6-7, 2015

I am also creating new houses and sculptures for my etsy shop and working on custom orders.

Custom Made House

Between the two shows and keeping my Etsy shop stocked, I am/will be very busy for the next several months.


Happy Wednesday!



What are you working on?



Beth♥

What I'm Working on Wednesdays

Life has been throwing curve balls at me lately.  I panicked when one adult child called from the ambulance on the way to the hospital after a wreck, then the other adult child called in the middle of the night, needing to go to the ER...then surgery, all in the same week! Obviously, I dropped all of the projects that I was trying to juggle, and focused on family. I've have several posts in the editing stage, but just haven't had the time to wrap them up.  This week things have calmed down a bit, so I am trying to finish them up. This post will get posted before the end of today...Wednesday! After all, it is titled for Wednesday.

What I'm Working on Wednesdays
I thought I would start with posting things I have been working on, once a week. So I decided  'What I'm Working on Wednesday' would get me started. If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen some of these. See link in the right column to my Instagram account.  You may notice I have posted more flowers photos on Instagram than art, lately.
(Curve balls = less art time = less art photos.)
But I've been in the studio this week and have something to show for it!

WOW #1   or...WI?WOW
So here is my WOW post for this week!  Here are two new things I am working on.

Spoons!
I just made my first clay spoon. It is a small spoon, so I decided to make it to match a little scalloped bowl that I just made. I like it so much,  I plan to make some more bowl and spoon sets.





HeartHome Hills!

I've created bird houses.
I've created little birds.
I decided it was time to create some that go together!
The HeartHomes for the Birds are now listed in my Etsy shop. :)

After making the HeartHomes for the Birds, I decided to make more HeartHome Hills. (I made a few hill sculptures a couple of years ago.)

Here is a 'work in progress' HeartHome Hill.
Watch here for updates!

I hope that you enjoyed my first
WOW ...or  WI?WOW
(which one sounds better?)

I may start a link up on Wednesdays. I would love to hear from you if you would like to join in!


Beth♥

Little Clay Houses

While gathering photos for my new website (still under construction) and applications for shows, I realized that I have to focus on making things that clearly identify my work.  I love to create so many different things and use different media, but my time needs to be spent on the things that I want to promote for sale in my business.

Those items that I want to focus on, include the whimsical little clay houses and accessories, bowls, cups, ornaments, and other small gift items. I also want to do more whimsical acrylic paintings, adding textures and collage elements.

Little Clay Houses

I love creating these little clay houses, and more than that, I love to see people smile when they see them! They are so fun to collect and create little vignettes around the house! Or put them in shadow boxes, or windows, or even create little terrariums with them.

Custom Clay Houses

Update* Occasionally I offer custom clay houses when I have time to take pre-orders for semi-custom houses. Based on the sizes that I typically sell during a Ready to Ship restock.

In the past, I have created custom houses that show the colors and details similar to your own house. While I loved creating those custom houses, they could be very time consuming and difficult to create without problems in both the creation process and the finishing process. Currently I do not take custom house orders because of the time involved.




I am also adding more functional, yet decorative, pieces to my work, such as bowls and plates and cups. I will talk more about those, and my textured paintings in upcoming posts.  For now...

...Have a great weekend!


 Beth♥

Spring Colors

Spring has sprung and I'm enjoying the beautiful weather, but more than that, I am enjoying the time I am spending in the studio! Time really does fly when you are having fun!  I am working hard at stocking up on things that I want to sell in shows this Fall and to put in my Etsy shop. I am also working on some new designs. So I have really been enjoying it. The beautiful weather has been a little distraction, but I know fall will be here before I know it!
But for now, it's all about Spring Colors!

Beth♥

Heart Homes ... A Look Back Six Years

HeartHomes for February 

Original Set of My Hearthomes
2009

Six years ago, I started creating little clay houses, that I called Hearthomes. They have gone through some changes over those years, but they have always had the little hearts, both on the front and back, and on the bottom of each house.

Today, I thought I would share some pictures
of the houses through the years.

The first set was painted with acrylic paint.
This first set, was featured in the Arkansas Magazine, At Home in Arkansas. If I could find the link to it, I would post it!

After that first set, I decided to try glazing them.  
I never used acrylics again, after that first set. I like the effect that the glaze creates.

Here is a Montage of a few of my houses over the years.

2009 - 2015

Not only have they become a little more polished, but my photography skills have improved a tad.

Last year, a friend of mine, dropped and broke one of her little houses. She had a set of 3. She likes her houses because they are a little rough around the edges...original style houses. So she asked if I could make her another one similar to the broken one.  It took me awhile to get to it, but I finally made it last month and sent it to her and she was happy to have the set back together.  When I put the old one next to the newer one, I realized the big difference. There is still a more polished look to the newer one.

I think I may revisit some of my old style houses, with the newer polished look. We'll see what happens this year. My style is always evolving.  Whatever I come up with, I sell them from my Etsy shop and a few local Arts and Craft  Shows during the year.

Beth♥

Simplify...is my word for 2014

I decided that for 2014 I wanted to simplify my life. For me, that just means to continue to de-clutter my 'space'/home and to stop trying to take on more than I can handle.  So what did I do? I signed up for a 30 day painting challenge! Haha...I am already a few days behind, but the good thing is that I can do multiple paintings in one day to catch up or to get ahead. But the goal is to loosen up with some paintings.  I managed to paint the first one, but then the next 2 days were busy with other responsibilities.  So I hope to get back on schedule over the next couple of days.

I spent a day straightening my art studio last week. Before Christmas, I was so busy that many things had been pulled out, moved, used, and piled up.  So it needed to be cleaned up a bit. It doesn't stay straight very long when I start working in here, so I thought I would take some photos while I could.

A few things about my studio...
1. It is Red, because it was my daughter's room, before she moved away to college. Her choice of color.  I like it, but it probably isn't the best for a studio, but I don't want to take everything out and
paint it! Not yet, anyway. I have other painting projects to take on first!
2. I have the room set up in two working sides.  The first studio photo shows the work table where I create fun things out of clay. The second photo is the corner to the right of the work table where my Sophie naps while I work.
The third photo shows the drawing table and desk where I draw and paint and compute.
3. The little houses that I create are still in the old studio/office space. The last photo, is my display of little houses. I keep them this way so I can find one easily when it sells and I can keep up with what colors and sizes that I have.  I also put a baseball in the front so that you can get an idea of how small they are.  I have had some people tell me they couldn't tell how big or small they are based on some of my photos.  They range from 1/2 inch to 3 1/2 inches for the small ones.  But I also make larger ones that can go up to 7 inches tall.

So this is my space where I create.  It is small, but cozy.  I am thankful that I have a room that I can use just for my art and supplies.

Now, I have to get back to my paintings. I have 3 canvases ready to paint. Hopefully something fun will come out of at least one or two of them! Look for updates tomorrow!

Beth♥

Thinking about Christmas? in July?

Usually I don't even think about Christmas until December. No, I'm not decorating for Christmas, but I am

working on Christmas orders (custom gifts) and items to sell at an art festival that are Christmas theme.  I have even purchased a couple of Christmas gifts...which is a first for me.  The last few years, I was really stressed out over Christmas shopping, or rather the lack of Christmas shopping.  But because the Fall/Christmas season is so busy (hopefully it will be again this year), I don't have much time to shop...and I do NOT like to shop!  Probably because it is hard for me to decide what to buy for other people.  But they (the marketing experts) say that many people start looking and shopping for Christmas in September! Who knew? I guess I've been missing out all these years.  It does make sense though. So this summer I will be working hard getting ready for Christmas.  My little clay houses and things can't be created at the last minute, so I have to start now to build up my inventory, along with working on other orders.

I'm also going to Norcross, Georgia in October!  I'm excited about that!  I've only been to a few Art Festivals, and I am still learning, but Norcross Art Fest is a very well organized and attended art festival. Hopefully, for me,  this one will be even better this year! I hope to be more prepared for this one.  ( See my  booth story here)  My Hubby, my assistant, and I had a lot of fun and learned a lot about art festivals. We learned it is a lot of work and exhausting, but fun...if the weather cooperates! (We almost blew away at the John's Creek Festival when a hurricane Sandy was passing by on the coast!)  I've learned a lot about what sells and what does not, and how to display my items. I've also been getting a lot of cool ideas for improvements on my display. I'll be posting some pictures of my booth later, when it gets closer to Art Fest time.  .

Since I am currently working on items for my Etsy shop and for the Art Fest, I asked some of my Facebook friends, "what type of functional items (out of clay) would you buy at an art festival?"   (If you have any suggestions or ideas that would complement my little clay houses and clay tiles, I am open to suggestions! ) Most of the suggestions I got were for more bowls and cups.


I've added some photos of the bowl that I made a few weeks ago along with the cup that I made to match.  I guess you might say it is my prototype for a new functional design that I will be making more of and with more color variations. The cup has a tree design on one side with branches that hold the little birds on the other side.
I also included a photo of the inside of the cup because I added a little leaf design on the inside bottom of the cup. I had to use a flash on the camera to get it to show up and it looks like there is liquid in the bottom, but there is not.  Anyway, I liked the effect that it gives.  I enjoyed creating the bowl and cup, but they took some time to decorate. Hopefully the next ones will go more quickly...or I will be spending all my time on glazing cups and bowls!

But if I'm quiet this summer, you know where I am!




Beth  ♥

The Art Festival...

 

...is finally over.  We traveled to Georgia this past weekend to participate in the John's Creek Art Festival.  The whole week before the festival we checked the weather predictions daily.  Everything sounded like it would be great weather.  We got there Friday afternoon to set up the booth and we were tired from the drive, but we managed to get the tent up, but we were extremely hot and tired by the time we were done.  But that would change throughout the weekend. Saturday we opened to nice weather.  It was a little cool, but very nice most of the day.  By closing time at 6:00, it was beginning to get a little chilly.  We were a little worried about predictions of wind overnight, but during the night it was fine, but much cooler.  Sunday morning, we arrived and began re-setting up the display and some light rain began.  It didn't last long, so I felt we would be okay...but over the course of the day, conditions deteriorated.  Apparently the storm of the century was traveling up the East coast...Hurricane Sandy decided to move in a little too close to the Atlanta area.  The last couple of hours of the show, we were dealing with gusting winds, which is not good when you are in a tent!  The photo I am sharing is from Saturday, when the weather was good.  Sunday, I didn't take any photos. I was too busy trying to stay warm and hold the sides of the tent down!

Even though the weather was disappointing, to say the least, I enjoyed the show, meeting new artists and seeing others that I had met before.  As usual, the Splash Festival organizers did a great job! But I am glad its over. We were both exhausted from trying to keep from blowing away with our tent! Now back to work on commissions.

Beth ♥

Oh! It's August?

Hello August! I can't believe it's already August...although it has felt like August since June...or maybe even May.  It's been hot and dry here, like most other areas of the country.  But other than the heat, it doesn't seem like August, because I'm NOT getting ready to start back to school!!!! I have to remind myself all of the time that I will have time to create this fall!  Fall is usually my busiest and most stressful time of the year.  This year I should be able to enjoy it because of my retirement!  I especially look forward to enjoying the weather when it finally begins to cool off.  I'm going to make a list of fall favorites that I can especially enjoy this year and share as it gets closer to Fall.
The projects that I'm working on now are private commissions that are almost done!  For now, that's all I can share.  I hope to be able to share the details about a month from now.  I did spend a couple of days working on some clay houses last week. They are in the kiln today and I will be glazing some of them this weekend so I can list them in my Etsy shop.  I will be working on those and some whimsical paintings to get ready for the holidays and the John's Creek Art Festival that I will be participating in, October 26 & 27th!  It is a new festival this year and it should be fun! Till next time...

Have a great weekend! 

Beth  ♥

My New Kiln!

Now that I am working from home, I needed a kiln at home, so I can fire my mini clay houses. I know that I am going to like having a kiln here at home, so I can fire a load of houses any time I need to. My new little kiln, to match my little houses, came in 2 weeks ago.  I have used it twice. Once for a greenware firing and the 2nd time was for the glaze firing.  It was so fun to open it this morning to see how the glaze firing turned out..  It turned out perfect.  And the little size of my kiln is just the right size.  So I am ready to continue creating lots of little houses and tiles.  Its a good thing, because I had a custom order for 3 houses, a tree, and a fence, that I needed to finish and ship.  Here are some pictures of the kiln with the first load of glazed houses. As you can see, there is plenty of room for many more houses, and there is room for another shelf.   So I need to get busy filling up my Etsy shop!

Beth ♥