One More Sale To Go...One More Sale To Go....

First off, yes I realize that I got kind of lazy this week in terms of keeping up with this little outpost of what happens in my life...Get over it...There, my apologies are done...

It's been another busy week; I spent a couple of days recovering from the open house, and then tried to do some work. It's funny; whenever I sat down to do stuff, there just wasn't a lot of creativity being channelled. It's that time of year where I still have lots of new ideas, but they just don't materialize like they usually do. I think it's just because it's such a busy time; I work full time, spend my evenings working on glass in my studio, and then spend my weekends talking about what I do all week. Don't get me wrong; I love doing the sales, they're just a little...draining...I do need to get some work done this week; I've got a (hopefully) big sale coming up this weekend at the Festival of Lights (http://www.friendsfestival.com/) as well as an order to get out, so I need to get some pendants made. Besides...D is away a couple of evenings this week, so I might as well make good use of my time, right?

The sale yesterday wasn't a overly busy one for me, but it was worth the time invested. My table was next to a couple of friends that I enjoy visiting with at these events, so the three of us made our own fun when we needed to. As well, I might have a custom order coming my way from some people I was talking to, and I have a shot at another place picking up some of my work. It's amazing the exposure that I have been getting from these events. The wheels are starting to turn to get things in motion; it's just a matter of keeping the forward momentum. It helps surrounding myself with great people as well; my partner D, my publicists, also known as My Parents, my self-hired business manager Dani, and the woman that tracked me down and convinced me to do shows that she is organizing. Thank you so much more than you realize...

On another note, the picture of the calla lily panel that I was bragging about a ouple of weeks ago is finally on here...quite happy with how it turned out, if I do say so myself :)

Ahhhhhhhhhh....batteries are charged :)

Wow...Friday night's open house was AWESOME; I got home at 4:00, Kylie got here about 4:10, and the first guest showed up at 4:30! Given that the sale was to start at 5:00, it was not a lot of time to get ready, so we were proud of ourselves for setting up the night before. By 5:30 we figure that there were 25-30 people in the house; it seemed like we had lots of room until we jammed that many people in here! There was about a half hour when we had no guests from 6:30-7:00, and then the second wave hit. The rest of the night was a steady flow, and it was great to see so many people out to support us! Thanks to everyone who came and helped make our night a success...

Having spent a day doing a lot of nothing yesterday, it's time for me to get back to work down in the studio. Yesterday was what I needed though; I slept in, had a low-key day of cleaning up from Friday, and then went out to a get-together last night. I can't really take too much time to laze around; I have two more big sales to get through, plus I have 2 orders to send out very soon. I also got asked to design some pieces with an East Indian flair for a new sari store that is opening, so I need to get to work on that. Crazy, crazy, crazy...

Today's the day...ready or not!

Well, it is officially the day for the open house whether I like it or not. Last night was spent cleaning the house, rearranging the living room and dining room, watching Kylie get her clothing and stuff arranged, getting my stuff set up and swearing at the glue that I use to mount the hangers on my pendants. I spent Thursday evening working on 38 pendants, and got a whole 8 out of the batch because of the glue not holding; it either holds like crazy, or pops off right away. AAARRRGGGHHH!!! This is not the time that I needed that to be happening! Oh well...complaining won't make any difference; I tried another glue that I had, so we'll see how things are when I get home tonight.

We'll have to see how things go tonight; I think it's going to be an okay night, but time will tell...

The Countdown...

Tonight is my second last night to get things ready for a private show and sale on Friday. Despite my feeling anxious yesterday about having enough stock, I am actually feeling pretty good about everything today. Must have been a bad day...

Anyway, I'm really happy with the last 24 hours; all the pendants turned out except for one (which I wasn't sure about to start with), and the calla lily looks amazing. I want to get it framed up before I put a picture of it on here, but I might just have to go ahead and show an unfinished shot of it...I am really really happy with how it looks. I tried mixing a couple different techniques and am quite pleased to say that they worked like a charm. Must make notes; where's that pen now...

Tonight I am actually not doing that much work; I am cutting one last bowl like the blue one, only in red this time, and then have gluing to do (putting the "hangers" on the pendants). After that, it's time to clean this house! It's amazing the mess you can make when you aren't home that much...ugh...

Well, colour me impressed...with me!

Wow...I've even surprised myself tonight! I have 38 pendants in the kiln, as well as a dozen cabs for rings, and have a nice calla lily panel ready to go in when I get up. It's amazing what I can get done when I actually walk away from the computer...

Back away slowly from the glowing screen...

The first faint stirrings of PANIC

So, it's Tuesday night, about 7:30 pm CST...I have (I think) quite a few people coming to the house on Friday evening to look at stuff, and I'm getting that sinking feeling that I always do before something like this; the faint stirrings of panic that I don't have enough inventory! I know I'll be fine, and that there'll be enough stuff to keep people happy, but I always wish that there was just that little bit more that I could have ready. You know, the whole "if I only had a couple more days to work" thing...Oh well, I don't, I've got what I've got, and I'll make do. Breathe in, breathe out...

On a happier note, the new blue bowl turned out soooooooooo nicely...I am really loving the new designs...In fact, I'll even live up to my promise and put some pictures in here tonight! Isn't it amazing the stuff you find to do when you should be working on something else?

Down to the Bat Cave...

It's Sunday morning, and I am a little out of whack from the change back from Daylight Saving Time; I've been awake since 6:30 (CST), and figured I might as well finally get up at 7:30. Realizing I could get a lot done today with being up at this time, I headed down to the workshop to plan my day. I've now designed this blog, pulled a new project from the kiln, and am just going to go wash it up and get it firing to become the beautiful that I KNOW it wants to become. The design is one that I came up with a couple of weeks ago and have really fallen in love with. I did the same design in a rich green originally; this one is in a cobalt blue and so far it looks amazing (in my humble, unbiased opinion...). Time to go and get it cleaned up so that it can get back in the kiln and come out again.

Pictures will follow...I promise...

It all starts now...

So, I've tried a million times to get myself motivated enough to start, post to, and maintain a blog...There just always seems to be a million other things to do instead of sitting down and putting a few words on the screen. However, I got thinking; seriously, am I really that busy of a person? Truth be told, I'm not...

I figure this is a good way to keep people current on what is going on with me, in my studio, and maybe even in my life somewhat. On that note, look here for new work, places my work will be showing up, and all such things...