Sweetheart Vase Challenge

With Valentine's Day right around the corner, the Etsy Mud Team is running a "Sweetheart Vase Challenge." Several team members have posted their vases on the team's website and everyone is welcome to drop by and vote for their favorite. As our "thank you for voting" you'll get a 25% discount coupon to be used in the Mud Team's etsy shop. So, what do you have to lose? Take a look at the wonderful entries and vote for your favorite!

My entry is The Mended Heart vase. The 6-inch tall stoneware vase was thrown on the potter's wheel and altered into its oval shape once it was leather-hard. One side of the vase has two red hearts that were impressed with a lace pattern. The other side has a broken heart (also impressed with a lace pattern) that has been "mended." The outside of the vase is rubbed with red underglazed but left raw (unglazed). The inside is glazed in a shiny white glaze to ensure that it is water-tight.

We've all had our hearts broken at some point or another. This vase celebrates, not the broken heart, but the ability of two hearts together to mend even the most broken of hearts.

Yearning for Spring...

I'm tired of the cold! And it's only mid-January...! I changed my banner (as well as my website) to green to make the winter mood lighter! Oh, and by the way, my talented daughter, Andi, made my banners... Check out her etsy shop. And, yes, we do have the same green, don't we? What would you expect? Like mother, like daughter... or maybe like daughter, like mother?

Gifts...

I am honored to be the recipient of this box full of books on ceramics. They belonged to the dear wife of a friend. Sadly, she passed away recently. I have already been perusing the books and they are full of great ideas and information. I know that I will put these books to very good use!

I am also honored to be a featured artist on the blog Siobhan's Dream. Please visit the blog as well as the Etsy shop of Siobhan's mom, Julie, who makes just gorgeous silver jewelry. Here's one of my favorite items from her shop, Sirenetta Designs.

Finally, I got a gift from AntB in today's mail! I entered a giveaway in her blog a few days ago and actually won a fantastic chalice ornament (I'm not used to actually winning stuff!). I love it! Please visit Ant's etsy shop too and check out her wonderful work or keep up to date with the antics of Grandpa and Grandma.

Happy New Year!

A great, albeit cold, start to 2009! As is my tradition, I spent all day January 1st in the studio. It was so good to get my hands muddy after the long hiatus I took for the holidays!

My main New Year's resolution is to spend more time in the studio. I have a tendency to work in spurts and then goof off. I suppose I'm "recharging" during those goffing off periods, but I've come to the conclusion that I need to establish a pattern of working every day.

I have been helping my husband pack up his parent's house to sell and I have come across a lot of doillies and old lace. Unfortunately, it's been packed away for so many years (we think it was his grandmother who made it!) that it's not looking very good. However, I think I can use it in the studio to imprint patterns in the clay. So stay tuned! We'll see what I can come up with in the days ahead!