New Shop!

I have a lot of stuff.  Nobody mentioned that if you get into making jewellery that you somehow morph into a super power hoarder and will accumulate towering mounds of jewellery components and findings in five minutes flat.  That’s what happened to me.  In five minutes flat. 

                    

So, in order to allow myself to continue onto my next jewellery endeavor, (i.e., porcelain jewellery) and feel good about it, I had to make sure that I didn’t let all of those fine items sit in various storage bins for years.  I decided that a new Etsy shop would be the remedy.  I know a million people have their reservations about opening two shops on Etsy—I did the research, one million even.  But I just sort of shrugged and got to work on it straight away.

So, here she be!  The new sister shop to clā contemporary, clāSTOK.  clāSTOK will pretty much feature all items created from surplus stock at a ridiculously low price.  Seriously—it’s low!  As in every piece costs under £15 with most under £10.  No joke.  You can't possibly still be reading this...go!  Check it out! 

I'm a lot pushier in writing. 

Out with the (not so) old

That’s right!  I’m getting a head start on spring cleaning beginning with the studio.  I’m having a huge winter clearance sale in preparation for all of the new lovelies swiftly on their way to my shop.  Don’t believe me?  Think I’m full of beans?  I can prove it!  Not that I needed to.  I know you’re not a hostile bunch…for the most part. 

Here’s the proof you were all certainly demanding in any case:

The above are porcelain rings and one bangle bracelet that I’ve hand-thrown on the potter’s wheel, carved, and are now in the “bone dry” stage of the process.  They are extremely brittle at this point—definitely not ready for wearing!  It’s so amazing how durable they’ll become after firing.  Clay is such a fantastic medium, and I find its potential nearly limitless. 

This would explain why I’ll be coming out with many fresh, new pieces and clā contemporary will finally be expanding beyond jewellery.  I can’t even seem to keep up with my ideas at this point—I think being out of a pottery studio for so long has caused a tremendous amount of inspiration buildup.  Be sure to tag along as I explore every last one.  Or at least a few.  This could take a while…

Things are warming up…

My first event of the year will be Pamp Up the Volume 2011, a charitable event benefiting Save the Children UK and Marie Curie Hospice Edinburgh taking place this Thursday, February 24 from 14.30-late.

There are so many fabulous pampering activities planned including therapies, raffle, and shopping (what’s more therapeutic than shopping?) to make for the perfect ladies’ night out.  And, of course, who can resist when it’s ultimately for a good cause?  There’s so much going on, just click here to get all of the details! 

Next up will be the out of the blue Flea Market this Saturday, February 26 from 10.00-15.00.  All kinds of bric-a-brac, home goods, clothing, music, etc. will be available—I have to keep reminding myself that I won’t be there to shop!  I’m having a studio cleanout of sorts, so there will be a special-made line of items for those on a budget. ;) Do gorgeous sterling silver earrings for a fiver speak to anyone?  Click here to know more! 

Entry to both events is free, so why not stop by? 

In other news, the ceramic studio is coming along nicely, and I wish I could explain just how excited I am without abusing the exclamation points.  Yes, there is that much excitement.  2011 is looking pretty promising…

Tasty treat!

From booking events to designing my spring/summer collection, life has been a bit hectic, but that’s no reason not to try new snacks!  I’ve been craving all food Japanese lately and could easily watch Japanese cooking videos on youtube for hours if I let myself.  I said “if I let myself.”  I don’t do that.  Ever.  During one of my brisk browses of said videos I found an episode of Cooking with Dog:  How to Make Skewered Tofu Dango (Japanese Sweet Dumplings). These videos are a little on the strange side but informative nonetheless.  

This led me to discover the magic that is glutinous rice flour.  I was able to pick some up at my local Chinese supermarket (which has a built-in travel agency oddly enough!), and I am so happy I did.  It is not the same thing as plain flour, mind you—do not substitute one for the other!  The resulting snack/dessert was so nummers it inspired another Food from Thought entry.  The dango that I made differ in quite a few ways from the recipe found on the video which is why I’ll still consider it “from thought”.  You can find my “guidelines” here.  The tofu/flour version is also delicious; however, I think that silken tofu is definitely the way to go, not firm (it has a slightly gritty texture). 

As you can see in the picture above, I didn’t have the patience to skewer my little dumplings—or take a decent picture for that matter!  I had to gobble them up immediately.  So if you don’t bother with presentation, although I do think it is one of the most amazing things about Japanese cuisine, it’s a pretty quick treat and not ridiculously bad for you like the brownies I’m going to make later…

Enjoy!

Pottery News

I couldn’t be any more excited—I will soon be in a new pottery studio!  And quite literally new…it isn’t even completely renovated yet!  I met up with the lovely potters that I’ll be sharing it with a couple days ago and chatted about the plans for the studio.  If everything goes well, I’ll be throwing again in a week!  This has sent me into full-on pottery mode, researching glaze recipes and plotting ideas for a new line.  I was admiring some microcrystalline glazed pieces, and this one absolutely stunned me with its beauty! 

The potter, as mentioned in the photo, is Bill Campbell and apparently a crystalline glaze wizard.  It’s not an easy glaze to master!  Another fabulous potter in a similar vein is John Tilton.  He has some incredible crystalline pieces that I would love to steal, er, buy.

I’ll post some pictures of the studio as we get set up and keep you updated on any upcoming pieces.  We won’t be firing any work until around the end of February once we’ve gotten the kiln room ready to go.  I guess it’ll be a while, but I just couldn’t help but throw (pun intended!) it out there. 

Happy Anniversary!



Silver Stack Necklace



Vintage Snakeskin Button Ring



Baby Brass Locket with Pearl



I can’t believe it!  It’s come so quickly!  Yes, it’s my much anticipated three-month anniversary together with Etsy.  In that short period I’ve become very much infatuated with Etsy.  It’s so addictive.  There are just too many amazing artists/designers/crafters out there in the world!  Aside from drooling over a million incredible pieces, I have learnt a thing or two in my time as an Etsy fanatic.  For those other Etsy sellers who perhaps haven’t had the time to do much research (i.e., farting around on blog after blog), I thought I’d write up a little summary of the greatest tips for productive Etsy usage I’ve found thus far.  If you’re not an Etsy seller, skip the rest of this and head over to my Etsy shop—I’ve posted six new items! 

                         

• Put those Google Analytics everybody talks about to use!  You can access them by going to “Your Etsy,” options, and clicking on the Web Analytics tab.  It’s so exciting to see where your views are coming from, etc., and it can be a great pick-me-up if you’re feeling like nobody is really out there.  They are! 
• After signing up for Google Analytics, you can then benefit from using Craftopolis.  It helps you keep track of who’s hearting your shop amongst other useful data such as what tags you’re using are the most effective when people are digging around.
• Speaking of tags, make sure you’re using all of them!  Even if your brain starts hurting for lack of additional descriptive keywords—use your location, write in different languages, anything.  Just don’t let them go to waste!
• Take advantage of the Treasury feature!  I sure do, and I love it a little bit too much.   It’s so wonderful to support other Etsians, and I know when I’m included in one it brightens my [dark, Scottish] day!
• Teams.  Join them.  Participate in them.  It’s fun as well as informative! 
• SEO.  It sounds big and scary, yeah?  It is.  Search engine optimisation is a deep pool of secrets…and lies.  Too theatrical?  Hardly.  Maybe a touch.  But here’s something you can do:  be very precise and deliberate when writing your product titles then reiterate the same words in the first sentence of your item description as well as in your tags (more tag ideas!).  The mystical search engines like it and will like you more for doing it. 
• Did you know that you can insert hyperlinks to other Etsy pages?  This is great for your item descriptions where you can refer your customers to other items that they may like in relation to the current product page.  It’s especially awesome if your shop is massive (not mine just yet!).  If you have multiple shops or want to help advertise a buddy, you could place the link(s) in your shop announcement!  It’s easy…simply type in the URL—that’s all!

I hope that this proves useful!  And, in case you were wondering, cheeky things, Etsy and I are going to celebrate with a nice snuggle on the couch this evening.  Maybe order some Indian from that fab takeaway place.  Nothing fancy…  

Just living life on the edge. Making treasuries…

above are a few pieces in my new Etsy treasury

I just finished my Winter Whiteout Etsy treasury featuring only British sellers!  Not that I don’t want to feature sellers from all over the world, but I feel like Americans are getting most of the attention, and it’s just not fair!  I whine because I am one, and we all know we’re good at whining.  I’m just trying to support my new community having moved to the UK seven weeks ago and finding everyone very friendly. 

My kitchen on the other hand is proving itself a little dangerous.  I managed to singe my arm hairs.  Yes, I’m a lady, and I have body hair.  Moving past that, I’m thinking my New Year’s resolution should have been to work out because it was my scrawny arms that caused my near death experience.  Near death of arm hair anyway—only the stubs remain like a freshly logged forest. 

It was necessary that I move a pot of boiling water over to a different burner as I only have the one large front burner and needed to use it for cooking my sauce.  Having underestimated my strength to execute this seemingly simple maneuver quickly, my arm was exposed to the heat from the front burner for a bit too long, and I smelt something burning.

I glanced down curiously to see that my arm hair was coiled back on itself, burnt.  This might be the first time in a while that I am actually thankful it’s winter.  Long sleeves for me!  It’s a jungle out there.  Take care, everyone.  Take care.