They're here!!!

My newest pieces are back from the kiln... It's like Christmas all over again! The fired colors are so brilliant. 

So here is my Flower Power Lunch Set:

This is a piece that I've done before and I've had so much positive customer feedback on these little gems.  They're very bright and colorful and perfect for tomato soup with your grilled cheese, or maybe your hot tea with a bagel.  It's definitely a fun piece.  I came up with this little design back in 2012 and was fiddling around with some designs in my graphics software and thought about some fun spring designs...well, this definitely worked.  These lunch sets take a lot of time to do, but the end result is worth it.

My Sake Set is not quite done, as I have only had the carafe fired, but the colors are really cool!  This set should be listed before the end of January. :)
I am still working on the small cups and tray that belong to this set.....I decided on a cherry blossom design, which I hand painted.  They are a very important symbol in Japan as it is a symbol of renewal and spring.  I've never been to Japan, but I remember seeing these magnificent trees many years ago in Washington DC near the Tidal Basin.  I happen to have quite a bit of Japanese art and clothing that I've collected over the years, so that's the main inspiration behind my design......

......plus I got a bunch of souvenirs when I was in  China Town, San Francisco.  I happened to come across these slippers with butterflies on them.  I just love the bold designs on these; they're fun to wear and so adorable.

Here is another one of my newest pieces, a funky napkin holder.  I love its asymmetrical design, so I came up with a seamless pattern with some retro flair.  I designed this little funky snowflake (or maybe it's a sputnik, you decide..) in my graphics software and transferred it to the ceramic piece.  It's an ultracool design and makes a statement if you use bold colors, such as the black, red and white glazes here.  I store my pencils and notecards in this too, so it's a very functional piece!

That's it for now....enjoy your holiday weekend; see you again soon!

Happy New Year!! :)

Well, hello there!  Welcome friends, to my first shop blog ever! I've been debating on doing a blog for a long time, so why not start now?    I will promise to put more bells and whistles on this page to really make it look awesome! ......Sooo, here's the story....it's been a few months since I reopened my Etsy shop in October and it's been pretty great so far.  I was busy moving and settling into a new city and it just really took some time to get my shop set up, buy materials, move stuff around and getting started on my projects.  This past Christmas season was pretty awesome.  Sales were very good and I'm so glad that some of my ceramic pieces found a new home.  What's even better is that 1/2 of my profits went to my church, as they are trying to raise money to build a new school.  It's a good feeling to give back.

So now, it's back to work.  I really have to clean up my work area; it's a complete wreck!  Plus it's been so cold to work in the garage, too.  Temps during December got down to 10 degrees for a few days...brrr!  My little space heater just wasn't doing the job.  I'll get my shop back together sometime this month.  Only problem is that I've accumulated so many empty boxes and packing material that I will need extra shelves very soon.....please excuse my mess!

In the meantime, I've been working on some new pieces for January.  I know it takes quite a bit of time to post new items, but right after I opened my shop back in October, my kiln crapped out.  It was a major fire hazard to use it the garage, so I had to find another way to fire my pieces.  I was lucky enough to find a place downtown where I can do a kilnshare.  Once my pieces are glazed, I take everything downtown and it usually takes a week or so to get them back, depending on their firing schedule......I'm working on a Sake Set and some pretty cool napkin holders.  I created a very intricate pattern for my napkin holders; it kind of looks like a cool retro snowflake design. My Sake Sets are pretty big sellers and I enjoy creating them!  I love painting my cherry blossom design and using bold, contrasting colors. Both the napkin holders and Sake Sets will have black on red glazes.  They are very striking!

In the meantime, be sure to stop by my Butterflykilns shop on Etsy.  I have just started working on some videos of my products.  I must say that I'm having a blast getting creative with this software!  These videos allow customers to get more of a three dimensional view of my pieces as well as scale and function.  The cool thing about these videos is that they open up as as a stand alone movie, not in YouTube.  YouTube is ok, but I find it a bit distracting with all of the other suggested movies along the side of the page.  My little short movies are simple with no audio. Check them out in the "My Etsy Shop" page above. !  I only have 9 items listed so far, but there is more to come soon!  That's about it for now.  Thanks for stopping by and will see you again soon. :)