Adventures in shipping

This is what Morgan calls "adventures in shipping." Occasionally, a squirrel will think that there is food in the shipment (there is not), and will chew a hole in the box---sometimes, the hole is bigger than other times. And occasionally Morgan sees the hole, and decides to patch it up. In this case, Morgan was putting the last bit of tape on when the mailman walked up. Good times.

Chalices (underglazed)

Chalice underglazed. 

 Morgan here. Awhile back someone asked me if my wife made goblets. Of course, being the non-artist type, I had no idea what the difference was between a chalice and a goblet. Furthermore, at the time I could locate any pictures of the chalices that my wife makes. (I had forgotten to take pictures of the last batch that she did that ended up at Spiritways.)

Another underglazed chalice. 

 Today, when going out to the studio to take a picture of a coffee mug, I spotted these two chalices that have been underglazed that I believe are going into the next kiln firing, and thought that I would take a couple of quick shots just so people knew what type of chalice my wife was capable of making.

Unfortunately, I can't remember who asked me if my wife makes chalices. Hopefully, they see this post.

Studio Kitty does not remember who it was either.

New items and a sale (plus announcing international shipping)

Recent items added to the Celtic Soul Etsy shop.

Celtic Soul Jewelry and Pottery, is currently having a 20% off sale on all pendants (no coupon necessary) until the end of September. And tomorrow, a 20% sale on mortar and pestles begins (sale lasts until October 26th, 2013).

Recently created are some more Egyptian fridge magnets, which were just listed on Etsy over the last couple of days, along with a few more pendants.

Plus, Celtic Soul is now going to be able to ship to many more places, thanks to us updating our international shipping policies--which is welcome news for those who live outside of the United States and Canada.

Celtic Soul Jewelry and Pottery Etsy Store.

Cleaning out the old dead grazes

Is this were clown makeup comes from?

Yesterday, I was helping my wife clean out some buckets of old pottery glazes. (She was having a problem with one of the glazes, and she needs to start with a fresh batch of glaze to fix the problem.) And I amused myself by pretending this is where clown makeup comes from--trying to guess what the ingredient was. (For the record, my latest writing project involves some scary, creepy clowns--I see clown related stuff even when no clowns are involved.) True love is cleaning out the old glaze buckets. And on a bright note, my wife promises not to make any scary ceramic clowns...and maybe not even cool clowns either. (A lot of eye rolling has been done by my wife during the reading of this blog post--I think that she thinks that I am a little weird. Correction, she says that I am "a lot weird.")

Common sense of politicians.

Old dried out actor remains.

What sparkling vampires turn into?



Simply gross looking.

Watching sufferers of Craft Show Delusion Disorder

Freshly fired jewelry pieces in the kiln.

Today, I was reading an article (blog post) over at The Survival Mom and she mentioned Craft Show Delusion Disorder (CSDD), and I could not help laughing--because I have seen this firsthand at both craft shows and in my regular profession.

As a writer, I have noticed (especially now that you can publish your own ebook though places like Smashwords) that everyone thinks that they can be a writer...which might be true; after all, I can do it, and I am not the shiniest apple in the barrel. Of course, the self-published market has became one giant slush pile as a result of this mindset (at least, I have cashed checks from magazines in the print market before going indie). But the trend does count down on the number of people who have a great idea, and want me to write it up for fifty percent of the net, so that is a positive...I guess.

I can understand why everyone thinks that they can be a writer...it requires little equipment, and we all get told in school how great our writing is by our peers (no one ever tells a friend or classmate that their writing blows chunks). But I have watched people at craft shows (which my wife has made me help at) suffer from Craft Show Delusion Disorder about crafts that they should not be suffering the delusion over.

Right in front of the two of us. And one of us happens to be the ceramic artist; the other just is a knuckle dragging spouse brought to the show to lift heavy things...and be bored out of his cotton-picking mind.

It is the people who suffer CSDD that believe that they can reproduce my wife's pottery that fascinate me. I have watched people believe that they can reproduce paintings, drawings, and jewelry...some of which I can understand believing that one can do (not everything at a craft show is top quality work). But my wife's pottery?!

My wife has been doing pottery longer than I have known her--she has twenty-three years of experience doing ceramics. And in the seventeen years I have known her, the product has improved greatly. I have lost track of the number of mortar and pestles that I have photographed for her over the years.

And we have watched people with just a semester of pottery under their belt, who have not touched clay in years, plus have none of the required equipment (an awful big expense), believe that they could make what my wife is making. Ok, maybe they could make a mortar and pestle...but it will probably look like a melted marshmallow. For the record, I am the person who does shop at the local college's biannual pottery club sale--and the stuff I see there, my wife would call seconds (items that are flawed and possibly buried never to be seen again by any living human being)--and that is what a semester or two of pottery class produces.

Is there a cure for Craft Show Delusion Disorder? Actually, yes--become a professional craftsperson yourself. I find that artists tend to be realistic (and far too busy with their own specialty) about what they can and cannot do (which is why a certain amount of barter happens among the artists at a craft show).

In other news: my wife's Facebook fanpage recently gained its hundredth fan, and new items are currently being listed on the Celtic Soul Jewelry and Pottery Etsy shop page.

One of the latest mortar and pestles that my wife finished.

Pentacle Star Jewelry and Triple Moon Goddess pendants now available on Etsy

Some of the pentacle and triple moon pendants that my wife is making.

For those people who were interested in ceramic pendants featuring pentacles (pentagrams), there are now some available on the Celtic Soul Jewelry and Pottery shop on Etsy. Plus there are several Triple Moon (Triple Goddess) pendants available also.

Forest Green Pentacle on Black Star
Oasis Blue Pentacle on Pansy Purple Star
Blue Purple Pentacle on Black Star
Robin's Egg Blue Pentacle on Dark Blue Star
Pansy Purple Pentacle on Black Star

Backs of pentacle stars are unglazed.

Pentacle Stars are priced at twelve dollars apiece ($2.25 USA shipping, $4.25 Canada shipping).

Triple Goddess--three phased moon with clouds--Oasis Blue, Blue Green, and Dark Blue
Triple Goddess--three phased moon with spirals--Oasis Blue, and Mottled Blue
Triple Goddess--three phased moon with clouds--Robin's Egg Blue, and Mottled Blue

Backs of goddess/moon pendants are unglazed.

Triple Goddess pendants are priced at twelve dollars apiece ($2.25 USA shipping, $4.25 Canada shipping).

More cork jars available on Etsy

Think of the magic you can do with these jars. 

Another item that I was taking photos of were a new butch of small cork jars that my wife hand-throws on the potter's wheel. I was experimenting with the camera again, trying to learn how to take better photos...with mixed results (my wife, the art teacher would not give me a passing grade for this photo).

Now, I like this photo--my wife doesn't. It was an experiment. One of the difficulties that I have taking photos of her pottery is that the glaze is so shiny, and occasionally the camera I am using has a difficult time recording the true color of the glaze. So in this photo, I was experimenting to see if a white background would help. My wife disapproves of the picture because I used wrinkled paper. *sigh*

These corked herb jars are available on her Etsy--Celtic Soul Jewelry and Pottery page for $18 (American) apiece.