Help Kill SOPA!

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Blog Feature!

Tomorrow, one of my mugs is being featured on Totus Mel's Wunderkammer.

If you haven't see Totus Mel's blog yet, you are missing a Steampunk mountain of goodness!

Check it out! And keep an eye out for my mug!

In My Mail Today...

A couple weeks ago I saw that my handmade soap stash was getting low.

Now, if there is one thing that I just HAVE to buy handmade, its soap. High quality glycerin soap, or especially cold process made-the-old-fashioned-way soap is so much nicer than what I can buy in the grocery store!

So, I was searching on Etsy, and found a shop called Winter Rose Soap. The shop is small, but the soap sounded lovely, and the prices were amazing. I think I got eight bars. (My favorite is the Barry Beelicious Soap).

I got the package lightning fast, and the soaps smelled wonderfully good. I put bars around the house right away and began to use them. They were terrific!

After I left feedback, the shop owner contacted me, and thanked me for the feedback. I commented on how much I liked her soaps and how cute the hats were in her shop. She said she made Monster Hats for toddlers, and I asked for a price, but forgot to follow up on it.

Today, I got a big padded envelope in the mail, and in it were the cutest ever hats, including a little Mouse hat and an adorable pink monster hat that just fits my granddaughter!

There were also more soaps! I am so pleased, and my granddaughter put the pink hat on and is wearing it around the house because she loves it so much!

So, a huge THANK YOU! to Cathleen at Winter Rose Soap and Country Store on Etsy

Amazeballs and CF4L!

This week, in my SecondChanceCeramics shop on Etsy, I was asked by April Winchell, the creator of the Regretsy blog to do a special order.

She liked it, and posted a photo of it on her Member's Only site.

(To get in, the password is cf4l )

Since then my shop traffic is through the roof in both AntB on Etsy and SecondChanceCeramics.

AND, I was offered to try out for a feature in a European magazine, and have been offered some features on other blogs.

WOW!

So a big shout out THANK YOU to April, aka Helen Killer, and to all the Fat Jealous Losers who have been stopping by my shops!

:)

Winners!

Both Witchylana and Mars will get witch hat sets!

Thanks so much for commenting!

I hope your Samhain was as much fun as mine!

:D

Happy Samhain! and Giveaway!

OK, I lied.

Just comment below to have a chance to win three witch hat ornaments.

These are made from white stoneware that I formed by hand into a hat shapes. They were glazed in various ways and strung with a cotton cord. They vary in size but each is about 2 inches (5 cm) tall and 1.5 to 2 inches (4 or 5 cm) wide.

Use them on a branch, in your window, on wreathes, or as a gift toppers for your witchy friends.

Check out my shop for more sets, too!

So, go on and comment, and

Happy Samhain!

HALLOWEEN SALE

Happy Samhain!

I usually do a giveaway on this holiday, but since I just did one, I am having a sale instead.

I am having a HALLOWEEN SALE on some of the more batty and buggy things in my shops. I marked them off from 10 to 20 percent.

To find the special sales, look for HALLOWEEN SALE in the title.

AND If you took me up on my coupon code from the giveaway, you also now have and EXTRA 20% DISCOUNT you can add on. Whew!

But take advantage of the prices this weekend...

Because on Tuesday, the prices go back to normal.

:)

My shops are http://www.etsy.com/shop/SecondChanceCeramics

And http://www.etsy.com/shop/antb

PS... If you missed the coupon codes, Convo me, and I will still give them out.

I've Been Stalked!

Do you notice the new badge on my blog?

I just got a note saying I have been featured on EtsyStalker.com for my bat soap dish. You can see the post, here, on Etsy Stalker.

But be careful, that site is addictive! I spend a good hour looking at the luscious stuff the curators have found and reading the articles.

Yay! Thanks Etsy Stalker!

Winners!

Rengawk won the Mermaid bowl and

Allie won the Mug!

Giveaway and Another Shop

This giveaway is to celebrate a second shop opening.

I am just getting Second Chance Ceramics on Etsy started.

As some of you might know, I have been playing with adding decals to my handmade pottery. While I was experimenting, I used some white diner-type ware I had on hand to try out some graphics and to fill a kiln. They were supposed to be just an experiment, but they turned out so well, that my daughter and son wanted some for their apart

ments. I made more, and their friends

wanted some. I put photos on flickr and more people wanted some.

So, I decided to do this right and make the wares into a shop all by itself. If you are interested in the process, read my profile on SecondChanceCeramics on Etsy.

So, if you read all that you deserve a prize, and here it is:

Just comment which of the two dishes pictured here you would like best to win, and you are entered to win that item from Second Chance Ceramics.

One is a pagan themed mug with birds, pentacles and an image of the Greenman in stone, and the other is a little mermaid bowl with an octopus and other steampunkish things. There is a lid you can put on the bowl for storage in the fridge.

Be sure to leave some way for me to contact you if you win, like your Etsy name, or your blog or twitter or something.

I will chose a winner for the mug and the bowl next Monday, so comments are closed, on October 22nd. At midnight my time (USA Central) or thereabouts.

You can comment twice if you want to be in the drawing for each thing. Make them separate comments though, please. Thanks!

SPECIAL BONUS:

If you convo me on Etsy I will give you discount codes for my shops.

Convo me on my all handmade pottery shop AntB and I

will give you a code for that shop, or convo me on SecondChanceCeramics for a discount code for that shop. Convo me on both if you want both. :)

Share the codes with your friends!

The codes will be active through January 1, 2012.

A Day at the Sale Barn

The past summer I have had a booth at three farmer's markets. I have had varying success selling pottery. One market has been great, the others have just been so-so.

But the very best part of being at the Farmer's markets all summer has been getting to know the vendors. I was fortunate enough to get booth space right in the middle of a bunch of organic produce vendors and not in the row with the other 'stuff sellers' as they call us.

They have all been selling together for years, and at first they just ignored me. But a few traded pots, some questions about gardens, and their natural friendliness all worked in my favor and we made friends. I have been going most Saturday evenings to one vendor's farm for outdoor showings of movies and popcorn. One vender gives me gardening advice and chats about his first garden. He found out I like to cook, and has been getting recipes for his produce from me to tell his customers. Another vendor lets me glean her rows after picking if I dispose of the plant matter in the compost for her.

This last vendor, Linda, has been amazingly kind. She has been giving me extra cases (!) of produce to can in exchange for just a few of the results. A couple weeks ago she casually asked why I didn't buy my produce at the Sale Barn if I was canning it.

"Sale Barn?"

I remember my aunts and uncles going to a Sale Barn near my hometown to buy and sell cows and sheep. But I had only gone once or twice, and I didn't remember there being a produce component to it.

She invited me to meet her the following week.

I followed her directions about 20 miles south of my rather big city, and ended up at a farm. I knew I was there by the sign, and by the rows of trucks parked everywhere along the gravel road. As I got out and made my way to the back of the farm where I was to meet Linda, I passed rows and rows of animals in cages- rabbits, chickens, ducks, and also pets like ferrets, kittens and even a couple of lizards. These would be auctioned off, and there were a wide range of people waiting. There were two very Chicago-looking couples (one woman had a purse dog) and some folks with pet store logo shirts. A few Mennonite and Amish, and a bunch of folks in feed logo caps.

Next were tables and rows of stuff. These were possessions people had brought to be sold. Then a concession area, and an area with more expensive looking items- antiques and equipment. Finally, behind one of the barns in a lean-to along one side was the produce. Linda was waiting.

She had already purchased a bidding number, and the auction was just about to start. I was boggled by the amount of food there: bushels and bushels of apples and pears, bags of walnuts, boxes of freshly dug potatoes, huge heads of sunflowers with the seeds intact, squash and pumpkins of all colors, sizes and shapes, some late grapes, tomatoes of all colors, cauliflower in purple white and orange, and a few pails of plums.

Linda saw my face and warned me not to bid too much this time. She said that the first time at an auction can be overwhelming, and you can get carried away and spend way too much without thinking. I saw all that lovely produce and knew she was right. We agreed that five dollars should be my limit.

I'll admit I was disappointed. I had hoped to walk away with some veggies or something to put up, but I also knew that I needed to take Linda's advice. She told me a story or two of her first auctions, and how she had purchased silly things, and I didn't want to get caught out that way.

The auction began, and since I had been at the farmer's market all season long, I had a feeling for veggie and fruit prices. But Linda told me this was wholesale. Some things were being sold by the piece, like big pumpkins, and some squash, but then they were also sold by the lot. The prices were wonderfully low from a buyer's standpoint, but I wondered how the growers could stand to part with their produce so cheaply.

Apples sold for 15.00 a bushel that week, 20.00 a bushel for Honeycrisp. I had eagerly paid 1.00 for 3 Honeycrisp apples the week before at the farmer's market. It was terribly hard to keep to my only-spend-5-dollars budget but I didn't give in and buy the apples. The plums- lovely golden plums- sold for a song, but the song was more than 5 dollars. I really thought I would only get to buy a squash or two. Then came the pears.

The auctioneer did his usual brief description of the item and people asked questions.

They were windfalls and low hanging fruit from a local unsprayed tree. Keep the orchard baskets. Variety? Probably Comice, too juicy to cook with, and these were ripe and ready to eat in a day or two. There were 10 bushels, the bidding was for a whole bushel. If you won the bid you could take as many bushels as you wanted for that price for each bushel. You could see the crowd losing interest. The auctioneer started the bidding at 10 dollars. No takers. 5 dollars, nothing. I looked at Linda hopefully. A bushel of pears would be lovely to can. Most were good and they had rosy cheeks. I wanted a basket! Linda shook her head.

4 dollars. Nothing. 3.50? Nothing. I was trembling. I wanted those pears, but Linda's mouth was a grim line and I knew better than to bid.

3 dollars. Nothing. The auctioneer was getting frustrated. He held at 3 for an eternity. 2.50? Do I hear 2.50? Linda shoved me, smiling. I yelped and the auctioneer said, "Is that 2.50?" I nodded.

SOLD for 2.50!

I got TWO BUSHELS! :) They are sweet, juicy and the best pears I have tasted for ages.

I am canning today!

Front Page

This treasury made it to the front page on Etsy this morning!

Treasury

Etsy Treasury

Going Camping!

We are going camping from today, August 10 to about August 15. I will be checking into my shop once in a while during that time to answer convos, and once to mail packages. So convos and shipping will be slightly delayed during this time. Thanks for your patience!

Ant

Front Page Times Two!

So, I was on the front page of Etsy TWICE in one day, early this morning:

In this treasury:

Then immediately after in this one:
They showed at around 4 and 5 am central time, so I missed them, but friends let me know. What a fun thing to wake up to!

An Admirable Admiral

On Etsy, there are Teams organized for buyers and sellers. The teams are to build community and as a place to go for help.

One of the teams I am on is April's Army, and it has been a source of encouragement and fun, as well as a place to share joys and sorrows, successes and failures. I have enjoyed every minute of it!

This team has a hardworking Team Captain named Mary who now needs a helping hand.

So check out her shop, grab some great soap and jewelry if you can. If you aren't in a place where you can shop now than share the link. Spread the word on Facebook, or Twitter, stumbleupon, google +, reddit, digg...I think you get the point. Help a wonderful lady anyway you can.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/WickdCreation

Two Cuties!

Shortly after my giveaway back in April, I was contacted by Blayne, the owner of Happy Zoo on Etsy, who

won the little octopus bowl. She wanted a larger one for her son for his birthday.

She proposed a trade, and one look at the adorable shirts in her shop made me say YES! My grandaughter needed one of those!

Luckily, her son's birthday was a couple months off, since my wheel broke shortly after we decided on the trade!

But, I got the bowl made and shipped in time, and she sent me the cutest shirt in return, along with a freebie, (that she says is a second, but I can't see any flaw anywhere!!) My grandsweetie LOVES the shirt, and choses it every time it comes out of the wash. The shirt is a really good quality T shirt, and the colors stay bright and sweet. I love the design we chose! Blayne was great about letting us get a pattern that wasn't in her shop but that she had available- And she didn't act like I was being super picky about it (even though I was, kinda!)

I think I am going to have to go back and get a few more shirts in larger sizes, because this is easily a favorite shirt all around, and I can see her wanting to have (at least) one for the next couple of seasons!

And, you gotta admit it! She looks darn cute in it too!

Oh, and she sent me this photo. It looks like her cute little guy likes the bowl! Yay!

(Both photos are used with the parents' permission!)

50% OFF!

I am clearing out some of my older stock, and putting it on sale!

There are plates, platters and a lettered bowl or two.

Please, stop by and ... well, BUY!

:)

Thanks!

Ant

Winner!

Thank you all for commenting!

Mars is the winner!

I will be mailing out the prize!

:)

Happy Solstice!

Happy Litha!

For this Solstice, I am giving away a garden marker that says CREATE on it. It seemed appropriate, since so many people here are crafty, creative people! This was made from stoneware, and can be used indoors or out, year round.

If you would like to win this, just leave a comment along with how I can contact you (your etsy name, twitter, facebook, or something!).

In your comment let me know something you are working on creatively. Feel free to link to your shop, if you have one, or your Deviant art page.

Comments will be open until Midnight, June 23 (Thurs. night). Then I will choose one comment at random to win the whole set. Its that easy!

And while you are out and about, please check out my shop on Etsy, antb.etsy.com.

So, get to commenting, and HAPPY Solstice!

New Pottery!

Whoohoo! I finally got a kiln finished, and here are some of what I pulled out:

There are lots more, too! I put some in last night, and the rest I will be adding to my shop over the next week or so. Yay!

Wheel Repair

Two months ago my potter's wheel broke.

If you have never used a potter's wheel, the kind I use is an electric one with a foot pedal that adjusts the speed. The pedal on mine, one day, refused to shut off the wheel.

I called the company, and the wheel was still under warranty, so I sent in the motor and the pedal and they said they would check it out and let me know. (I have a Pacifica from Laguna Clay Company. )

After they had it a week, they called and said a piece had been damaged inside the pedal, and it wasn't covered by their warranty. But, they would replace it for free anyway, just as good customer service.

Whew!

I was quite happy with this!

Unfortunately, there were some staff changes at Laguna, and my motor and pedal were set aside and not mailed back for another month. They were marked as having been sent, but after I called and said they hadn't arrived, they found they hadn't actually been mailed off.

That stuff happens, and overall I am thrilled with the service that Laguna has, and how nice everyone was there, dealing with them on the phone.

But, it does mean I have been without a wheel for TWO MONTHS.

I got my wheel back together last week and have been throwing like the wind. I will soon have a kiln full again, and hopefully will have new stuff for the Etsy shop within a week or two.

Meanwhile, I have been making things that don't need a wheel, and have been really enjoying that, too.

Winner!

The winner of the Beltane pottery was Gherkin, of

http://www.etsy.com/shop/lovemeornamentals.

She was one of those who couldn't post, but contacted me off Blogger.

I am sorry Blogspot wouldn't let some of you post! I hope they get this fixed before the next giveaway!

And, I hope your Beltane was blessed!

Happy Beltane Giveaway!

Happy Beltane!!

Happy Beltane!

This year I am giving away a slightly second altar set.

These poor little dishes need a good home! They are sweet and gorgeous, but so unappreciated! If you don’t mind a little ‘personality’ in your pottery, this set is for you! Each one of these pieces has a little something that is not quite right. It is a small flaw for each one, but a flaw that would make it so that it would be hard to sell in the shop.

But each one looks great, and will work well on the altar.

Since these all look so well together too, I decided to make them a set.

If you would like to win them, just leave a comment along with how I can contact you (your etsy name, twitter, facebook, or something!).

In your comment let me know how your Spring is going, and your plans for Summer.

Comments will be open until Midnight, May 2 (Monday night). Then I will choose one comment at random to win the whole set. Its that easy!

And while you are out and about, please check out my shop on Etsy, antb.etsy.com.

So, get to commenting, and HAPPY BELTANE!

EDIT: Some folks tell me they cannot comment here. If that happens to you, please use the 'convo' feature at Etsy and let me know you are interested and I will put your name in the hat. Or let me know on the Regretsy forum, or Twitter or wherever you saw me post this. I will be sure to put you in the running.

Grandma Doll Does Charity

* I donated these miniatures to Aprilsarmy.etsy.com, a charity shop on Etsy. This month's money will go to Jason, who will use the donations for expenses while getting experimental treatments for pancreatic cancer. Please check out the shop, and 'heart' Grandma's jugs!*

Grandma Doll needs to get her jugs reduced. She says her jug collection is way too large, and they are spilling out all over the place. They are in the way, and have to be lifted from place to place to makeroom. So much so that Grandma says her shoulders hurt from hauling them around. Her jugs are so big that when she lays down they fall into her armpits! That is way too big! Her collection, I mean.

Grandpa doesn't want her to get a jug reduction. He likes her jugs just fine the way they are. Grandpa begged her to reconsider, but Grandma insisted. Grandpa finally agreed to take pictures ofGrandma's overabundant collection.
Grandpa took a very long time photographing Grandma's jugs. It really seemed to cheer him up.

These jugs are about one inch tall. One of them hasa crack in the bottom, but it is hard to see unless you lay them on the floor and lie on top of them and smoosh them up toyour chin.

Winners!

Congrats to Blayne and Berta, who won the Octopus and Rabbit bowls respectively.

I will be contacting them and sending the bowls out!

Thanks to all the commenters!

I do giveaways about once every six weeks, so check back often and play again!

Features and Freebies!

This week has been a great one for my Etsy shop. First, a treasury I put together was featured on the launch page of Craftcult.

Ok, it showed up at 2:30 AM my time, but I am sure the folks in Australia loved it.

Next, one of my items was featured on the Mind Body Spirit Marketplace Fanpage and had a sidebar on their blog. (You can still see the hearth they featured- just scroll down a bit- and while you are there, give me a 'like'!)

Then a treasury one of my rock boxes was in was on the front page of Etsy.com yesterday at 10 am central time. I actually got to see it! So much fun!

To top it off, the weather finally got warm enough and dry enough for me to plant a few things in my garden. It has been sitting ready for days, but the weather hasn't cooperated. What a

wonderful, truly grounding way to finish the week. (sorry for the pun).

Because I have had such a great week, I think I should share the joy! Remember the steampunk and rabbit bowls from last week's post? Well, I think one of them would look nice at YOUR house, don't you?

Just leave a comment below before tomorrow, midnight central time. On Tuesday morning I will choose a commenter at random and they get the bowl of their choice.

In your comment tell my which

bowl you like if you win, and how to contact you (an etsy name, facebook, blog, or twitter).

Also, if anything good has happened to you lately, I would love to hear and share your joy too!

I am going to be featured on Mind Body Spirit Marketplace

My Etsy Shop is getting featured Thursday on

the Facebook page for the Mind Body Spirit Marketplace.

Also, the day that I am featured on the Facebook page,

I will also have a sidebar on the associated blog.

www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Mind-Body-Spirit-Marketplace/138709911986

Blog: www.mindbodyspiritodyssey.com

It is a great pair of sites,

so if you can, please take a look!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have been trying to get decals to work, and finally think I've got a couple of glazes that will work nicely. Here are some photos of the nicest tries so far.

I like the vintage images, and I love that I can make a sort of collage on the pottery with these. Not only that, but I can manipulate images or draw my own before creating them as decals so the possibilities are endless.

I especially like the Steampunk bowl.

Eating oatmeal moves to a whole new

level in a well steamy bowl!

An Etsy Treasury

This is a collection I made using Etsy's treasury feature:

Happy April Fool's Day!

Today was April Fool's Day, and I made dinner.

The theme was PASTA!

We started off the meal with some nice spaghetti with marinara sauce. The vegetable was squash. For desert was a cake.

But really, the courses were reversed, the spaghetti was frosting looped over angel food cake with pureed frozen strawberries for marinara. I added a couple of chocolate chips and some green fruit leather when I blended the 'sauce' to look like spices.

The cake was a pasta dish (cooked elbow pasta with real marinara, cannelloni beans, bacon and farmer cheese) baked in a large cake tin, then covered with ricotta cheese. I decorated the top with a drizzle of marinara, and piped on some sour cream and sprinkled it with grated cheese and bacon bits.

Because last year's dinner was sooo very overly sweet, this year I really did make spaghetti squash baked in veggie broth as a side dish. I like the idea that it matched the pasta theme, and it looked great, all spaghetti-like, but still a veggie. Mother Nature's Faux Food.

Of Memes and Mugs

I just had to share these new mugs I made.

I will post more about memes, and what they are and why I love them, but tomorrow is a BIG DAY, so I will just post the photos of the mugs, and let them speak for themselves:

Happy Ostara Giveaway!

The Vernal Equinox is almost here- You can count the hours!
And to celebrate, I will pick a commenter at random and they win this little handbuilt bell and dish. If you don't have a blog associated with your username, leave me your etsy shop name, your twitter name or some way to let you know that you won so I can get your address.

So, get to commenting! The contest is over at tomorrow (Sunday) midnight Central time, so comments after that are not able to win the little bell and dish.

And in your comments, why not let me know what you are doing this spring to celebrate life? Because it is good to look ahead sometimes, and see that life happens, and it is good.

Blessed Be,
Ant

Oh, and if you have a moment, visit my shop, at http://www.etsy.com/shop/antb -Thanks!

Salvaged Box

I was thrift store shopping today, and found this big box. It was covered in old gold plastic stuff, and under that was some vintage fabric.
I was intrigued, and bought it.Jensen and I tore off the plastic, and gently took off the vintage fabric, which was this scary animal print. The animals looked drugged, and the vegetables had hairs. One of the deer was wearing a saddle. Odd.

Under the fabric were newspaper from March of 1940, and in another place 1945. There were comics and ads. (I want to scan some of the ads and images to use in my crafts. I will be posting some of the pictures here when I get them scanned).

Under the newspapers was a box that had been put together from old pallets. They were marked "Winnebago MFG Co. Rockford IL Plant NO 1. " and "From Hoosier Ven CO Indianapolis IN" along with some writing in pencil and grease pen.

I think my box is pretty nifty! I haven't decided yet what to put in it, but I like it!