Monday, October 31, 2011

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!


Sunday, October 30, 2011

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.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

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!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Winners!

Rengawk won the Mermaid bowl and
Allie won the Mug!




Friday, October 14, 2011

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.

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.





Wednesday, October 12, 2011

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!

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Front Page

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