you like clay, it's your favorite

Buttons are on the way! I have taken many photos and over the next few days will be posting them on my etsy site. I know there are people who will be needing buttons for their projects for Ravelympics. I’m not considering this an “update” as it’s only buttons, but rest assured pots are in production!

These mugs have been donated to the Knitter's Without Borders drive for Haiti. Have you donated yet?

I have a few irons in the fire right now. New ads are on the way, new shows, some custom work for knitwear designers and oh yeah a new way of selling my work online.  I thought it best to start with the pictures.  I find making the work is the most fun and photographing it by far the least. It’s such a steep learning curve photographing a three dimensional shiny object like a piece of pottery. Add the overcast winter weather to the mix and the whole process is frustrating enough to drive a woman to drink. That’s were the new photo back drop and a stadium’s worth of lighting comes in. I’m pleased with the results. Now, to have the patience to do this to a whole kiln’s worth of pots. Good thing the liquor store is just up the street.

I want to let everyone know I’m transitioning to a new site. The website, in it’s previous incarnation, no longer exists. I am changing how I sell my work and the new site will reflect that. Previously, customers placed an order on the website, the site generated an order to me, and I made the order. This process took anywhere from two to four weeks to complete depending on how many orders were pending and proximity to a show. We have a wee little home studio and do not have the space to keep a large stock on hand. This model seemed to work best for those wanting to purchase pots from me. With a new babe around the house my studio work has changed dramatically. Instead of a regular studio schedule where I was in control of my time I now have a little one who dictates our days (and nights). Sometimes the stars are aligned and I can accomplish studio tasks during her brief moments of rest, or when a grandparent offers babysitting. Too often though I feel like I’m drowning in expectation and become overwhelmed when I am unable to get into the studio because my energy and efforts are needed elsewhere.  I love my new role as a mother and needed to find a solution to always feeling behind in the studio, while balancing my desire to spend time with my beautiful daughter.
So, with the help of a dear friend we’ve decided to implement a different plan for purchasing my work online. The new site will be largely blog based with commerce run through etsy. It’s the easiest solution, and hopefully one that gives us more control of the look and feel of the site. (The old site was functional – but did little to reflect my personality) I will continue to make pots and when I have an adequate supply I will post those pots on etsy.  Once ordered they will ship within the week, as the pots will be made and ready to ship. I will give advance notice of this to those who sign up for my email list so you’ll know when you can peruse the newest work. I will be posting the update time and details on the blog too. All of this will be accessed through the www.jenniethepotter.com web address. Over time I hope to create a pattern of these “updates” and should be posting where seasonally relevant ie in time for Mother’s Day, Christmas etc. Anyone “needing” pots, buttons, jewlery etc for a special occasion (or just ’cause) can contact me directly and we can arrange a special order.  I will continue to make work for shows and will be maintaining a calendar of upcoming events at the site too. Those of you who have purchased work at event know there are many designs and motifs that did not appear on the website but were available in person at shows. Depending on the kiln, there should be more of those pots popping up for sale outside of shows too.
So, be patient as the hub and I dive into this new experience of building our site, and stay tuned as I unveil the new stuff. It’s bound to be good!

The end of 2009 is here and just like everyone else I’m looking back on what the year has brought. It was a huge year here. Most notably the arrival of our sweet little Lillian. What a joy! She’s the apple of our eye and some days our faces hurt from smiling so much!
The year also brought some of the greatest shows ever for the business. I traveled far and wide to attend shows. (Oh, MSP to Portland and back again at 34 weeks of pregnancy how I remember the edema) I am SO fortunate to have some of the best roadies around. You may have run across these folks if you visited me at an event. I really couldn’t do what I do without them – especially when I was pregnant with Lil! Here’s a shout out to all the roadies. They are some of the most generous, talented and kind-hearted women I know. Go visit their blogs. See how varied and talented they are. Meg, Amy, Heather, Gretchen, Lara, Hannelore, Chris, Lucinda, and Dawn. THANK YOU!!!! I am greateful to have such a supportive “care circle” as my brother in law would say. One of the people who is integral to the business, but who is rarely sighted at shows is the dear husband, as he’s at home holding down the fort. Words cannot express how lucky I am to have you by my side on this great journey. ( Insert more mush here, I could go on and on and on . . . )
One of the great joys of doing what I do is meeting the people who purchase my work. I know it has been said before, but it bears repeating. The community of fiber folk is really unparalleled. I am lucky to have found a wacky niche where I am amongst “my people.” I love watching new faces discover my work and old faces return.
So, cheers 2009. You were a great year! Bring it 2010!

I received a call from a friend this afternoon. I had four (4!) cups to add handles to, paint and carve for the last of my Christmas season orders. “Hey, did you know you’re on the Yarn Harlot’s Blog?” Alas, No, I did not. Check it out.
Awwww shucks, she said I’m nice. My Mother’s SO proud.
( And would like to remind folks that I custom make my orders and am finally taking my much deserved maternity and holiday break starting Friday. I figure I might as well roll them into one!)

I’m participating in one more holiday sale. Tomorrow. There will be wonderful prints and lots of great sewn stuff, in addition to a few pots from me. It’s a house sale located at 413 Stryker Ave in St. Paul. We’ll be selling from 11-4pm. C’mon by and say hello and maybe finish off that holiday shopping list!

Ahh the life of a self employed new mom whose husband is in nursing school. Stunning how little can be accomplished these days. Our dear babe is three months old today! She is a great baby in SO many ways. She’s smiling and laughing now. She recognizes family and friends and greets them with a stunning gummy smile. Naps are no problem, and sleep has been great. Until Thanksgiving. Seems as though the holiday didn’t sit well with her. Might be the food, all the new people, or the interruption of her routine. Whatever it is we’re suffering a bit of a post holiday hangover here. We’ve reverted to the sleep schedule of a newborn with short fits of sleep followed by fussiness. This sleep change has been difficult because it came after a week of nightly 6+ hours of uninterrupted sleep. Having a taste of normalcy makes this all the more bitter. A pow wow with her Dr. and advice from friends and grandparents gave us some ideas to try and fingers crossed we are on our way back to where we were. In the meantime each time I wake in the middle of the night I think to myself. “No. Sleep. ’til No-Coast*”
*want to hear the original?

Lil’ Potter was a great help in the kitchen. She made sure the counter didn’t float away!
Here she is overseeing the abundance of veggies donated for our soup.

Last Friday we held our third Empty Bowls in the Powderhorn area. The week was filled with last minute details and soup making. The vast majority of our soup materials are donated. Food distributors, farmers, and local gardeners donate surplus veggies and supplies. We look over the donated food and design the soup plan around that. This year squash, leeks, potatoes, bell peppers, mushrooms and onions were in abundance. Many, many people came to the park to help with our veggie prep, and most of the food was cleaned and diced on Wednesday evening. One person single handily diced a fifty pound bag of onions. I sauteed thirty pounds of mushrooms, YUM! We make many, many batches of mirepoix and then soup making is easy on Friday! Then menu included curried lentil, black bean chili, minestrone, potato leek, squash, and tomato basil. All the soups were vegan, except for the potato leek which was SO much tastier with cream. (isn’t everything?) Thirteen hundred handmade bowls and approximately 100 gallons of soup and we were able to raise over $20,000.00*! Yippee! (*you can still donate . . . go here )
If you weren’t able to come this year mark your calendar for next year – it’s always held the first Friday in November! Many thanks to the following businesses who helped make this year’s event possible with their generous donations! Classic Provisions, Co-op Partners, Equal Exchange, New French Bakery, and Peace Coffee.

(This picture has nothing to do with the post that follows. It is quite simply a beautiful picture of the wee potter)

Most people mark time by the months of the year or holidays. I mark the changing of seasons by the events I attend. The trip East for Rhinebeck is always a monumental event. By far the largest event I attend, I’m always nervous I don’t have enough pots – or the “wrong” ones. Add to that a newborn and this year Rhinebeck was a big question mark. Somehow I managed to get four kiln loads out after Lil was born. My mother and friend drove the truck loaded with Rhinebeck booty to NY. (Thanks Mom!) It’s a LONG, but beautiful, two day trip. While baby potter and I flew from Minneapolis to Albany and drove two hours to Kingston.
The weather forecast was grim. Rain was expected on both Saturday and Sunday. Luckily we escaped rain on Saturday. It was overcast all day and we were too busy to worry about the weather. On Sunday it rained, but magically our little grove of trees kept us from getting wet. Lil was tucked away in her stroller under many blankets. When we got cold we just put our hands in her seat. Really, do you need an excuse to hold a baby?
Now that Rhinebeck is done I start to think about the holiday season. The next event for me is Empty Bowls. I have 200 bowls to finish for the event. (just thirteen days away . . . ) Last year we had 1200 bowls and we ran out around 7:00pm. We hope to have enough bowls this year – maybe 1300 or so, and plan to end the event two hours earlier than last year. If you plan on attending – I advise you come early to get the best selection.
After Empty Bowls is one of my favorite events of the year, No Coast. Not only is it ten minutes from the house, it happens to be attended by the best vendors in the cities. I can polish off most of my holiday shopping in one place. We’ve decided to take a year off from our home sale – so plan to come to the Global Market for No Coast instead. Now we transition from fall to winter and the year will be over before we know it.