I got help!

Today I got back into the studio and got to work. I feel great about what I got done, but of course I wanted to do more.

I am ready for BIG production though because I got highly productive Studio help from Cristin who we met when she was working at Webster's. She wedged a lot of clay today and did a pretty good job of it for her first time. I have 4 buckets of wedged clay for the weekend. It was nice to have the help. Ro and I both got a lot done for different parts of the business at the same time.

Ro's mission today was to send out thank you notes and a discount coupon to our customers from the year. If you want to receive this sort of thing from us, you should go join our  mailing list. You have to opt in :) we'll never send out mass mailings without the list again. We did one today to invite people, but that's it!

Today I made 35 bowls, most of which will end up as Soup Mugs. You can't see then because they are under all that plastic.

 

Mugs I like on Etsy

I hear a lot about how some potters don't want to be associated with Etsy because of the overall quality of the work on Etsy. True, it is an open market, any first-pottery-class entrepreneur can sign up for a shop and sell, so yes, there are quite a few bad pots. BUT there are also some really fine pieces.

Here are 7 mugs all from different artists I'd be willing to pay for. Click on any of them to link to their respective shops.

YES we can get it there in time for Christmas!

 

I was really concerned about our sales this year through the holidays. A lot has changed for us this year. We started using Etsy and we dropped a few of our regular events. As we finished our annual fall sale we had to decide what was next. Did we want to get involved in some small local events? Did we want to have an in home sale like we have for the past couple years, or did we want to rely on Etsy and the online sales? Relying primarily on one source of income is risky business, but based on our sales history and researching other successful Etsy sellers who had been at it a while we decided that it was likely that we would do well enough on Etsy to make it through the month and we concentrated on getting pieces ready to post and taking special orders. So far it has been right on track for our predictions and if anything we've failed to maximize our sales by being somewhat understocked. We're already plotting next years season and when I start throwing again tomorrow morning it will be for post holiday sales and stocking for next year. By the time I reach retirement I'll have it all worked out so we can make a decent steady income 8P

Truly I feel like the online sales through Etsy has made it possible to be a potter and have time to have a life outside the studio. The last 15 years has been frantic and I think Etsy has given me an opportunity to make a decent income without sprinting back and forth between a show and the studio, never having more that a few days off and hardly ever in a row. We will see how the next year unfolds as we intentionally try to widen our online audience and be stocked well in advance of any shows we do on the road. Looking back I am pleased with the direction our business has gone and can't wait to see where it goes in the future.

But right now the answer to all the questions is "YES, we CAN get it there for Christmas"