New Stuff

I’ve been doing some new stuff in terms of my ceramics of late, but have been very lax at sharing what I’ve been doing, so I thought I’d share a bit of what I’ve been doing.

I did this awsome pot – I want to plant some mother-in-laws tongue in it and place it in my front garden but then I think to myself it’s too nice to put to waste in the garden…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the other side of the same pot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I saw a picture of this next one in a magazine – it was a wall fresco and I thought it would look great on a plate (I’m waitin for it’s partner a black back background with white detail to come out the kiln – can’t wait to see how it turns out)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did these cute fat ladies on a salad bowl for my sister in law – but I think next time I do it I’ll put them on some sand – I think the blue all round is just too much blue now that it’s all done

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I loved doing these Stargazers – but man alive were they hard work!  Hard work that I think paid off extremely well…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some others that I liked doing are the daisy platter and the circular tree

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exhausting…

I am so darn exhausted.  For the past few weeks I’ve been working my bum off at my full time job during the day getting year end functions and parties sorted out before I go on holiday at the end of this week and then have been going home and working my bum off at painting stock for the upcoming Christmas market this week.  I’ve also been getting orders done for some of my friends and family and I am exhausted.

Trying to get a business up and running while you work full time is no mean feat, but I am slowly but surely getting there…

I could fall asleep at my desk typing this though… One things for sure, I’m looking forward to this holiday.  Very much.

Anyone interested?

In my last post asking for business advise some of you suggested that I set up a page on this here blog so that you can see what I’ve done and maybe, just maybe one of you might be interested in placing some orders for Christmas presents

Well look to the sidebar girls – I’ve done a rudimentary page for you to have a look see – let me know what you think…

And be completely honest guys – if I’m going to make a go at this I need to have constructive cristism…

Business Advice?

I have committed to having a stand at a local Christmas market in November to showcase my ceramics which will hopefully kick start a business that will support my portion of the bills in the long run so that I no longer have to work where I am currently working… *gets dreamy look in her eyes*

The thing is that I cannot paint hundreds of pieces with the hope of selling them during the market days (I have to pay upfront for my bisque and paints and glazing etc which might result in me being severely out of pocket if I don’t manage to sell anything at all).  What I am planning to do is to paint some really excellent pieces (how vain am I?) that range in design to suit a wide selection of tastes and hopefully sell them all but to also in the process get some orders from people who attend the market (I am having cheapo business cards made for this purpose)…

The deal is that I need to pay the lady who is hosting the market 20% of my sales, but my question is this – does that include any possible orders that I might obtain from the market at a later stage?  Ethically I feel that I need to pay her 20% of the orders that are placed by people while physically at the stall as they will be sales I made directly due to being at her market, but have been confusing myself as to whether these “sales” are considered ”proper” sales in terms of the deal?  I 100% feel that any orders I may get from people who have taken my card and contact me *after* the market has concluded are not liable for the 20% commission… I need to iron out these details with her before I confirm the stall to avoid any confusion as to commission rights further down the road.

Advise please – what do you think is the correct method of commission payment in terms of sales vs orders placed?

Pondering Something

Recently I have been thinking about how I can earn a living from home.  As much as my job is not stressful right now (left my last highly stressful job in an attempt to increase my chances of conceiving), I really cannot see myself doing it indefinitely.  I really want to do something that taps into my creativity, that I have fun doing and that can cover my bills. 

I do ceramics and have been thinking A LOT about selling my stuff. BUT, I am not 100% sure that anyone would buy it and I would need to do it piece meal at first while still at a full time job to ensure that I can earn enough to pay the bills… 

Here are some of my pieces:

  

I need honesty from you my friends in blogesphere!

What you say?  Would you as consumers buy my stuff???