Tight Firing Schedule
Kiln Loading – couldn't resist photograph my floral arrangement
I’ve been firing my smaller ancient paragon back to back since Saturday getting my student’s and my own work fired in time for their class and the Colorado Potters Guild Show opening Thursday evening. Today, I’m going to unload the bisque kiln and then finish glazing work in preparation for a cone 6 glaze fire this afternoon. Nothing like a deadline to get me moving.
I’ll be using my larger Skutt to glaze fire my work – but since I’ve been squeezing a few of my pots whenever I fire my student’s work, I didn’t have enough greenware to fire the Skutt yet. It’s been gathering dust….plus I think I’ve been dragging my feet a bit because I have to grind some shelves. Ick.
I’m listening to Parliament right now – trying to get in the mood…to grind, err glaze and fire 
~Cynthia
E-Newsletter Marketing
Colorado Potters Guild e-invitation (click to enlarge)
As the web mistress for the Colorado Potters Guild, I volunteered to handle email invitations and internet sign-ups for the Guild’s e-communications. I researched a lot of different software applications and companies that could tackle the job into the future before settling on Vertical Response for a variety of reasons including ease of use, cost based on use and not monthly fee, variety of applications, and the fact that it’s web based. The first 500 emails are free to send after which the service costs anywhere from .03¢ an email to .01¢ depending on size of list – the larger the list, the cheaper the cost per email address). The Guild’s email list is less than 100 strong right now – but our snail mail list is 6,000 – 7,000 strong.
One of the goals for the next few years is to move away from mailing out invitations and to rely more on web marketing - imagine the cost savings of a .01¢ per email sent versus .42¢ to send a postcard in the mail twice yearly ($60 versus $2520 for 6,000 invitations sent – not including post card printing costs). The trick lies in getting people on our current mailing list to switch to email invitations. We do not currently advertise any other events, though we might begin opening the studios on First Fridays and other local events.
I’m learning that there is a down side to e-marketing though – based on Vertical Response’s statistical data tools, only 46% of the people on our email list have actually opened our invitation. That means that the email newsletter is ending up in people’s spam folders and might not even get looked at. I’m going to add a disclaimer on our website to please add our vertical response email address to folk’s address books so that our invitations don’t end up as spam – since these are people who want to receive an invitation. I hope to talk to people at the Guild’s sale next weekend in person to explain why they might not have received an e-invite.
Hand-built butter dishes
Meanwhile, I’ve continued making work right up till Friday – but alas, the time has come to stop and switch gears. I need to load the kiln and get this work bisque fired so that I can glaze on Monday, fire on Tuesday and inventory/photograph on Wednesday.
Flower printed box
I don’t have 105 pots (allowance per guild member), but I have made about 60 buttons to fill in the gaps. Whatever doesn’t sell, will make it’s way to my Etsy Shop – which I will empty of pots for the show next weekend. The jewelry will stay in my shop since we aren’t allowed to bring any to the Guild’s sale…yet.
Meanwhile, I thought I was going to buy a new computer this weekend. My daughter has been home sick and yesterday, she spilled a full glass of ginger ale on my laptop’s keyboard. Not healthy, non? Unfortunately (or fortunately), my geek instincts took over and I quickly flipped the computer over to allow it to drain, unplugged it, took all the guts out and waited 6+ hours before reassembling it. With bated breath, I was half disappointed that it booted right up, faster than before. Since I had it disassembled, I took the opportunity to clean everything with compressed air – no more crumbs, hair balls or dust anywhere. My daughter was very upset, thinking that I was going to be really upset with her – but hey, it’s just a thing right? Dang, no new computer…but my files weren’t lost either!
Have a good weekend,
~Cynthia
P.S. If you have a e-marketing solution that you’d like to share, let me know – I’d love to hear about what services and companies that you use to get the word out about events.
Just working away…
Kimonos from my after school clay class
I hope everyone had a nice Easter (at least those of you who celebrate Easter…) – I sure did in between spending time with family, I’ve been busy making work for the Colorado Potters Guild Sale opening the end of this month. Needless to say, I’m feeling less verbose than normal. Hope you have a good week,
~Cynthia
P.S. My after school clay classes kimonos have been fired since I took this photo – can’t wait to see them glazed next week.
More Kimonos from my clay class
Oh yeah, I confess, I was drinking a little while photographing – though I swear it was after 5pm!
Rice Bowls & Show and Tell
Set of 2 rice bowls with chop stick rests
In my mind, there’s no better food than anything Asian – I could probably eat a derivative of the Asian food every day of the week as long as it contained rice. Maybe I just like eating food with chop sticks. 
I’ve been throwing a little bit more than usual as I reclaim clay and decided to turn some bowls into rice bowls – I’m not sure if they should be larger or not. What do you think? These probably hold about 2 – 3 cups of food and measure about 6″ wide at the rim and 3.5″ high.
Rice bowl
Do you know what I hate? When my chopsticks slide off the side of my bowl and hit the floor – so with that in mind, I added 2 little chopstick rests to each bowl. I contemplated adding a divot to the opposite side for the chopsticks, but after testing it out, the bowls don’t really need it. The chopsticks can rest either as shown, or inside the bowl in more of a vertical fashion. I might make a few sets of these to sell at the Colorado Potters Spring Show – I wonder if I could find some chopstick wholesale to include with the bowls if I look hard enough.
Next up, “Show and Tell” (though isn’t my blog all show and tell?):
Before – oval serving dish
Remember this little oval serving dish that I made about about a month or so ago? I decided it looked a little plain so I decided to add a decal to the piece which dresses it up nicely.
After – Oval serving dish with water lily decal
Much better! I’m also pleased to be getting a lot of mileage from my water lily sketch that I made using my Bamboo Fun Wacom Tablet. After assessing my studio glazes, I think I need to expand my glaze palette. I’ve found that a good contrast between glaze and the sepia tone of the decals works really well. I’d like to add a good matte white, maybe closer to bone/off white. Actually, what I’d really like is a nice reduction look off white with little crystals…probably more difficult to achieve in oxidation. But, I can still wish.
Porcelain pendants with laser toner decals
People reading this who know me in real life are probably laughing at me right now – I’m adding decals to everything in my studio, much like I “marbleized” everything in my home several years ago when I was really into faux painting. I can’t help it, everything that I make without a decal looks naked right now. Since taking this photo, I’ve added bails to the pendants and they’re now available in my Etsy Shop – or they will be after I write this post.
We’re headed up to Steamboat Springs tomorrow for a little spring skiing. I’m bringing my laptop because supposedly, the condo where we’re staying has wi-fi. Hopefully, I’ll be able to share some photos of one of my favorite areas & a really gorgeous part of Colorado with you.
Have a great week,
~Cynthia
