New Colors! Yay!

this weekend was spent happily sprucing up my second room in my store! the room has two window bays (where it used to be an exterior wall, now there is a resturant beside me) the previous folks had put in some adjustable shelving that was never level, as well as looking strange at the bottom of that huge space. after i saw a picture in real simple i was inspired to paint the window bays. the walls had been the same color of pale blue (first photo) but now it really pops! the wall looks more blue too, which is really nice. i also painted this strange strip of trim that ran across the wall halfway up with my new trim color (churchill hotel navajo white) (i picked it for the name, mostly) and that also looks very very nice.

Fortune Cookie Pictures

this is what came from my conversation with Jeremy! fortune cookie pictures! not only have i collected many through the years, but i recently got two really really good ones. i also have had these playing cards (from either china or japan, i forgot now...) and they seemed to go so well! the one on the left has a fellow on horseback holding a bow and arrow but he is looking back over his shoulder (at a fellow who appears to be singing, Jeremy pointed out to me) at any rate, his fortune (which i rewrote to try to look brushstroke-ish) is "you always know the rigth time to be assertive, or to simply wait" and the other one has a lovely lady kneeling by a cherry branch, looking pensive, and hers says "there appear to be many clouds; but they quickly pass". really like that one.

also a qlimpse at one of my workstations with my trusty cup of tea, pva adhesive, and fresh x-acto knife.

Positive Feedback

what a wonderful day i had on Tuesday! Hannah, my good buddy and store soap maker came to work, but we didnt' get much done for all the customers coming in! so many people in one day came in to tell me how beautiful my store was. it was so affirming and inspiring! thank you thank you.

yesterday was a wonderfully rainy day-no customers-so i got a lot done. i recently made some incredibly delicate porcelain earrings. just simple leaves, so lightweight. they make a neat tinkling sound against the ear hooks. i also made a very lovely plain porcelain branch which i attached to chain with blackened silver wire. such a nice contrast! i will post photos this afternoon.

last night a conversation with Jeremy prompted me to come up with a great new idea for a card! i'm so excited and hoping to try it out today!

Cantaloupe Smile

such a wonderful day today! i helped my mom paint the basement after an unfortunate incident with an air conditioning unit that was installed upside down and backwards poured water into her office. but it speeded her along in painting it an incredible yellow. a very happy and creative yellow. we made plans for re-arranging some shop equipment as well. we have a magical basement. the house is built into a hill, so the basement actually has windows all along one side and big glass doors. a wonderful place to work. we have currently a stained glass shop, two sewing areas (one for industrial projects, and one for clothes), a ceramics studio with a glazing area, and a paper cutting area/office. we listened to Rosemary Clooney sing WWII songs (lovely and sad, but full of life) it was a very hot and steamy day here, but everything is still amazingly green but with haze on top, so it just seems surreal and nostalgic.

we also unloaded the kiln and i was amazed to find that *finally* about 90% of it was sell-able!!! woo-hoo!

i think i am going to try to record in this blog some items or places of beauty that i see and appreciate each day, as it is personally very important to me, as well as being the goal of my shop to pass along things that invoke beauty.

new pottery line featuring pressed flowers and leaves with further imbellishments. possibly to be called "Flora" (stay tuned for Fauna, i think it will feature birds. actually, some of the soap dishes already have birds... so there you go!)

Beginning

oh my goodness.. i can't believe i just started a blog. whew. have a little bit of a funny feeling in my stomach here. deep breath..... and..... go:

i am starting this blog as a way to further push myself out into the world. i am wanting to push myself out into the world because i have started a really wonderful business wherein i make really beautiful things, and collect beautiful things from others to sell, and i'm ready for more people to know about it!

i hope i can look back on this someday and say "boy, those were trying times.. but now look how i've got everything sorted out and things are going great!"

yeah! can't wait!

the trying times refer only to the business aspect of my life. otherwise i am completely happy and having a wonderful time living. i live in a wonderful small town, have a business in same town, walk to work every morning. i actually live in an incredible Bed and Breakfast in exchange for checking in late arrivals and helping people unclog their toilets or remove Japanese hornets from their rooms at 3 o'clock in the morning. i share a small space (used to be a side porch) with my sweetie Jeremy and all of his large pieces of technological equipment and all my dishes and pictures on the walls. i only wish my stove was a little larger and gas instead of electric. my parents live not far away, but out in the woods, and i still have a surprisingly large number of my things and my auxiliary studio (for messy work) out at their house.

my store is called Vespertine and my website is called vespertinecafe.com. i also recently joined Etsy under the seller name ginnae.