Just catching my breath...

after my busiest Christmas period ever! After the Christmas rush comes a moment to pause, take stock, to think about what worked, what could have been done better, but most of all to be thankful. In the middle of a busy time, it is easy to lose sight of the reason I do what I do. I do it because I love it. I love ceramics, I love making things in general, I love the adventure, the creativity of the business side of things, I love working for myself, making objects that make other people smile, interacting directly with my customers, and making it happen. I think it only right that I send out a big big thank you to all my customers, for liking what I do, for their continued, and often repeated custom, and their kind words. An extra big thank you to a lovely lady called Jenny, who sent me the image below to show how pleased she was with the Christmas ornaments she bought from my shop.

I am so privileged to do what I do every day, to have customers that are a delight to work with, and to be supported by a worldwide family of bloggers that have promoted my work since I very first began. Thank you everyone. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and have a healthy, prosperous and happy 2011.

Last chance for Christmas delivery!

UK customers, you have until Monday morning to get delivery before Christmas! Worldwide customers - sorry but the deadline has now passed. A big big thank you to all my customers; this last few months has been incredibly busy, and great fun. And, a little reminder about the pottery lottery - leave positive feedback on any of my shops during December for the chance to win a lovebird bowl in January :)

The POTTERY LOTTERY!!!

To all my lovely customers - want a chance to win a lovebird bowl?

This contest competition is really simple to enter, and you stand a reasonable chance of winning!
If you're buying Christmas gifts in December, just leave positive feedback on any of my shops for the chance to win a treat for yourself in January! I'll be picking a winner at random in the new year :)

More lil birdies flying round the studio!

These cuties are flying out fast! A very lovely lady just bought a huge bunch of them to send to each of her friends as a little pre-Christmas present... Sweeeeeeetness!!

Check out the full Christmas ornament range here. And incase yyou didn't read my last post, I am soooo excited about hitting 1000 etsy sales that I am adding a lil free gift with every order this week :)

Whooooop yay toot toot tooooot yeaaaah!!!

I just made my 1000th sale in my etsy shop!!! Yaaaaay! Happy me = lovely treats in every order this week!!!!!

Get em quick before they all fly away!

This year's new Christmas ranges have been flying out out of my shop this year... I can only make so many!! If you want some, don't leave it too late ;)




Check out these lil fellas and more new Christmas decorations here!

My new website is now live!!!

And you can see it here: www.elizabethprince.co.uk
A big thank you to Perri Lewis for mentioning it in her blog - makeanddowithperri.wordpress.com

Rainforest leaves...

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More of my recycled glass leaf dishes that have just been uploaded to my shop.
I really love the effect of the glass mixing with the glazes, and it is a great way to re-use an old wine bottle. They remind me of lagoons or when you look down at the Meditteranean in summer, as well as the rainforests after which they take their names.

Unseasonably cold weather...

Boo! I know it is a cliche; I am English, and I am banging on about the weather. The reason us Brits are so obsessed by the weather in my opinion is because our weather is so unpredictable. It has been cold for a month now. I just went away for a few days camping, and was blessed with some warm sun and no rain, but now I am back home and it is COLD. So cold in fact that I have made warming soup and put the heating on...
So, for all of you out there who may be feeling the same, and for anyone reading from the southern hemisphere, here's a little recipe to warm up a cold summer's day.

Lentil and chickpea soup with ginger, coriander and tomato.

This is a pretty simple soup, I don't measure things out - add my ingredients to suit your taste. I am vegetarian, so this one ticks the boxes for me. I use two types of lentil, and also chickpeas, so there's a good mix of proteins in with all the vitamins.
Firstly, fry some chopped onions in a little olive oil with some cumin seeds, turmeric and dried coriander. Next add some sliced carrot, and cook a little more. Next up are some tomatoes, either a ton of fresh, or canned is fine too, and the larger of the lentils. I don't bother to soak these - life is too short, and I find it unnecessary. I used a handful of green and red lentils for this soup; if you're using the same then make sure you cook the green for about 15 mins before adding some red ones, as they take longer to cook. During this time, add some water, grated fresh ginger, chopped fresh garlic, and I used a huge handful of fresh coriander and a large green chilli. After the red lentils went in, I added a sliced leek, salt and pepper, and a tin of chickpeas.
Pretty much that is it - just cook it until the lentils are tender, and there you have it. I found that it wasn't quite spicy enough for my taste, so I added a couple of little red chillis too. Add salt and pepper to taste, et voila!

I am also hoping that all that goodness will tempt my voice to come back, as I lost it recently. If you find it, please return it to me!
So if you're feeling virtuous, or having this for lunch, I love it followed by a jasmine tea, but if it is to be eaten at night for dinner, then I can recommend a lovely glass of red. If you fancy some bread with this then my personal fave is a wholemeal pitta, but it's great on its own too :) Enjoy!

I am absolutely thrilled...

to have this little porcelain bird bowl... featured in this post on decor8 blog this week!!! Yay! I cannot say what a huge compliment this is to me - for any of you that haven't seen it, it is a blog well worth following, and always has gorgeous interiors, products and photos. I know it sounds cheesy/sycophantic to say this, but it really is one of my favourite blogs!! The author of the blog, Holly Becker, and columnist Leslie Shewring, write posts that are really inspiring, and the blog as a whole just oozes creativity. So a big thank you to them for placing my bird bowl in a place that has inspired me so much - I'm seriously touched!

Good things come in threes...

Three Graces...


Now available in my etsy shop, set of three porcelain flower wall sculptures.And a little preview of my new colour in my set of three flying ducks, Flock. What do you think? I like the way that the reflective silver finish emphasizes the texture of flock wallpaper imprinted into the surface, and think the colour might work well in kitchens and bathrooms.

Back from my break...

...with some new functional tableware. It has been a while since I made serving plates and bowls, and have been getting lots of requests for them lately, so here are a few of the first ones to be released to my shop...


This set is a fun way to serve snacks, sushi or little side orders, and can also be used to hold jewellery or candles. I have been having lots of fun with the bird footprints :)

The next piece is a set of two small poppy serving bowls, designed for snacks such as olives, dips, or dessert.



I have really been enjoying making some tableware since I got home - my drying racks are bulging under the weight of the new pieces I'm making at the moment! I can't wait to get some of them, and the other new pieces I have been working on, out of the kiln :)

Flock

Some images from my recent installation, Flock. The piece comprised 100 porcelain swallows with subtle feather imprints in the surface of each, spanning all four walls of the room in which they were installed. It is available to order, and suitable for indoor or outdoor installation.

Bank holiday weekend arty fun...

Last Saturday, Islington Mill studios Mill24 project had lots going on. We caught Bill Aitchison's fantastic performance/lecture piece on the subject of consipracy theories, and saw the making of a great animation piece by Manchester artist TXLW. Check it out on youtube here - guaranteed to make you smile.


Katie and I had to get into the drawing den as it looked so appealing with its lovely brightly coloured interior...

After that it was a civilised dinner and glass of wine, and then came Sunday's fun at Eurocultured street festival in the city centre...

Loved sneaking a peek at people's sketch books, and watching the artists painting, especially with a lovely beer or two and some good friends :)



There were some great artists there as every year, and it's great to see the wall pieces still there later in the year, brightening up what would otherwise be a pretty dull stretch of road in the city centre. There was some great music on too, with live artists and DJs. Great to see Manchester has so much to offer!

Things have been pretty hectic here lately...

It started with an exhibition I was in recently... I'll post some pics soon I promise, but until then I'll keep the subject matter a surprise. I had a huge amount of work to do in the run up to it, and at the same time I was as always ensuring that I had some work for my etsy and foksy shops too. Anyway, here's a pic of one of the new products I made during the madness, my Caribbean leaf bowl with recycled glass. I love the effect of this glaze and glass combination, and am really pleased with my new shape bowl. It's really good to be able to recycle glass too!

The glass makes me think of swimming in calm warm sea... Time to book a holiday I think!

Summer is nearly here...

And there are some really beautiful things going on in my garden! I love the centre of these African daisies, and they gave me a fantastic opportunity to try out the macro on my new camera.
I can't wait for these next ones to turn into strawberries. I always grow strawberries because they taste amazing when they are freshly picked and organic, and with a bit more space this year, hopefully there'll be plenty.
This last one is like a big soft cushion of pretty white flowers - fabulous!

Inspiring stuff....

This week I have been really inspired by some wonderful stained glass. I've had an odd run of noticing it everywhere lately, and have taken a few shots to share with you...

These first few were taken from inside a church. I'm not really a religious person, but seeing these reminded me of going to church as a child. I especially loved the next one, with the gorgeous blues and greens in the sky and scenery.

This next one had names in it, and the areas around the lettering had been blocked out so that the names themselves shone when the light caught them. Wonderful.


These ones are of the entrance to my friend's home. The porch itself is absolutely stunning, dark and moody. I'm guessing it's Victorian, just from the sombre feel it has, but feel free to correct me if you think otherwise!

Whilst the entrance looks dark from the outside, when you stand inside it and look out through the glass, it really comes alive. Beautiful!


I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did.
On a more serious note, I have had a couple of odd comments on my etsy shop's feedback lately.... I have a feedback score of 100% positive. However, two people have complained recently that their packages smelled of smoke, despite still giving me positive feedback, and being otherwise happy with their purchases. I want to categorically state that there is no smoking at all in my studio or packaging area. I can't understand how on earth this could have happened. I recently complained to an etsy seller that I felt they were copying my work, and did have a little backlash (coincidence?) whereby a large number of orders were separately placed, but never paid for, and I wonder if this strange feedback is genuine at all. Of course, I have to take it seriously, and taking it to be true, I am absolutely gutted that the recipient were disappointed in that way; the last thing I would ever want is for people to be greeted by the aroma of stale tobacco smoke when they received their item. I feel sure that it has not happened at my end, and with thousands of miles between me and the recipients, it is, I suppose, possible that there was some kind of burning or smoking near to a batch of post that I sent, either at the post office, in the post van, or at the port somehow. But what I do want to say, categorically, to all my customers, is that neither myself nor anyone else would ever smoke here. Even if I wanted to smoke, smoking is illegal in any workplace in the UK, and my own workplace is not exempt from that law, and nor should it be.
I have checked everything I can think of. I did recently change suppliers of my packaging, and I even went sniffing around the boxes that I have in storage to see if they smelled... I'm happy to say that they don't!
Anyway, all I can think of is that there was some strange occurence with that batch between it leaving me and arriving with those two customers. You have my word - no item will ever leave here smelling of smoke.

Wedding season continues...

A big thank you to Christine Olson Photography for sharing these fabulous photos that Christine took, using one of my heart shaped lace bowls as a prop.




For any of you who are planning a wedding, Christine is based in Utah, and you can contact her through her website. Some of the pictures there are absolutely beautiful, and I'd definitely recommend having a look around. It is a treat to see the bowl being used in such a lovely way - thank you Christine!

It's wedding season...

and I recently had the pleasure of meeting a lovely lady called Debbie, from who makes absolutely exquisite, sculptural wedding bouquets, corsages and button holes from vintage jewellery, silver wire and other found objects. Here is a detail of one of her bouquets...

The amount of work that must have gone into such an intricate piece is breathtaking!
You can visit her etsy shop here. Having seen her work in the flesh, I can honestly say that the photographs do not do her work justice. There was a delicate sculptural elegance to every piece I saw, and I hope she can find a way to truly capture that in a photograph.
We discussed working together and the possibility of my making some components for some of her pieces, and it was great to experiment with the idea. Here's a little glimpse of a couple of experiments I made with that in mind.



I love the delicate effect of the porcelain on these lilies, and they were great fun to make too.