Christmas decoration video!

A lovely lady got in touch to tell me that she had made a VIDEO about receiving her Christmas decorations in the post for her youtube channel!!

So she also sent it over to me in case I wanted to see it and use it on my blog! So here it is - thank you Lucy! It has got me thinking about making some videos too, so hopefully I shall make some about what I get up to and start uploading those too :)
In the meantime, I hope you like seeing my Christmas ornaments and new packaging!

Having trouble with the video? You can also see it here.

I thought things would be quiet after Christmas...

How wrong I was! Of course I am not complaining about this fact, but it has been a craaaaaazzzy busy few weeks. My poor kiln has been on almost constantly, with a few breaks whilst I unload and then load him up again.
I have been working on wholesale orders for some new stockists, including Mercer & Wells, who have two fabulous London stores, and a window display for Stephanie Rose, a specialist florist in Hertfordshire. I can't wait to see how that looks when it's installed!
Aside from that, I have introduced some new colours in a few products, including zesty lime green for my Flock sets of flying ducks...
And also coming soon for Spring is my new key lime glaze for my lace imprinted items. Here's a preview of that, pictured here alongside my Wedgewood and Seafoam bird bowls...
Opinions on the new colours are very welcome of course! Most of my special orders will be out of the kiln in the next couple of days too, and there are one or two pieces that I am really looking forward to seeing.

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 :)

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!

Whooop, yay - I'm in the Guardian online Valentine's gift guide!!!

Wow! A little before Christmas, my Christmas decorations were featured in their Christmas decoration guide, but I wasn't credited or named, and they didn't know who the maker was, because they picked my product from an online retailer who stocks my work.
So what a huge thing for a mini business like me to have my work picked again, this time directly and credited to my online shops! Yay!
Here's the link if you want to check out the full guide - there are some really nice things in there, all handmade by various makers. A big thank you to Perri Lewis from the Guardian online for choosing my bowl and saying such lovely things about it :)

Little bird brooch

Here's another little bird brooch, made from porcelain, with antique lace imprinted into the surface.

More lacy birds...

This time with a different texture. I thought I would try something different, and so I opted for a deeper, more graphic looking texture. I think the glaze works nicely, and the pattern is certainly more striking.
I have tried a few wall birds like the ones above, and bowls too...


It has been a great couple of weks in my etsy shop, with the Christmas shoppers starting, a couple of mentions in etsy's storque and gift guides, and a few times on the front page too :)
Fingers crossed that the lucky streak continues...

City chick

I love looking at the architecture, shapes and symbols of the city almost as much as I love people watching whilst drinking coffee in the afternoon with friends. The city chick bowl was inspired by the cities of Manchester and London, their inhabitants, my old life (when I had to go into the city every day to work), graffiti, road signs, road markings, office types on their way to work, angles, geometry, suits and street-wear... She's not as cute as the lovebirds or the spring chicken; she's got a harder edge, a little more street-wise and less naive, but I think she's still pretty cute in her own way!

Raspberries are...

one of my favourite fruits. I love their flavour, and I love their beautiful colour. That is probably why I love this glaze so much! However, I had never tried it on any of my lacy bowls until this one.
I was pleasantly surprised at how it came out, and it really has a lovely fruity red feel to it. It's definitely a much bolder look for the lacy birds than the soft blues that I often use! It's surprising just how different their effect is in this colour.

Work in progress...

I don't normally show work in progress when it's a special order, but these are soooo cute that I couldn't resist. A very special lady has ordered a flock of eleven birds for in her wall, and four of them will be slightly different from the rest. They will have her childrens' names embossed into the surface, and will have a slightly different glaze in the texture. They go in size order according to their ages. I just love the concept. I wish my family had had a flock with our names on when we were kids! Of course they look a little rough around the edges at the moment, but they'll be smoothed off in due course. There are two more obviously, but I can't show them all or there would be no surprises left when she opens the box :-)

There's something very sweet...

about mother hens and their broods. I can't wait to see little chicks following mum round the pond... It won't be long now!

The lovely disco bird...

flew into my shop last week, and here she is...

I made a couple of my lovebirds as wall decorations a while back, and thought I'd try something a little different. I absolutely love how the glaze came out on this one; it's a mixture of two of my favourite glazes and they have combined to make little jewels in the wings. Ceramic wall pieces are great for cheering up a bathroom or kitchen as the ceramic doesn't mind steam and can be washed, but this one would look pretty in a child's room too... I'm kind of tempted to keep it!

Lacy blue birds

Hurry up spring! We're nearly there...
To speed things up I made these springy lacy blue bird dishes which are now on sale in my PrinceDesign shop.


The texture is made by imprinting vintage lace doilies into the surface of soft clay. The soft blue glaze was rubbed into the surface to emphasize the detail, and I love the colour contrast with the creamy clay.
As ever, feel free to comment!

Another bird or two

flew out of the kiln this week, and here's the first one to be uploaded to my shop... introducing the starry eyed blackbird!


I think there's a little bit of rock star attitude about this one. It's a bit of a rebel. Reminds me of Amy Winehouse for some reason. Just needs a cig in it's beak, a bouffant hairdo, a bit of a tat and we'd be there... Or is that just my overactive imagination?

One little bird was never going to be enough...

So here are a couple more. Testing out different glazes has been great fun on these - the colour is really emphasized in a less is more kind of way. I love bright colours, but I often find that a little is enough. I am easily overwhelmed by it, and find that it works best often when it is shown off by a white or neutral contrast. That's not always the case, but often I find that's how it works for me. When I used to work as an interior designer, I found that one or two bright accessories in a room were often enough for a splash of colour, and I think that has influenced the way I approach it now. Maybe it's an English thing too. I really noticed when I was traveling that in tropical places, people wear more bright colours and even houses are painted in bright colours. Our environment influences the colours we pick, but then I think the shades around us influence us too. So I have injected a little more vibrancy to my recent work - summer's here, lets be cheery!

Time for some cuteness!

The first of my new range of little bird bowls have come out and are gorgeous! Not very modest I know, but there you go, I love them!
The first one to be uploaded to my shop is this one, Little love bird. It's a little tiny one, so I would use this to keep rings in or use it for a tea light candle. It has little hearts stamped into the surface to create little wings which have been filled with my favourite glossy pinky red glaze.
As ever, feel free to share your opinion!