For a while now...

I have been experimenting with mixed media. It began with little things, colaged birthday cards made with pieces of pottery, found objects, sentimental scraps and bits of thread. I made them for my friends and family, and then began to work on a few small pieces as artworks in their own right. I have always loved textiles and embroidery, so stitching into the ceramic seemed like an interesting idea. Here are the first few that I have produced for my shop....



I have kept the scale deliberately small for a number of reasons. Firstly, the idea began as cards and gifts for loved ones, and so the scale was small for that reason. Secondly, the stitched aspect makes them quite intimate in many ways. To me at least, embroidery and stitching are intimate processes, they require that you are close up to the piece you are working on, they demand that you hold it close to you and tinker with tiny details. Somehow to me, less is more with these. When there are a few stitches, you notice each and every one, whereas with an item that has thousands of tiny stitches, say a piece of clothing, they are no longer noticeable in their own right; they just become a part of a larger whole. I am after all a ceramicist adding some stitch, not a dressmaker adding a couple of ceramic buttons...


I have enjoyed making them, but they have been hugely labour intensive and fiddly, and so I fear that in the future they may again be reserved for gifts for loved ones rather than for my shop, but these ones at least are for sale as a limited range. I used porcelain as I felt that the pure, smooth white surface made a more interesting contrast with the thread than textured clay. I have created texture in the surface of the smooth clay and glazed areas sparingly so that the thread adds another dimension but does not have to fight to be heard.
As always... comments welcome!

For fun...

and because I have smashed so many of my bowls at home, I decided to throw some functional pots for myself. I don't usually use throwing as a technique in my shop, but it really is soooo much fun. It's kind of hypnotic. And the finished pieces are a great place to experiment with a less controlled method of glazing than I generally use. I have combined these glazes before in the distant past, but I had forgotten how well they work together. It was a happy accident that I only glazed the inside with the deep red underneath though, as I didn't realise how much the greeny blue one would slide off. I feel pretty lucky that I'm not chiselling it off my kiln shelves :)



I absolutely love this effect. I only dipped the rims with the greeny-blue one to approx half an inch if that on the insides. I can't believe how far it has travelled and how lovely the swirly patterns it has created are. One of the things I love most about pottery is the surprise you get when you open the kiln and see what's in there. I still get excited before I open the lid!


So... as the great British summer is unbelievably cold this year, and I have new bowls, I think I'll make some hot soup to fill them with!
As always feel free to comment... Love them or hate them?!

By popular demand...

I have made a couple of sets of stacking poppy bowls... I have said in the past that they are tricky to make, and that is true, but I have mastered it at last! When a customer that has ordered from me several times before requested a set I decided I should overcome my mental block. So here's one of the sets... I think they came out really nicely and so I plan to make them a regular in my etsy shop.

As always... comments welcome!

Porcelain...

Is the king of clay.. Or the queen anyway. It is just so beautiful. It is like working with silk - so soft and luxurious, so smooth and delicate, like the perfect complexion. Fragile yet tough, hard yet somehow soft, solid yet translucent when held up to the light, and so pure in it's whiteness that the colours of the glazes applied over the top shine brighter than they do on any other clay... delicious. These are the pros.... As with anything in life, there are cons. One is cost, and the other is that it is more difficult to work with too. It has a higher breakage rate, and shrinks more in the kiln. Despite these however, I have been seduced by it, and having tried a couple of different types to see which works best for me, I have found a type that seems pretty good to work with. So here's a sneak preview of a couple of items from my range that I will be introducing in porcelain!With the lacy imprinted items especially, the tiny particles in the clay mean that the texture if the lace is shown in finer detail than with other clays, and the crispness of the white clay gives all the bowls a more refined look. They'll be coming soon to my etsy shop

Etsy love...

I have had a bit of a colour obsession with deep greeny blue for a while now, especially when it has a little lime green for contrast... Which kind of made this little wristlet from hollyhawk hard to resist. She has an etsy shop and if you haven't seen it, check it out! It's the perfect size to just hold the basics (phone, keys, cash) if you're travelling light, and I love using it inside a bigger bag to keep the essentials organised. Not to mention that it is beautiful and makes me smile when I use it. And as it's made from leather you can easily wipe off any stray clay/dribble marks... Perfect! Makes me wanna go glaze shopping and make juicy lime green pots...

Free gifts...

are always nice. Especially when they are a surprise! I love it when you get a little more than you were expecting when you order something online, and that is why I often put some little ceramic heart decorations in with orders, sometimes like these ones...


and sometimes little lacy ones. I know that often people buy my ceramics as gifts, and they are a sweet way to decorate a present. Also, it means that the giver of the gift gets a little gift for themselves if they choose not to use them on the present. I have some lacy ones that I hang from deciduous plants in the garden to add a little colour and cheer things up through winter. But I digress...
I was recently approached by British ex-pat Beeb at contest corner and I am running a special promotion with readers of her blog. She offers special giveaways for her readers, and her readers will receive mystery free gifts wth their orders from princedesignuk during May, as she is having a British Invasion celebration month... So, inspired by that, I thought I would experiment with some British-themed little ceramics...
I recently bought a little union jack key ring as a gift for a friend, and I began to think that I could perhaps make some out of ceramic as a free gift to send out with the British Invasion orders, and indeed with other orders from time to time.... PDUK key rings.... I like the idea! The main drawback is that I ordered the metal parts I need for this online, and sadly their shipping seems a little unreliable; I am impatiently awaiting their arrival... However, here are the ceramic parts... what do you think? I have messed around with the colour scheme somewhat, but I think I prefer the pink and cream to red white blue! I think it would be fair to say that I have feminized our flag a little. As always, comments welcome! And it seems a little unfair that readers of contest corner should get a little gift, whereas readers of my blog might not... So if you say you read my blog in the message to seller when placing an order this May, I'll make sure there's a surprise gift in for you too :)

Prince Design UK is one year old today!

It is a year today since I opened my etsy shop! Happy Birthday to me! It has been a great experience and I can't believe how much I have learned, how lovely people have been, and that I have sold so many pots. One of the nicest things about the experience has been the support and friendship I have had from customers, other etsy sellers and bloggers. Thank you everyone for helping to make my first year successful, and such great fun. I know it makes me a soppy girl, but I have actually cried happy tears at some of the sweet messages I have had, and I am very grateful for that and for the experiences and opportunities that have come my way as a result of my shop. So I figured it was time to give a little something back!! To celebrate my anniversary, I'm having a birthday giveaway weekend:) All orders placed between now and Monday will get a special surprise free gift!