Pre trip frenzy

Why is it, when I decide to head off on a trip, my to-do list quadruples in size! Arghhh! There is a reason I am a homebody .... come to think of it, there are several reasons but this is a big one. On Thursday I'm off to visit a BFF in the big city .... a trip planned a couple of months ago.  Hubby would love to go with me 'cause I am pretty sure he's gotta a bad case of cabin fever and winter doldrums but finding a sitter for 2 dogs, 4 cats and 11 chickens, ain't easy. To top it off, son-in-law is off to a conference for a couple of the days I'm gone therefore daughter is juggling care of a 9 yr old, a 5 yr old and a 5 month old baby plus 2 vizslas (aka very energetic dogs!). Gramps has volunteered to be on deck should disaster prevail. He can add this to his list of stellar attributes ....  builder, painter (tradesman), gardener, chicken farmer, dog walker, Grampa and hubby extraordinaire!

I am mixing business with pleasure, dropping off pots to another friend and customer plus visiting my potter supply store. Our son also lives in the city and it's his birthday on Weds. He was my 25th birthday present (wink, wink ;)) so a little celebratory dinner date is in order. I can't believe my youngest is turning 34! .... yeahhh ... do the math. I also can't believe this is the last year I will be 50 something ....how the heck did I get so old!

And let the frenzy begin .....

Work to do list:

Call Greenbarn Potters Supply re elements (Sat AM)

Ship customer order to US

Unload kiln

Run a Full Power Test

Inventory and price pots

Do inventory worksheet for Artique

Organize pots for window display 

Wrap and take pots to Artique (Monday noon)

Checklist of student tools required for Spring throwing class

Clean studio

Home to do list:

Month end bills and book-keeping (taxes will have to wait .... heck, there's lotsa time til deadline!)

Cleanup and defrag computer, backup, box and ship to Dell for servicing (fingers crossed)

Clean car (can you say Dog Hair!)

Pack

Thursday AM go to #1 Grandson's speech arts performance 

Thursday PM .... catch 2:40 PM ferry .... Roooad Trip!

Pots in the Gallery

The picture isn't the best (most of the gallery lights were off) but my gallery display at Artique is in place. Kudos to hubby, who did a great job with the shelving! I dropped by on Fri to see if things needed re-arranging. Yes, they did, which meant a few pieces had sold. Yeah!

Yesterday I muddled about in cyberspace updating my website. It's built with one of the tools offered by my webhosting provider and although it's not the worlds most intuitive software (Soholaunch), it's free with hosting package. I spent a lot of time with it two years ago, rebuilding my site when I thought I would try online sales. That effort (online sales that is), turned out to be a bit of a bust. Marketing online is itself a bit of a science and I just didn't have the cycles to go down that road. My daughter, a quilter, has tried to convince me to give Etsy a go as it's the one online handmade sales channel that does some marketing for you .... but I don't know .... in my heart, I just think pottery is one of those things better purchased in person. 

Books and Butterflies

Definition: Procrastinator .... someone who postpones work (especially out of laziness or habitual carelessness)
Ahhh yeah ... I'm rarely ever careless so lazy it is. Come to think of it, if sitting on my ass with a good book is a ever an option, it's the one I'll pick. But nothing like a deadline or two to give me a kick in the butt. This morning I am going to Artique for my 'orientation'. Each co-op member works one day a month at the gallery so I expect that will be the focus of the session. Monday afternoon is my move in date. Hubby has done a great job building the display set up.

After a couple of good days in the studio, I'm thinking this new gig at the artist co-op will keep me on track. I'm quite excited about it all which also means I have a bazillion ideas coursing thru my brain ... oh oh! .... I will also have to watch that my other personality trait, butterfly syndrome, doesn't derail me ... "hey look, there's a beautiful one over there ... no, wait! ... look over there! ... and there! .... OMG!, did you see that one!"

New Venue

A few weeks back I got a call from Artique, our local artist co-operative, asking if I might be interested in applying for a spot in the co-op's gallery. I was, I did, and I got word just before Christmas my application had been approved.... yeah! ... a spot where I can take the pots to town! My little gallery here at home doesn't get a lot of traffic as we live 20 minutes or so 'south of town', in a rural area. In our little isolated city, that's considered a long way to travel ;). I have resisted applying to the co-op in the past because meeting and talking to the folks who buy my pots has been an important consideration for me. However, economics being what they are these days, getting more pots in front of more customers has become even more important.

So now the holidays are over, hubby and I have been working a plan for modular display furniture. I have to provide my own setup for the gallery and my assigned spot will change every 4 months so I need something I can morph with each move. I have been collecting display ideas for sometime as the ol' table display method I've been using for markets and fairs wasn't cutting it for me any longer. We've decided to do a version of this display setup .....