Showing posts with label ornament. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ornament. Show all posts

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Cheesy Goodness and The Gingerbread Men Saga


Doesn't this look like a big gooey, cheesy mess? It sure was, and was it ever delicious. I make pizza nearly every week. A few days ago I decided that I would give stromboli a try instead. It was actually easier to do than pizza because there isn't that neat trick of sliding the pie off the peel and onto a hot stone. The dough is rolled like a jelly roll and placed on a lightly greased cookie sheet. I never follow recipes exactly and for the stromboli I combined two. I stuck with my "go to" dough recipe, which you can find here:
pizza dough
and this Emeril Lagasse Stromboli recipe: stromboli
I switched the filling to what we like; pepperoni, sausage, sweet onion, red pepper, garlic. I also added a little bit of pizza sauce to the filling. Of course there was lots of mozzarella and parmesan cheese in there too.
Yummy! I can't wait until next week so I can make it again.

You may recall that a few weeks ago I decided to make ornaments once more. Don't ask me why, since the first bunch took FOREVER to sell. The last firing was mostly the slip trailed gingerbread men and I spent last night sanding and stringing them up. Cooling in the kiln right now is an assortment of animals, hearts, and stars. I was thinking I would have a good selection to take to the show next week. Wouldn't you know, someone came in the shop today and commented on how much she loved the gingerbread men, but it was too bad that I only had three because she needed twelve. I really made her day when I said I had a whole bunch more that I hadn't put out yet. Let me tell you, selling twelve in one fell swoop was a heck of a lot better than one at a time at $8. There is something about an $8 sale that makes me want to cry. A $96 sale feels much better.
and now I am back down to a handful of gingerbread men... I wonder if I have time to make a few more before the show???


Monday, December 10, 2012

count down to Christmas...

The holiday open house weekend is behind us. Sales weren't spectacular but we had some past customers come in for new pots and I am sure we acquired some new fans as well. The weather was so warm that it seemed almost silly to be serving hot chocolate, at least the chocolate chip cookies went over well!
If we were slightly disappointed with gallery sales, our Etsy sales and special orders certainly made up for it. We fired the kiln over the weekend, unloaded this morning, and shipped many of the pots out today...

I had set a goal to double my Etsy revenue this year and I exceeded that goal last month. I finally feel like I have the momentum going now. It seemed like a lot of work at first, but once you get it down it's much easier... way easier than packing up to go to a show. Since Jeff and I have separate shops, we have a lot of fun with healthy competition and cheering each other on. This is what people that don't have cable or satellite TV do for entertainment!

6 more sales and I will finally be at 100, maybe these new ornaments will help to get me there...


Friday, September 28, 2012

I can't believe it but...

it's true.
I am making Christmas ornaments this year. Jeff and I talked about this last year but didn't get around to it. Many years ago he made a press mold of an angel ornament he created in clay. I decided that these were something I could make while working my shifts at the Co-op. Yesterday I gave it a try but was having some trouble with getting the hands and nose coming out clean and crisp, and then there was the problem of cracking necks. After all, I hadn't used a press mold since my play dough days. When I got home Jeff gave me a lesson on the best way to get a good impression with a press mold... he said be sure to press it in really hard.

but probably not this hard...
 Yep, he broke the mold. I can still use the other half, but that one needs the wings attached separately which is a little more work.

Here are some in progress...
I will have to experiment with glazing. I might try using some Amaco velvet underglazes with my Temple White glaze over it. Jeff also mention trying just the underglaze and leaving the rest bare clay.
The one in the center is bisqued already, Jeff did that one this summer when we came across the mold. She is a footless angel (he forgot to add them) so she will be the first glaze test.

... I wonder if I have any cookie cutters in the kitchen? :o)