Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Talk to Me Tuesday: Caitlin's Amazing Pottery style

Welcome to Talk to Me Tuesday!! It has been a bit since I was able to interview a talented indie maker but when I was given the opportunity to interview my next guest, I jumped at the chance. Today we are meeting the very talented Caitlin, of Caitlin's Amazing Pottery. She makes the cutest little clay figurines, decorations, and art pieces. 


Welcome Caitlin! It is a great honor to meet you! 

Tell us about you! 


 My name is Caitlin, and I like making pottery! I also enjoy cooking, watching BBC shows (Doctor Who and Sherlock are my favorites) and I am cocaptain of my Special Olympics swim team. The Dolphins rule the pool! I also have two cats, Oreo and Jackson, both are rescue cats.


Tell us about your shop!

My shop's name is Caitlin's Amazing Pottery. It all started when I was in high school. I tried pottery a few times and it was really fun! Then I found Essence of Art, a local studio and work space for people with different intellectual disabilities. Eventually I became the head potter there!
I no longer work at EoA, but I do now have my own studio at my home, a kiln, and a ton of mud to make into fun things.

I made clay houses, figurines of different cute animals, jewelry trays, dishes, ornaments, insence burners, air planters, all out of high quality stoneware, and the list of things I make is ever growing. 



 What is your Favorite thing to make?

 It's a tie between my little round houses and my fox figurines.



What is the hardest part or owning your own online business?

Sometimes it's hard finding your target audience, and also balancing making new things while keeping up with the internet side of the business. 


Do you have any advice to share?



Sometimes sales are slow, but it's best to go with the flow and use it as a time to improve your shop and do what you love, create!  




I agree there, create what you love! It was so wonderful to meet you and learn more about your shop and craft. I am so glad you helped expand my craft community. Thank you so much for coming and talking to us today. You can find and follow Caitlin at her SHOP | FACEBOOK  | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM
 

Make sure to visit her and tell her a crafty 'Hi!' 




Kelly


Monday, August 25, 2014

Handmade Mania week 40

Happy new of Handmade Mania!! I am so excited that last week was so full of awesome handmade links! There were 38 links, 186 views, and 110 clicks. Very neat. Thank you to all who shared and joined in.

MOST VIEWED:
Hippo Plush by The Gift Garden

Skuttle Baby Bunny by Kiser Krafts

STAFF PICKS:

Lacy Fingerless Gloves by WhimsicalMimsy
Skull and Crossbones fabric covered Pin back Button by Violet's Buds

Thank you everyone who linked up, shared, and browsed other handmade indie shops. Now onto a fresh week!

What can you link up? If you make it with your own hands, you may add it, including designed items. Please, do not link to your Facebook page or Blog posts. All other platforms excepted.

Here are the RULES as nothing works right without a few good rules.

You can link up to TWO individual products from your shop below for some networking/sharing fun! Select TWO products from the collection to SHARE via social media using #handmadelove .

Please share in a comment what two products you share and where. I will do my best to respond timely. Thank you!

(Do not share to Pinterest without the express permission from the shop owner. Thank you.


By doing this, you'll be able to share EPIC handmade goodness and build your handmade network! Please share this link up with someone else this week. The more people we have join in, the more our items will be shared and seen! I am super excited to share some EPIC Handmade Goodness this week!! Make sure to use the #handmadelove so I can find and share what you share easily. Thank you. 

How to link up:
Click "add your link"
Box 1: add the URL to your Individual product
Box 2: add the product description
Box 3: put in your email address
Submit then select a thumbnail photo!
Share it if you wish too! ☺

Your item has 4 chances of being featured this up coming week! Make sure to link up, share, and share the link up with someone else! The more we share this link up, the more people are viewing our shops, and the more potential of turning a browser into a buyer. I am so excited to see what #handmadelove links you post!

 


Wednesday, August 20, 2014

B is for BEAR!

The alphabet...oh my...the alphabet. Twenty-six letters to form all communication. Little Miss is on the road of learning it and I am on the road of learning how to teach it. I have a new respect for teachers. I have always respected those in the profession, but now hold them in even higher respect. Teaching is not easy.

We have already worked with the letter A but I failed to take any photos while we practiced it. I, generally, fail at snagging photos while I am focused on my children. But 'B', I was more on top of things. But will admit, not a single one was edited for this post. First step for me was Googling pages for tracing the letter B. I found these two printables in the images that fit with what I wanted to teach. Little Miss did a great job completing them.
After we traced and wrote words on our dry ease board we headed into crafting. My daughter's favorite part of learning. I had no real plan or idea what we should make. The krafty part of my brain started spinning. I pulled out brown paper, pink paper, glue, safety scissors, google eyes, and a black small pom-pom. I thought about the parts of a bear and cut out crude shapes for those parts.

These really are only a fast attempt at crafting a bear. You can switch any of the colors to suit your own little crafter. Little Miss likes pink and brown. In the above picture, the parts are not glued down yet, I wanted to make sure I made them small enough to fit on the paper. I handed the glue stick over and watched the little creative mind work.
She was so happy to have the control of the glue and of the project. I did not tell her where the parts went, just what part of the bear they were.When she finished with the bear, she decided, "girly bear's have bows." I cut out a quick pink bow to make the girl bear complete.
The moment it was finished, we used "sticky tape" to hang it up on the wall by the dinner table. She loves to see it hung there and was so happy to show Daddy at dinner time.
It is not much, but it was enough for her. Please, feel free to use this idea when teaching the Letter B to a child. The BEAR craft, krafted me through a moment of life's kraziness.

Kelly

Monday, August 18, 2014

Handmade Mania week 39

Welcome to a new week of Handmade Mania! Last week's link up was full of wonderful indie handmade products! We had 134 views, 28 links, and 65 clicks...I know we can help those numbers grow! I challenge you all to help raise those numbers. I know we can do it!

MOST VIEWED:

 Make Music hand embroidered hoop art by Violet's Buds

Yoda Inspired Cup Cozy by Enytime Creations
STAFF PICKS: 

Star Wars hand-painted tic-tac-toe set by AM and PM Goods


Court Jester on Hippogriff Pride by Fairytale Knits

There were so many wonderful links last week! Thank you everyone who linked up, shared, and browsed other handmade indie shops. Now onto a fresh week!

What can you link up? If you make it with your own hands, you may add it, including designed items. Please, do not link to your Facebook page or Blog posts. All other platforms excepted.

Here are the RULES as nothing works right without a few good rules.

You can link up to TWO individual products from your shop below for some networking/sharing fun! Select TWO products from the collection to SHARE via social media using #handmadelove .

Please share in a comment what two products you share and where. I will do my best to respond timely. Thank you!

(Do not share to Pinterest without the express permission from the shop owner. Thank you.


By doing this, you'll be able to share EPIC handmade goodness and build your handmade network! Please share this link up with someone else this week. The more people we have join in, the more our items will be shared and seen! I am super excited to share some EPIC Handmade Goodness this week!! Make sure to use the #handmadelove so I can find and share what you share easily. Thank you. 

How to link up:
Click "add your link"
Box 1: add the URL to your Individual product
Box 2: add the product description
Box 3: put in your email address
Submit then select a thumbnail photo!
Share it if you wish too! ☺

Your item has 4 chances of being featured this up coming week! Make sure to link up, share, and share the link up with someone else! The more we share this link up, the more people are viewing our shops, and the more potential of turning a browser into a buyer. I am so excited to see what #handmadelove links you post!


Monday, August 11, 2014

Handmade Mania week 38

Welcome to a new week of Handmade Mania! Last week's link up was full of wonderful indie handmade products! We had 101 views, 34 links, and 82 clicks!! For just coming back from a month Handmade Mania break, those are really good numbers! I can not wait to see all the links that are added this week.

Most Viewed: 

Monday, August 4, 2014

Handmade Mania week 37

Happy Monday! I am home from a month away from home. It was an enjoyable time with family, which I will write about sometime in the future. Handmade Mania took a month long break too. But I decided to start up the very enjoyable link up again. I do hope you all enjoy it as much as I do.

Due to not having a link up last week, I did not have anything to feature. But I am part of two amazing crafting groups on Facebook and I asked them to share with me some of their favorite handmade items. The ones I am sharing below are some of my favorites as well as my daughter's(she was my little helper).

Little Miss' Picks:

Color Sorting Paint Pallet by Curious Minds Busy Bags

Fall Leaves Dress by Sweet Pea Designs by Dee

My Picks:

Original Design Fall Print by Be You Not Them

Ellie the Elephant & Her Cupcake by Plum Papaya & Sugar Crumbs

And then this next one is a Random like from my husband:

Kawaii Pencil Topper - Jellyfish by Mohu

There were so many amazing things shared in my groups! I thank all who helped me out by sharing links to their favorite #handmadelove items. I am looking forward to the links that link up this week of Handmade Mania.

What can you link up? If you make it with your own hands, you may add it, including designed items. Please, do not link to your Facebook page or Blog posts. All other platforms excepted.

Here are the RULES as nothing works right without a few good rules.

You can link up to TWO individual products from your shop below for some networking/sharing fun! Select TWO products from the collection to SHARE via social media using #handmadelove .

Please share in a comment what two products you share and where. I will do my best to respond timely. Thank you!

(Do not share to Pinterest without the express permission from the shop owner.) 

By doing this, you'll be able to share EPIC handmade goodness and build your handmade network! Please share this link up with someone else this week. The more people we have join in, the more our items will be shared and seen! I am super excited to share some EPIC Handmade Goodness this week!! MAKE sure to USE #handmadelove so I can find and share what you share easily. Thank you. 

How to link up:
Click "add your link"
Box 1: add the URL to your Individual product
Box 2: add the product description
Box 3: put in your email address
Submit then select a thumbnail photo!
Share it if you wish too! ☺

Your item might be the feature of next week's link up!! You have 4 chances!! Make sure to link up, share, and share the link up with someone else!! I am so excited to see what #handmadelove links you post!