Every time we open a glaze firing, we get excited to see the final product. And this past weekend was no exception. We loved each piece and wanted to share them with you.
The Many Uses for "Ring Bowls"
There is a growing obsession with these tiny bowls, especially for wedding gifts, favors, or bridesmaids' gifts. And I can't help but be enthralled with them myself! In fact, I've made several, from the teeny, tiny dish to the large bowl! (OK, not that large, if it's still to be called a ring bowl!)
The dishes have a few obvious uses:
- on a nightstand before bed, to place your everyday jewelry
- on a windowsill for your rings, for doing dishes
- on a table right inside the front door, for spare change
But what about the ring bowls? They don't seem to be as popular, but I would argue they should be even more desirable than their dish counterparts, because they have many more uses! They can do anything a dish can do, plus more!
A ring bowl can be used:
- to hold more jewelry than just your everyday pieces (I use one to hold all my rings)
- to hold men's items, like collar stays and cuff links
- to collect spare buttons
- to hold coin, button, bead collections
- candle or tea light holders
- to hold hair clips, bobbi pins, hair ties
- to hold desk items, like paper clips and extra staples
- in the bathroom for cotton balls and Q-tips
- and finally, because our pottery is perfect for use every day in the kitchen, you can use these small bowls for food! Cereal, grapes, goldfish, you name it!
So why aren't you collecting ring bowls?
Our Retailers
We're excited to announce that you can now shop our Jean Elton gallery pieces at retailers all over the country! Click here for a map of all our current galleries. If you're in the area, stop by and let us know you saw our pieces on display!
Our New Etsy Store
Here's a peak at the new items available in our new and improved Etsy store. And here's an even better treat: you get an exclusive 10% off coupon, available to our blog readers only! Just type JEBLOG at checkout. No minimum purchase.
Check back every day for new items in our store! And remember, all our pieces are stoneware, so they are very durable and perfect for every day use. They will not chip or break easily. All pieces are microwave and dishwasher safe.
CLEARANCE!
Every year after the Christmas season, we've had a clearance section on our website. This year, it's on Etsy, and it's a big one! Over 20 beautiful pieces, ranging in price from only $6 to $15! This is a clearance you will not want to miss!Each item is a quality, handmade piece of pottery that is very durable and ideally suited for use every day! But they also make beautiful items for home decor and gifts. The only reason these pieces are on sale so low is because of our new bowls! We have many, many new bowls being made every day and we simply need more room.So make sure to check out the clearance section and order your favorites today!
Your Invitation
Annual Holiday Open HouseSaturday, December 1st, 10am - 6pmSunday, December 2nd, 12pm - 4pm
at
Jean Elton Studio & Gallery
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Come and browse through our home, gallery,and pottery studio as you sip coffee or ciderand check off your Christmas gift list!
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Hand Made OrnamentsFloral Christmas Trees
Specialty Table Top Items
Christmas Dinnerware
Hand Painted Glassware
Candleholders & Holiday WreathsDecorated Wrought Iron
Home Decor Items
Collectibles
Baby Star Bibs & Blankets
Handcrafted Jewelry
Mexican Gifts
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Presented by:
Lois Barker
Barbara DorchinskyDenise Janci
Wendy Kaufman
Adriana LobatoKathy Sackett
Amy Willers
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And featuring a gallery of our pottery students work:
Roni Widmer
Devony Widmer
Morgan Cutter
Missy Hill
Nesting Bowls
Remember our post on the Evolution of the Painted Bowls? We now have a new addition to our painted bowl family! We are so excited about these new bowls because they are just as beautiful and durable as all our previous bowls, but they are also extremely light and easy to use!In the past, we would use our molds to drape clay on and then to allow them dry and obtain the shape of the mold.
We also have other molds called "slip molds" that are made out of plaster and are then filled with a very wet clay called slip. The plaster of the mold begins to absorb some of the water from the slip, which causes it to attach to the sides of the mold. After a short amount of time (usually about an hour), the molds are turned upside-down to pour out the remaining slip. They are left like that overnight and then taken apart the next day.Once the clay is almost dry, the molds are taken apart and the piece is cleaned up. This is the process we have used to make our disk vases, pitchers, and jars.
Finally, we have decided to combine the two processes to make our large bowls! The result is a beautiful, large bowl that is also extremely light and easy to use!
These three sets are now available on Etsy.
New products!
As September rolls around, we are already preparing for our Christmas show! Can you believe it? What a year we've had! It's actually been hard to hold on to our inventory, what with all our new products that seem to be more popular than ever! Here are some of our new products that you may have missed:
Reality TV
Do you ever watch shows like Cake Boss on TLC? It's one of our favorites, and makes me want to save up a lot of money (and calories!) and travel to Hoboken, NJ to buy cakes! Every episode, along with making beautiful cakes, there is always drama. I'm not sure if it's manufactured, or if the family is really that dramatic, but it definitely makes for good television!Recently, I've been thinking we should make a reality show out of our work at Jean Elton Studio. I'm sure the producers could really milk the drama that we occasionally encounter! For example, we get a big order and one of our kilns breaks down, or we run out of that particular color, or everything breaks in the firing. Did you know that if the clay isn't absolutely, completely dry for the bisque (first) firing, it explodes in the kiln!? Wouldn't that be a great episode?Even if we never get discovered by TLC, I'm still thinking of driving down to Hoboken to get one of those cakes. Can't you imagine a beautiful, handmade, hand-painted TEAPOT cake? Made to look just like one of our beautiful teapots! But unlike with our teapots, it would only be a one-time use product.I think I'll stick to our pottery: pretty enough for display, but durable enough to use every day.
New Teapots
We've been making teapots for a while now (remember the video From Jar to Teapot?), but they now have a new look. Lois has started to hand-throw them on the wheel, which gives her a lot more variety in shapes, sizes, and designs.
First she throws the body, the spout, and the lid, all separately. Once they have a chance to dry a little, she trims them, cleans them up, and then attaches the spout and handle. Next they need to dry completely. If something isn't completely dry when it is bisqued, there is the chance it could explode in the kiln, ruining not only all the hard work that goes into that one teapot, but also many of the pieces that are in there with it.The first firing goes up to a temperature of about 1800 degrees! Because we fire at such high temperatures, our pieces are very durable and not prone to chipping or breaking like so many other ceramic pieces. Stoneware is so durable because it is made with clay and then fired at very high temperatures. Like its name implies, the resulting material is like stone: hard to break and waterproof.
After they are fired, they are hand-painted in a unique design. No two of our teapots are exactly alike, which adds to their charm. We use glaze stains, or under glazes, and then cover them with a transparent glaze. Then they are fired again, to around 2000 degrees, which allows the colors deepen and the finish to shine.
To view our current stock of these new and unique teapots, visit our Etsy store. We add new pieces everyday, so bookmark it and check back often!