New creations

It's been a little while since I last blogged as I'm been a bit blurgh, so to speak. It's not easy to write and be upbeat when feeling that you're not quite yourself so I've saved it all up for now! 

I've been busy recently with sorting out new stock and getting everything photographed. The light isn't always so good now the days are drawing in but yesterday I got out into the garden with the camera in hand. 

This isn't intended to be a hard sell, if you are interested then all my links are at the bottom of each post, but more I'd like to share my work with you because I draw so much happiness from creating them. Each piece is almost like a child to me and I often end up keeping pieces that I simply can't part with. I know that's not good business sense but hand crafted items are about so much more than simply sales. I craft because I'm passionate about what I do and I have a shop also so that I can share my passion with you. Enough said, lets upload some new photos so you can see what I've been up to lately. 

I start off with a few of my new ring dishes, or anything dishes really. I use mine to keep my rings safe when I get the clay out. I also have one in the kitchen as a spoon rest. 

Star trinket dish.

 This star ring dish is the first one I've done as a star and I think it worked really well. The points of the star curve upwards nicely. I love to paint these dishes, it makes me feel like an artist. I'd also like to point out the lovely ribbon that the gift box has, it was made for me by a friend who owns Cookie & Mo on Facebook. She was so amazingly helpful that I highly recommend her. You can find her at: www.facebook.com/cookieandmo.uk

Heart shaped ring dish with peacock blue detail.

 I had a bit of a play about with a new glaze with the dish above. The glaze is a dark green that looks like peacock blue to me. It can look either green or blue depending on the light, just like a peacock feather. I used it to bring out the embossed detailing and was thrilled with the outcome.

Monet's Garden ring dish

Now this dish features a glaze called Monet's Garden. I really wish I could capture the colours in a photo but sadly I couldn't get a good enough one. If this is held up to the sunlight it shimmers and so many colours shine through that it's breath taking. I'll definitely be using this glaze again. It reminds me of a lily pond and there was one in Monet's Garden so I guess that's where the name comes from.

Ceramic leaf bowl, Sycamore.

The technique for this bowl is really simple. I was foraging in the woods with my daughter for her school project and was looking at fresh new leaves everywhere. It reminded of being taught to craft a bowl from a cabbage leaf so I picked a few sycamore leaves to do it again. The great thing about sycamore is that the veins on the back are really deep and they leave a fantastic impression in the clay. I also prefer these leaves to cabbage leaves! So in short the leaves were pushed into clay and the shape was hand cut. The clay was then gently moulded into a bowl shape and left to dry. The glazes used were quite strong colours to bring out the veins and then I did something bold, I ran them under the tap! I'd never tried it before so I have no idea if I would ruin it in the kiln afterwards. So most the colour was washed away but it left the gorgeous veins behind. I let them dry for a couple of days before adding the clear glaze and firing them as I didn't want it to explode in the kiln. Altogether I did three of these and one was snapped up straight away. I'll have to do some more of these next spring. It would probably work quite well with salt dough as well if you fancied having a go. The recipes for salt dough are easily found on the web. A great one for the kids too.

'Time to drink Champagne and dance on the table'

Finally, I've been doing lots of plaque work and these Champagne hearts have been very popular. I'm now turning my attention to Christmas tree hangings. By the time Christmas gets here I'm usually sick of it!! However, these things can't be made over night so I have to prepared. 

So thank you for sharing with me my excitement for my work. It means a lot to me that you follow me and share in my adventure. So I'll say to you now, it's 'Time to drink Champagne and dance on the tables!' Have fun. 

Cath xx 
www.facebook.com/TySiriolCeramicsandCrafts
www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TySiriolCeramics

A little test!

I'm trying out a new feature on Facebook where you can use the 'embed' function on your business page to add a link to your blog with minimum fuss. Now I know there are the techi types out there who already know how to do this, my ex-husband for one. Hi, if you are reading this!! :-) However, the key thing here is the 'minimum fuss' for those of us who don't have a degree in software engineering and quite frankly would rather be creating our own designs than fighting with tech.

So here goes. If all works well you should see a link that goes back to my Facebook page and be able to like and comment on it. If you can see it I would really appreciate if you would like and comment saying that you have followed the link from my blog, otherwise I can't really be sure that I'd done it right and I rarely get things right on the first attempt (or the second for that matter) when it comes to tech!

I'm going to link a photo of one of my mother's paintings because it's my current favourite.

Post by Ty Siriol Ceramics & Crafts.

Somehow this doesn't look right but we'll see. If it didn't work then we'll have 'test part 2' at some point! 

Cath xx
www.facebook.com/TySiriolCeramicsandCrafts
www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TySiriolCeramics

Craft fair: sneak peeks!

I'm going to be in Abergavenny Art and Craft fair again this Thursday. I'm looking forward to this one more because I know what to expect this time. We have booked a double table as we found that we were very cramped last time. We have 3 main sections to our stall, ceramics, paintings and crocheted goods. I'm also thinking of adding a small section for Christmas themed gifts. I wonder if it's too early but then I'm surprised at how many Christmas things I've already sold online.

I thought I'd give you an idea of what we will have on our stall. So here are a few examples of the ceramics that will be there. (Unless of cause they are bought online first! Website links are at the bottom of the post.)

My signature piece, the leaf bowls. These are suitably autumn themed.

A ceramic garden plaque for the green fingered member of your family.

'Time to drink Champagne and dance on the table' 

Ty Siriol's handmade and hand painted ceramic ring dish.

My mother's work is showcased in the Art section of our stall. She's a talented lady so I urge you to check her out. I'm working on trying to convince her to make prints of some of her pieces but she's a stubborn lady! Here, check out some of her work.

Wild flowers and butterfly silhouette.

Beautiful snowscape in oils.

Love birds silhouette. My favourite of the silhouette range.

The other section of our shop is the crochet section. We are going to be focusing more on this section at the next fair as autumn is most definitely in the air now. I'll be wearing my gauntlets to keep my fingers warm enough to do some crochet if it's quiet early on.

A ripple wrap shawl in peacock colours of blues and greens.

Crocodile stitch gauntlets. I'll be wearing mine to keep warm on the stall!

Triangular shawl in grey and white sequinned yarn. Beautifully soft.

Infinity cowl. I have several different colours available. See the Etsy link below.

Ripple scarf in midnight blues.

For those of you who saw me at the last craft fair, the scarf in midnight blue (above) is the one that I was making behind the stall. :-) It would make a fab Christmas gift... if I can bare to part with it!

Talking of Christmas... yes, I know, it is early but as I said above I've been getting Christmas orders for some time now. So here are a few Christmas things that will be on the stall for the next few months.

Box set of Christmas tree hangings. 'Peace', 'Love' and 'Joy'.

Christmas stockings with hook for hanging.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, with hook for hanging.

Santa nibbles dish.

So that was a sample of what we have to offer on our stall at the Abergavenny Art and Craft fair this Thursday (2nd Thursday of each month). If you are local and can pop by then please come and say hi. It's always lovely to meet you all in person. 

All this talk of ceramics has reminded me that I have to go and see Kenny (my kiln) and see what delights (or disasters) he holds for me today. It's like Christmas all year round with Kenny! :-) 

Thank you for reading my blog.
Cath xx

www.facebook.com/TySiriolCeramicsandCrafts
www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TySiriolCeramics