What to do when you can't do!

I know that is a really odd title, I must be in an odd mood or maybe I've been reading too many Ever After High books with L'il Miss! I do like Madeline Hatter, daughter of the Mad Hatter! 

Back onto track. I haven't blogged much in the last few months as my health has taken a rather swift downturn and I'm pretty sure no one wants to read all about that so I haven't typed much. As many of my followers know I have chronic illnesses, several in fact, they seem to like me! Recently though everyone in this household has been shouting at Arthur a lot. That's arthritis to most. You see, Arthur is systematically attacking me and has landed me housebound and in a wheelchair. Fun huh! Anyway, I'm not here to whinge, I do plenty of that at home! Rather, I'm trying to figure what to do when I can't do. Hence the rather odd blog title. 

Today I'm quite comfortable, the pain in manageable but boy, am I bored! I'm really having trouble with this sitting (as I can't walk very far at all) and resting thing. Surprisingly, I'm realising how active I usually am. Normally the day flies by and school is over before I know it. I really have learnt how to fill my time. Now I'm having to learn to fill it with other things, mainly things I can do sat down such as on my laptop. 

I'm rather proud of myself today as I've kept fairly good spirits and have invested my time into revamping my Etsy shop. I'm not making much in the way of ceramics at the moment as there's too much moving around and I can't get the wheelchair into my garage anyway. I do however, have quite a bit of stock so the obvious use of my time is to try and improve my shop and my customers' experience. 

Etsy are trialling a new layout on me, again! I seem to be picked each time, maybe because I always give feedback. It's taken a bit of getting used to but I actually quite like this layout. There are a few things I want back, such as my banner with my branding on (which I've told them) but overall I think it's a good change. The photographs are much bigger and seem to pop off the page more, and the organisation of the sections is more obvious. I would however like to be able to choose which item is my cover item for each section but again I've fed that back to Etsy. 

There appears to be new options now on the 'About' page and I've been adding some photographs of my shop members for you all to see. I think I'll have to get the camera out and take some more shots of my shop members doing their bit. I like that we can show everyone who we are and that we are real people who do actually work from their garages! I think I need to tidy mine before photographing it though! It's so hard to get a good workshop shot when you work with messy things like clay! 

I'd love your feedback on the new Etsy layout. My page is here. 
www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TySiriolCeramics
I don't like to blog without a photo so here's one of the ones that I have added to my shop page. It's me in front with my parents, Chris (above) and Christina (right) and a friend of the family (left joining us for a leisurely coffee.

The Ty Siriol clan at Abergavenny Market

As always, thank you for following behind the scenes at Ty Siriol HQ. I'll try not to leave it so long until next time.

Cathy x

www.facebook.com/TySiriolCeramicsandCrafts
www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TySiriolCeramics  
Twitter: @tysiriolceramic

Let the Christmas festivities commence!

I haven't posted for a little while as I've been so busy with craft fairs, coffee mornings and the usual online side of my business. However, I can now breathe... The last fair is over and the final posting day is today so I can now turn my attentions towards the family for the next couple of weeks. 

My stall at the Abergavenny Art & Craft Fair.

L'il Miss finishes school tomorrow and Mr Ty Siriol only has to work Christmas Eve so we'll have plenty of quality family time. Instead of playing with clay, I'll be making cookie dough. L'il Miss is a dab hand at rolling and cutting the shapes for me. Every Christmas Eve we bake cookies for Santa, and of course extra for ourselves!! It's something I've done with L'il Miss since she was a year old and something I hope that she will carry on when she has her own children. This is L'il Miss aged 1 just before she dunked Rudolph's carrot in Santa's milk! We don't encourage drink flying in this house so Santa gets milk!

The other little tradition that I started after L'il Miss was born is new pyjamas on Christmas Eve so that we are looking out best for Santa. We stay in them all Christmas morning until we have to get dressed for Christmas dinner. This year L'il Miss is going to help cook dinner with me. If I train her up maybe she'll cook it for us in a couple of years time. :-) 

In her new pjs for Santa.

As my health hasn't been very good this year we are having a peaceful Christmas with just the three of us and we are visiting all the family on Boxing Day. This way I get to spend more time with my daughter and we extend the excitement of Christmas by another day. 

It doesn't look like we're in for a white Christmas this year. It was lovely a few years back to see the snow falling on Christmas morning. There is something magical about being warm and cosy indoors with all the decorations up while watching the snow gently falling. Then of course, they young ones have to go out in it and freeze themselves. Just have hot chocolate waiting for when they need it! This pic of L'il Miss is a few years old now but I love the look on her face.

L'il Miss in the snow.

So you can probably tell that I'm starting to get excited about Christmas now. Most the gifts are wrapped and I'm only waiting on one more to arrive, hopefully today, and then I'll do the food shop on the weekend, then let the festivities begin! I love my family and I love the opportunity to have everyone together. 

Finally, I'd like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Yule Blessings, and look forward to seeing you all in 2014 for another fantastic year together. 

Cath xx 

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

Christmas is coming to Ty Siriol

I know, it is a bit early for the 'C' word but what can I do? Once the high street start to bring out their Christmas stock anyone who sells online must also be ready for it. 

It is rather odd though when I am making winter woolies and Christmas themed stock during the summer months. In another month I'll be turning me attention towards Valentine's Day and Mother's Day. In the past I've always missed the boat so this time I'm trying to be more organised. It does feel wrong though. So I apologise if this is too early for you but I am going to show a selection of our Christmas stock that is available now online in our Etsy shop (link at the bottom) and will be on display at the Abergavenny Craft Fair next week. 

Dove of peace Christmas tree decoration.

Christmas tree decoration box set of 3, Peace, Love & Joy.

The dove and box set are both examples of the style that I produce. These are hand built from a slab of clay and can be embossed with just about anything (providing the slab is big enough ;) ). I have other items as well with wording such as, 'Mum', 'Nan', 'Sister' and so on. I have also made quite a few of these to order with names on them. The first one I made was for my daughter and she loved having a special decoration on the tree that was all hers. After lots of compliments I finally decided a year ago that I would make them for others as well. They've been a huge success and I'm always touched to know that they will make a young child feel special.

These 3 decorations, unlike the ones at the top, are made by slip casting with a mould and are more reproducible. Of course the painting is unique each time as this is all done by hand. These decorations are larger than the others at about 4 inches high and are suitable for hanging on garlands or little hooks as a decoration in their own right as well as being part of the tree.

Santa nibbles dish for your parties.

Novelty 'Sweet' dish to hold your nibbles, nuts or sweets.

Novelty 'cupcake' dish.

No Christmas post would be complete without Santa! I also have these novelty dishes this year, Santa, a Sweet and a Cupcake. My fave is the cupcake, which is yours? I think these dishes are fantastic for brightening up your party table. And what better to serve your sweets on... but a giant sweet!!! 

I should point out that the glazes used on the dishes are all food safe glazes and are hand washable. As my brother says, 'Safety first, safety second!' ;-)

So as you can see, I've been busy. I feel like I had Christmas in July this year. I'll be fed up by December!! It won't be long now until I start on the summer stock. It's just madness!!! 

I hope you've enjoyed having a nose behind the scenes with me. If you like what you've read I would love it if you would share my blog and/or my shop to help me get seen out there. It's a big world and I am but one person. Your help in the past has been amazingly helpful and I am always grateful for any shout outs and shares. It's you guys who keep me going through out mutual love of hand crafted goods. 

I won't wish you a Happy Christmas just yet because that really is bonkers so instead I'll simply wish you all well.

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 

The first craft fair for Ty Siriol at Abergavenny Art & Crafts Fair.

I've wanted to do a craft fair for years but have been putting it off for ages for the fear of not being able to guarantee being well for the day. Unfortunately, I'm not even able to guarantee being well on my wedding day next day and at the moment I'd say it's 50/50. However, I'm not going to get any better so I bit the bullet and went for it any way. 

I choose to start off slowly so I opted for a local craft fair in Abergavenny. It's on a Thursday once a month and has a very relaxed feel to it. I've been to a few of them as a customer and chatted to some of the stall holders who were kind enough to encourage to go for it. So with a great big push from Mr Ty Siriol I signed up.

Thankfully I was aware of how much work is involved behind the scenes after the many car boot sales I've done in the past. Of course, this is not a car boot so presentation was more important. My brother was kind enough to make some props for me to use on the stall. He made me some shelves and a pendant tree. It is useful having a carpenter in the family and all he charged was a few lagers, even better!! So look out for his handy work in the pics. 

I had a practise run in my dining room and set up my stall. I'm glad I did as well as I found a few problems with the set up that were fixed before the day. I have to say a huge thank you to everyone on facebook who gave me some great advice. In particular I have to thank a friend of mine, Cookie, from Cookie & Mo who was invaluable to me. Please help me show her my appreciation by popping by her facebook page and saying hi on her wall. Tell her that I sent you because I'm bossy! 
www.facebook.com/cookieandmo.uk

It's about time I showed you some pics. Here is my practise run. 

The pendant tree that my brother made for me. Isn't he wonderful!

My mock fair in the dining room. Practise makes perfect, or so I've been told!

Finally the day came. I had lots of help so a big thank you to everyone who helped out, whether it was lugging boxes, smiling at customers, or taking turns to keep L'il Miss Ty Siriol happy as it's school holidays and I didn't have a sitter. 

The stall looked like this. 

Me! Standing proudly behind my creations.

These are a selection on my mum's paintings.

Mr Ty Siriol having a well earned sit down. He lugged all the boxes for me.

 Lots of friends and family turned to to show support which was great. I felt really proud seeing all my work on display and being able to show friends and family what I do. L'il Miss Ty Siriol was very good and wanted to help out. She went shopping with Nanny for a bit and came back with lots of books. In the end it was all too much for her and I found her trying to sleep under the table. Take a look. 

L'il Miss Ty Siriol plum tuckered out.

All in all it was a good day. We had a few sales even though it was a slow day due to the summer holidays. I got through it physically and thankfully it finished at 3pm. In fact I have now signed up for the remaining Art & Craft fairs until the end of the year. Happy all around. 

Here's the link to the Abergavenny Craft fairs.  
http://www.abergavennymarket.co.uk/

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