Giveaway Time at NancyBloklandPottery

Spring is here, at least today;  It is rainy and grey, but I am sunshiney cause I can announce that I have 2 new stockists as of today!.

Proud to be in and part of Ram Wools Cooperative at 989 Portage Ave. (Portage and Sherbrook).  They reached out to me and are supporting lots of local talent like Boomerang 360, Michael Lemur, Karen Taylor, Helga Schulte-Schoor and her fibre creations.  I felt at home as soon as I walked in, and was greeted by Jason and Lori. They are carrying my yarn bowls, buttons, mugs and more.  Here is the link to the store, http://ramwools.com/

Wheat trays and yarn bowls, buttons at Ram Wools

Plant hangers and pots over at Jardin St. Leon

Closer to home, I am really happy to have my plant pots, plant hangers, vases and mugs at Jardin St. Leon, our local centre of fresh produce and all round good food.  They are getting to open for Mothers Day weekend, with lots of new and fresh ideas and of course all the forever favourites.  http://stleongardens.com/?lang=en

So pleased with all the pots moving out into the world, and I am in the mood for a give away. I love reading other people's blogs on pottery, gardening, fashion and more and hope that mine offers something interesting too.
heres is how we will do it, first person to leave a comment, and share this blog with someone, will gain a credit in my Etsy store, https://www.etsy.com/shop/NancyBloklandPottery?ref=hdr_shop_menu
for 50% off of any purchase,

What's keeping me up at night???

Sometimes my double life as a "regular" civil servant and my "real" life as a potter feels like an overload of cognitive dissonance.  I have just been reading some pottery blogs by Tony Clennell and the fine author of Fine Mess Pottery and feel a sense of connection with everything they say. the frustrations and the joys about details of making and selling that are likely trivial to non Makers. My current obsession is display in my booth.

Like for instance the word "Boothal"  only means anything to those of us who create, re create, reinvent, obsess and worry about displaying our products in both retail and craft fair venues, and photos for Etsy. this picture is taken from a Farmers Market a few years ago, selling tail gate style.  I know the booth is the matting or the canvas on which we display our pots, but this is a competitive business so I need to make it inviting and draw people in, without having the wind or leany customers knock it over.

I have continued to suffer from a crafter's form of PTSD after a few Folk Festivals where the winds gusted enough to take out my display stand and several innocent bystanders. 

I really liked this display by Coldstream Pottery at the Penticton Farmers Market last Saturday. It was attractive, made optimum use of space and seemed to be wind proof.

this is an example of what I don't want, overcrowded, unfocussed. So....that was a few years ago, but I am trying to make progress. I have recently found some folding shelves from a store I shall not mention (starts with W) that are decent looking and fold. I need to build the other ones and move the ladder up onto a table as I still struggle to get my display vertical enough. It is still too jumbly for my eye

I had some shelves built for me by a local group but they are solid wood and not within my possibilities of transporting. So, I continue to try and make it work for each different show, with each different booth size and lighting and neighbours.
 

Escaping winter in my mind....

A mighty strange January for Winterpeg...loaded the kiln in snow rain this morning while I skated down the sidewalk from the house to the garage.  I dont know if it is global warming or just a bunch of strange days, with temperatures on the plus side of zero, but the gray overcast days are tough for prairie people who are used to bright sun and bracing cold at this time of year.

I recently became aware of a blog called stopped Pinning and start making, and this is my new plan for escaping winter;  at least mentally. I am focussing on my pottery making with a garden inspired flair for my Spring Sales, birdhouses with a whimsical touch, Fairy Garden Pieces, wind chimes and garden art.

These are birdhouses in progress, large enough for birds, but great as garden art too. I think some vases and containers for flowers need to be on the list too. I didnt arrange these beautiful creations, that is my neighbour, but I did grow some of them. I need to see these on the gray days of January.

End of Year looking back on 2014

2014 was to be my year to burst forth. I am proud that I took risks with new ventures, some were more successful than others, but overall I am pleased with this year. I promised myself that I was going to launch a new line of urban pots, in a minimalist black and white theme. The reception has been mixed but I am going to forge ahead

I will continue to make more espresso cups and shot glasses.

The christmas ornaments, in particular the polar bears did well and are a good symbol of Winnipeg and Manitoba.

Yarn bowls and fiber festivals with my buttons are fun and financially rewarding.

The Pop Up shops supporting local and handmade have had ups and downs, but I have been really happy about feeling a greater sense of community and support from makers.   We will see how that goes in 2015, but paying rent for 2 shops was harder than I anticipated, and will have to consider that more carefully for the coming year. Gman is becoming a good support and help when on the road, we will do more of those in 2015 and find more travelling companions, where we can split costs when doing out of town shows. I know that I am doing the Fiber Festival at the Norwood community centre on January 10 and the Big One in Brandon in October. Other than that the year is an Open Canvas! Here are a few of my favourite pots from the year.

Fall madness! Making, stocking and selling

For all of us in the maker population fall is a wild and frenetic time.  I took some more stock into our beautiful Pop Up Flash Boutique. Tomorrow I am taking turquoise plates and leaves over to Exchange Uporium. Check out our Pop Ups if you are in the downtown or Exchange district, they show how artists collaborating can make beautiful things, and the money stays with the creators. It is our time to crank it out, and keep on smiling from now until December 31st. We usuallly make 50% or more of the years income during this period of time.

 I feel like I am throwing and trimming mugs in my sleep. So....I thought a few goblets would be nice to change it up. Here are some photos of the process taken by my Mr. G, a little shaky, but still give the idea.

smooth it out, keep it steady

trim some more, and hope they come out in one piece on Thursday!

Keeping up with the Pop Ups

This week it is game on, for transitions and setting up another Pop Up Shop here in Winnipeg. The demand shown for handmade and vintage yesterday at the Etsy MIC sale yesterday, which was attended by 3000 people makes me very hopeful for our next three months at Exchange Uporium at 164 McDermot and the new shop, FLASH at 438 Graham Ave. This is a photo from one of our television spots on Global, and CTV the other day.

Today me and Mr. G will go over to FLASH and set up my space with the black and white, turquoise and red pottery. Our soft opening is October 1, from 6-8 pm. Consider yourself invited!!! Kat has lots of dynamic activities planned, and I am pumped to be part of this. I am mindful that I need to find time to create and fire during this time too, so glad I dont have any more Saturday shows until November 1, 2014 at Morden in their Access centre. The Pembina Hills Arts Council broke a record and sold out the show in less than a month.

Christmas in July!!

My FairyGardenTime shop is giving me lots of fun in the making and selling. I am going to do a little pop up sale this week during harvest of my vegetables at Casi Cielo.  Here is a peek of the kinds of pieces available on line and at my home, https://www.etsy.com/shop/FairyGardenTime.

It has been a wild ride the last few days with the wind, rain, visit from a deer, and the refrigerator conking out!!!
I am glad that vacation is only a few days away! I am not feeling the energy to do a full blown garden party right now, but a little selling in a mini farmers market ambience always appeals to me! so good deals, veg, flowers from Jay ( my neighbour), home baking and pottery at discount prices, who could resist that....

Exchange Uporium Adventure part of the fun and funky Exchange

So glad I jumped into this venture with both feet, and tomorrow is opening Day of the Exchange Uporium at 264 McDermot in the Exchange District of Winnipeg.  Last night was the soft opening and I was really impressed with how great everything looks. I am hoping to get there for the ribbon cutting tomorrow and Grand Opening.  Here is the press release.....

Winnipeg’s newest Pop-Up Shop is opening soon in the historic Exchange District. In

conjunction with Centre Venture’s PUSH program, this diverse retail experience will wow

Winnipeggers with the amount of amazing and beautiful talent found in Manitoba.

The name of the new Pop-Up Shop? The Exchange Uporium! Founded by entrepreneurs

Patti Henderson and Eve Wowchuk, this is the first retail location for Patti and Eve with

plans for other pop-up locations to be announced in the future.

Exchange Uporium is Volume 1 of the PUSH program. Push is a year-long pilot-project

modeled after similar pop-up retail concepts seen in other major cities. The project pairs

start-up retailers with vacant downtown storefronts on a short-term, low-risk basis.

Winnipeg Minister Kevin Chief has this to say about the project:

“Patti and Eve’s vision for Exchange Uporium is a triple-win situation, revitalizing underused

retail store fronts in downtown Winnipeg while supporting more Manitoba artisans by

getting their goods into a store front and offering the 100,000 Winnipeggers who come

downtown every day more reasons to stay and shop,” said City of Winnipeg Minister Kevin

Chief. “This is where we should all be coming the next time we are getting a gift for

someone special.”

 

Minister Chief will be cutting the ribbon for the store opening at 11:00 AM on Thursday, May

15th.

You need to go and see the setup. I will try to get there tomorrow, it was full of people last night, but everybody's display is original and unique. Super fun and a great representation of the creativity of Winnipeg. Friday is the 2nd Anniversary party for TaraDavisStudio Boutique, the Exchange is really alive with shopping and socializing fun.

My new Etsy shop is open!!

Sometimes we just need a little magic, a little fun. Even though I pride myself on being a functional potter, I love whimsy and child focussed elements to my creativity.  I have been thinking for over a year about my second Etsy shop, SecretGardenSupplies.  I was shocked to see the retail prices for Fairy Garden or Enchanted Garden supplies, and thought wouldn't that be fun to make.


So far I have birds nests, gnome houses, beach glass for paths and will keep adding pieces to the collection.  I home to build my newest fairy garden indoors after this weekend's kiln and will post pictures , but for now here a few of the goodies and a link to my shop:https://www.etsy.com/shop/SecretGardenSupplies?ref=l2-shopheader-name

Whats up in the studio

I am hard at work, so here is a peek at what, in pictures.

black and white yarn bowl

black and white series, the mugs

Turquoise Rutile combination now available at Tara davis studio

buttons

Fairy Garden Pottery

with Spring still a little way off, I am drawn to my garden catalogues and Pinterest fairy gardens, giving me hope for green being in my life again.  The temperatures were better today, but I dont remember the last time the snow was this deep in the back yard.

Today was Louis Riel Day or Family Day here in Manitoba and I happily spent the morning playing in clay.  I have decided to open a second Etsy shop before Spring focussing on Fairy Garden supplies, with tiny pottery pieces and tiny rocks collected in beach scavenges and maybe some sea glass.

I will have little houses, benches, teeny bird baths, stump chairs and more. It is the best way to keep my hands in the clay, when the back is too achy for the wheel or handbuilding big pieces.

There is grass and garden under here somewhere.