Osmosis Launches New Range

Today I thought I’d blog about the new range of Mug and Mug Cosy sets launched by Osmosis this week. You may (or may not) already know that Osmosis is a joint venture between me (potter…) and my sister Sue who is a textile designer. We have a shop on Folksy called Osmosis where we list unique homeware designs using both disciplines – and this week we’ve been adding a new range of mugs and mug cosy sets.

Our new range is designed to be even more exclusive than the last because everything about them is handmade. My new mugs are hand-thrown as usual but this time I wanted to use my white gloss glaze inside and out to create a very simple but versatile design. The aim was to allow Sue to choose any colour she wanted for making the mug cosies (since all colours go with white) rather than have to complement the colour scheme with the glazing. It also means the mugs are very striking and show off the new colours beautifully.

Sue has used pure natural wools in her mug cosies so they feel even softer. Each one is hand knitted in moss stitch and features Sue’s own design label. Finally, we decided we wanted to make this range even more ‘handmade’ so each mug cosy also features one of my handmade stoneware buttons in matching simple glazes.

We’re really pleased with the results and hope people like them as much as we do! We’ve already added three of the colours onto our Osmosis shop on Folksy and will be adding more soon: so please do have a look if you get the chance! In the meantime though, here's a final composite shot of our mug sets being made showing the mugs coming out of the kiln (in black and white) and some colour matching ideas using wool and buttons during one of our creative 'brain storming' sessions!

Garlic Festival Finds...

Last weekend my sister Sue and I shared a stall in the Arts and Crafts marquee at the Isle of Wight Garlic Festival. It went very well and although it was hard work we enjoyed ourselves. It was so busy by Sunday afternoon people were still queueing to get into the showground! So I’m pleased we made the decision to go again this year. Yet again my photos of the event were pretty rubbish and out of focus: too preoccupied with manning our stall. So instead I thought I’d blog about my new purchases…

At the festival I found a fabulous stall selling lots of gorgeous vintage tools and garden equipment. I picked up a lovely enamel bowl for my studio, and since I don’t have a sink in there it's perfect for all manner of uses. I’ve already been using it to do a bit of mid-summer cleaning: washing all my work aprons and tea towels which were long overdue. I also bought a pair of tongs from the same stall. These were a bit rusty and dirty to start with, but after a few minutes soaking in WD40 have cleaned up a treat. I haven’t used these yet but I’m sure when it comes to raku firing again they’ll be useful for finding tiny buttons or pendants in all the sawdust. But at just £2 for the bowl and a quid for the tongs I could hardly resist!

Finally I bought this lovely old metal bin with lid and handles for just £8. Not sure what it was originally – maybe it was an old steam cooker or a copper. But I saw it and instantly thought I could make it into a small raku kiln. So I’m really quite excited about it! I’ll have to do some research and draw up some plans on how it might work – but in theory all it needs is some ceramic fibre on the inside and a hole in the back for the burner. But even if it turns out not to be suitable, it’ll still be perfect as a reduction chamber in raku firing (ie; the bin full of sawdust into which the raku pots go when they come straight out of the kiln).

So all in all it was a successful weekend!

(My sister Sue was also tempted to buy some lovely bowls and pots from the same stall for her natural dyeing process. You can see her blog here.)

Glazes and Garlic

Over the past couple of days I’ve been sorting through a selection of small accessories that came out of the last glaze kiln. These included buttons, brooches, pendants, rings and miscellaneous ‘blanks’. All of these little pieces require some finishing touches. First I usually smooth them all using sandpaper to soften the edges and make sure they don’t snag on clothing or feel rough against the skin. After sanding I add the fittings like brooch backs and ring findings (I use Araldite as a ceramic fixative and the fittings come from my local bead shop). I also thread the pendants onto lovely new suede thongs and individually attach each button onto card in singles or matching pairs to keep them together. All in all it takes a day or two to go through all the pieces - choosing which items go best with which fitting (and also trying not to glue my fingers together). But it’s all worth it in the end I think – especially now I have a new selection of jewellery and buttons (with brand new glazes!) for my next show.

Talking of which…our next show is coming up very soon. My sister Sue and I will be sharing a stall together again (as Osmosis) at this year's Isle of Wight Garlic Festival next weekend (14^th and 15^th of August). It’s our second year at the festival. Last year was very good for us and we had lots of interest in our work, so we hope it will be successful again this year. We’ll be exhibiting in the Arts and Crafts marquee on site with lots of other local artists and craft makers - and there’ll be plenty of other attractions over the two day event including live music and lovely food stalls with garlic to eat of course! So if you’re in the area, please do drop by: here’s a link to their official site.

And I just wanted to thank Helen again for featuring my bowl on her lovely blog last week: here’s a screenshot, and here’s a link to her blog too. Thanks!

Open Studios: after the event...

Today I’m recovering from our four-day Open Studio event. I feel as though I’ve been on my feet for weeks! We had a very successful and enjoyable time. In my last blog entry I mentioned we were sharing a venue in Freshwater - which is one of the more remote areas on the island. So we were really pleased to count 592 people through the doors over the weekend! We met lots of new customers and also quite a few fellow artists too (including some potters – which was very good for me because I could ‘talk shop’ about ceramics with them). Overall I think we all had an excellent time and lots of people said how much they enjoyed coming to see us. So you never know, we might just do it all over again this time next year!

Anyway, I managed (in all the busy buzz of holding a stall) to remember to take some photos. However, the interior shots didn’t come out as well as I’d hoped. So instead I thought I’d blog these exterior shots of our venue – which was a lovely old thatched building (Freshwater Parish Hall).

(By the way, my homemade button display board was a hit: sold lots of buttons and had lots of lovely comments about them too. So I’ll definitely be taking the board with me to the next event…)

Open Studios

This year my sister and I (as Osmosis) are taking part in the Isle of Wight Artists’ Open Studios 2010. It starts this Friday (16th of July) and ends next Monday (19th of July) so it’s not long to go! We’re exhibiting in Freshwater on the island and will be sharing a venue (Freshwater Parish Hall) with 5 other artists including painters, sculptors, jewellers and other craft makers. This means visitors will get to see a wide variety of arts and crafts all in one place – so there should be something for everyone! You can see our listings and find out more details here.

In the meantime I’ve been busy planning what to take to the Open Studios in terms of stock – but also putting together details of the display. In fact the display part seems to take the longest! Since it’s a four-day event this time, I decided I needed to think more about how to show off my buttons. Normally I put them in wicker baskets or arrange them flat on the table: but this really doesn’t show them off properly. So yesterday I had a brain wave and re-commissioned my cork pin board from the studio. I gave it a few coats of white paint, pushed in some nails, and hey presto, a simple, lightweight display board for my buttons! And it cost me nothing because I already had everything to hand. Anyway, these are some shots of the result.

I’m really pleased with it. I think once it sits in amongst all my pots and other display pieces it’s going to look a treat.

Anyway, wish me luck!

Easter Egg Cups and Cosies

Since Easter is on its way I thought I’d blog about these little egg cups and egg cosies pictured above. They are available to buy in Osmosis, a homeware gift shop on Folksy which I run jointly with my sister Sue Wright.

The egg cups are handthrown by me and glazed in a simple white gloss glaze. The glaze is food safe and matches other tableware items I make in the same glaze. My sister Sue has handknitted these lovely little egg cosies to match. The cosies are currently available in two colours using a wool with a fleck pattern. The first is a rich purple-and-jade cosy (pictured above) and the other is a ‘Spring’ mix of yellow and green. The egg cups and cosies can be purchased as a gift set from our shop and are perfect for Easter - or for breakfast all year round!

We hope to add more homeware gift items to our Osmosis shop soon so please do check back. You can visit our shop here.

Osmosis Launch

(buy this mug and mug warmer set here)

Snow has stopped play. The temperature in my studio can only be described as perishing. I’ve given up trying to do any work in there. Instead I’ve spent the past couple of days curled up on the sofa with several blankets doing ‘admin’ and drinking lots of hot tea (occasionally alcohol) in an effort to keep warm.

Just before the snow descended however, my sister and I managed to launch our new project. We’ve been doing local craft fairs and markets together for well over a year now and during those pauses in between talking to customers we’ve been hatching plans to set up a small collaborative craft shop on Folksy to showcase some of our design ideas.

My sister Sue (who also lives on the Isle of Wight) is a textile designer, handknitter and handweaver who mostly works with wool. The inspiration for our project came from the materials we use: we noticed during our craft shows how gorgeous Sue’s handmade woollen textiles looked against my ceramics. It was a logical step therefore to start coming up with some designs that would incorporate both of our craft skills. Our first design project – my rustic mugs and Sue’s handknitted mug warmers - can be seen pictured above, posing in my snow-bound garden. You can also see these listed in our new Folksy shop Osmosis where they can be bought as a unique gift set. We hope to add more designs soon.

Other news. Just wanted to mention that a few days ago my white buttons were featured on the lovely gooseberrymoon blog as a part of a snow-inspired post. So thank you again gooseberrymoon!

Well that’s it for today from the Isle of Wight – all puns intended. Officially ‘snowed in’ and steadily running out of milk...