Second-hand Pot

Saw this jug/pitcher in a second-hand shop the other day for just seven quid and decided I must have it. There’s a potter’s stamp on the base with the initials J W but so far I haven’t been able to track down who that might be (based on the style and after a bit of Googling). Whoever made it was clearly influenced by the Leach tradition - but then what potter hasn’t been?! So that doesn’t narrow it down much. Anyway, it’s a lovely no-nonsense sort of pot which is growing on me each day. Yesterday, despite my rotten cold, I braved the freezing weather (a sprinkle of snow) and picked some tall stems of holly from the copse down the road and arranged a spray of them in my new pot. They look fantastic. Unfortunately the light’s so bad at the moment I can’t take a proper photo of the whole display without it all going wildly out of focus. So these were the best of the photos that came out…

Other news. It’s been a bit busy round here lately. Since my last blog entry I’ve done two Christmas craft shows, finished off my Christmas orders, caught a cold, stood in line at the post office queue and had a very exciting rush of sales on my Folksy shop which I’m over the moon about. I also discovered that I was listed in the Folksy Sampler which, until I got my hands on a copy, I had no idea about. So thank you to Folksy admin for listing me and to the lovely Jackie of Henny Penny Designs for letting me keep a copy!

Short and sweet today. Hopefully I will get some time in the next few days to blog again.

Artists' Resources

Today I switched my Public Liability cover to a different insurance company. In the days before the Internet this would have been a laborious, painful experience - but luckily all that was required of me was to tap in a few details online and I was covered instantaneously. But it gets better. This particular Public Liability cover comes included in the price of a subscription to an arts magazine that provides online resources and support for professional Artists and Makers.

The name of the online resource is Artists’ Newsletter or ‘a-n’ for short. In fact, they’re a bit keen on initials and acronyms as shorthands for all their different services which can be a bit challenging at first (especially when having to concentrate on the details of insurance cover). But once you become familiar with their branding style you can see what great deals they have to offer. For instance, their cheapest option is an ‘online only’ annual subscription which includes access to all the online resources AND basic Public and Product Liability cover (up to £5 million) for just £28. This undercuts most quotes I’ve had from other insurers. But they also offer options of extending the insurance cover either by choosing ‘off-the-peg’ insurance packages or options that can be tailor-made to your individual needs as an Artist/Maker: something that other insurers don’t always offer.

Anyway, the point is, check them out by clicking here for their home page and selecting ‘AIR’ if you want to read details of their insurance cover.

Other news this week: I was very excited to discover yesterday that I’d been selected as a featured seller on Folksy! Over-excited is probably more apt a description as revealed by the amount of screenshots now sitting on my desktop. It was a lovely surprise and thanks to the Folksy admin for choosing me. Thanks also to Alison for featuring my stars on her blog last week (which you can see here) and to those lovely people who tweeted! Below is a screenshot of the Folksy Blog which you can also see for real here.