Bunting Torte

Since I didn't have very much painting to do this weekend I decided to bake the "Dobos Torte" that I saw on http://smittenkitchen.com. It looked deliciousness. Sooooo... I gave it a go - it doesn't look nearly as pretty as Deb's, but it tasted pretty damn good.

And so the name... well since it fitted nicely onto my bunting plate... it is now known as the "Bunting Torte"

Auckland Art and Craft Fair, shop and giveaway!!!!

Fair

WOW- what an awesome day! The Auckland Art and Craft Fair is now over for another 6 months, but it was such a good day and I'm really looking forward to the next one. Thank you so much to everyone who came to my stall and had a chat to me. I met some really great people today. (picture of my stall with mother in the back :) )

Shop

I now have my own little Felt shop where you can buy my stuff online. So check out: www.felt.co.nz/shop/shellyduck. I'm still waiting for my listing to be approved, so if you pop there tomorrow it should be all up and running. Otherwise if there is something that you would like to chat to me about now either leave a comment or drop me a line on mk[at]strauss[dot]co[dot]nz.

Giveaway

Win a teapot or a cookie jar or a set of bunting plates (small and large plates)!!! Exciting. To be in the draw to win one of the above - the winner can choose which one s/he would like (you can check these out at my felt shop) - leave a comment on my blog letting me know which of my wares you liked or didn't, or what you would like to see more of, or anything else that comes to mind and let me know which of the above prizes you would like! I'll draw a winner next Saturday 18 June 2011. So if I only get one comment - then that person is a winner!!!

I picked up my fired cups and saucers yesterday. Teapots still to be collected.... I'm really pleased with the results. Here are some photos:

1. This is my original design... T for morning tea... cupcakes, black forest cake, gateaux... nom nom nom... dribble

T is for tea and toast and relaxing with the newspaper...

T is for tea at breakfast... bacon, fried eggs, poached eggs, boiled eggs...

T is for Kiwi morning tea... kiwifruit, pavlova, lammingtons (but only chocolate because the raspberry ones are gross) and hokey pokey ice cream (must confess - not entirely sure how that mixes with tea)

ABC's

Check out this awesome font by Tom Yarzhombeck (discovered via www.pikaland.com):

Great ideas for my next set of teacups and teapots!

Took 20x teapots, teacups and saucers to be fired today. Very excited.

Auckland Art and Craft Fair

Auckland Art and Craft Fair

So I'm really excited to have been chosen to be one of the vendors for the Auckland Art and Craft Fair - http://aucklandfair.blogspot.com. It's a fabulous event with a great selection of vendors. I was interviewed and you can find my interview here - http://aucklandfair.blogspot.com/2011/05/artist-interview-shellyduck-ceramics.html.

To be ready for the fair I have been doing lots of painting. I've taken a few photos of the painting process.

1. Arrival of teapots. I get my ceramics from Studio Ceramics and its wonderful (if a little daunting) to get big boxes full of teapots, cups saucers etc. All ready to be painted...

In the meantime I prepare my templates..

I copy the image on to the ceramics with carbon paper and then paint over this.

A couple of teapots ready to be glazed and fired.

Beginnings

I've always really enjoyed painting. My obsession for the last couple of months has been painting ceramics. I'd thought I'd try to see if I could turn my hobby into a small business. So I've started creating my first "line". It's an alphabet line inspired by Ed Emberley's ABC book for kids. So here's a few from the first set...

T for Teapot.. and morning teas with cream cakes and cupcakes... nom nom nom

C is for Cookie... milk and cookies.... after I made this one I baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies as it didn't seem right to have an empty cookie jar..

E is for eggs... and what better to have with your morning eggs than a hot cup of coffee... in your egg tea cup - genius.

I'm focussing on homewares - so teapots, cups and saucers, plates, jugs, espresso cups etc. I'll post more images as soon as my next lot have been fired.

I'm hoping to start selling these at local fairs in Auckland. But if you're looking to buy anything please feel free to drop me a line (mk (at) strauss (dot) co (dot) nz). At present my prices are likely to range between $15 (for an espresso cup and saucer) to $50 for a big teapot.