In May 2018 I started a new venture.  I opened a gift boutique that features items that are handmade in America.  Azure Sky Gift Boutique is located at the Riverwalk-819 Terrace Park, Rock Hill, SC.

Give a handmade gift (or two) this year and support an artist for another year.  There are now over 140 items listed in my online shop.  The items above are just a few ideas but there are many more.  Just  click on any photo and it will take you to my Etsy shop.

I will have my pottery at the CCM Pottery Festival (Barn Sale) again this fall.  It is located at the Historic Levine Dairy Barn, 8300 Monroe Rd., Charlotte, NC.  This is the only show I will do this year.

There will be some old favorites along with some new items.  See some of the items below. It's a great time to stock up on Christmas Gifts, Wedding gifts and birthday gifts.  If you can not make it be sure to check out one of the galleries that carries my work on the ABOUT page.  Or you can check out my Etsy page.  There will be more added in my online shop November and into December.

Starting this week I have three pieces in the Mud at the Mill show in Cornelius. 

I have been very busy the last few months with a trip to Italy being the highlight.  This is our 30th Anniversary year and we had both wanted to visit for years.  It was romantic and full of art and inspiration.  It the coming months I hope to make some pieces inspired by pottery I saw there.

Early this winter our Brother in law the landscaper put in four walls, a patio, walkways, irrigation and sod.  Then my husband and I put in over 80 bushes and trees and many flowers in the front and back of our house, and then put out 13 yards of mulch.  I am telling you that it was tough but because it was in March the temperature wasn't too bad.  It will be an ongoing project because I want to add more perennials throughout the summer and fall.  My hope is that in a few years it will look great year round with very little work.

As always I have been in the studio most days.  I have had orders for many existing gifts shops and a few new gift shops and galleries.  The following have new work in their shops.

• Alta Vista Gallery - Valle Crusis, NC  (new)
• Southern Made Mercantile - Cartersville, GA (new)
• Coastal Magpie - Ocean Springs, MC (new)
• Handcraft House - Brewster, MA (new)
• The Mind Gift Shop - Portland, ME 
• Pura Vida - Jerome, AZ
• Rubys Gift - Charlotte, NC
• Village Craftsman - Ocracoke, NC (soon)
• Barrington Garage - Bel Air, MD (soon)

I will be setting up next week for the Treasures of the Earth show in Shelby at the Cleveland County Arts Council.  The opening reception will be at 5:30 on February 16th.  The yellow cookie jar will be there (the others are currently at Kress in Asheville).  There will be a nice selection of nice home decor pieces as well as a good selection of functional pottery.

This year started out busier than I expected.  Just yesterday I shipped out new orders to 3 galleries.  The newest gallery is Coastal Magpie in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.   

This week I will take a few days to make a few pieces for myself.  Since the move I have been thinking about making myself a new dinnerware set along with a new utensil holder, salt and pepper, olive oil, butter dish and a few other pieces.

In the last glaze load I tested a few new glazes.  I look forward to doing some more experiments in the near future.

Some very exciting news.  My blog has been chosen as one of 50 top pottery blogs this year.   I have been blogging since 2009 at blogspot and moved it to this new website in March of last year.  I was not sure that anyone was paying any attention to my ramblings so there haven't been as many posts lately.  This year hopefully I can do better.

In December I took time off from the studio to concentrate on shipping out pottery gifts to many pottery lovers all over the country and spending time with my family.  In January I started up again making pieces for the Earth and Fire show in Shelby that starts February 16th.  Then last week I received two orders for gallerys.  One new and one existing customer.  So that's what I am working on this week.

Thanks to my husband, I now have a TV in my studio.  This has made me start my days sooner because I am not waiting around for a guest on the morning shows before starting work.

If you would like to see more photos be sure to follow me on Instagram or Facebook @newdaypottery.

This past week has been full of glazing.  My husband finished up my spray booth and with a few tweaks it has worked great.  So I proceeded to glaze 3 loads over the past week.  With the new elements the firings have been faster.  

I have started using a few colors I used to work with again and there were some great surprises. Within the five orders I had 109 egg separators which was great for testing new combinations.  There are a few new items which include garlic keepers, salt cellars and a new olive oil bottle.   There were a few other fun pieces the will be either going to Kress II or be listed online over the next month.

Many things have happened since my last post in May.  We decided to sell our home and move to Rock Hill (closer to my husbands job)  So, in June we closed down my studio and put our home on the market.  After getting our home ready to sell it only took a month to sell and another month to close on our new home.

So then the real work started as I immediately set up enough of the studio to start taking orders from galleries and so far have started filling 5 gallery orders.  The electrician came and got my kiln up and running and my husband is in the process of building me a spray booth, putting up more lights and hooking up a utility sink.  My hope is that he will finish the spray booth by next week and I can finish up the orders and other pieces I made for fun the last three weeks.  Look for a video of my new studio once it's completely finished. 

This Saturday I am supposed to have a booth at the CCM Pottery Festival.  And I will be there if it's not raining.  It's the only show I am doing this fall.  On Sunday I will start putting new items up on my website for sale and will keep adding new items through the holidays.

If you want to see more photos and information about what I am doing daily in the studio you can check out my Facebook and Instagram @newdaypottery