I Love My New Potholders!

I decided it's time to replace a few kitchen things, and our potholders were the first on the list. I found this gorgeous pair at The Blue Kraken, and when they arrived they were too pretty to hide away in a drawer. Now they hang from my cupboards, and I smile each time I walk into the kitchen. They're big, too--9 inches square--so no more burned fingers for me!

I'm in awe of some of the jewelry in that shop. Go take a look at the jewelry that used to be circuit boards and plasma screens. It's beautiful and amazing!

How Do I Test Unique Items?

A few weeks ago I posted about a kumihimo necklace I made using mixed fibers. Toonatoons from Under the Sun asked whether it felt itchy to wear. Then Ollie McKay from Chic Boutique asked whether I had tried wearing it all day to see how it feels next to the skin for a long period. These are valid concerns, and ones I hadn't thought about while making the necklace.

From a customer's point of view, these are things I'd like to know before I plunk down my money. I think this necklace will be comfortable and non-irritating, but I don't know for certain. And I don't want the answer to come about because I'm wearing something that has been "field-tested" and isn't completely and easily cleanable. If the item was metal or fabric, I could wash and dry it, and specify that it's been thoroughly cleaned before shipping. I've seen other items sold this way--knit and crocheted hats and scarves come to mind--and as a buyer it makes me feel comfortable knowing that I could safely wash the item before wearing it.

A necklace like this one is a problem. It might wash and dry well, and then again it may develop an unpleasant texture, or the colors might run. There's not enough fiber left over to make even a very short braid, and I'm not at all sure I can get the exact same fiber mix again.

I'd love to get some opinions on this. As a buyer, is some sort of wear-testing important to you? And as artists and jewelers, how do you handle evaluating unique items?

A New Donut Style

The little darlings have gone back to their mom's, but not before someone shared a coughing-sneezing-aching-fever-and-chills crud with me. I meant to post this new pendant yesterday for Make Something Monday, but I felt too bad to even take a photo.

This is a new shape in my Circle of Real Life Donut Pendants. I fused a strip of translucent yellow glass over a base of opaque white glass, and added a thin stripe of white down the center. The strip was about 6 inches long, and when it came out of the kiln my plan was to cut it and re-fire it as earrings and a pendant, possibly mixing it with an aqua strip I made some time ago. Once I saw the final color it didn't work for anything I had in mind, so I just kept looking at it for a few days.

Out of nowhere came the idea to make a triangle with it, and I'm very happy with the result. I love the way the white has created a few swirls and curves. In fact I like this so much you can expect a number of new triangular donuts from me in the near future. Oh, and it's going in my Etsy shop this evening if I can stay awake a bit longer.

There's a Cow in My Mailbox

Actually, by the time you read this, the cow will have left my mailbox and be on her way to someone else's mailbox. I found this darling greeting card at The Hanging Flower Photography and just had to get one! Hanging Flower is a fairly new shop on Etsy, and I was thrilled to get my cards lightning-fast and in perfect condition. And they are just so darn cute!