Giving thanks

In all the hustle and bustle everyday life, sometimes we forget to step back, take a breath and be grateful to all those that help us to succeed.

I just came back this morning (arrived home at 2 am, in fact!!) from an extremely successful show in Maryland.  I am euphoric, because shows haven't been all that great in this economy and in driving home through sheets of rain and lightning I had time to think about all the people behind the scenes that helped make this a successful show....people I may not always let know that I really appreciate their efforts, advise, labor and friendship.....all the people that make it possible for me to do my art and to get it to the customers.  So here goes:

First and foremost, my daughter, Leigh Ann, who may not always agree with me, but who never stops believing in the success of MudWorks, and works endlessly to put our name out there, our work on customers' shelves, and to be sure we eventually get paid for it!

Then my son, John, who showed up one day at the studio and "volunteered" to help while he was bored and between jobs and now has not left.....all the glazes, the lugging of chemicals, the pugging, all help to get my pots done and out the door and leaves me free to concentrate on the actual creating----though now he is making all the tiles and trying his hand, quite well, in fact, on the wheel, too.

Then there are the "minions"...LOL... Christa, (fondly and affectionately dubbed the Head Minion) who hand-paints the details on the mugs endlessly and without complaint (mostly!) --- Mary Jane, who came to take classes and never left, thank goodness, who does wonderful things with slabs of clay and puts in hours making my ideas look good on slab!  Ken, who's talents are endless....wood worker, tile maker, teacher and friend....Christina, the retail goddess and studio quark---fitting in where ever there is need, packing for stores, packing for shows, setting up the gallery after painting it, even making teabag holders!...Billy, back at MudWorks, all the way from NJ to throw and help with production. All these people put the "starch" into MudWorks without which we could not stand....The newbies:  Evelyn and Erin who will be interning this summer in exchange for a chance to be at MudWorks and to help keep the creative juices flowing here.

All my friends: Margaret, a professor in her own right, helping at shows, being a friend; Ursula (alias Red!) sharing her Mom, being a sounding board and creative influence; Shelley, volunteering to do whatever needs be done whenever she has spare time; the list goes on and on.

Last, and probably should have been first, is my husband Steve, who despite all the ups and downs and his negativity, has given over his retirement money to buy the building that MudWorks HQ is now occupying.....

So in reality, while MudWorks may have been my baby to begin with, I am not solely responsible for it's continued success.

I thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart....
Now, get back to work you guys!  We have a wholesale show next week!!!

Tempus fugit!

It is hard to believe it's been twenty days since my last post here in the Mud Pit, but the calendar doesn't lie...and so much is happening that I am not sure I'll be able to post for another twenty days after this!

In my effort to toss 1,000 things and keep track (sort of) it seems as the largest thing I'm about to toss is my house!  And in doing that, I'll probably be filling a dumpster in the process.  With a great deal of financial help from my husband, Steve, it seems as though tomorrow MudWorks will have it's very own building---room to spread out, be more productive and have a retail store space---and the building includes an apartment on the second floor which, within the year, will become our new living space. So I've gone full circle it seems....started married life in a second floor apartment and will likely finish in one.  This is a big move for MudWorks, and a change in life style for me and Steve.  There is no yard (bye-bye shovels, pick axes, lawnmowers and other garden equipment), the apartment isn't as large as our current house (so long extra furniture, dust collectors, old magazines, etc.) and the kitchen is half the size (sorting thru glasses and dishes and pots and pans)  Life will be different, yet again, but much lighter.  The "letting go" of stuff will be a wee bit difficult, but with lots of help from my highly organized daughter, it will be enlightening....no pun intended!


So I've blown past the first 1,000 things and will be up to 2 or 3 thousand in no time at all.  I won't bore you all with a complete list, but promise to get back here from time to time and keep you all updated on the progress.  I must admit I am half excited and half nervous---it is a big decision and not one I embarked upon lightly, but here I go---jumping in!

Too busy to toss!

Things have been rather hectic here at my Mud Pit....MudWorks is looking to relocate to a larger, more efficient building and so between keeping up with orders and searching out a new place (deposit and offer made on a building in the West End) I've slowed down on the shedding and stepped up on the mug throwing and carpenter hunting!

But, one of my favorite minions heard I might have some embroidery hoops that needed a new home and so out the door flew 17 of them!  Along with a gel fabric pen, a cloth journal and a flower shaped paper puncher for her budding artist, Em.  Twenty things out the door without even trying.....

Will try to be a better blogger, and a better tosser...but for now I'd better go be a better potter so I can pay the bills for the new and improved MudWorks....keep those fingers crossed, you all.

Deal or No Deal?

Some of you reading this blog may already know that I have been looking for a new home for MudWorks. It seems as though I've outgrown the basement here at home, and everyone is tired of lugging finished work from the kiln room to the studio then up to the shipping area and ultimately out to the driveway for FedEx to pick up.

So with all that in mind, I've been in search of commercial space with living quarters included,  as close to my present home as possible.  I thought I had found the perfect spot, allowed myself to get excited and then the deal fell through.  Needless to say, I was crushed.  In my mind, I had already moved out.  I tried to resign myself to staying here in the Reeders studio/home, but felt constrained, cramped and crowded. The search continued.

Now I've found another place, a little further away, a lot larger for the studio and a great deal smaller for the living space.  The building is actually better for the business than the first situation, but I didn't allow myself to get emotionally attached to this "deal", and I remained aloof even up til today when my real estate agent called to get a certified check for a deposit.  There's still a building inspection to get through and a contract to sign....anything could happen.

In the meantime, I looked around at my modest studio here at home trying to eek out a bit more space in an already maxed out environment....Leigh Ann came up with a great idea for moving things around, but, of course it involved (you guessed it!) getting rid of some more stuff!  Out went two paintings, another recipe book, a broken crock from my pottery teacher :(  , an old teapot, two bookcovers, some purple ribbon, two fish plates, a blown glass kiss, 7 ceramic frogs, six audio cassettes, an ornament, a curtain rod, a stack of recipes and an old wood ladder!  Twenty eight more things out the door!  I even managed to give the cookbook away right then and there!  Now the shelving is up, the boxes are organized (thanks to Leigh Ann, the organization Queen!), the junk is out, the studio is less cluttered...

So either way...deal or no deal...MudWorks is moving forward!  I'll keep you posted if there's a new address in our future.

You Want Salt With That?

After taking a brief hiatus from tossing things so that I could go throw some things (namely, shamrock mugs) I am back on track.  And serious!  I have been looking for a new home for MudWorks Pottery and came across a building in Effort, PA that has some possibilities, lots of room for expansion, and a hefty monthly nut to crack if it goes through.  It comes with a smallish apartment, so I may be putting my big old house up on the market and every time I think about downsizing, packing and starting again I get a nervous tickle in the pit of my stomach.  I look around at all the stuff I have and with each glance find myself asking "Can you live without that?" or "Where are you going to put it!"

Tonight I decided I'd move the bakers rack from the kitchen to the dining room so that Leigh Ann could bring up some shelving to the kitchen.  On the baker's rack are fourteen pairs of salt and pepper shakers!  Now these are not your average salt and pepper shakers....these are collectables.  None of them have ever held a grain of salt or pepper and I have faithfully packed and taken them with me from house to apartment to house....And, worse, I don't even like pepper!  And rarely salt my food after it is cooked.....so why so many?  Well, for one, they are cute.  Some are old, a few of the newer ones go back to when I collected black and white cows, some were gifts....but folks, their time has come.  I am giving myself ONE salt and pepper shaker set to keep and the rest are out of here....I am sure I will always remember the people that bought me some of these collectables without having to keep them forever, sitting empty on a shelf.  I may put them on eBay....maybe there's someone out there that just has to have more shaker sets!  If you know anyone that needs a S & P set, you know where to find them....but hurry, they are going fast!

And while I was at it, I figured I'd get rid of three more paperbacks (donated to library), three ocarinas from Mexico, and five pottery magazines (passed on to students).  


24 down, 123 to go!

Twilight Zone

Somewhere out there in the Twilight Zone is an alternate universe, and in that universe is every missing sock, earring, container lid or glove that each one of us has "lost"!  I used to think there was a black hole in my washing machine or dryer, because I swear I'd put in socks in pairs, but when it came time to fold and put away the laundry there was always at least one sock without a partner.  I know I buy containers in color coordinated equal pairs of bottoms and lids, I match them up, put them in the sink, dishwasher, cupboard or refrigerator and a week or two later I can't find a lid to fit whatever container I just filled with leftovers!  Does ET come in the middle of the night and take a lid or two?

So today's mission was to throw out all the odd pairs that never did seem to find their partners!  Out went containers without lids, lids that somehow lost their container, (6 pieces); earrings that I kept in a separate container just waiting for their other half that must be somewhere in the house (not!)....(9 oddball earrings)...one grey glove, now that winter is over, I've given up hope on the left one....A book on CD that was missing Disc 1....on and on....all used-to-be pairs now without partners.

And in the process of tossing those things I found 12 NJ Parkway tokens that I gave to a friend that actually goes on the Parkway, two care & use manuals for things I no longer have to use or care for, 12 McDonald Beanie Babies from 1998 when they were all the rage, old batteries that probably don't work but I don't know what that size was for anyhow, and an assortment of other such odds and ends....out, out, OUT!


So today's total of things gone is 96;  a mere 147 to go....another closet or drawer should do it.

But I think maybe I'll go for 2,000 things to toss.....this is much too fun to stop in another day or so!

To Bead or Not To Bead?

And today, that was the question!  Am I ever going to get back to doing the tiny seed bead projects that I had intended, or am I just kidding myself, cluttering up my jewelry room with things I know I can't or won't get to----ever!

So with my good friend Ursula -- who, by the way, actually USES seed beads in her jewelry making -- we went through the drawer of delicas, number 10's, 11's and 15's....the array of colors was a tiny rainbow on my table...Okay, so "tiny" is pushing it a bit!  We came up with 49 vials of beads that Ursula can actually use, and a roll of solder that I had forgotten about!  I think that was from stained glass days, way, way, way back in time.  And so I am 50 items lighter and closer to the goal of 1,000 (not to mention $73 richer) and Ursual got a bargain, too, and some much needed beads.  One woman's trash, and another woman's treasure!

As an added bonus, another friend came and exchanged $100 for some of those rubber stamps and inks that Leigh Ann and I needed to be rid of.  It does feel good to get things to their proper owners, sort of like a craft adoption center!  If anyone else out there needs rubber stamps, inks, beads or things of that nature, check in with me first!  You never know!

The final count?  Now only 243!

Time to Get Serious

I have been slacking in the "shedding" department over the past couple of days, knowing that alot of the superficial stuff was cleared out and now I had to get to some of the harder things to let go.....I made a mental list of my crafts and hobbies and rubber stamping came out at the bottom, so I started with the rubber stamp drawers. Yes, folks, that's plural....drawers!  Three in one room, a box in the other and many more down in the pottery studio.  And I never really made cards or did journaling.

I decided that the three drawers in the jewelry making room would be the first ones to go through.  I started with sweaty palms and trepidation, thinking I would not be able to let any of them go, but after the first twenty it became much easier....I ultimately got rid of 115, keeping a mere twenty for journal covers.

Feeling slightly in control of the situation, I ventured into a couple of other nooks and crannies, and today's total is 139....left to go:  293.  Quilting books, magazines, supplies and kits may be next, and then there's always the box full of embroidery hoops, a box or two of fabric paints....I'm exhausted just thinking about it, but saved those for another day.  And if any of you readers need something, please just ask....I'm sure I have it---in triplicate!

(Leigh Ann thinks I may have to go for 2,000 things, but I am keeping my sights on the first thousand.  One goal at a time!)

Lighten Up!

Doing something out of the ordinary last night gave me the impetus to continue my journey toward light....not the light at the end of the tunnel, but much closer to my goal of 1,000 things to get rid of!

I awoke energized and determined to throw out stuff....and where better to start than the books in my headboard/bookcase....I managed to let go of three this morning----and a magazine!  Wow, off to a good start, since I even managed to get away from the other forty or so books without being drawn into a "quick chapter" that could have lasted for hours of reading....focus, focus, focus.....

Brought the books and magazine down to the computer, stacked them on the rest of the literature that is going to the library donation box on Monday and then turned on the computer before I lost my nerve and let go of 8 Jamble ladder games (sort of like Scrabble) and my membership to this site is up in two weeks, so I am not going to join again....(does that count?)...

Ever onward, I make my way into the kitchen and after a quick yogurt and cereal breakfast, I tackle the closet over the toaster....I've been saving this one for a weekend, because I know there's lots to get rid of and I wanted to be sure to do a through job of it......103 things went into the trash!  Old mixes of spice dips, old teabags (is there still a Grand Union supermarket someplace?  I had tea bags from there and also from several Chinese restaurants that don't exist anymore!!)  After that major cleanup and one plastic trash bag later, I opened a drawer and found five more things I could live without.

I feel lighter already!  And guess what?  I went from 803 things left to get rid of all the way down to 682!  I blew right by 700 and didn't even realize it....Just wait til I get my second wind and turn out the utensil drawer!

The Pen Dilemma

I do believe I have more things to write, mark and highlight with than Staples on 611 has for sale!  The day before yesterday, I went through a container of pens that were next to my bed and got rid of several that were dry.....I actually threw them out instead of my usual practice of taking them to the pottery studio for signing in clay, where ink is unnecessary!

Last night I went into my jewelry craft room and to get the container of pens and markers from there to check for "dry" ones that I could throw out....I managed to find three that didn't write, threw those out but am still left with 17 that do (and a dark cherry wood stain repair stick).

Now there's one more container in the sewing room, another hanging in the kitchen on the wall next to where the phone used to be, two under the computer table on the bottom-most shelf and another near where the phone is in the TV room!  And I would dare say, there are pens in lots of other places that I can't recall at the moment...

What, say you, do I have all these pens for?  Especially when, if I need to jot something down, I can never find one?  I just love them.  I love to write, always have, but now most of my writing is done on the computer---no pen needed.  I guess they are a reminder of simpler days:  doodling on paper; penmanship awards in school; outlines and term papers; writing love letters that hardly ever got sent; then writing sad, tearful poems when those loves didn't work out; applying for college; cards and greetings to friends and family by snail mail; trying to balance a check book that defied balancing; taking orders when waitressing to make ends meet in that darn checkbook! ... all the things that went into making my life what it is now.

I won't get rid of the pens that are left until they, too, dry up and run out.  But I will put them in a more accessible place and try to take some time to doodle again.

Oh, the count!  53 things from the studio glaze table, 5 pens that were dry, 8 things from the medicine chest, and one more book!  803 more things left!  I feel 700's in the air.

Making Room

In attempting to clear out the clutter, I find that I am making room .... little pockets of nothingness in a wild landscape of "stuff"!  The trick will be not to fill those small places with new things that will be the new clutter in the old places.

Today, in just fifteen minutes, I cleared out a closet and removed 42 things, then they went from the tabletop into the trash....42 things in fifteen minutes!  I can move mountains, I thought....then I looked at the empty shelf and felt I should be putting something there, you know, to take up the space....I forced myself to turn away, leave the room and breathe.  The empty shelf is still there, waiting.  I am going to ignore the call for today, like an itch almost....and try to confront the feeling of "empty" and see where that brings me.

In the meantime, counting helps.  Forty two less items brings me to only 870 more things to go....I am in the 800's, I am unstoppable!!!

Now to go unload the kiln and fill that back up with more pottery.....At least there, I can refill the empty space without guilt!

Jump or Wade?

In going through my many emails early this morning, I came across one from a favorite craft sight that stopped me in my tracks.....it merely asked, when it came to new ideas, was I a jumper or a wader?  It took me completely by surprise, because I never knew one could wade into anything!  New tool, new craft?  I'm there, buying stuff before I even know what I really need to complete the project!

So, this "throw out 1,000 things" is even more difficult when it comes to any of my craft rooms....(you read that right, I have several craft rooms).  Each thing that I pick up has to not only be weighed and considered for it's original intended use, but looked at from a "will I need this for a new idea next week"!  And, really, how would I know?  I don't know what new book will be out about collage or jewelry making or sewing that will need exactly what is in my hand, trash today=treasure tomorrow!  But I still have this need to throw out 1,000 things!!!  What a dilema.

Finally, I stopped thinking about it, put off crafty clean up for another day and decided to inspect my pencil and pen container in my bedroom.  Bonanza!  6 mechanical pencils (given to Emily and Ethan), five pens sans ink (a no brainer), a couple of pins that I don't wear (obviously or they wouldn't be in the pencil/pen container)......the list goes on but the count for this morning's trash is 22!  Bringing my need-to-trash down to 912.....I can feel 800 something in my bones by the weekend!  Wish me luck!

Lucky 13!

Sunday I took the day off from pottery, blogging, and trashing things to go to Philadelphia to meet with some friends and customers....Monday was spent catching up on pottery and I also managed to throw out thirteen more things....mostly from the studio---a combination of books tiles and an old calendar.

Now it's early (very early) Tuesday morning and I just want to confirm that I've got only 934 more to go!  The quest for the un-necessary continues.  But if I don't go get some sleep, someone will be putting me out for "trash" tomorrow!

Shedding, still!

So I am not the list maker, that's for sure....but I do want to go on record with the continued number of items that are either now in the trash or photographed for eBay and Amazon.

While getting ready for my big day in Philadelphia, I took five minutes to clear out all my "war paint" (make-up).  I can't even remember the last time I used any of this stuff, but there it was, almost filling up one drawer in my bathroom....so I am happy to report twenty more items hit the trash!  Which brings me down to 947 more things just waiting to be discovered for the trash bin.

Five minutes here, twenty items there....it will all work out!  I just need to avoid re-filling all these little spaces I am creating.  My new mantra is "out, out, out"!  I am sure that some of you are taking bets on how long this will last, but I am determined.  And since I've made this purge public, I feel I will continue....and you all know that me getting rid of merely 1,000 things is just the tip of my iceberg!

Never Say "Never"

Okay, okay....I said I'd never start a blog, and of course here I am getting ready to post my thoughts, ideas and opinions for the world to see on a blog!  I guess I could make an entire list of things here I said I'd never do, and ended up doing at some point in time and that's the beauty of being able to change my mind, and still be okay with it.

I am hoping that this will be therapeutic for me as well as entertaining for any that may perchance read it.  In fact, it may inspire you to do one of your "never" things, too!

In addition to posting a blog for the first time, I am following a post of my daughter's; a challenge to get rid of 1,000 things. At first, I thought, simple! I can do this!  Just go to my desk area and there must be at least 100 old, rusty paper clips and some not-so-stretchy rubber bands and the first few hundred things will be a breeze......then I thought about it and figured that's not exactly what the excercise was about....panic started to overtake me, so I took a few deep breaths and decided to start with somewhere simple but a little more challenging than paperclips and rubberbands.

Books, I have tons of books. There must be a book or six I can live without, right?  I went to my book case in the TV room (I have bookcases, shelves and boxes of books in all the rooms, even the kitchen).  My first two to hit the Amazon resale site are two old craft books...one about sculpting foam and the other about stencilling....neither craft was ever attempted by me and God knows why I've held onto these for so long.  Into the computer room, list them on Amazon and hope for a buyer.  Next was the nightstand in my bedroom with a stack of books that I had acquired from who knows where.  Three hard-back novels ready to be donated to the library!  Wow, I'm up to five items and I haven't even broken a sweat yet.....Next, the kitchen...cookbooks are going to be harder.  I don't necessarily like or want to cook on a regular basis, but I love to read cookbooks.  But to my delight, I found two (of the forty) that I can bear to part with:  Holidays: Menus and Music (never even opened the CD) and The Weekend Cook.....maybe someone on Amazon wants those, too!

Okay...that's seven things going out the door....enough for one day.  This may take a year or two, but I am determined....the real trick will be not to bring in a 1,000 NEW things while I am in the process....but I did get a nice ceramic magazine today....(sigh)