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!