Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Building It By Hand

As the dogs whiz up and down the hall, chasing each other, I'm taking the time to share with you the latest in Superchica's design process.

It's clay time! Yes, yesterday I had a clay day. Which basically means I spend the whole day cutting, rolling, pounding, shaping and smoothing clay. It's a tough job, but it's also fun and I get to play around with lots of ideas. Right now, I'm working on new cuff buckles and XL buttons made from high-fire stoneware clay. They're really durable and kinda chunky when fired and I like that. I began sewing these XL accessories onto my fabric cuffs last month and I really like the way they've turned out. It's a nice mix of textures and I think they'll do well for Spring.

Today I'll give them one more smoothing over and then they're headed for the kiln. It will take all day and part of the night for this first fire. Tomorrow when they've cooled, I'll add the color and dip them in glaze before finally loading them up for their last go 'round in the kiln. I hope to have them done by Friday for a big photo shoot coming up this weekend.

In addition to making accessories, I've been working on my displays. In case you haven't noticed, displays that you buy from the store suppliers are really expensive and they're often poorly made. So, I've made most of mine from wood or a combination of found items. It's a little bit "home grown" but I think it adds more personality to my booth. :) Yesterday I made a totally bizarre display that I plan to use for my Etsy photos. It's an ear! Yes, I made an ear with a little hole in it for displaying my earrings. I can't decide if it's cool or creepy. I hoping for cool. Then I made a wrist form for my cuffs. It's pretty tall and will work well for photographs and as a show display.

Well, I'm about to enter the studio and work for at least 3 or 4 hours today. I got the coolest fabric this week that will soon become new cuffs and hair accessories. I might even make some little zipper bags. Hmmm.. But first, more clay.

2 comments:

Brigid said...

I think your ear is really cool.

Unknown said...

This is a cool website. I'm glad you mentioned it on etsy again.

Rachel :)