Another successful year at Festival of Trees!

This is one of my favorite events every year and this year was no exception. We met some great people and enjoyed the people watching during the 4 hour event. The fundraising this year is for a new Hospice House and the event was well attended and well funded. Our little contribution makes a difference and this is the time of year to remember that.
Now that the fun of that event is over I'm heading back to the studio and the hustle and bustle of our wonderful business. I'm sure there will be an update on that soon!

Giving Thanks

I have seen so many FB status updates about what people are thankful for this week. Seemed strange to me until I realized that Thanksgiving is NEXT WEEK!?!?! I'm sorry, what now?
So the leisurely approach to my "to-do" list just went out the window. Here is a sample of what I'm attempting to get done in the next 5 days.
~Call the electrician to fix the bathroom light fixture which has been on the fritz for weeks and we are just now getting around to doing something about it.
~Clean out the garage enough that Mike can get his boxes of stuff out for the annual fundraiser he is the finance chair for. (Notice I did not say finish the job - think more of a path to through our personal crap to get to his work crap that is buried in there somewhere)
~Move back the piles of crap to expose the washer and dryer and get caught up on laundry
~Plan and shop for our part of the Thanksgiving meal at GG and Papa's house
~Spend an afternoon with my dad and his wife so they can see Courtney - done!
~Get Courtney's bedroom ready for Mike's mom who is visiting for a week
~Attend Mike's work party but leave early so we can make it to Courtney's Fall Harvest Party at school - Not going, decided to just do the fun school party instead!!!
~Get a haircut? This is a big maybe. Might be more like me hacking at my hair in the bathroom. - done!
~Finish the staff schedule for the studio
~Get an email ready to send to all our customers letting them know about our Black Friday Sale - delegated, so done!
~Clear the pile of clean laundry off the top of the dresser and actually get it put away. I know the pair of pants I'm missing are somewhere in that pile.
~Pick up my mother-in-law at the airport
~Spend a morning in Kindergarten being the helper parent

And I'm a little tired just thinking about all of that. So now I'm heading to Dutch Brothers to get some energy. It's gonna be a great day!

Exercise Overload

So this weekend I started walking again. And for a nice easy introduction to exercise decided to tackle a 4 mile hike. Now granted it was all flat, so no real incline was involved. But this body has not experienced any exercise since P.E. was mandatory in high school! Needless to say I was a little tired when it was all said and done. And thank goodness for my walking partner or I would have given up and gone home. After a short rest period, basically me passed out on the couch for the next 2 hours, it was time to go to work. The studio is in that pre-holiday state where it seems to get busier every day. So my Saturday evening included a busy studio, not an empty table in the joint, two parties and loading one kiln. After 6 hours of being on my feet and busy I was getting a little cranky! My darling husband did come and help out for the last hour thank goodness. It was pretty much home to bed after that day of madness.

Fade into the next morning.... and it truly was a fade in....took quite the negotiating skills to get my body out of bed. And what is on the agenda for this blustery Sunday morning? Cleaning gutters and stacking wood at the grandparents house. Mind you, my grandparents have about 6 acres of property and are 79 and 82. Thankfully Mike is happy to help and we try and get up to their house once a month or so and help out with whatever they need done. So Mike worked on cleaning the gutters and Courtney and I cleaned out the barn (no actual animals anymore, mostly storage for the various family members and the studio). We packed up a few display pieces to take to the studio and put more things away that needed a home in the barn. After this project we stacked two cords of wood in the wood barn and loaded a truck full to bring down to the house. We filled up the wood stack at the house and got everything covered back up. Finally it was time to call it a day and go in for some of GG's stew and biscuits. I tried to convince the family that if you are supposed to get 20 minutes of aerobic exercise 3 times a week that I had, in two days, exercised enough for the rest of the year. They didn't buy it. I'm going to keep working that angle. At least until next weekend when it's time to walk the trails again.

And now I will stop wining about my excessive exercise this weekend and get back to work. Have you ever noticed how you feel better after you complain for a minute? Thanks for letting me complain! :)

Halloween Fun

Yes I know it has been a week since Halloween. But this picture is SO cute I wanted to share. Better late than never right? Our great friends have an annual Halloween Party and pumpkin patch. It is something we look forward to every year. Hard to believe we have been 5 years in a row!

Courtney had a great time on Halloween. We spent some time at a friends house handing out candy and had a really fun time. We did not get many trick-or-treaters at our house however and consequently we still have candy in the bowl. I'm not sure why I pretend I have any willpower. I finally gave up and ate almost every Milky Way in the bowl. And when Courtney asked me where the candy went., I blamed her dad.

Kindergarten is a vacuum!

So here it is November already and I'm realizing that Kindergarten is a vacuum. It sucked up all of our time during the fall. Maybe it's just me but the addition of only two more days of school as week makes our schedule twice as busy. Both Courtney and I are enjoying the new friends and activities. The "school" aspect is so different from preschool. And yes. I did cry most of the first week. Court did great! Her mom was a mess.

So it's a few weeks in and just when we think we have a handle on things our whole house gets sick. It was awful! Between the three of us we missed almost two weeks of school/work. We did play a lot of legos and UNO though. Now it's November and the beginning of the holidays. Will we ever get caught up? Family is coming for thanksgiving. Mike is working what we hope is his last year at the Festival of Trees. I am hiring new staff, training the group, placing orders and generally going a little bit crazy every day. But hey, it's Wednesday, what else did I have to do today anyway?

One month and counting...

If Courtney's school opens on time (they are building a new school and we aren't sure it's on schedule) then she will start Kindergarten in ONE MONTH??!!?? I'm tearing up a little already. So the focus for the next 30 days will be to enjoy every minute of our not yet in school, still completely believing in everything we tell her, baby girl's summer vacation. Oh, and trying not to cry.
Meanwhile at the studio things are going great. We have two more weeks of summer camps and then a couple weeks of regular studio activity before the fall season begins. September is generally a slower month for us and we use that time to get ready for the holiday rush. So there will be a lot of cleaning, some rearranging, and preparing for the many many orders that arrive from October until January.
At home we are preparing for house guests this week. My sister-in-law and our nieces are coming for a visit. It's always so much fun to have all the girls together. We might even sneak in a beach trip one day. And after that fantastic madness is over we are hoping to make it to our annual San Francisco Giants game. A long weekend in the city will be just what we need to cap off this wonderful summer. And maybe, just maybe, someone will teach me how to post pictures on this thing! :)

Oh the heat!

I'm not good with heat. Really not good. I get crabby and irritated at just about anything. So this week we are spending lots of time at the studio in the air conditioning, and lots of time locked up in the house. We did venture out yesterday to the music concert at Oakway center. That was fun. Ice-cream, music and friends. Today its back to work!
Work is busy, summer camps are in full swing. Next week is the little campers week. Ages 5 and 6 all week. It's going to be so cute! Hopefully one of my fantastic staff will show me how to post pictures and we will get some camp photos to share.
In the meantime, I think I'm going to go get a popcicle...

Im sitting on the front porch this afternoon enjoying the breeze and the smell of BBQ. Courtney and I worked at the studio this morning for summer camp. She painted and I loaded kilns. Then when the next shift came on I had to remind myself to leave! Sometimes I just keep working and it's hours later before we end up heading home. Court is the greatest because she plays, colors, cleans up at the back sink, and just generally amazes me with her imagination and patience. I'm extremely lucky to have her. The next time you are in the studio check out her lollipop sale. She is quite the little entrepreneur.

And now we are going go play with the dogs in the backyard!

Sunshine and Summertime

At the studio we have spent the last few days unpacking boxes of new bisque. Spent today getting all the new pieces out on the shelves. Tomorrow is movie night and we are watching Bolt!, one of my favorite new disney movies. We are also getting ready for summer camps that start July 6th and run for 7 weeks.
At home we are in a constant state of cleaning. Who knew 5 year olds made such a mess!! We are trying to plan some fun camping and other vacation trips because we just realized that June is almost over and before we know it school will be starting again!
Peep the Diva (as she is sometimes known) has been helping at the studio writing tickets for customers, and unpacking bisque. She is also helping at home by playing with the dogs and working in the yard. This summer is a little bittersweet for me. She is done with preschool and about to move on to Kindergarten. I want to fill the summer with all things "5". I want to suck up all the sweetness that she is and enjoy every minute of her.
She has a lollipop sale business at the studio and she is saving her money to take us to the beach. I can't wait!

The balancing game

Father's Day is this Sunday! And the Em's opening weekend is this weekend! We are taking advantage of this coincidence and will be attending two games this weekend. In the meantime we had an order arrive yesterday (got it all unpacked and put away...yeah us!) and a birthday party for 40 kids this evening. I'm thinking by tomorrow night I will be ready for a hotdog at the ball park.
It's a never ending attempt at balance. And I'm beginning to accept that it will never actually balance (the bookkeeper in me has a really hard time with this) but that the tilt of the scales go back and forth. The magic happens when you can keep them pretty darn close. And I'm doing a much better job at this these days.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads.
Congratulations to all the grads.
And keep up the great work to all the moms!

I amaze myself

So I had heard about this ping/pingle thing and was a little intimitated by the technology of it all. But tonight I sat down and figured it out. All by myself!! Yeah me!
Now it is my hope that I will be posting a little more frequently....we'll see :)

Two extra kids = 10 times the work!

As most of you know my husband and I have one beautiful daughter. And absolutely no plans to have any more. We are happy with our little family and enjoy the time we have together just the 3 of us. I am grateful to have a fairly big extended family whom we get to see frequently. This weekend for example we had my two nieces as houseguests while my brother and his wife had a little vacation. Their kids are 5 months old and 3 years old. Add to that our 5 year old and we had a house full of little girls. The house got messier than it has in a very long time. The laundry pilled up higher than I imagined (I forget how much laundry new babies make!). The volume of screeching laughter and giggles was tremendous. It was fun and silly and girly....basically it was fantastic!
Meanwhile the studio is working smoothly thanks to my amazing staff. I work a handful of shifts and this week one of them was Saturday from 12-5 so I could teach a clay class for a group of 7 year olds. I happily left the bigger girls home to play in the yard with Mike and the baby and I headed to work. It really brought back memories from when Courtney was little. We spent a lot of time at the studio when she was brand new. I had the playpen and all the paraphernalia that comes along with a new kiddo. This time however, I was not as prepared. We got through it, mostly because my niece is a trooper and the best little sweetheart since my own baby girl. I was impressed with my multitasking abilities if I do say so myself. We had a great time, the clay kids made some fantastic projects and I got to smell the sweet baby head sleeping in the baby pack. It was a fantastic weekend and I'm so thankful for my family, my staff, and my life.

Where did May go?

If you are anything like me you are approaching this holiday weekend with excitement. I'm really looking forward to having friends over and sitting out on the back porch. Hopefully the weather will be warm enough to use the misters (not very likely) and the dogs will behave themselves (not likely at all!). But in any shape the weekend takes, I'm excited.

Memorial Day Weekend is the official start to summer in my book. And that means summer camp. I'm going to be teaching a week of camp myself this year with my very good friend. We are designing our camp around our kids, both age 5, because there just really isn't a lot of camp activities if you are 5. Wish us luck, we may be in over our head!

The sun is out and the weeds are not going to pick themselves, so I will go ask Mike to do it. :)

Spring is in the air - or is that rain?

So my little blog has undergone some changes.... It's having some growing pains, and a little bit of an identity crisis. But I think we, errr I mean it, is better now.
New page = new focus.
Peace, Love and Pottery is the name of my company. Peace, for the peaceful balance we work to achieve in our lives. Love, for the family and friends that make life so great. And Pottery, for the fantastic business I happen to be in.
So the blog format now will focus on the balance of my peace, and love, and pottery. Some days are better balanced than others. Hopefully you will enjoy hearing about my experiences. I'd love to hear your stories and comments.
Have a fantastic day and do something fun!
~Kate

Mother's Day

You still have time to paint for Mother's Day! Turn your completed project in by Wednesday and you can pick it up Sunday. (You can paint as late as Thursday, with a small rush fee.)
You can also bring Mom on Sunday and paint together. We are open 11am - 7pm.
Don't have time to paint? Pick up a gift certificate for Mom to come paint anytime.

Pssssst Moms ~ Tell the family what you want, drop hints if they will pick up on them, or call us and let us know what to suggest :) We won't tell them we are working for you, we will let them think it was their idea!

It Feels Like Spring!

Hope everyone's been enjoying the sunshine! It was exciting to watch our window-painter scrape off the snowflakes and put up some spring flowers. She also painted a cute red bird in a bird bath, which seems to be a favorite :-)

We have lots of new pottery in the studio, as well as some great gift ideas for Mother's Day. Don't have time to paint? You have options! We'll be open from 11-7 on Mother's Day (Sunday, May 10). Make a reservation and bring mom in for an afternoon of painting and create a special gift together!

Thanks to all of you who showed up for our first Paint 'til You Faint event last Friday, it was a real success. We had two different parties booked that night--a bridal shower and a 14th birthday party--which made for a lively evening. We're definitely planning on making this a monthly event, like Therapy Thursday and Ladies Night. Join us from 8pm-midnight next month (date TBA) for a night of painting and hot chocolate!

Valentines Day

We've got a bunch of new pieces perfect for surprising loved ones on Valentine's Day. Heart Mugs, Bowls, Boxes and of course tons of idea books, stencils and stamps to create a personalized present. There's still time to paint and have everything ready for Valetines Day. Or if you're looking for something fun and creative to do on Valentine's Day, you should come by the studio. When buying two pieces, couples will get the second for half price with a reservation!

Picture Pieces!

It seems like every family has classic family photos. Our family favorites usually involved us kids and include pictures from a Halloween party when I was four, what has become known as the "rice cake picture" when I was a toddler, and among many others a photo of the three of us at the beach.

We can now put all those pictures on pottery! Forever immortalized on pottery. How fabulous is that? My mother was very excited. I chose the beach picture since I could think of some fun shells to put around the rim.




I also chose to make a box with one of the photos my friends refer to as "world's greatest," and although some of us are in our pajamas it's still one of our favorites.




All you have to do is bring in a picture or email one to us and we have special photo paper that can be fired. Although it only fires black and white, you can bring in color with the paint. It takes us about a week or so to get them back to you since they require two firings.

I had a customer who was in today and mentioned that a picture would be perfect for her parent's 55th anniversary. Seems like a fabulous idea and there's still time to make a unique and creative gift for Valentines Day!

I met up in Ashland with some of my good friends from California on New Year's Day. It was a very last-minute trip, but on my way out of town I was sure to stop by the studio to check out a paint kit and grab some 6" tiles. My friends have the most adorable little girl who was born on Jan. 13, and I wanted to get some hand/footprints done for them for her 1st birthday. Lucie picked out the colors she wanted and was so good while we painted her cute little hands and feet.

I brought the tiles back to the studio, added her name, age and the date, and fired them. I was initially planning on framing them--we have some really nice little frames for 4" and 6" tiles. However, on the drive home I remembered that we have stools that fit two 6"tiles.

I finished the stool with a really nice walnut stain (thanks, Laura, I'll remember to get that back to you at some point!), glued the tiles in, and then added a little grout to fill in the small gap between the tiles and around the outside of them. I couldn't have been happier with the end result. My friend received the stool yesterday and loved it. She said Lucie likes it, too :-)

Happy 1st Birthday, Lu!

The reviews are in!

As mentioned previously, the holidays were such a busy time for us, it was hard to know which way was up sometimes. Customer service is so important to us, and when there is a studio full of people all day long, it can be difficult to feel like you're giving everyone the attention they deserve.

Well, I got the validation I needed from some of our wonderful customers who reviewed our business on yelp.com. I love Yelp. It's a great way to learn about local businesses and share your opinions about them. I was so stoked to discover two recent reviews (besides my own...) that had such wonderful things to say about us. It totally made my day, and I couldn't wait to share the info with my fellow employees. Thanks, fellow Yelpers! You guys are fabulous!

To read the reviews, click here!

New Year, New Brushes

As always, we're working to better things at the wonderful world of BrushFire. It being a new year and all, it gives us the opportunity to have a fresh start and make some changes and improvements. On that note, we have new brushes! They are so lovely and they paint so nicely. It makes me very happy. We are also planning on selling some brushes so that you regular customers can have your very own that don't get the wear and tear of all of the other customers. Stay tuned for that.

Also, FYI, we have changed Clay Club hours. Based on customer feedback, we've changed from 2-4pm to 3:30-5pm, every Wednesday. 2pm seemed to be too early for a lot of families, so we're hoping that this will be more accommodating to your busy schedules. Please keep us posted so that we can better serve you.

And finally, thanks so much to all of our wonderful customers for their continued patronage and support. The holidays were a crazy time at BrushFire, and we wouldn't have it any other way. We loved seeing the beautiful masterpieces you created for your friends and loved ones, and I'm sure they loved receiving them! Just today I spoke with a customer whose daughter was so touched by the handmade gift her mother had made for her. Hand-painted pottery truly is a labor of love.

Hope to see you in the studio soon!