10 Portrait Mug Custom Order

Every Christmas I like to give handmade gifts for several reasons. ONE: We is po'. TWO: NOTHING compares to handmade. THREE: I'm pretty crafty so why not exploit my talents. FOUR: My family is narcissistic. HA! Scratch the last reason- I kid!!! So when I decided to paint everyone's portrait and give it a Victorian feel, it was a big hit.

Since then I have been thinking about offering portrait mugs in the shop. I wasn't sure how the product would take, if anyone would be interested in something like this. Also the logistics of it all... the cost per ceramic, the paint, the firing and my time has to be accounted for and all priced accordingly.  Until I got an email from a web-friend and pattern tester to my Miss Jenny Apron pattern, Rebecca.

After seeing my mugs via Flickr and blog, she wanted one of her boyfriend for his birthday.

A dapper young man.

Special requests: Victorian style, he has a fondness for cycling and is a HUGE fan of the Boston Red Sox.

His family are big and I mean BIG fans, so much so the family built a 1/3rd scale Fenway Park on their property. Yes, you read it correctly.
Fenway Park.
1/3rd scale.
On property.
Check it out HERE.

You can see how I work my magic on creating these mugs HERE.
I have seen other ways of painting or transferring designs onto mugs or other ceramic pieces using sharpie pens and I have yet to try them out.
Have you tried it?
If so, does it really work?
I'm going to try this out myself and see if I can create such intricate designs. If it works, I'll let you know and perhaps another tutorial may be in order. We shall see...
SO the question still lies, should I sell custom portrait mugs? Thoughts? Ideas? I'd love to hear.
***

P.S., Thanks Rebecca for letting me create something wonderful for you!!!

10 Portrait Plates: My Girls

I'm stepping away from the sewing machine for a sec to show you a little something I made for my girls.

It all started here, with Lala. I gave her a ceramic plate to paint, a plate for special treats and  for her to use on her birthdays to come. So when she was done painting I thought it would be nice to add her hand print, name and age. It looked cute! After all she did paint it herself and her tiny little hand is forever captured on the plate, but like most of my projects, it just needs one more little thing...

Just like the portrait mugs I made as gifts last Christmas (post HERE), I thought it would be fun to add her face.

It's finished and it pleases me.

It pleased me so that I did one for the older girls. After seeing all three together and how precious they are to me, I'm having second thoughts of letting them use it. That's what everyday dinner plates are for, or better yet... Dixie paper plates, right?!

***

P.S., I got another portrait mug to show you... my first custom order! Yup, I'm thinkin' of taking orders, but we'll talk more later...

6 Covert Robin Part 1... to give

              

I missed last year's Covert Robin and I most certainly did not want to miss this year's.

Mary Ann was my recipient. I'm not gonna lie, it was a challenge. Mary Ann doesn't have a blog and I don't think she has a Pinterest account either. So stalking was not an option.
I was stumped.
So I thunk... and I thunk some more...
Well she has to be crafty, after all she is participating in the swap. Then it hit me...
Why not a pincushion? EVERY crafty mama needs a pincushion!
 It has been a while since I made my last pincushion and I forgot how fun it was to make them.

In my stash of ceramic bowls, I found my last two-portion dish. I love the scallop detail and the soft aqua color.

What better to compliment the dish than with Tula Pink's Neptune's Caspian Deep Sea collection for Moda? I literary had just enough scrap to make this.

No room for error.

*sweaty armpits*

Sorry... TMI, I know.

As I held the ball of stuffing, it came to me, "Why not add an anchor?".

And did I stop there? Oh no.

I had to add coral. What's a sea without coral?!

Now it's finished.

The coral could be a little message/photo holder or it could even a place to hang your ring(s)on, y'know... whenever you do your hardcore crafting and don't want to ruin your bling.

And here it is, happily resting in its new home and helping Mary Ann in her crafting adventures. This was a fun exchange. It turns out that Mary Ann has three daughters of her own. They're all grown up and her favorite people to hang out with. I asked for any advice she could share with me and she said, "The things that drive you wild in your kids, may serve them quite well as adults".

Makes perfect sense.

I'm so happy I was your Covert Robin, Mary Ann and I can't wait for the next Covert Robin!

Special thanks to Rachael, Kelley and Karen for hosting the exchange!

***

p.s., I'll be back to share with you my pressie from my Covert Robin, Liz. Oh I'm so excited!!! Come back and check it out!

17 getting back into the groove of things, but first...

The holidays was a mix bag... happiness and sorrow... restlessness and peace...

Although I'm sad the magic is over, I'm also glad to put it behind and look forward to what 2013 will bring. Before we move forward, I wanna share with you my mug project.

Remember? Let's start with a refresher...

Mug #1.

This one started it all...

Post HERE.

Mugs #2 & 3.

My nephew and niece.

Post HERE.

So after MANY late nights and asking myself what ever possessed me to do this, I finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel...

19 mugs in total (Mr.'s mug was in the dish rack).

As I sit here looking at the pics I can't believe I did it. *chuckle* Now I do see the light, but I'm not out of the tunnel... yet.

I still have three more mugs to complete, plus mug #2 (my beloved nephew) accidentally dropped his in excitement. So actually that makes 4 more. *eyes rolling back*

Despite the cursing and loosing my eyesight, I actually enjoyed creating each one. Each mug was an opportunity for me to reflect and be thankful for having them in my life. 

So bare with me as I slowly get back into the groove of things. As if the busyness of the holidays wasn't enough, I threw out my back in the process while baking 14 red velvet cakes... yes... 14. Nothing is ever done in small quantities in this family. 
Sheesh!

11 My Anthropologie Owl Jar

Do I have this one?

*sigh*

No.

I wish.

I've seen them in the shop and I absolutely adore them... all of them. They have such a distinct personality, each one of them, but the price...

yikes!

If I had the extra moolah, I so would. Luckily working part time at a ceramic shop has its perks.

Say hello to my little friend!

We only had four of these beauties in the shop over the summer and I had to have one. It's a pretty big jar and so it sat atop our piano all white...no color. No life.

I had no clue what I wanted to do with this guy.

One day I had a fit. A terrible fit. Grumbling to myself... mad at the world... I had to vent and there he was. With his BIG ol' eyes staring at me. I went for it. No real plan.

It took the entire night and part of the next day to finish him and it took that long for me to settle down and be okay. Sometimes talking doesn't soothe my soul. I need to work with my hands to work on my inner self.

And it feels good.

When I look at him, I am reminded that every dark tunnel there is light at the end. That makes me smile.

Now I'm itchin' to bake!

***

6 Mugs 2&3 Done

I did say I would only make these for the fellas in the family for Christmas...

I should've known better.

I had a hard time finishing Mug #2, figuring out the style of hat and what kind of graphic could I use to describe her personality. It was only when she mentioned how she likes peacock feathers that I could finally finish it.

Ah... Mug#3...

I had fun with this one. He's a banker and yes ladies... he is single! This is my nephew... good looking, ay? Yup... it's in the genes. HA! I thought it would be fun to add a pipe and a bowler hat.

He's a watch man. Ugh... what a pain to paint a watch though. I think I could've done a better job, but this will do. I know-I know.. I'm my worst critic.

Okay, so as I said earlier I was going to make mugs for the fellas, but now there's a change of plans. So what was going to be only about 9 mugs has now just about doubled.

AAAAACK!!!

Have I lost my mind?! I'm a gluten for punishment. Seriously. So here's to late nights of painting, sewing, baking and decorating... 

yup... 

it's gonna be a great Christmas!

***

2 In Between Here & There

In between sewing projects I'm slowly getting my belated birthday and Christmas gifts done. Hmmm... at least I'm ahead on thing! I said I would only do the men in the family.

Until some of ladies saw my first mug.

Drat.

I'm finding painting women in the 1800s to be a bit challenging. Hair, face, hat...

Maybe I should paint mustaches on the women too?

*tee-hee*

I'm finding it a bit challenging to stay on one project. Do you get like that?

Hop-hop-hop... sewing... hop-hop-hop... painting

hop-hop-hop...

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9 one mug down

Mr.'s mug is done!

Not bad if I do say so myself. *pat on back*

It was a relatively easy project and it went quickly. Of course I'm blind now, but it was worth the effort.

 Wanna know a secret?

Here's a trick you can do if you ever plan on painting a mug for yourself.

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First, you'll want to have a mug shot and decide what kind of "look" you'd want.

Hmmm... let's see...

perhaps this jolly chap?

Oooo... how about a lumber jack?

 Uh... Jeff Goldblum?!

Ahhh yes. This is it!

Now that you figured out what picture you want to use, let's move on...

So what you'll need is a ceramic piece (correct term is "bisque" when it has only been through it's first firing... no... not soup), gift tissue paper, pencil, tape and a fine tip sharpie.

Next, take your tissue paper and place on top of picture and trace with pencil. Then take your tissue paper and place it onto your bisque and tape in place. Finally, use the sharpie and go over what you traced with pencil. The ink will bleed onto the bisque and ready for you to paint.

Don't fret my pretties... the ink will burn off during the firing. You won't see any of that when it's done firing.

Easy right?

I was originally thinking of making this for everyone in my family for Christmas, but that would be 27. 27!!! Yikes! Instead I decided to do it for the gents in the family. So let's see...

1... 2...

10. About 10.

So one mug down!

0 other than sewing

I got Christmas gifts on my brain. 

Christmas?! 

Yes, Christmas.

I have, oh about 27 peeps on my list every year and we all do handmade. So this year I was thinking of doing mugs for the gents. I'm starting with Mr. as a sort "trial run" on my idea.

 What do you think?

I want to do a custom mug of the fellows' faces with an 1800s twist, all dressed with a fashionable stache of course. OH... by the way... now that MR. has seen himself with a stache, he's now contemplating of growing one. I've seen a few young men around town sporting the handle bar look and it's actually, quite attractive in a bizarre kind of way.

But Mr.?

Hmmm... looks good on ceramic, but real life???

...

Here's the backside.

It's nice to step away from sewing for a bit. Although I have TONS to do, I need a break from it.

Tomorrow.

I'll get back to it tomorrow.

For today...

I'll paint.