McCoy pottery

A Very Soggy Monday

December 18, 2023 at 9:15 am by Claudia

It has rained and rained and rained and is still raining this morning. We got about 3 inches overnight. It’s some storm that came up from the Gulf, but we were already drenched here and definitely did not need more. Who would have thought that a week before Christmas we’d be getting rain instead of snow? And – at least through January 1st – there is no snow on the horizon.

I’m still a bit under the weather but I’m definitely feeling better than I was. Don is also feeling much the same. We were as sure as we could be that we didn’t have Covid, but we ran a test last night anyway. Negative.

We just feel crappy, that’s all.

I wasn’t sure where to put the putz houses this year. Their former space was on top of the music cabinet which is now upstairs, having been replaced by Blythe headquarters. I put them on the bookshelves, but their sweet colors were lost among the colorful book jackets.

So I moved some things off the little spinet desk and here you go. I’m always tempted to start looking for more of them when I see them here and on various IG accounts. But I didn’t do any antique shopping this year, so I haven’t added to the collection.

This seemd like an appropriate place for this little guy.

I’ve sold a few smallish pieces of aqua McCoy, but only a few. It’s my favorite color and I’m going to hang on to it. Activity in the Etsy shop has stopped for the last week. I suppose no one is buying at the last minute for Christmas. Plus, my shop has less McCoy than it had. There are other beautiful pieces including an incredible Roseville vase. I’m considering adding a few more pieces of McCoy.

I’ve been working on a beautiful puzzle and expect to finish it today or tomorrow. I’ll share a picture of it then.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Pottery and Parkas

December 1, 2023 at 9:57 am by Claudia

Happy December! Next week, we will pull out the decorations, find the perfect tree, and hang the lights on the porch railings. I’m getting excited. There’s nothing I love more than seeing the tree lights from my chair in the den. What a difference it makes in our living room and in my mood!

I’ve now sold 9 pieces of McCoy. I went to the post office yesterday to mail 2 more boxes and thought to myself: good! – now I hope there’s a little break ahead because I’m running out of packing supplies and I’ve been to the post office 4 days in a row. Later that afternoon, I got an alert from Etsy that someone had purchased 2 pieces. So I packed them up last night and it’s off to the post office again this morning.

Remember my quick trip to Target last week for boxes and tissue paper and packing supplies? Somehow my cart veered off into the Christmas decorations section of the store. There I found what I had been looking for, some more of those Christmas sweater ornaments that I transformed into wearable sweaters for the girls. But something else was there, as well; little winter parka ornaments.

They came with attached ‘skis.’ Since they were only $3, I figured what the heck? I’ll see if I can make this into something the girls can wear, if only for a photo op.

These ornaments are glued together, so I carefully pulled the skis off and was able to remove most of the glue from the parka. Then I separated the front closing. Again, pretty easy, but the glue was harder to remove. And then, the neckline and the bottom of the parka had to be dealt with. I was hesitant to mess with the glue on the ‘zipper’ area because it was so near the edge of the fabric. But they do fit and it’s easy to style them as closed.

Here’s Mabel modeling one. Some arm positioning helps keep it closed, though on the white parka, the glue isn’t really a problem. I also bought a gold parka and a dark gray parka. These little ornaments are such fun for Blythe dolls. I think Barbie doll lovers use them, too.

I have to modify the new batch of sweaters and, hopefully, I will have enough for a holiday photo of all the girls. Fingers crossed.

Katie got to model the first attempt at adapting the parka.

Time to warm up my mug of coffee in the microwave.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Light and Dark

November 29, 2023 at 8:49 am by Claudia

On Monday, I went out to get the mail late in the afternoon and what I saw made me run in the house for my camera.

Such an extraordinary sky! Dark combined with golden light. Gosh, I love it!

Someone asked me if we got snow or rain and no, we didn’t. A front moving through, I think.

I sent out three packages on Tuesday. Yesterday, three more pieces were purchased! So I guess I know what I’ll be doing today. I’m quite pleased that I’ve sold six pieces of McCoy. I listed a few additional pieces yesterday afternoon. I keep walking around the house looking for other things to sell and I’ve found a few. But there are pieces of McCoy I am not yet ready to sell because they’re my favorites. And I’m not going to sell any Roseville. No egg cups either, though I did sell my duplicate Snow White. I didn’t need the duplicate any longer, so I was able to release it into the world.

Some butter pats, maybe.

This is the remaining inventory (only so you get an idea of what I’m selling – all of you are quite familiar with my McCoy…) It isn’t always easy to choose what to let go of.

Mostly pastels but one midcentury McCoy piece in a dark green. One of the very first pieces I purchased.

I’m really enjoying Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. Her prose flows so effortlessly and it’s a great story. The fact that the plot involves a summer theater and my home state of Michigan is an added bonus!

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

A Very Soggy Monday

Pottery and Parkas

Light and Dark

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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