News from the Nest!

It's been a little bit, hasn't it? Have you been missing my gripping and enticing prose? No? I'm crushed, but I will sally forth with the latest updates.

First, I was lucky with my latest firing, as you can see above. I went off the reservation and did a bisque firing and a low-fire glaze firing, in the same firing! All mixed together, willy-nilly! 

And it turned out so well!

You may reasonably ask why it might be such a big deal to mix glaze and bisque. Honestly? I never looked it up! I just never saw it done when I was in school and thought that maybe it had to do with the chemicals released by the heat of the firing. But then I saw someone mix glaze and bisque when glaze and bisque firing were at the same temperature without major issues, so I thought, why not?

Some clays and glaze don't reach maturity until they're fired at higher temperatures. Low fire clays mature between 1945°F and 1971°F. When you fire low fire glazes, they flux at about the same temps, give or take. If you get into super-duper low fire like lusters or china paints, you're looking at around 1283°F, give or take. But this firing had both clays and glazes at the same temp, so no biggie! I love how the glaze pieces turned out, especially the Day of the Dead jacks!

In other news, I had a successful stoneware firing, which results will be in my shop shortly tonight at 6:00 PM PST! I got some more of those Supernatural-inspired cups, mugs, and tankards put together, because:

1. I am obsessed, still
2. I love the peace that carving clay gives me
3. I love making things for fans of SPN, because I know they appreciate my handmade work
4. Did I mention I'm obsessed with Supernatural?
5. I love carving "Hey, Assbutt!" because it makes me giggle like a thirteen-year-old kid

But there's other, not so happy, news. Etsy is being a collective, corporate, dickbag, with imminent changes to come on April 11th and how it will affect my shop.

Despite soaring revenues Etsy has made lately -transaction fees are going UP 30%. That makes this April 11 fee hike an increase of 85% within five years. (I literally got $8 for a $50 cup, recently. I'm sure you can see why this isn't a sustainable business model.)

On top of the transaction fees I must pay a flat listing fee, payment processing fees, and other service fees, including a 12 percent advertising commission each time a customer comes to my shop and makes a purchase from an ad placed by Etsy — a program anyone making more than $10,000 a year is required to join.
This means after April 11th I'll be adjusting my prices accordingly. I'll also be searching for a different online outlet for my work, one which is more sustainable for me and makes my work more affordable for my customers.

If you have something in your cart- or was thinking of buying, from my shop or anyone else's...I would do it now. Thank you, as always, for your support.