I am not a business man, office supplies, and the loose reputation of decals...

 

Oh sure, it might be small, but tell me that isn't a dragon!  You know what?  You can't!  That is a dragon, wings and all!  And it flies!  Well, glides really; falls with style. Still, freaking cool.

In case you didn't know, today was Tuesday.  For me that means cleaning and paper work.  I am not a fan of paper work.  I am not a fan of the whole business side of running a business actually.  Order sheets and spread sheets and taxes and dealing with customers...that is not my idea of fun.  I would much rather be in the studio.  Unfortunately I have not yet convinced my wife to take care of all that for me.

Today also included packing up a few pots to ship.  This I do not mind as much, especially since it means I am selling pots.  I did not actually get the pots shipped due to a lack of the properly sized boxes, but that situation has since been rectified.  Thus tomorrow shipping pots is item one on the agenda.

How do you all deal with the acquisition of shipping materials?  I have quite a few previously used boxes sitting in my closet, patiently waiting to be filled with purchased pots.  Unfortunately they are seldom the correct size for what I need to ship.  Likewise with packing material I prefer to recycle newspapers and such as opposed to buying massive amounts of packing peanuts and bubble wrap.  This means my packing jobs often look rather messy.  I would like to say this is because I am earth conscious and all that, but really I am just cheap.  It keeps the shipping costs down for customers too, so...there's that.

A week or so ago I made a not so major purchase for the studio, that may (or may not) change how my work looks to some degree.  What is this not so major device you ask?  

I am the major of not so.

 This is a pictorial representation of my new HP laser jet printer.  Why did I purchase this item and how will it change (perhaps) how my work looks?  Any modern potter worth their salt knows that this device, plus magic paper, can be used to create ceramic decals!  For example...

This is a trio of objects I used to test out my new tool.  The plates are for a possible order and the cup is just because squirrels are kind of cool.  Not "awesome" or even "great", but kind of cool.

The decals were ridiculously easy to put on and fire.  That's right decals!  I ridicule you for being so easy!  AND...with a little testing I think I may be able to work decal firings in with bisque firings, so no extra firing just for decals.  This will save time and energy!!  

Here is a close up of the cup before firing.

And here is after.

Every chipmunk finds a squirrel...

...or something like that.

"It tastes a bit nutty..."

Now that I look at them I almost prefer the decals before they were fired.  The sepia tone the iron leaves (let's hear it for iron laden toner for making all this possible!  Thanks iron, your...scratch that, you're the best!) is ok, but the black would tie in better with the black underglaze pencil.  Oh well.  There is still much to be played around with.

And now I must find a book that will teach me how to go potty.

Up next...beat-boxing is awesome!