Bella Joy Pottery Blog

I originally posted this on July 3, 2015, but thought you could all use a laugh. Happy Independence Day!  I see a lot of lists on how to improve your business, how to live stress free, etc., etc., and these lists are usually LONG. I don't have time for that. Plus, if your list is really that life changing you need to get to it. That said, Saturday is the 4th of July. Time to celebrate our independence from Great Britain with picnics, parades, and fireworks. Today I've comprised 3 tips for guaranteed fun on the 4th of July. 1....

Why rainbows? I'll tell you. In the fall of 2015, I was working hard making pottery for Christmas. One afternoon for fun, I made three little test pieces, each hand thrown on the wheel. I gave one to my mom and kept one. They started like the plate below, just a little hint of rainbow with more areas of color.  I loved them! It was my whole color palette on one piece? Yes please! They were so fun and fresh. My excitement over the rainbow pots was palpable. I think it was contagious even, people really enjoyed the rainbows, and...

My old studio used to be in a chicken coop, sans the chickens. I loved it! It was old and quaint, and I even loved the old musty smell. To this day, I keep a photo of the chicken coop on my desk at the new studio. It makes sense that one of my first designs were chicken and rooster mugs. The problem was I didn't have the chicken and rooster as models and so the original chickens and roosters started off more like ducks. My best friend bought me a book on how to draw birds and my chickens and roosters, which...

How Bella Joy Pottery Started The summer between first grade and second grade we moved. That fall I started going to St. Margaret's, a small Catholic school, in Otsego, MI. One day, Mrs. She-who-shall-not-be-named, came into the classroom carrying these weird long boxes. She explained to us that these boxes contained 20 candy bars that we needed to schlep around and sell. Ok, great. I didn't want to sell a box of candy bars! But then something magical happened, she took out the prize catalog. Depending on how many candy bars we sold we could get a prize! Sign me up!...