Well, it has been a year...

Photo by Kavin Bradner Photography. 

So... hello there. Fancy meeting you here considering I have left this thing vacant for the past year. A LOT has happened and to be honest, I can't really go into detail. (Mostly, I have forgotten the majority of it all.) We are indeed a whole year older and my son, Levi, is also now two. With that, some changes have been made to Oak Leaf Pottery. I have phased out many shows and have picked up more wholesale and custom orders. My time has become quite limited with a little boy to look after. It took a lot of soul searching and praying over that decision, but I think (and hope) that overall our family is happy with the change. Another big change is our shop page. My lovely husband, Dan, has been updating that slowly and you should expect to see even more on there in the near future. One great thing that we were able to do is offer free local pick-up for those of you living in the area, or for those passing through. So make sure that you choose that when you place an order!

Photo by Kavin Bradner Photography. 

I am excited about some new partnerships that have developed with my wholesale part of the business. Give 'em a little looksie and stick with me for photos of their finished products on my Instagram and Facebook pages. 

My new partners in crime are:

Cooper River Roasters  Charleston, SC

Trout Lily Deli & Market  Asheville, NC

It's The Little Things  Spartanburg, SC

Archaic Pine  Rapid City, SD

I am very excited to be working with these businesses and couldn't be more thankful for their support! I have also picked up several dinnerware set orders, as well as a wedding registry! How amazing is it to be a part of a family's most intimate conversations and experiences, right?! I love making work for families to use in their homes. There is something really special about that. Thank you to those people who have been using my work in their homes or who are getting ready to- Congratulations and a huge shout out to my very first wedding registry couple, Salley and Randy! 

Well, I know that wasn't much, but Dan and Levi should be back from the park fairly soon so that is my cue to log off of here. I can't promise to post all that often, but I do hope to do it a bit more than once a year... yikes.

With love, Allison

All of the Things...

Well this whole posting once a month plan has not panned out for me unfortunately... but I am here now- two thumbs up!

Wholesales:

First I wanted to give a big shout out to my last two wholesale customers- Congress Street Coffee LLC in York, South Carolina and Embellish Asheville in Asheville, North Carolina! It was so wonderful to work with both of these local small business owners... especially right before my due date.  They were so kind and considerate, as well as patient!

Some of the Squat mugs that can be found online for sale through Congress Street Coffee's website.

Photography by Katie Taylor Photography (website)

Photo taken from Congress Street Coffee LLC

Congress Street Coffee LLC is a new coffee business in historic York, South Carolina.  Though they do not yet have a physical location for their shop, they have big plans ahead of them!  The owner, Jonathan, has written on their "About page" on Facebook:

"Congress Street Coffee LLC isn't a place (yet!) but we do have a passion for coffee and sharing the pleasure of artisan-roasted coffee with our friends."

Dan and I met Jonathan and his wife at York Summerfest last summer.  The event itself wasn't very successful -- it was mostly geared toward food, music and rides --but out of it came a great partnership with Congress Street Coffee LLC!  God works in funny ways sometimes.  This was definitely one of those times. A year later, after the not-so-successful Summerfest event, I was contacted by Jonathan who had held onto my business card... for an entire year! He reminded me of the coffee shop and asked if I would be willing to chat about his ideas for some mugs- how crazy, right!?  We were able to order a fantastic stamp from Tin Oiseau - a local stamp maker and small business in Greenville, South Carolina, and then I started making!  His website has since gone live and you can order not only the mugs, but also 12 oz bags of their whole bean coffees.  Check them out here to place an order, and give them a follow on Instagram and Facebook!

Embellish Asheville is located in the historic Sinclair Building off of Broadway St., right in the middle of bustling downtown Asheville, North Carolina. This indie, unique shop features local makers and products- jewelry, pottery, bags, and other fun little finds! We were so lucky to have met the owner, Barb, at the Made South event in Taylors, South Carolina back in May. She was so friendly and fun to work with! We loved that her focus is locally made goods and her little shop just looked amazing the first time we drove by to scope it out. :) Her window display is so well curated and her entire store breathes "support local". From the warm, inviting displays to the friendly shop manager, she has it going on! If you are a local or a visitor, you need to check them out at 59 Broadway St., or you can find them online here! You can also find them on Facebook and Instagram!

Without all of the amazing people that we have met through shows and just by word of mouth, I wouldn't be able to continue with pottery.  I am truly thankful for all of those connections and feel very blessed to work with all of you!!

Studio Update:

My hard- working husband working on our path out to the shed... which is no longer.

One 1926 shed down.... a new one to go!

So the other big update is the home studio.  This has been a much slower process than originally intended, but we are getting there! Our house was built in 1926 by a local jeweler, Rufus D. Lewis. The shed our back (in my estimate) was built around the same time- Dan actually found a piece of wood with Rufus's name and "Spartanburg, S.C." written on it while he and his parents were tearing down shed walls. When we first moved into the house I had grand plans to rework the shed and make it my home studio. Unfortunately, 90 year-old wooden sheds in ant infested South Carolina do not hold up all that well when there isn't a poured foundation... So with much sadness and reluctance, we decided to tear it down and start new. Dan's parents were so kind to come over many times to tear down and haul away our decrepit shed. We were so thankful for their help... what a huge job! Now, my parents will be helping with the pad/ foundation of the newer, much larger studio.  We do have a building picked out and our electrician all lined up, but it will still be some time before actually being able to throw my first pot at home. This really is incredibly important for Oak Leaf Pottery to continue growing and functioning as a small business.  With a little one at home, it will be harder to travel to the co-op to work at all hours. As we work towards our goal of having a home studio, Dan and I will come up with a plan of some kind for a work schedule for me. It will work out! I have much more confidence after speaking with other potters and artisans/ makers who have gone through the same thing.

So...with that being said, I will be taking a short break during the month of August.  I will start back up in September with Farm Fresh Fair in Fountain Inn, South Carolina.  The arrival of our son will take over the majority of my time, so I will not be making for a little bit. We are at 38 weeks today, so any day now our little bug will be here! Thank you to everyone who has made this journey an amazing one! :)

"Praise the Lord.

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;

His love endures forever."

Psalm 106:1

Rainy days are good days to blog.

Well, hello there.  I keep trying to figure out what the very best post would be to have as my first blog post.  However, in brainstorming I end up just pushing the "first amazing blog post" farther and farther away.... and now here we are months after starting the website.  SO... I have decided now is a great time.  It is rainy out.  My festival in Columbia, SC has been postponed until October 25.  Apparently we are in a state of emergency- for what I'm not sure.  I have done all I can at the studio for right now. 

I am sitting in a coffee shop, drinking a latte and listening to someone singing on their radio in Italian?  It's a language that I can not understand anyway.  I like that I can sit here and watch rain droplets drip down onto the tables outside and I can hear the cars whiz by on the rain-soaked streets.  Two older gentlemen sit next to me talking business I think... trying not to eavesdrop as it sounds a little bit boring.

Rambling, I know.  I am pretty good at that.  Just ask my husband.  I don't know how I arrive at the thoughts that I end up having, but they are kind of fun to write down. 

Ok... back to Oak Leaf Pottery.  So it has been quite the journey thus far.  This morning I was sitting on our front porch with our dogs before I went into the studio and thought about how far Dan and I have come.  But really, Oak Leaf Pottery has also really come very far in a very short amount of time.  It honestly is a little bit scary thinking about these things.  Dan and I have both made the decision for me to start my small business, but we are still figuring things out and probably will be for-ev-er (imagine The Sandlot kid here saying that). 

I went very quickly from teaching for almost 3 years to moving states, then working in an amazing little bakery part-time and working in the studio part-time to working as a potter full-time.  Trying to at least.  Enter you.  The Reader.  The Oak Leaf Supporter and Fan.  Y'all are awesome.  I can't really put it any other way.  Without those people that I have met at festivals, pop-ups, and online, I would not be trying to be a potter full-time right now.  So, thank you.

As of late, I have been to a different festival (or two) every single weekend, I have had my very first wholesale order (yay!), so many custom orders, and now I am in talks with some shops about carrying my work (fingers crossed and praying on that one).  It has been a whirlwind and I hope to stay in it!  Not only have you, the Reader/ Fan/ Supporter, been here through it all, my husband has, too.  I don't think that I would have ever a.) had the confidence to pursue pottery as a career and b.) been able to organize myself.  (Again... random thought patterns and rambling... imagine my brain trying to run a business without help.) He is my rock and although I do give him a hard time about how to handle the mugs or bins or how to wrap items or hey- don't touch that or how to hang the sign..... he is incredible.  I don't know that he knows how much I truly appreciate everything that he does behind the scenes.  But!  I suppose he will once he reads this post. ha.  

Ok. Enough rainy day rambles.  I have to get to a little birthday shindig.  I hope that everyone affected by the "state of emergency" stays safe and those who aren't experiencing all of this rain.... well enjoy the beginning of Fall!  It is bound to be a wonderful one! 

Thank you.  Enjoy a nice mug of coffee today. :)