Carving New York State fossils!

OK - be honest now....how many of you know what the New York Sate fossil is? Really?


Well, I've always been a huge fan of fossils, myself. In fact, one of the very first tiles I carved when I apprenticed at the Moravian Pottery and Tileworks, in Doylestown, PA, was a trilobite. And I've spent many hours hiking the trails of Thacher Park, NY, searching for crinoid stems and brachiopods. Yup, I'm a geek that way.

So when I was asked to carve New York State fossils as highlight details in a backsplash for a retired Earth Sciences teacher, I was delighted. I started with a little image research, a large blank slab of wax, my favorite carving tools, and my trusty sidekick, Abbey, to help me out.



To see the process of wax carving to finished moulds, check out my Flickr page, or my Facebook fansite.

And check back tomorrow for an update on the pressed tiles!!

2010 - Taking Etsy Seriously!!

It's not that I haven't taken Etsy seriously in the past, but after 2009's holiday season, I'm ready to raise the bar of expectations for my shop. It was really exciting to have so many sales from so many wonderful people. And with only 2 broken ornaments, one non-paying buyer, and 2 switched addresses, I consider it a hugely successful season!

The hands-down big sellers were my ornaments, with over 210 ornaments sold from November 1 to December 31. Other sales included 27 tiles, 13 bowls, 8 spoonrests, 21 tile magnets, 7 tile pendant necklaces, and 3 tiled boxes. Sales totaled over $3,600.00, and I have to be honest and say...I WAS NOT prepared!! It's actually been weeks since I've had a chance to create new items and I've been relying on renewing since the new year, and have created a new database to keep track of items more easily.



I've just spent the last few days carving some new tiles and I'm very excited to get the moulds made tomorrow and tiles pressed on Friday. Check back tomorrow for photos of my carving and plaster mould pours!!

Front Page of Etsy!

Thanks lapalomarosa!