I realized, after I did that last post about the newly-listed items in my Etsy shop (several of which have already been purchased, thank you very much!), that I have not blogged about pottery I’ve painted for a long time. The last post I could find that had more than a fleeting mention of dottery in it was way back in April! So let me catch you up, if you’re interested.

The little blue ‘be happy’ bowl up there is one that I painted for no particular reason or recipient. I ended up sending it to Leah as an apology for taking so long to send her my half of our flip-flop swap.

I painted this bowl for my friend Laura, with a slightly inaccurate Big Bang Theory quote on it. I don’t have a picture of it fired because Laura picked it up from the pottery shop when it was done.

The things I do for my friends. Kassie was inspired to ask me to paint this for her after reading about the “first: kindness; then: F*** AUTHORITY” mug I painted for Elaine. And because I love her, I did it. I’ll even admit it was kinda fun. But I don’t plan on painting another one. This was a limited edition mug. I don’t have a picture of this one fired either. (You can read Kassie’s hilarious account of watching me paint it here.)

She looks so innocent, doesn’t she? Not like a person who would ever ask a friend to paint a lovely dottery mug with her five favorite curse words on it.

I painted this geek dottery mug as a gift for the lovely Bex. It has two Firefly/Serenity quotes on it: “a little whimsical in the brainpan,” said by Mal in reference to the mentally-unstable River Tam; and, “Also, I can kill you with my brain,” a line said by a very calm River to a very spooked Jayne. The moral here is, never assume that just because someone’s whimsical that she is not also deadly when the situation calls for it.

I had a lot of fun painting this mug, particularly the little whimsical bits.

These annoying smudges are not fun, however. I took photos of this mug with my phone before it was fired, so I know these smudges weren’t there when I finished painting it. That means someone at the pottery studio wasn’t handling my pieces carefully. I’ve had this happen to at least three or four pieces I’ve painted at that studio. Rather disappointing because it’s only 10 minutes from my house.

Brenda had asked me to paint her a round dottery mug a while back, when her cool blue coral mug broke and she missed having a round mug. When I was in California and Brenda had the summer fiesta in our honor, she said that she needed to remember how much fun it is for her when she throws parties. So I painted her this mug as a reminder to be festive.

A little ‘be happy’ dottery vase I painted for Madge, at her request.

This cunning mug was a custom order for my Etsy shop, a dotty mug with Jayne Cobb’s hat on the front and a Firefly quote on the back. I was a bit nervous about painting the hat, but I think it turned out pretty well.

“Dear Diary, Today I was pompous and my sister was crazy…it was the best day ever.”

Shiny.

Annalie painted this Azurill plate the same day that I painted Katie’s NO WHINING sign. She pored over her Pokemon book, and picked the cutest one she thought she could paint. This was almost a disaster because she accidentally spilled a big blotch of black paint on the right ear and was very upset. I convinced her to leave the plate overnight and let it dry, and we’d come back the next day to fix it. We scraped the mistake off, and fixed the blue and pink, and now you can’t even tell the black blotch was there.

Remember those ‘internet friends FTW!’ mugs that Rainbow and I painted while I was in Omaha? Bad news.

It got broken during shipping. I was fairly bummed about this. I really liked those colors, and now Rainbow’s mug will be lonely.

I couldn’t even superglue it together and use it to hold pens, because there was a big ol’ U-shaped crack all across one side. Of all the mugs and bowls and things I’ve shipped, this is the first one I’m aware of that has broken. So it’s possible there was some flaw in the bisque that made it more prone to breaking.

At least I still have the memories. And an excuse to drag Rainbow to paint pottery with me again next time I’m in Omaha.

I actually got to paint pottery twice when we were in Omaha. The second time, I went with my mom, my girls, and Aurora. We did a handprint plate for my my mom with all three of her granddaughters’ handprints on it.

My mom wasn’t planning for Aurora to paint anything, but when she saw Annalie gathering paint and brushes, she said, “I paint? I paint too?” I helped her pick a plate and paint colors, and she painted the heck out of that plate.

Elliora didn’t paint. She hung out in the stroller, played with my mom’s keys.

She had her first lollipop, which she kept rubbing on her hair, then putting back in her mouth with an “Mmmmm!” Crazy baby.

Annalie fingerpainted this butter dish for my parents. I wrote the word ‘Butter’ on it just in case they couldn’t remember what they were supposed to use it for. (This is a photo of it unfired; my mom didn’t get to pick it up till after we left.)

Annalie also painted this plate for me, using my favorite colors. Isn’t she sweet?

Elliora did paint this plate, sort of. I helped her put handprints all over it one day when we were at our favorite pottery studio in Maryland. I think it turned out kinda cute, no?

I think it’s pretty clear that I do what I love, or this post wouldn’t have been nearly this long.

Did you know that today is Small Business Saturday? I figured that would be the perfect time to finally get around to updating my Etsy shop with all those pottery pieces I’ve been meaning to list for ages, starting with the funky square dottery dish up there.

Most of the rest of these are from the Geek Dottery collection, starting with a Princess Bride quote mug. I painted this on a day when I needed to remind myself that sometimes, life is pain, and anyone who says differently is selling something.

“Castle” quote dottery mug. Painted with one of my favorite quotes from the TV show Castle, starring Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic: “If you don’t believe in even the possibility of magic, you’ll never ever find it.”

Jayne Cobb—the sarcastic, uncouth, thuggish mercenary—is, against all reason, probably my favorite character from Firefly and Serenity. I think that’s mostly because of the fantastic job Adam Baldwin does of creating a character who’s loveable and possibly treacherous all at the same time. Some of my favorite Jayne quotes are on this Jayne Cobb Firefly/Serenity mug: “Time for some thrilling heroics,” “Shiny. Let’s be bad guys,” and “Pretty cunning, don’tcha think?”

Any Browncoat’d be proud to own this Firefly/Serenity mug painted with two of the ‘Verse’s best lines: Mal’s “I aim to misbehave,” and Jayne’s “Shiny. Let’s be bad guys.”

One of my favorite blog posts of Brenda’s is about how you should always “do what you love.” I love that, so I painted it on a mug.

Happy shopping, in my Etsy shop or any other small business of your choice!

Oh, I also wanted to mention that I recently created a Facebook page for my blog. If you’re into that kind of thing, feel free to like it! (There’s actually a Like Box over there in the sidebar for you to click.)

Have a great weekend, y’all.

These are just a few of the many things I’m thankful for today, as we clean the house and prep food for my mom’s arrival tomorrow and our delayed Thanksgiving feast. And I’m thankful for you! Without all of you—reading and commenting, encouraging me and venting with me and laughing with me at the craziness of life—this blog wouldn’t be nearly as much fun to write. Whether or not you’re in the U.S., I wish you happiness today, and a grateful heart.

What are you thankful for today?

(Special thanks to my dear Bonnie for starting the finding happy project in the first place.)