It's not easy being green

Even though St. Patrick's Day is not typically a big shopping day in the retail business, the window at Throwing Mud Gallery is now highlighting our items that are the color green.

Many of our potters use glazes in shades of green.   I have pots by Quinn, Ron, Mark, Andrew, Susan, Dan, Charan, James and CarolAnn. We've got a hand painted green martini glass, as well as green candles, green soap, and our quirky raku fish with green dots. We have beautiful green earrings and necklaces as well.

It actually was pretty easy to be green at Throwing Mud Gallery!

Stocking Stuffer Ideas

According to legend, Christmas stockings honor a charitable gift of the historical Saint Nicholas, a 3rd and 4th century bishop in modern-day Turkey known for his anonymous gifts. The story tells of a poor widower with three daughters who had no chance of marriage since they could not afford a dowry. Saint Nicholas left gold coins in the girls' stockings as they hung over the chimney at night to dry. Saint Nicholas inherited significant wealth from his parents and is believed to have made many anonymous gifts to the poor throughout his career as a bishop. He was later transformed by legend into the gift-giving Santa Claus, and Christmas stockings may be an homage to the gift-giving of the real Saint Nicholas.

If you have some stockings that need to be filled, here are some handcrafted ideas from Throwing Mud Gallery:

Adults and children alike will be tempted to see how long they can keep these tops spinning.  A customer in the store of Jewish faith told me they could also be used as a dreidel.

For a little more action set these larger tops spinning with a quick pull of the string.  With some practice, the craftsperson showed me, you can even spin the top on your finger.

While we're talking about wood products, how about a wood pen?  For the Civil War buff, the fat short pen is made with remarkably detailed replicas of a Civil War cap, tip and clip.

We have soap scents that will appeal to both women and men.  Peppermint ice scent is a perfect way to end a long day or start a new one. This refreshing, cleansing bar is especially prepared with nutrients to soothe the skin.  In the kitchen, the pungent oil of peppermint is helpful in removing fish, onion and garlic odors from the skin.

For the wine lover, we have beautiful fused glass wine toppers.  These would also be a wonderful gift along with a special bottle of red wine.

This little raku puffin has a lot of character in his little face and is sure to bring a smile wherever he is placed.  We also have some flying puffins that can be hung, as well as our whimsical raku fish - each one unique with a lot of personality.

A teapot, teacup or bird house magnet will add a bit of a bright spot of color to the kitchen.

And then there's always lollipops in flavors for kids (birthday cake, root beer float...) and adults (hazelnut coffee, guava colada...).  You can give a themed collection such as "breakfast" or "fruit basket".

There are many other items in our gallery small enough to fit into a stocking - small pottery bowls or plates, fused glass sauce dishes, wooden utensils, and of course JEWELRY.

If you live too far to come into the store, we can ship.

Autumn is in the air

"Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all." - Stanley Horowitz

Beautiful autumn ....the leaves are turning colors and there's a crispness in the air.  I love the colors of fall...the many shades of brown, yellow, orange, green, red...and even purple.

 

...and then there's the smells.  The air outdoors smells different and inside, we're lighting candles and baking.

Today is a beautiful sunny fall day in Tacoma.  We don't get those very often so we need to treasure them.

“I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”  - L.M. Montgomery

Mother's Day Ideas

Mother's Day is this Sunday - so, what do you get for the person who gave you life? Handmade items are always appreciated by moms. But not all of us are creative enough to come up with an idea. Let one of the artists at Throwing Mud Gallery do the creating for you!

Any woman likes jewelry and we've got different styles for many tastes - from simple classic to eclectic, we're sure to have a pair of earrings, bracelet or necklace that mom would love.

Maybe jewelry isn't your mom's style. If mom loves her coffee or tea, why not get her favorite flavor and a handcrafted mug to go with it?

For the mom who loves to cook or loves having beautiful serving dishes, we've got any size and style of bowl that she could want.

Moms that love to garden or display flowers, would appreciate a new vase and we've got vases that will hold one single stem or a big bouquet of flowers.

We've got journals or notepads for mom to record her thoughts, small glass dishes to hold her jewelry, beautiful fused glass wine stoppers or letter openers, teapots, soap, wood boxes and even some small items just to make her smile - like a raku fish or a pottery cat.

Soap, soap, soap

I just opened a box of 2 dozen soaps from Eastern Washington - it smells so good in here! These soaps are quality handcrafted olive oil soaps.

I can't decide which is my new favorite - is it, Pear Savon, Magnolia, vanilla or green tea? We've got floral scents, fruit scents and herb scents - a little something for everybody. Come in and take a whiff!