We've now been in the 3rd lockdown for 11 and half weeks and I've finally finished decorating the shop.... well half of the downstairs of the shop.... well nearly finished....

The craft room when we moved in 2019

I started the craft room (the room where the safe door is) just after Christmas, but it was so cold in the building I could only bring myself to go in once or twice a week to work on it. This room needed the most work doing to it because the bank had had it as 3 cupboards and a toilet and we wanted it all opened up, so we knocked down those dividing walls which left the floor, walls and ceiling in a terrible condition. We hadn't had enough time to finish it off before we opened in 2019 so being in lockdown was an ideal time to get to work again.The Craft Room today, 2021

Once I'd finished the craft room, I started looking at other areas in the shop, the next room to the craft room had had lots of cables, pipes and ducting removed, along with the banks night safe and cash machine, so this room had many holes in the walls and ceiling.

Where the cash machine had been removed 2019

And of course once I started finding holes I kept finding more, but that was ok, because the filler covered well and all I had to do was patch over the filler with the same paint we painted the room when we moved in... or so I thought!

Where the cash machine had been, now 2021

Unfortunately it was really obviously where had been patched, so I found myself painting the entire ceiling, all the walls, around all the pipe work, in all the nooks and crannies and finishing with the skirting and a really good clean and tidy up. Phew, done! The trouble is the wall opposite the toilet that really needs a good lick of paint has a water leak so I didn't want to paint it until that's fixed, and who knows when that will be. Other than that the shop has been decorated! JC

I think we can safely say this Christmas is very different from last Christmas, but is it a bad Christmas? 

For some people this year has been horrendous, losing their job or being a front line worker-working long tiring hours, losing a love one- not necessarily to covid, but still having to have a small funeral without hugging their family and friends. Businesses like ours have struggled and many have decided to call it a day not having the money or energy to fight any more, no one has gone untouched by the disease that didn't even have a name this time last year. Now to cap it all many of us won't be able to spend Christmas with our loved ones, we can't pop to the pub, or have Christmas gatherings with work mates, friends, family and then other family. I for one, am really missing my sisters family who live in Japan, my nieces are 2 and 5 years old and they visit every Christmas, but this year I won't be able to hug them, be woken by them at 5am, I won't get to hear the wisdom of young minds and the true unencumbered laugh of a small person. 

So we have every reason to feel sad, angry, depressed and fed up.

However I've just spent 20 mins on face time with my nieces as they get ready for bedOrigami Santa and I'm eating breakfast. The 5 year old talked me through making an origami Santa, the 2 year old showed me her princess dress and there were tried tears as the excitement over flowed, and the kids cried as well!

I am so lucky to be able to video call them, to talk as if they are only in the next house, to see how they have grown. 

Instead of feeding 9 this Christmas, me and my husband will cook just for ourselves, but we are blessed with a full cupboard of food and a warm house, we will have door step chats with our parents and phone calls to my 96 year old Nan who has a whole care home keeping her safe, well fed and loved while we can't visit. So this Christmas is different, but its not bad, and it'll make next Christmas feel all the more special when we can be together again and I'm sure the last year will be a distance memory. 

This year focus on to the good times, they are still here, even if they are smaller and less of them, look for the good it is all around you if you want to find it. Think about all the wonderful things to come in the New Year, we know for definite that the days will get longer and warmer again, but isn't anything possible if we want it enough? Jo

I spent the second week of our lockdown in Wales cutting flat Christmas shapes out of clay, and I have to say I rather enjoyed myself.

Clay shapes drying

I set up my slab roller on the kitchen table, then wedged and rolled clay slab after clay slab. Using cookie cutters I cut out nearly 300 tree, angels, holly leaves, bells and snowmen. Each shape had a small hole punched in to be able to hang it, and I then spent hours turning each one so they dried evenly.

Loading the kiln

Clay has be completely dry before it goes in the kiln for firing, so now a week later I was able to load the kiln, but not before spending 2 hours sanding each shape so there was no rough edges. The kiln is about 3 hours into its 13.5 hour fire, it will reach 1063 degrees centigrade then slowly start to cool, this will take a further 15 hours. Once done the flat Christmas shapes will be ready to sell in the shop for customers to paint. Its a long process, so I'm glad its only once a year! Jo.

Yesterday the Christmas decorations went up in the shop! Yes its far too early,

Pottery Christmas Tree lamps

but we wanted to cheer the shop up for re-opening and besides its hard to do it when the shops open. Once the outdoor tree arrives, we can arrange our Christmas light switch on, and for the first time Zoom with Santa! 

Santa has kindly agreed to chat to the kids over the internet, while an elf will come along to the shop to help make sure the presents get to the children. I do enjoy organising the events, I think its the anticipation of everyone having a good time. Of course these days the events are a lot more subtle then before covid. Now we have to encourage customers to book ahead of time, we have to work out how long customers will be using their table for and we seem to constantly be asking them to put masks on, stay 2 meters apart, only one household per table and to stay at their table as much as possible. Gone are the times customers could drop in to an event at the spear of the moment, gone are the times we could be packed full of happy faces, excited children and the lovely sound of people talking and laughing. 

Decopatch Christmas itemsOn the plus side we still have our business, so many Paint your own Potteries have already fallen victim to covid, with not enough customers and not enough financial help, then all too often there's nothing else that can be done but close for good.

So I guess that's another reason I enjoy the events, every one of them reminds me how wonderful our community is, they come out and support us, and the charities we raise money for, we truly are blessed to be part of this amazing community.Jo

So the second lockdown (in Monmouthshire) is upon us. We're not able to sell crafts even as take aways, apparently they're not essential (I beg to differ) so me and Deb are coming up with ideas for people to still do crafts at home. Trying to think of things to make

Debs Decoupage on slate and glass

from what you may already have in the house isn't easy, luckily

we should only be in lockdown for 2 weeks so we shouldn't have to tax our brains to much!

Its also been a useful time to update our online shop on Etsy with our handmade things. I couldn't believe how much we already had between us, then of course we get talking about things we could make to sell, and suddenly the lockdown doesn't seem long enough! 

Jos hand thrown potsIn all seriousness though, this week is half term, and while we're missing a huge chunk of our revenue with not being able to open, its the atmosphere during the busy times I miss. The work is hard when you're on your feet all day, running here, there and everywhere, one minute making coffees, the next chatting about crafts with customers, but its so rewarding! The children laughing, the parents smiling because their children are happy (or maybe it was because they got a hot cuppa for a change!) either way people are happy.

Morgan and Meg dressed up for work Halloween 2019Our staff are forever staying late on these occasions, and instead of grumbling, they offer to stay even longer, or they might have popped in as customers themselves and without being asked start clearing tables and helping others with their pottery. The ladybird team really is a special breed you know, the kind that's hard to find! Jo

Its safe to say our first Hedgehog Day went well! The staff worked so hard, the tables were full, Carol from Hedgehog helpline did 4 talks andPart of the fund raising stall

we had 4 craft and fund raising stalls outside. We raised £99 on the raffle and £173.80 on the fund raising stall outside. I have to say I'm a little disappointed the sewing table on eBay still hasn't had any bids placed, despite it having over 700 views, well hopefully people are waiting until the last few hours! 

Pauline

It was, of course, a bitter sweet day. The idea of the event came about as we were selling some of Pauline's creations, she would have been so excited that we were hosting a whole day just about hedgehogs, she would have spent the entire time talking about Hedgehogs, talking to the children and she wouldn't have stopped smiling! 

I think Pauline was with us yesterday, I think she's with us always. Jo 

We're now just 3 full days away from Hedgehog Day 2020 and its safe to say the staff are getting really excited! This event came about after Paulines death, her family offered us the 

Hedgehog Hotel

glassware that Pauline had decoupaged, to sell and the money to go to a charity of our choice. It was easy to chose a charity, Pauline had loved hedgehogs so much and fed visitors to her garden throughout the year, each year she was so excited to welcome more and more 'hedgies' as she called them. But I didn't want to put a table in the corner of the shop, taking a pound or two and not really getting anywhere, so Hedgehog day was born! All the staff got on board immediately, offering to donate raffle prizes, run activities and staff the fund raising stalls. We have been humbled with donations of knitted hedgehogs to sell, really good quality nearly new items to raise funds and offers of help on the day from members of the public.Decoupage Slate and Jar

We have a hedgehog expert who will give talks to the children, activity bags with info leaflets for the kids, hedgehog cakes, craft stalls, an amazing raffle including 2 hedgehog hotels! and of course the decoupage that Pauline created. Who could of guessed her painted vases and napkin cats would inspire a whole days event! Jo 

This is a strange time we now live in, with Covid 19 seeming to rule our lives. At every turn we have to remember to wear a mask, or consider if we'll need to queue to get into a shop, or remind ourselves to keep 

Debs Decoupage

2 meters part from others, things that were alien to us only a few months ago.

With the local lockdowns popping up in many towns and cities now and advise being given to avoid travel, its not a surprize that customers numbers are again falling. So me and Deb sat down and came up with a plan, we'll reduce the opening hours of the shop to help concentrate visitors into the popular hours and therefore not be paying staff to do nothing, mean while we'll focus our downtime on making our popular items. Debs with her glass and slate decoupage in collections of Hedgehogs, Poppies, Highland cows, Cats and Butterflies, and me with slip trailing on pottery. This is a technique of piping liquid clay onto greenware (unfired pottery) to make patterns and designs that are usually then painted. This is the technique used by the Moorcroft pottery to achieve their revolutionary designs. Mine are by no means as good as Moorcroft pottery 

Jos slip ware

which sells from £95 per item, but I love this technique and by using my own designs I hope that one day I might be known for the way I use the slip trailing on my pottery.

So keep an eye out for our work going on sale in the next couple of weeks, we'll be posting to mainland UK addresses (and possibility further). Why not kick start your Christmas shopping with some beautiful and unique craftwork. Jo