Plaid Friday All Weekend THIS WEEKEND

Hello Friends, Family & Fellow Celts~
Our Studio Warming is happening THIS WEEKEND.
If you're wondering what to do with the relatives or dreading the idea of being trampled in the crowds at the big box stores chose the far superior option: come out to the country and shop with us!
We've got lots of parking in a beautiful setting and can offer the warm glow that only comes from shopping with folks you know and giving handmade this holiday. (that glow might be enhanced by our mead and/or mulled cider).

Please, even if you can't attend yourself, pass this information along to anyone you can think of who might be interested... your help with my inept attempt at viral marketing is very much appreciated!

Hope to see you this weekend or later in the holiday season.
Remember, everything tastes better from a Dancing Pig Pot!
Love,
Virginia aka Dancing Pig's procrastinating potter

Dancing Pig Pottery invites you to join us for our Holiday Studio Warming.
Friday Saturday & Sunday November 25, 26 & 27 from 10 til 6 each day.

We’re celebrating PLAID FRIDAY all weekend with plenty of awesome pottery fresh from the kiln.

Tuatha will be with us as well, with wonderful Celtic jewelry, cards, stained glass
& beautiful handcrafted rustic wood hooks, chairs & walking sticks.

Also: Mead kits and samples of mead, plus plenty of hot cider, cookies, cheese & good cheer.

Put on your plaid and put our address into your gps or mapquest:
446 Railroad Lane Orrtanna PA 17353  
(just outside of Gettysburg PA, only 45 minutes from Fredrick MD)

If you wear plaid, we'll give you a 10% discount! Free hugs no matter what you wear!

*Plaid Friday is the opposite of Black Friday. Instead of fighting the crowds in the big box stores, shop small, local & diverse retailers, folks who make what they sell & are vital parts of their communities.

If you can’t make it on Thanksgiving Weekend, we’re doing it all again for last minute shoppers

Saturday & Sunday December 17 & 18 from 10 til 6 both days

Details about other shopping opportunities: www.dancingpig.com

Also: Maryland and Northern Virginia Folks: we've got a closer shopping option for you

The first two weekends in December, we're taking this act on the road~

Holiday Open House & Studio Tour at Art of Fire in Laytonsville MD
Friday, Saturday & Sunday December 2, 3 & 4 December 9, 10 & 11 10 till 5 each day
We'll be back at Art of Fire in Laytonsville MD, snug & cozy in our sunny garage. Tuatha will be there with us & we'll have everything any Celt or person with good taste could want to complete their Holiday Shopping.

Pottery, hand knit oddities & great Celtic Loot. If you can't find the perfect gift here, you need better friends!

So come on out & enjoy some hot cider, good cheer and a warm welcome as you enjoy shopping with integrity & much, much better parking than you'll find at the malls!

Plus Theda's homemade cookies & the warmth and splendor of the glass studio's furnaces & gallery. You should not miss this wonderful show!
Art of Fire is located at 7901 Hawkins Creamery Rd, Laytonsville, MD 20882

Plaid Friday & our Studio Warmings!

Hey Friends! We've had a moving experience this summer, by which i mean we moved the studio from west central WVa to the rolling hills just west of Gettysburg PA.

The studio, not yet cleaned up for your visit!

And then we got busy what with Pennsic and Maryland Renaissance Festival. Things have calmed down a bit now that those shows are over and i've finally gotten time to set up a studio opening. In fact, we're going to have 2, cause we know how frantic the holidays can be scheduling-wise.

The first time will be on Thanksgiving Weekend. In fact, we'll be a part of Plaid Friday, a national movement that's all about shopping locally &  supporting diverse merchants. To quote from their website:
"Plaid Friday celebrates the diversity and creativity of independent businesses. Plaid Friday is the fun and enjoyable alternative to the big box store "Black Friday", and is designed to promote both local and independently owned businesses during the holidays." 

So, we'll be setting up shop in our new studio, which is only 45 minutes from Frederick MD. We'll have plenty of awesome pottery fresh from the kiln and Tuatha will be with us as well, with her usual selection of wonderful Celtic jewelry, cards, stained glass and beautiful handcrafted rustic wood hooks, chairs & walking sticks. 

All of this is happening Friday Saturday & Sunday November 25, 26 & 27 from 10 til 6 each day. 

If you wear plaid, we'll give you a 10% discount! 

Come see our wonderful new studio and enjoy some hot cider & mead as well as some tasty treats to eat. And there is a wonderful Christmas tree farm just down the road from us not to mention downtown Gettysburg which has some wonderful galleries and local shops (& great restaurants). I'm telling you, it's the perfect anti-black (aka PLAID) Friday destination.

So put on your plaid and put our address into your gps: 446 Railroad Lane Orrtanna PA 17353

View Larger Map

We can't wait to show off our new studio!

If you can't manage to come visit on Thanksgiving weekend, we're doing it all again just before Yule, for all of our last minute shopping friends:

Just Saturday and Sunday this time: December 17 & 18 from 10 til 6 both days. 

My apprentice, Panda, glazing bloody pirates

need more info? pig@dancingpig.com or 304-377-1952

Post Pennsic Report

Hello Folks!
We've returned from Pennsic with much less pottery than we took there and a bit more money. This makes me (and my borrowed truck) happy, because money is much easier to transport than pottery. Also: generally more useful when attempting to acquire things like yummy coffee drinks and, oh, you know, dog food.

So, anyway, i thought you might like to peek behind the scenes a bit. This is what the booth at Pennsic looked like when i showed up on the Tuesday of Peace Week. (my trusty minions Rob and Panda set up the tents for me... and left a very artistic trail of empty cider bottles for added decoration)

 And this is what the booth looked like the afternoon of the next day. The caption could be "who thought bringing this many pots to Pennsic was a *good* idea?"

And finally, this is the booth all nice and set up at last. I'm impressed by myself!

Sorry, i don't have any pictures of the booth at the end of War, but trust me, there were alot of empty spaces where pots had been. This was gratifying. Thanks to everyone who helped to make our takedown much easier than our setup.

So, that happened. And now, a week later, i've done almost all of the Pennsic laundry and am in the midst of my annual freakout over the start of the Maryland Renaissance Festival. Rob and Panda are setting up the booth as i type, so i've got to go make more pots to put in my nice clean non leaking booth.

Next week: pictures of steampunk and henna pots, both of which will be available Opening Weekend of Maryland Renaissance Festival. Which is August 27 & 28. I gotta go make pots.....

eBay Fire Sale is now live!

As usual it has been a hectic July, but this year much more hectic than ever... Two hopefully unique events have conspired to increase the already abundant stress in my life.  First, my truck burned up on the way to an event in May.  Luckily, only pottery and possessions were destroyed. No people were harmed, at least physically.

Second, I moved myself and my studio 340 miles northeast to a lovely farm near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. This move created the usual chaos and upheaval that any major relocation of personal and professional life does, and required a great deal of assistance. In the course of my move I discovered a plenitude of my own pottery which i had hoarded and stashed over the course of my 25+ years as an active studio potter. There are various examples of my own work which I kept and used, or displayed in my home. Some are prototypes unlike anything else, others are examples I liked too well when they came out of the kiln to sell at the time. My friends and new neighbors who helped me with my move suggested while packing some of these pots that perhaps I could release these items in a one time fire sale to make up some of the income lost from the fire.

We decided to use an auction format on Ebay, as some of the Newgrange pots especially are quite rare. If you purchase one of these items you will be helping me to do what I love, to wit: continue to support myself by making and selling my pottery as well as funding the occasional purchase of chocolate pastries and delightful coffee drinks.

We currently have 30 items listed and live on eBay, with another 40 to come in the next few days. Hopefully you'll find some pots you can't live without, and will shop and bid, early and often.

Here's a link to a lovely Newgrange Cereal Bowl, but be sure to check out all the great pots we've got up... too many to link to here, sorry.

Spring Flings!

We're gearing up for an ambitious Spring World Tour here at Dancing Pig Pottery!
I've got a new-to-me truck and lots of pottery and i'm setting out to conquer the world!
Well, that, or sell some pottery across the mid-Atlantic region. Could go either way.

First up: April 15, 16 & 17 2011 10 til 5 each day we'll be at the
Spring Studio Tour and Open House at Art of Fire in Laytonsville Maryland.

We're making a special spring appearance at Art of Fire, setting our tent up on the lawn and giving y'all a preview of our spring line of pottery. Lots of new stuff, fresh from the kilns.
And Tuatha will be setting up with us! Come get your Mother's Day shopping on! (or better yet, bring your Mom and maybe she'll buy you some pottery too!)
(alternatively, bring your straight, single male friends who might want to date a curvy potter who laughs alot & has brain, opinions & moxie: i'll trade pottery for dates. I'm totally serious y'all) (trade pottery for dates=the matchmaker gets the pottery upon successful completion of the date)
But i digress. We're hitting the road and selling pottery. Come shop with us, early and often: here a link to our full calendar


Hope to see you (and your eligible bachelor pals) soon!