Incase you were wondering...

what's been happening in the studio lately?!

well.

quite a bit has been happening.  

It's that time of year where i may have signed up for too many holiday craft shows and dipped my toes into too many creative experiments.  I say, why not?  It is amazing the creative energy i am feeling out in the studio right now and wake up excited each morning to get out and continue right where i left off the night before!  As some of you can relate to - what you're passionate about - sometimes you just fall in love all over again... 

dear clay,

you push me in ways nobody else does.  you are there for me when i need to loose myself.  you recreate that feeling i felt all those years ago in wheel throwing one, and it's like magic all over again.  thank you for being so playful and allowing me to grow.  you can be stubborn and tricky, but you always have a lesson for me to learn or a surprise around the corner.  

thank you for that, and for keeping our love alive... 

despite glaze.

yours truly,

Danyelle

Even though i see clay everyday it felt appropriate to share my love.  there is something about the repetition, process, and connection working with such a tactile medium.  who wants to sign up for a pottery class now?!?! haha thanks for letting me nerd out for a moment, and now to in-progress projects happening!!

there is a forest being built of my whimsical Dr. Suess tress.  I took a year off from making these guys, but it was time to revisit.  these little friends will be making an appearance in november at the madison and main gallery for our Winter Lights show.

I have been playing with an old slip cast bird mold of jareds and attaching them on anything I can get my hands on!

In the words of one of our fave tv series "put a bird on it." -portlandia

Speaking of Portland... I am so happy to be involved with the "funding" of my friend Michelle and Joel's new business relocation - they did an indie Gogo campaign to help move into a new space with their very successful Eisenhower bagel house that lived in NE Portland for the last 2 years out of pinkys pizza.  The move meant getting a space of their own and doing some serious renovating!  For their biggest donors I am creating mugs that will live at the coffee shop - if only we lived closer!!! Bagels are a diet staple in our household :)

This weekend means the mailing of the dainty bean's scare mail package - loaded up with lots of handmade goodies I was able to do samples of the clay club subscription to include in 25 packages!  Because of the surprise element of clay club I won't reveal just what it was until I'm sure they have all been delivered and discovered.... 

And one of my favorite treats of the season, ornaments!!! New designs for this year are in prototype phases except for the Broncos keepsake - 2015 mini helmets!!!

If you are looking to see some of these creations in person, you totally can! Starting in just 2 short weeks we will be on a holiday show schedule, I am so excited about our new venues and of course our old favorites!!!

Summer Re-Cap part 2

I'll pick up where I left off!  July....

While jared was away at Pokemon nationals, Carlee came to visit and hang with me!  It makes me wish Utah wasn't so far away and she was still here teaching in Colorado... 

That's because I'm selfish!  Love my lil sista 😘

We had some good times in the backyard doing bbq nights!  And our new fave tradition was born, walking to tcby for a cool frozen yogurt treat! 

There were many hours spent in the studio getting prepped and ready for the one and only arts picnic, it was another amazing year with tons of collectors who came out to support us.  It feels so great to see the familiar faces who have been buying our art for years, it's a rewarding feeling knowing our pieces are going to happy loving homes.  Thank you to everyone who continues to love our ceramics 🙌🏻💛

Our sweet friends scott and Amanda tied the knot on August 1st in Boulder - they had the most beautiful ceremony at sunrise amphitheater - overlooking the Boulder valley - it was absolutely gorgeous!!  They had a very sweet intimate ceremony that was officiated by jared!  His first (and possibly only) wedding went very smooth and of course he cracked some jokes for the bride and groom! 

I love weddings a lot, especially this one! It was an adventure to get up the mountain and find the venue lol and so wonderful to celebrate Scott and Amanda's love!! Way to go Ehrlich's :)

This is jared on his last official day of summer, it is so crazy when the day actually comes for him to report back to school and we sit there wondering where did summer go?!  In a flash it's over and he's back to the early morning grind with students and teaching art! 

During his first week back, I took off to South Dakota with Lynn for a week of Vaycay! It was a blast staying with Gma and Gpa Almond in Parker - we did it all!! visiting the turner county fair, eating chislic, seeing old McDonald's farm, morning walks around town, touring city hall, hanging with Sena & Scott and all of Jared's  cousins, playing with baby Hadlie, walking tacos, late nights at the kitchen table, Monday night at Bruce and Wendy's, scrabble, laying by the pool, going to a movie, eating funnel cake, eating cheese ball, eating watermelon, eating everything haha driving the black and white, going through old pictures... It was a great week and I am so happy to have the amazing family I do!! 

I also had a lot of fun snapping pictures of young jared photos all around the house. He really was the cutest baby....

Which brings me to my birthday shout out.

I'm so lucky that you were born!  You are he most amazing, funny, caring, and mostly funny person in my life and spending each day with you is a treat.  Happy birthday Jer 

Summer Re-Cap Part 1

Looks as if I have taken the past few months off from sharing... because i was having too much fun in the SUN!  now that the cool nights, school, and normal working  schedules have settled in I am realizing that summer is coming to a close.  Sadly.  it's onto this next season in life and I would hate to move on without first visiting some of our funnest, favorite summer memories of 2015. 

Where to Begin.  The annual Memorial day tradition! The bolder Boulder was done this year on a jam packed weekend that included Art Haus' first denver show run by myself and Lynn (Jared was at Regionals in Utah Competing and placing 19th in his division for Pokemon!) We survived through the sporadic rain, hail, cold, and lightning storms.  It was really cool to be a part of the Sponsored booths section - we had a free entrance fee and stipend thanks to the Greeley Creative District who nominated us to be a part of the ArtStir Show to represent Greeley!  The weekend was filled with lots of friends and family stopping by the booth, I felt the Love!!

This was Jared at Regionals - he had a rough start to his competition but ended up having an amazing Comeback!  his friend Allen is his pokemon buddy, they did their traveling together.  

The show was a great experience and the Bolder Boulder was a treat as always -- as I like to call it "Christmas for Lynn" -- It really is her favorite holiday! 

Jared got right to work as soon as school let out and did a big backyard patio project for me!!  Coming off the side of the house where our studio door goes into the backyard he removed the giant old wood pile that was there when we moved in and prepped for a cement slab.  With help from Scott and Zach they Laid over a pallet of 80lb. cement bags.  It was really impressive to watch and it came out Beautiful!!! 

It is so nice to have the patio right off the studio, I am really enjoying the space it feels completely transformed!! 

I also made a pretty big Leap this summer and decided to change jobs.  I realized I was really unhappy in management at the steakhouse and needed to make a change.  It wasn't easy after being with all my friends and co-workers for 8 years, but i am happy to say it has been the best transition for me into something that's less demanding and more rewarding.  I now work as a bartender and waitress at The Kress - It is a family owned one screen independent cinema with a restaurant and lounge.  It was fantastically remodeled from an old 60's department store into an authentic art deco atmosphere - there are so many cool things about this business and It is changing every weekend with the different (less main stream) movies they bring in.  (At least once a month we show an old movie; July was Jaws on the big screen celebrating the 40th anniversary of the movie!  and last month we played Gone with the Wind, with intermission and all.)  I love what it brings to the community and I am thrilled to be learning so much about making craft cocktails.  It really is right in my wheelhouse of creating!!!  If you are interested in taking a peek into the kress you can see more on their website, kresscinema.com it is an exciting time for the downtown area of greeley with more businesses opening up, the momentum is really moving.  it is fun the be taking a small part in the revival of the downtown of our city! 

In June I got to have a great ladies day with my mom and sisters!  Carlee was in town from utah and my mom made plans for crafting and a night on the town.  We went to the musical Wicked which was the first time for myself and Carlee - We Loved it!!  So much fun to get to spend some quality time with my girls :)

June was also filled with wedding festivities of my bestie, Maggie!  We celebrated with the traditional wedding shower and bachelorette party, woo hoo!  

 Besties!

 The Kenny's Girls

It was the most beautiful wedding ever.  Dave and Maggie we made for each other and to be a witness to their love and commitment felt like a special honor - watching your bestie get married is the BEST haha

Maggie has been one of truest friends since I moved to Greeley in 2006.  We met our freshman year thanks to ex boyfriends haha and she got me my hosting job at Kenny's!   I am so thankful to have this ray of sunshine in my life and It's amazing that we bought our dream homes just a few blocks apart!  we joke about being stay at home wives and growing old together as "Greeley Lifer's".  thanks for letting me gush a little about my sweet friend.  it makes me so happy to have her in my life! 

Over the 4th of July Weekend Jared was able to Travel to Indianapolis to compete in Pokemon Nationals!!  He went with his buddies David and Allen, they had a lot of fun.

I am so Proud of how hard Jared worked to earn his player points to get to nationals.  He practiced a lot and trained to be able to get so Far!!  Next year I know he'll be getting an invite to WORLDS!!

That's all for this afternoon, I'll come back with the second half of our highlight reel soon!