The Small Object Collaboration

pic above from The Small Object
Sarah Neuburger of The Small Object has chosen a Craven Home wood slice to place her gorgeous wedding toppers on... check it out.  You can buy one to preserve your own sentimental treasure at The Small Object.

When it Rains, it Pours

pic above from Joseph Rose
So we are in the process of renovating our new home deep in the heart of Brooklyn.  Prior to that, Molly had surgery (again), and after that we are selling our current home.  We are still managing to travel.  Lots of change, but it is all new and exciting!
The kitchen tile project from before has transformed into making the tile for the new house.  It is great because I got a head start!
It is a rule that never fails- when it rains, it pours.  I am doing my day job (Mrs.Craven/virus control), help manage the renovation of our new home, and make tile in triple time.  I guess I love it when its pouring, I accomplish so much more than I think I can. 

Below- pics of the tile (bone dry, not yet fired in the kiln)

Kiln Results

I am happy to say the kiln firing was a success (as much as can be hoped for when you put clay into an oven that heats up to 2200 degrees F).

I am hoping to take some great pics and send them over to Etsy for more things to (hopefully) be bought and loved in a new home.

Hot Pink Rope Mystery Solved!

The hot pink rope was located and sourced. This is what is was for:
Introducing the first of three items- my AirPlanter, for air plants. The bottom pic gives a little sneak preview of our dining room to be unveiled shortly. I will probably have a few different color options, hot pink was just what I had first imagined.

I am now more thankful for my surgery rotation way-back-when for preparing me in the ways of knot tying. Look at my beautiful figure-eight loop knot! I am now also seaworthy and ship-ready!

I wasn't sure how I was going to make the loop originally, but was inspired by AC's most recent book choice. He is reading Moby Dick for the second time and has been reading me passages he thinks I will like (I was a marine biology major)- so I do have salt water on the brain too.

More Tiles at the studio!

Custom Living Diorama for S-- Lost Sheep

Thanks S! I hope you will enjoy pondering the thoughts of the three little lost sheep.

the first few tiles....

Daydream Shepherd

This can be yours- available in my Etsy shop.

I HEART San Francisco

Pic above from Heath

It seems like forever ago, but Thanks giving was just 7 weeks ago. AC and I went to San Francisco to be with his family for the holiday. I FELL IN LOVE with San Francisco. It is very easy for me to see how all of his siblings (2 sisters and his older bro) ended up there. If NYC wasn't my first love...

While there we took advantage of visiting HEATH! A gang of us Cravens headed over the bridge to Sausalito for the factory tour. Above you will see how they get their pottery so perfect! It is how they "throw" their pottery- by machines and molded profile templates with a man at the front.

So two of the reasons I wanted to take advantage of our geographical location for the holiday and visit Heath (there are probably a few hundred other reasons as well) are:

1. Clearly I have been in a slump since my unfortunate last kiln load, and I needed inspiration and a pick me up!

2. I am going to make the tile for our kitchen. Gasps are being taken all around I am sure- either from the sheer blah of our current kitchen tiles (pictured below), or my quest to see this project of mine carried out and completed. I told my friend J around Christmas, and all she could muster was as deadpan, "ambitious"- without much faith in me!

If AC and I were to buy tile for our kitchen, it would be from Heath. I went straight to the source for inspiration. The tile pictured at the very top of this post has a third dimension to tile, which might be a little too much for our kitchen, but I love the shape, so I am set. I have a few tile making experiments going on and ahead of me, but I am back in the studio. If not for me at the moment, for our kitchen.

Speed Bump

A bump in the road-3 weeks ago:

My entire kiln load was ruined. I think my glaze was too thick. This REALLY threw me. I mean it really threw me- I haven't stepped foot in my studio for 3 weeks! The picture above was taken next to the Maritime Hotel on 9th. Looking up and seeing the sign in front of the building struck a chord.

I took some time, worked on the Craven house (before and after pics coming soon!), and I'm back.

I was in a slump, and not quite ready to be back- but these picked my butt up!:
1- a visit from my sister in law. I really love a houseguest.
2- a few sales through Etsy!
3- these from Nest. A tiny little bit of twisted craftsmanship for an extra lift. Some people think they are creepy, I love them.

4- thumbing through the recently published pics of Marilyn Monroe's visit to Banff in the Canadian Rockies. The pictures are full of bears, which I think is great.

Back to the task at hand... studio here I come!

It was a dark & stormy... 2nd Anniversary!

True to form, our anniversary was a day of misty rain and ominous clouds. This year I was a little under the weather, and loaded up a kiln at the studio anyway (I've been busy!).

AC and I are celebrating a little late this year...

Happiness is

being at the studio...

(and everything working out in the studio)

What's new at Craven Home

I am currently working on using my spinning top vase as a hanging airplanter (pun intended). I have a few grouped together on our dining room table now in the NOT hanging version (above).

I am also working on a new series of creations that did well at the flea that I am calling Living Dioramas. I am using animals to tell a little story with a green backdrop they are almost like an adult playset. They are being made in found containers and a few in my own ceramic bowls and trunks. I am hoping to be back at the flea in September (motivation pending...)

Everything here is in my Etsy shop now!

Little ol' me?

Thanks to Burlap and Blue for featuring my custom chalkboard silhouettes on her blog. She writes a craft-filled DIY blog and makes the greatest cake stands too!

The Flea- It was HOT!

So I had a great time at the flea. The food was delicious, and necessary sitting in the 90+ degree heat for 8 hours! Also, the shaved ice from People's Pops saved me from a heat stroke (see last pic).

A few things sold and I learned a lot... I will be back on Saturday to try again. I am hoping for cooler temps. It's great to share with Small World Terrariums- the day goes by so quickly with all of our chatting! Thanks to everyone who stopped by to shop, grab a card, or say hi!

I few new items and new pics in the etsy shop too!.

This weekend I will be joining Small World Terrariums at the Brooklyn Flea!! It's a long story, but to sum it up- I blogged about her terrariums, wrote her, she wrote me back, we met and ate dinner, and that was that. Now we are sharing plant tips and a table at the Brooklyn Flea this Saturday, July 17th!!!

Tanesha Smith Wattley, the woman behind the terrariums is featured in this week's Time Out as one of their "Most Stylish New Yorkers". She is so chic in her photos!

I am hoping for a great turn out... and honest feedback for this little side life of mine.

Craven Home Custom

A friendly customer stopped by to design a terrarium for her fiance's birthday! It was fun to create what she had envisioned... Thanks S!

The beginnings of a Bird feeder...

We'll see how it turns out...

bud vases

Perfect for a beach wedding! Or a little spring picnic.

Wedding Inspiration

Just when I needed a pick me up... one showed up!

Remember the AFFW reader who asked to borrow our wedding invitation design?

Style Me Pretty covered her wedding last week. If you look closely- you will see the design in the mix of the photos. I am so glad K and J had such a beautiful day!