Fifteen percent off on witchy pottery (Khari's Wiccan Treasures)

Now offering 15% off any purchase of $10 or more on Khari's Wiccan Treasures Etsy website. Just enter coupon code THANKYOU15, all caps, at check out. Go to www.khariswiccantreasure.etsy.com

This offer is good until August 31st, 2016.

Don't see what you want--private message Khari though Etsy. Custom-made chalices, pentacles, coffee mugs, and altar sets available.

Pansy Purple on lavender Triple Moon Goddess chalice.

Witchy Woman coffee mug in crazed copper.

Pansy purple on cobalt blue mortar and pestle (very durable).

Triple Moon Goddess cone incense burner.

Crazed copper Triple Moon Goddess cone incense burner.

Pansy purple on lavender Hocus Pocus coffee mug.

Dark green on lime green Triple Moon Pentacle chalice.

Lime green Triple Moon Pentacle coffee mug.

Stormy sea pentacle decorated chalice.

Shino mortar and pestle (for grinding up herbs).

Plus we have many other options for the discerning witch and magician.

Photography done by Morgan Drake Eckstein 2016. 

House of Bast Open House (July 2 & 3 2016)

Cobalt blue ceramic ritual set (with mint herbs).

A quick reminder that House of Bast Art Studio--Celtic Soul Jewelry and Pottery, and Khari's Wiccan Treasures is having an Open House tomorrow and Sunday (July 2 & 3, 2016).

Khari will have pottery for sale, will be giving pottery throwing demos, offering pottery lessons, and there will be a Kid's Clay Korner.

House of Bast—2727 Cook St., Denver, Colorado USA.
Studio is located on the south side next to the alley.
Phone number 303-815-8211.

The hours will be 11 am to 6 pm on Saturday, July 2nd, and 12 pm to 6pm on Sunday.

Pottery lessons will be from 1 to 5 pm each day. Come see our studio!


Etsy shops:
Celtic Soul Jewelry and Pottery
Khari's Wiccan Treasures

Facebook pages:
Celtic Soul Jewelry and Pottery
Khari's Wiccan Treasures

[And I will be there in the afternoons, after 2 pm, in case, anyone needs to drop by and talk Denver Witch Quarterly business with me.] 

Free USA shipping on pottery orders until Valetines Day (sponsor post)

Celtic Soul Jewelry and Pottery, and its sister Etsy shop Khari's Wiccan Treasures is offering free shopping for orders in the United States when you use the code VALENTINES14 until Valentine's day (February 14, 2016).

Some of the stuff available at Khari's Wiccan Treasures.

Cobalt blue small mortar and pestle. 

She can also make customized chalices with the triple moon symbol. 

I love how the glaze turned out on this one. 

Some of the stuff available at Celtic Soul Jewelry and Pottery. 

Isn't this cute?

Food safe, microwave safe, dishwasher safe. 

Fridge magnets including the Eye of Horus. 

Custom-made pet urns

As most of my readers know, my wife is a ceramic artist (a potter) who does wheel thrown pottery. One of the items that she makes are pet cremation urns. She can make ceramic pet urns with paw prints for dogs, cats, and ferrets. She does have a size limitation (basically she can't make an urn for a godzilla sized dog). The most common customization request is for the pet's name to be on the urn.

If you are interested, you can check out her Etsy shop.

Handmade pet urn.

Ceramic pet urn.

Fourteen percent off jewelry and pottery (Celtic Soul)

(And I just realized that there is a cat in this video--Studio Kitty strikes again.)

My wife is having a Valentine's Day Sale over on her Etsy shop, Celtic Soul Jewelry and Pottery. You can get fourteen percent off your purchase (including already discounted items) by entering VALENTINE14 at the check out. This discount code is good until February 28th.

For those who are curious, she currently has three different mortar and pestles available, three different dog bowls, as well as her jewelry.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/celticsouljwlry

How is my business going? (Q3 2012)

Every once in awhile, I get asked the question, "How is your business doing?" or some variation, such as "How are ebooks working out for you?"

Now, at the moment, this question is actually hard to answer. To understand why, one must realize that my business underwent a couple of changes last year--and a major change this year.

One of the changes that happened last year was that I actually started to do a certain amount of photography and advertising for another business, Celtic Soul Jewelry and Pottery, my wife's pottery business. I have been doing photography for her off and on for several years, but it was for record keeping. The current set of photos are actually for sale purposes.

One of the things that changed my approach was the simple fact that I brought a better camera--something that I was required to have when I was still working for the school newspaper. The old camera was hers; this one is MINE. My wife and one of our friends have made the comment on occasion that it is like I was born with a camera in my hand.

The reason that my photography style had to change was the fact that she started selling pottery and jewelry online (after years of me saying that she should do so). But the change in style has meant that in the future I will be using several of my own photos as cover art.

It is only a matter of time before I start seriously freelancing on that front. And yes, my wife is paying me to do photography and advertising for her. Therefore, I have to consider that part of my current business model--and that is completely brand new.

The other change which happened last year was that I switched from the print market as a writer to the ebook market. This happened in October. It was such a major change that I consider my current writing business to be a new business, and not a continution of my print market efforts (which I started to submit to in 1985).

Now, as the writers who read this blog know, the ebook market is only about five years old, and really did not start picking up speed until 2010. The newness of the ebook market and my recent entry in it means that I am still trying to collect a full set of initial numbers to base my answer on...and my decisions.

(For the record, the section of the print market that I made the most money in was gutted by the internet--it is only now that the internet and ereaders have provided a replacement for that market.)

These two changes by themselves make it hard to figure out how my business is doing. Essentially, it is a new business. By the standard of my old freelance days, I doing better than I was. Unfortunately, the major change that happened just a few months ago makes it look like my business is doing really bad.

Basically, my business has became my sole source of income (outside of the occasional Tarot reading and other odd job).

During my time in college, I relied upon student loans to make ends met. But that is no longer an option for me. I graduated this spring with two Bachelor degrees: Hitory and Literary Studies. While I do intend to go back for a Masters in at least one of these subjects, it was decided that I am going to wait until my wife finishes her Masters in Education for the Linguistically Diverse (think ESL) before going back to school.

Now, let's be honest--the job market s***s, and unemployment will not drop to 7% until 2014 by the best estimates. So my degrees combined with twenty years of food service would get me a job in...food service, if I was lucky.

Therefore, the decision was made because of the job market and a strange bounce that one of my ebooks did (it is performing really well compared to the others) that I would focus on building my business until my re-entry into college (technically, it will be university).

Another factor that makes it hard to figure out how well my business is doing is the simple fact that I was burnt out terribly by the last two semesters (back to back capstone Senior Seminars). I had a hard time getting my act and cranking out the writing.

The cherry on top of all this doubt and non-informationis the fact that I am starting to do artwork, editing, and formating for other writers...and calling it publishing (because I am going to collect a percentage). And that is also completely new for me.

So really at the moment, I am incapable of answering the question of "How is your business going?" This quarter will be better than the last quarter (if my estimate is correct), as has been the last two quarters, and the next quarter should be better than this one. But that is about all I know until I spend some more time working at it.

My current project list

Last week was the last of the current college semester. I am still not sure how well I did...I am not really sure that I can summon up the energy to care at this point. It may or may not have been my last semester as an undergrad; there is still that question hanging over my head (an ugly advising issue).

As I slowly recover, I am kicking around my current project list.

I have decided that I need to get more stuff up on Smashwords. I would like to get some more magical and Golden Dawn stuff up. Towards that end, I am doing a rough draft on a book on secrecy; I am using the rough drafts as posts on my Gleamings from the Golden Dawn blog. There are a couple of sections that may not be posted online before the ebook goes live...howevver long that takes to accomplish.

I should also really consider revising my Three Officer GD Neophyte Ritual book and getting it back up during this production cycle. Also in the works is an ebook on the abusive behavior that one occasionally sees in esoteric groups...yes, it inspired by behavior that I recently witnessed this last cycle (really, it is a good idea to give the entire product line of a writer one star reviews just because you think that they might be talking about you in one of their books?! and furthermore, it is even better for your entire Order to do so?!).

I will be writing more erotica...because it is the best selling stock I have in my product list at the moment. Yes, I am being driven by the need for money. Plus there is the fact that I am going to be applying to a masters program (or two); and if I get in, I will be fighting the smae lack of writing time problem that I have been struggling with for the last several years. Erotica is something that I can write that does not require extended attention.

And yes, I am hoping to get some regular fiction done this cycle (either science fiction or urban fantasy). It is what I would prefer doing...except that it is hard to write an entire novel when the time between writing the chapters tends to be three months (it is hard to maintain the flow...or even a single plot point with this type of temporal gap involved).

So that is what I have planned...outside of taking regular pottery and jewelry photos (which is what I should have been doing today). Wish me luck.

First Smashwords test project up

Now available on Smashwords.

Well, I finally managed to drive myself to complete a test project for Smashwords. It is a collection of the dozen articles I wrote in 2010 for the Hearthstone Community Church newsletter, which I titled Pizza Boxes on the Floor (after the floor diagram I used that year during the annual ritual that I conduct for Hearthstone and Bast Temple).

I still want to complete another test project in a different field for Smashwords. After all, writing about Wicca and Golden Dawn is not something that looks like it will be a big seller on Smashwords. Honestly, the test project was more about figuring out the horrors of the formatting process than it was about making a buck. In theory, the formatting of the next project will be quicker (yeah, right).

It was more important today that I edited the few pictures that I took yesterday of my wife's jewelry than it was for me to finish this test project. I am not sure when she is going to get the three new items up on the Etsy shop, Celtic Soul Jewelry and Pottery, but she is liable to sell them before I sell a single copy of my little ebook.

Anyways, that was my work day today and yesterday. Fun, fun, fun.

I am proud of this bracelet photo---makes it almost look like I am a professional photographer.



How taking photographs is like writing

Ankh stamped offering bowl

Ankh stamped black and white offering bowl and chalice

Inside rim of ankh stamped black and white chalice

One of the things that I have noticed while taking photos for Celtic Soul Jewelry and Pottery is that photography reminds me a heck of a lot of writing.

You start off with a plan of what pictures you want to create.

You take a lot of shots.

Then you edit what you have done.

Sometimes you have done nothing more than waste your time. Other times, you discover that pieces look much better than you expected.

Outside of the equipment being different, writing is much the same---outlines, rough drafts, and editing. Sometimes it is bad writing; sometimes it is wonderful.

Maybe it is just me who feels this way. Maybe the two fields are nothing alike.

[The pictures used in this post are of pottery that is currently available at SpiritWays, 3301 E. Colfax, Denver Colorado.]

End of summer

Handmade Robin Egg Blue Triple Spiral Star Pendant

Tomorrow is the first day of the semester, which means that today is the last day of my summer vacation. So what did I get accomplished this summer? Well, I took a lot of jewelry photos for my wife's business, Celtic Soul Jewelry and Pottery. And that is pretty much what I accomplished all summer.

I got very little writing done. I did set up a couple of new blogs---one for my wife (though I am going to be doing all the posting), another for a comic strip that I hope to get done...someday.

I made some progress on the two novels that I am currently working on, but not enourgh that I can slap a release date on either one of them. For the past month or so, I have been supposed to be working on a Smashwords test project (actually two of them)...but it keeps getting put on the backburner.

In fact, I would say that my own business had been on the backburner all summer. For some reason, I choose to place my wife's new business ahead of my own. I am sure that my friends will have their theories about why I did that---most of the theories will involve mental illness.

Speaking of mental illness, somehow I managed to avoid a really bad depression this summer despite the fact that I am no better off this summer than I had been during the previous summers. (Actually, I was probably worse off this summer---but I am afraid to look at the paperwork that would confirm that theory. I find that the lack of money in my bank accounts depressing.)

So tomorrow is the state of the Fall semester. I would promise myself to do better this coming term...but I have a whole table covered with books I have to read for my literature classes, so I am not going to be holding my breath on that front.

Been taking photos for a long time

A happy little cauldron of mint.

While digging though the photos on the computer today, looking for a photo for Celtic Soul Jewelry and Pottery, I realized that I have been taking pottery pictures off and on for six years now. Some of the older pictures I am still proud of (hey, I still think that they still look pretty good). For instance, this photo from September 2008. It is a picture of one of the cauldrons that my wife throws on the wife; the mint that I put in it is from my own herb garden (I think it was spearmint).

You are responsible for your own success

There are times I do not understand how other people run their businesses. Saturday was one of those days. I probably should not be surprised by that fact.

Saturday, I was helping my wife at one of the local Denver craftshows.

Now, my day started off with a screaming migraine. So I will admit that after helping set up the booth, I sneaked off and took a nap (in the hot car---it was either do that or pass out in the back of the booth---I thought that the car would be a better business decision, at least appearance-wise). In my defense, I would like to state that it is my wife's business, and she was present---I was merely a glorified pack-mule (unpaid employee) the day of the show.

But when I came back, I helped. In other words, I sat in the booth and said hello to everyone that walked by the front of the booth. It is something that I learned to do when running a restaurant in a food court. The goal is to get them to look at your place of business.

My wife did her tour of the other booths. When she returned, I did my lap around the craftshow. In my case, I was fishing for information. Professional hazard, I am afraid; my true profession is generally nosy. Even when we have no vested interest at all in the subject of study.

In the case of several vendors, I was surprised that they were merely sitting in the back of their booths, and not saying hi to anyone. Often the state of the handmade craft product in question matched the care that the customer was greeted with.

The general impression I got was that several of the vendors were of the impression that it was not worth their effort. Call it a dissatisfaction with the venue. Now, I will admit that I would have liked to see more foot traffic. At the beginning of the show, I guessed that this was the first show. I was wrong. It was the second show...except that the first one had been forced into one of the buildings because of the weather---that sorta makes my guess right, doesn't it?

But to treat the few people that did walk though the craftshow in such a manner was...quite honestly, the business manager in me was appalled.

I was even more appalled at the end of the show. Now, I do not mean to easedrop...well, I am a writer and a comedic blogger...hey, it is not wrong to easedrop when it is part of the nature of your profession to easedrop. *sticks out tongue*

Several vendors were upset. Annoyed that enourgh advertising hadn't been done. Annoyed that we were competiting with another event (don't all craftshows happen the same day as other events?). Generally annoyed.

But here is the part where I do not understand their business plan. Turns out a couple of the complainers did not do any advertising of their own. Say what?!

I will admit that my own advertising of the event was not the world's best, but at least me and my wife made an effort. Flawed advertising still is better than no advertising at all. And the only person that you can be sure is going to advertise your business warmly is yourself.

But these people would rather place the blame solely on the event's organizer. I am sorry; but if you do not advertise your own business, you have to assume some of the blame for your failure.

Now, I am quite sure that these merchants would insist that I am wrong about this. After all, I am just a freelance writer, artist, photographer, and someone who spent ten years running a restaurant---I don't know anything about running their type of business. After all, writers have agents and publishing houses backing their moves---if only that was true even in the good old days. And artists and photographers are never good at running businesses---tell that to the professional photographer who is using the show to advertise her regular bread and butter work. And restaurant management does not translate into being able to sell crafts---hmmm, yeah, selling many little items to make the overhead for the day is nothing like what happens at the craftshows. (Did I miss any objectations to me having an opinion?)

I am sorry. Just because you paid a fee to be at a show does not mean that you are not responsible for your own advertising. If it is the typical show, a lot of the money collected is going towards renting the space that the show is taking place in. In fact, there may not be any money left over with the newer and cheaper craftshows.

The sad truth is that you are responsible for doing what is necessary to make your business successful. And when you have a bad business day, you must assume part of the blame...especially if you did nothing to get the attention of potential customers.

Do I write product descriptions?

The other day, a friend of mine asked me if I was writing the product descriptions for my wife's items on Etsy (Celtic Soul Jewelry and Pottery). The short answer is No.

Why? Quite simply my wife tends to be a little obsessive-compulsive. And bossy. She tends to know what she wants the description to say; often the ideas for the description comes while she is making the piece.

So while I have done product descriptions in the past, and will do more in the future, odds are that I will not actually do any of hers.

Now, that is not to say I will not be looking at her descriptions and making suggestions. After all, I do SEO and keyword work---but ultimately, suggestions is the outer limit of my involvement on that front.

Can you tell I am married?

I love the detail on this picture.

Experimenting with Book Covers

Celtic Soul Pottery at a craftshow

This morning I was experimenting with turning photos into covers---or at least, experimenting with the ways I am thinking about doing them. This photo is not a book cover; it is actually a photo from some craft show or another that my wife did. But I still like it anyways.

Of course, I would love just to pay someone to do my book covers for me---it is the old busted wallet that gets in the way there. Then again, I am not above doing book covers for others---hey, I am a poor college student; most college students are willing to sell their professors to trolls for lunch money, given half the chance.

I am still considering doing a test project for Smashwords (actually three, but who is counting); and if one hopes to make their way into the Premimum Catalog, a cover they must have.

Best photo of the week is the Catnip Twins

Instead of writing this summer, I have been spending a lot of time taking photos of jewelry (aka learning to take photos of jewelry) for Celtic Soul Jewelry and Pottery. But some of the best pictures that I have taken have nothing to do with jewelry, such as this one. The Catnip Twins (Georgie and Balteshazar) is the best picture that I have taken all week. It is the type of picture that I have seen at craft and art events, such as the Cherry Creek Art Walk, printed, framed and selling for big money. I am proud of it. I am also slightly amazed that the Catnip Twins cooperated with me; after all, they are cats who are constantly in motion. (For the curious, the plant you see at the bottom of the photo is a catnip plant.)