Soap Dishes with New Recycled / Upcycled Glaze

I have been making soap dishes for a long time now and I love their simple design and at the same time they are very practical.
The deep grooves help keep the soap high so it drains and dries the soap well. They have very smooth glossy glazes which makes them very easy to clean. And if you love automation, just stick them in the dishwasher to clean them. :)
And the feedback I have got for these is just amazing. Custmers love them and keep coming back for more.. either for their other bathroom, kitchen or as gifts. Read through some of the feedback I have gotten with pictures sent by my happy customers.

"Well made, sturdy, great design and functionality. I love the two tone veriation that looks great with the tub and am so glad I got two for my master bathroom!"
"Wonderful product!!! So well made and generously-sized, these soap dishes are more like beautiful piece of art. Seller was great to work with - attentive and responded quickly to my request. Highly recommend!"
"Love my soap dish! I used it today for the first time. Awesome quality! Quick shipping. Arrived safe, all in one piece.I will definitely be purchasing more from this artist!"

The main reason of writing this post is that I am introducing a new glaze color for my soap dishes. And it is just not a new glaze recipe.. it is very special. While working in the studio and clean up glazes, I always saved up the glaze which came from spraying glazes or cleaning pots. To this I also added glazes that I wasn't using any more. Rather than just dumping this in the environment, I tested and tweeked it. Low and behold, I have this beautiful deep blue grey glaze which has some specks of brown. I looks beautiful over the white glaze and also has some white specks in it if you look closely.

I cannot replicate this glaze ever, but I have 5 gallons of it. So I should be able to make several soap dishes.

So don't waste your glazes. Mix them up and see what you get.

I would love to hear what waste material artists recycle in their studio and upcycle it to create truely unique work.

Mug in use

I make pottery for people to use and I have had some customers who comment that my work is too pretty to use. I really don't get that. I love seeing a piece of my pottery being pulled out of the oven or microwave. Or someone using a bowl of mine for their morning cereal or a mug for coffee/tea. I guess the downside of selling pottery online is I cannot actually see my pottery being used.

Recently I got immense joy from one of my customers... actually a customer's wife (http://creativekismet.etsy.com/... We share the same first name.. creative). Her husband bought one of my Bollywood mugs for her birthday and she sent me shots of her enjoying her mug (http://blog.creativekismet.com/2009/01/25/sneak-peek-1/).

I love the shot of the mug with tea sitting on her table. I can tell she is enjoying her tea and my mug... well her mug now.

Getting feedback like this makes creating art really worth it. It is hard for me to describe how great it makes me feel that something that I created with my hands from a lump of clay is appreciated and used.