Inspiration Station # 1 ♥ Handmade From The Netherlands With Ildi

Connecting artisans from around the world. Let's learn from their trials and share in their joy. We hope these stories will give you the inspiration to take your business to the next level! Enjoy the journey "Made With Love Ceramic Home Decor And Jewelry With Ildi"... "Seven years ago, My husband got a job abroad and our family moved from a bustling metropolis, Budapest to a friendly countryside, near Maastricht. Now that we are moved, I had plenty of time for my daughters and myself. ... I started volunteering at the school and joined two clubs: a local pottery club and an International Ladies Club. The last is called NAPMA, an association where I was elected as the chairman four years ago. Little introduction about it, it’s an international association in which members came from 16 different countries. The association offers the members an opportunity too meet people and learn more about their new home environment. Once a month we have dinner together, we organize cooking course, craft programs (ie: glass painting, mosaic making, felted bag knitting, patchwork, carton box decorating, and so on). We enjoy travelling too, this year we visited Edinburgh for a long weekend. Our biggest event is the NAPMA Picnic, more than 150 participant[s], including the adults and children. This year we collected money, from a Charity Lunch event, to be donated to a local social organization, called ”Stiching Hart Onder de Riem”. Charity Lunch Event Besides being a happy and busy chairman I am also an enthusiastic ceramic shop owner on Etsy. My workplace is something new for me. I used to work in the kitchen and also at a local Arts Center, which is 45 minutes away from our house. My life was always cleaning and packing. Recently we moved into a new house and now I have my very own Hobby Room, a tiny place in our house with a great view. Perfect view that is, on a sunny day. Nature is the best inspiration for me.  THE STUDIO My studio is on the first floor of our house, where I decorated the corner with a special angel. Once I made a big bowl and for some reason it broke in the kiln. I really liked it and wanted to use it for something and then thought that it would be perfect for "Angel Wings". In one of the walls in the studio you’ll see shelves to arrange my important tools, clays, and glazes. [Here are some of the] basic tools I use : THE PROCESS The making of ceramics starts with planning. I have a big blue book where I first draw all my imagination and then think about the colors and decorations. I make my plates and ornaments by hand and place them on wooden plates to dry. What I enjoy the most of this process is to paint with glazes and underglazes. I keep the brushes in my favorite mug, which I bought in Hungary. A feeling of home ... Lots and lots of glazes and underglazes ! I love to listen to music while working, I push myself to start the work in the morning, but honestly, I usually prefer to work later, in the evening and at night, where I get the most creative ideas. HARDENING AND DRYING The kiln is in the garage, because my room is too tiny to fit the kiln. After hours in the kiln, my ceramics are ready. It is now up to my beautiful daughters to present them to the world. For my ceramic earrings, I follow the modern, minimalist directions and use beautiful colors on my tiny stud earrings. You can wear these every day, the surgical stainless steel posts are perfect for sensitive skin as well." THE FINAL CREATIONS Thank you sooo much for sharing your story with us, Ildi. Moving the entire family from one country to another is a a huge endeavor. Having to get acquainted with a brand new language, new customs, new environment altogether requires a lot of courage and endurance! We admire your perseverance and wish you only the very best for the success of your Etsy shops :-) Meet Our Lovely Leader Ildi from  Ceraminic : Hi, my name is Ildi. I'm a group psychotherapist and an economist, mother of 2 girls, wife of an engineer and a ceramic lover from the Netherlands. > I really enjoy the process of making pottery: I sit down at a table with clay and try to make something that I have an imagination of. I want something and the clay wants something but in the end I can work until I am most satisfied with the outcome. > > For me, the best part is after the first kiln firing when I can paint with bright, shiny colors and decorate in different ways. I love the tiny details, I do have patience to work with really small things to achieve those fascinating patterns. Visit Ildi's Etsy Shops For Some Homemade Ceramic Jewelry and Home Decor : http://www.etsy.com/shop/Ceraminic http://www.etsy.com/shop/LemoneRouge Twitter : twitter.com/LemoneRouge Blog : http://ceraminic.blogspot.nl Tumblr : http://ceraminic.tumblr.com Pinterest : www.pinterest.com/ceraminic Spread some SPST love and support your fellow Teammies :-) If you would like to share your story on the founding of your business, we want to hear from you!!!!! Post a comment with your Etsy shop or website and we'll contact you for a possible feature on our Team Blog :-)  International sellers welcome!