Inspiration is the key for any art and artist. When inspiration hits everything flows. Recently old Spanish and Moorish art, architecture, and designs became an inspiration that hit hard. We thank all those brilliant minds and artists who created such history and legacy that still ignites a fire of creativity today. As a result, here is what flowed from my hands – enjoy!
Luminerie – Starry Nights
Luminerie – Emerald
Luminerie – Opulence
Have an inspired Sunday!!
We have been busy, as in busy like Santa’s workshop 🎄🎄🎁🎅
So we have been making a lot of items for our Christmas and holidays sale. Here is a glimpse of what’s going in and coming out of the kiln:
Owls, butter dishes, and fun modern porcelain vases:
Luminaries in making: just pop in a candle and watch it glow and cast shadows on your walls
Interested in anything you saw here drop us a line: surprisesaffron@gmail.com 📩 or visit us at our Etsy shop.
We are two creatives who delight in making one of a kind art pieces, including jewelry and pottery. Excited to share our passion with you and hope every pieces you buy brings you joy and luck!
We have been busy busy in the studio getting ready for fall and winter. So much inspiration and excitement is building. We are primarily getting ready for two shoes that are coming up.
Curious what we are cooking up 😜 check us out:
1. Instagram: Shop LaBote see what comes out of our wheel and kiln first! Follow us.
2. Etsy: Shop LaBote purchase our art. Hope you’ll find something you love!
If you like some of our creations but you just want them in different color or shape or etc. we make custom orders to please our customers’ unique tastes.
Update 9/15:
Just added new products and a video on Instagram. Check it out!
Please spread the love and the post, thank you!!
Many of us get into a rut easily. We only do the things we know how to do and don’t go out of our way to learn anything new. If you have read our blog you will know we won’t let you settle for that!!
It is amazing that with enough curiosity we can learn to do anything. So today I decided to learn how to make a pillowcase. Luckily there is a store in town that teaches a class on how to make this. Why learn how to make a pillowcase? you say. I say why not? using the brain and eyes/hands to do something you never made before is quite energizing.
Showed up at the designated time and brought my fabric. I was ambitious to make an envelope pillowcase in two colors. Never had done this before and I was already thinking fancy thoughts. Teacher was great, she actually said I should do it. Going with my friend Jenni was nice – we had a blast of fun and left smiling with our cute pillow :)) Can learning a new talent get better than this!
So now that I successfully made my first pillow – I would like you to get out there and go do something for the first time!!
I can already tell this won’t the the last thing I make. Already have ideas about gifts I want to make for a few loved ones.
These are the words that I love a lot saying what I can’t say sometimes when I confused or sad or mad or even happy they teach me something that I didn’t think before THANKS a LOT for putting all the letters and words in this beautiful meanings.
I just would like to share them with anyone who finds something from itself.
Don’t judge someone just because they sin differently than you.
Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.
Be curious not judgmental.
Do small things with great LOVE.
Remember happiness is way of travel not a destination.
In life it’s not where you go it’s who you travel with.
Your children become who you are, so be who you want them to be.
Your beliefs don’t make you a better person, your behavior does.
Drop jealousy and envy, for they make you ugly, be loving be accepting and most of all be happy just the way you are.
Success doesn’t just come and find you you have to go out and get it.
If God shuts a door, stop bang on it! Trust that what ever is behind it is not meant for you.
You alone are enough. You have nothing to prove to anybody.
When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to SMILE.
EGO take the E off and let it GO!
Life is far too short. To be sad. To be mad. To hold regret. To look back. To be depressed. To be unkind. Do the reverse of all these counted.
Be crazy. Be stupid. Be silly. Be weird. Be whatever. Because life is too short to be anything but HAPPY.
Maybe I’m crazy but all the best people are.
Think HAPPY Be HAPPY.
Have LESS. Do MORE. Be MORE.
Wherever you are be all there.
When the devil keeps on asking you to look at your past. There must be something good in the future that the devil doesn’t want to you to see.
I don’t want you to save me. I want you to stand by my side as I save myself.
Still time to change the road you are on.
I’ll choose HONESTY over Perfection every single time.
When someone is nasty or treats you poorly, don’t take it personally. It says nothing about you but a lot about them.
Live in the MOMENT.
The cure for anything is salt water SWEAT TEARS or the SEA.
Forget what it hurt you but never forget what it taught you.
No one ever get tired of loving. They got tired of waiting, assuming, hearing lies, saying sorry, and hurting.
When I give food to the poor they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food they call me communist.
Always trust your first gut instincts. If you genuinely feel in your heart and soul that something is wrong, it usually is.
Some of the most poisonous people come disguised as friends and family.
Spend a little more time trying to make something of yourself and a little less time trying to impress people.
Waiting for someone else to make you happy is the best way to be sad.
Honesty is an expensive gift; don’t expect it from cheap people.
If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything.
LIVE LOVE like there is no tomorrow.
Respect your self enough to walk away from anyone or anything that no longer serves you, grows you or makes you happy.
Don’t hate what you don’t understand.
Different is beautiful.
A great relationship is about two things first find similarities second respect the differences.
I don’t like standard beauty there is no beauty without strangeness.
Old ways won’t open new doors.
Cultivate the habit of being grateful.
Being happy doesn’t mean that every thing is perfect. It means that you’ve decided to look beyond the imperfections.
I’m thankful to all those said no to me. it’s because of them I did it myself.
It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.
No reason to stay is a good reason to go.
You cannot hang out with negative people and expect to live a positive life.
The greatest prison people live in, is the fear of what other people think.
Be with those who help your being.
Saying yes to happiness means learning to say no to things and people that stress you out.
Don’t find fault find a remedy anybody can complain.
Never respond to rudeness. When people are rude to you, they reveal who they are, not who you are don’t take it personally be silent.
Before you react think.
Before you spend, earn.
Before you criticize, wait.
Before you pray, forgive.
Before you quit, try.
Many times we have to just stop and ask ourselves sincerely do I really happy on the way of life that I’m on? Or should I change my way my life and how? Or maybe you just have to learn something new.
Hope coming near to the end of this year our worries, disappointments bad experiences and all sort of that we call bad or negative was in our life just to change us to be better person and to make us able to see the life with different perspectives to enlighten our minds and hearts to see what was missing from our lifes.
Pottery tradition goes way back in our family…. our late grandfather was a master potter. Somehow his genes passed along, as I keep finding myself more and more at the studio.
Sadly, I did not have the pleasure of learning from him directly, but grateful somehow I caught the pottery bug and will continue on the tradition. He used to make his own clay, as my dad shares the stories. We are spoiled nowadays; just buy few pounds of whatever type clay you want and you are ready.
Pottery is not just wheel throwing, there are some many techniques and hand building. For example, I like combining the skills – throwing part of a bowl and finishing it off with hand building part of it.
Lately, I have found myself making lot of owls. Owls of every shape, size, and personality. This was a spontaneous inspiration, as very often I don’t set out to make a specific piece. Everyone has a style of working – some of my studio peers set off with a very specific idea like ‘I will make a carafe and two tumblers’. I arrive at the studio without a thought… the clay takes shape as I start playing, throwing, or hand building.
Ahhh… the world of glazing; it can make or ruin a pice of pottery. Luckily I do have a glazing muse, it’s called Nikita! A studio friend who has a magic touch with glazes. Usually a quick chat with Nikita results in picking the right glazes. Thank you Nikita!
This owl is called Frankie – the blue eyes reminded us of Frank Sinatra. It is handbuilt from ochre clay, hand painted, and then glazed. Isn’t it a hoot!!
Visit LaBote on Etsy to explore more unique art pieces.
Do what you love, and love what you do.
It’s always nice to bake&cook with grandmas.
This is our grandma’s special apricot recipe which we made it together this summer. When grandma is in the kitchen for us it’s great way to reach the top tips&surprise secrets of her recipes and for her to pass the delicious family recipes to grandchildren and sometimes the greatest thing is just to do and share something together.
Let’s start Jamming grandmas traditional way!
1 kilo apricot
1 kilo sugar
1 lemon juice
remove all apricots seeds as seen belove
Put them in big plate the pitted side up
Sprinkle all the sugar on top of them
Leave them in the sun for one day or just leave them one day
Put them in pan and bring them to boil then reduce the heat.
Cook them 20 min. more
Add the lemon juice and take it from the stove.
Cool completely.
Put in the jars.
Tightly close the lids of jars.
Store it in cool dark place or just give it to someone who need or worth that!
Happy lovely jamming!
We decided to share with you some of our favorite Holiday Gifting ideas. This is usually a wonderful time of the year but also possibly the most stressful – as many try to shop for gifts and worry about giving/not giving.
Giving starts with true care and knowing the people you are giving to. Some of the best things we received were not material gifts at all. Last year, one of the best gifts I received was a lavender eye pillow made by my good friend using lavender from her garden and stitching the pillow herself.
With a few ideas we hope to reduce your stress and make this a great year of giving:
1. Hosting a dinner or potluck
What can be more cozy and fun – we are social creatures. Giving from your time and opening your home to your friends is a great gift in itself.
2. Hand Made
Never gets old to make some of the gifts you are giving. In the process of it, you will even figure out who you care enough to handmade something for or not. We made ceramic owls this year for our nearest and dearest ones; some as desk ornaments an some hanging. See a few examples here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/LaBote
3. Care Baskets
This a new one for us. This year we are making care baskets filled with easy goodies to give for friends in need. Here are some of the items: gas card, crackers, cheese, fruits, home made cookies,… give practical things that will help them stretch their budget.
For more ideas, we have compiled some of our favorite sites:
For the Artist
Give a gift certificate to a local art studio.
art supplies:
http://www.dickblick.com/
prints and other:
http://fab.com
For the Foodie
Give a gift certificate for a local cooking class.
For the Humanitarian
First, if you can, give to legitimate charities in your city.
Second, do global good, give to legitimate charities that help humanity globally.
For the Fashion Lover
http://shopbop.com/ci/4/lp/holiday-gift-guide.html
For the Person who has Everything
Surprise them and give them a hug!
Quality always wins over quantity, both for gifts and friends. Giving is not about giving a lot of stuff, it’s in giving meaningfully.
Happy giving!
Today I got a chance to see Susan teach a friend’s kids how to make felt soap. I was so fascinated that I decided to share the whole process with you.
When you see felt soap it seems so mysterious; can’t help to think how did they stuff that soap in there?!
Here is what you need:
Step 1:
Shred some of the wool and wrap around your piece of soap. Try to wrap all sides evenly. This is the creative part; you can wrap different color wool and make different designs or use a single color.
Step 2:
Wet the soap a little and put inside the short stocking carefully so the felt does not move around. 
Step 3:
Dunk the sock in the bucket. Use the sushi mat or bubble wrap and start rubbing the soap on all sides. This process adheres the felt to the soap. Once the felt is smooth around the entire soap you can stop. Take it out of the sock and give it quick rinse. Leave it on wire or shelf to dry.
Hope you decide to try this and make yourself some beautiful soap. It makes great gifts! and great activity for kids. Thank you Susan for teaching us this fun creative craft!
It is always a surprise to see what comes out of the kiln. Sometimes I can hardly wait. Before you glaze everything is just milky white and uniform as in the above picture. This time around I had quite a few pieces that I was waiting for.
Taking chances and letting it go was my philosophy when I glazed these pieces. So I was so scared an excited at the same time to see IF my bravado actually paid off. Certainly had pleasant surprises but learned lots of lessons.
Magic of glazing is the unexpected results of combining colors. You can always create more predictability by testing shards using glazes. Many artists do so they have an idea what the combination will result in. For now I prefer to be surprised, so I am taking risks.
Plate glaze combo: white, amber, copper
This was a risk that paid off – I had never tried this combination before. The copper sheen particularly looks nice.
Cube glaze combo: shiny bone, iron oxide, floating blue
This was a lesson learned. One side turned out good but other sides not so much. I had patterns that I brushed with iron oxide first the glazed with then shiny bone and on top the blue.
Good side /Bad side:
Buttons: chameleon, wax
My sister G wanted me to make some jewelry pieces and I was playing around I made buttons. Had to learn how to glaze them so they would not fuse to the kiln shelves. After waxing the holes and bottom, used chameleon to paint them. So far the have put a smile on people’s faces.
What are some of your favorite glaze combinations?
In the spirit of this newfound courage and the surprising results, today I took more chances and glazed all sorts of other colors. Will let you know how they turn out!
surprise saffron 