How are we at mid-January already? The older I get the more time flies.

Once again my best seller across all categories is crabs. Aliens came in at a not as distant second. Also, I only introduced some bigfoot stuff in November/December and that had a strong showing. I sold 34 crab mugs this year, down from 48 in 2024. I sold 30 alien mugs in, up from 28 in 2024.

Sales were down 25% from the previous year. A lot of this I think was the economy, people just weren't spending the way that they had in the past. The other factor for me was that I did do a couple less shows. I tried to be more focused in 2025, especially since I'm traveling for my day job every week. As I was looking at my blog post about this from last year I realized that my sales had gone up by 25% in 2024. When I looked back at 2023, I did 18 shows and in 2025 I only did 11. This tells me that I am starting to dial in what the right shows are for me and finding my audience.

I do have a bit more inventory this year than I did last year. Part of that was sales being down. Another part of that was I got behind in making things and had a lot of stuff that I glazed in December with only one show left. I'm not too concerned as this sets me up to start 2026 strong.

By % of sales:

• Mugs 39% (38% 2024)
• Spoon Rests 9% (7%)
• Small Plates 8% (8%)
• Medium Bowls 4% (3%)
• Large or Decorative Ornaments 4% (2%)
• Long Rounded Platters 4% (3%)

By count:

• Mugs 192 (261 2024)
• Spoon Rests 86 (99)
• Small Plates 76 (118)
• Trinket Dishes 49 (87)
• Large or Decorative Ornaments 35 (30)
• Ornaments 28 (9)

I'm starting to shape my thoughts in 2026. Creatively I'm trying to figure out how to combine my two passions of pottery and crochet more. You saw recently the crochet imprints which I plan on continuing to experiment with. I also stumbled on another idea of crocheting baskets with a pottery bottom. No clue if that will work out, stay tuned. I'm also going to start exploring oil bottles. No idea why that's been in my head, but I want to come up with a simple hand built option.

In 2025 I unofficially stopped making my cala lily candle holders. While I love them, they are just so awkward to bring to shows and take up a lot of room. I may bring them back at some point if I end up in more stores/galleries. I'm also going to rethink my mushroom jewelry holders for similar reasons. I don't sell a lot and the worm on the top is just so precarious.

I've got applications going for a number of 2026 shows. I am branching out a bit and applied for a couple in VA. I am doing a lot of shows that I did last year, but also having to make some choices as some things are ending up conflicting.