Eeek! Roadkill Critters...

We have a strange sense of humor at times at DarkHorseStore.com, but we love to see people smile and our roadkill armadillo has always brought a chuckle to our customers at shows and events.  So we have expanded our designs of roadkill critters... we now have Squashed Squirrel, Roadkill Opossum, Oops! Roadkill Raccoon and Roadkill Skunk (minus the smell of course!)

These makes great stocking stuffers for family and friends with a sense of humor, or as a unique gift - they are very unusual and you will not find these in stores :)  All handmade in the USA with all food safe materials made in the USA, they can be used as spoon rest in the kitchen, as tea bag holder, tea spoon holder, desk accessory for business cards or paperclips, as ring holders at your bedside, and more...

Despite their macabre circumstance, each one has a little grin, so you know they died happy ;)  and we take extra care in painting to make them cute and appealing (not gross or gory-lol).

Hope you enjoy! 

Spicy Ceramic Surprise!

I know I am supposed to be posting Liquid Clay to Shining Lights - Part 2 Ceramic Christmas Trees, but to our surprise we receive an 'emergency' ceramic order :)  Two days ago we got a call from a wonderful woman in New Jersey who is putting together a very special Bridal Shower for her daughter in Missouri. To make the occasion very special, the theme for the shower is Sweet & Spicy and it seems that our Red Hot Chili Pepper holders fit the bill perfectly!

Red Hot Chili Pepper Rest - Ceramic Holder

Now, we do not stock large quantities of any item, so for the next few days, we are busy pouring, painting, firing and finishing all 60 of these little chilies --- a tall order indeed! We only have two weeks to complete the order, but we are determined and thrilled to be able to make such a special occasion a memorable event.

I will be posting Part 2 very soon. Stay tuned :)

CartoonLovinMomma's Great Pumpkin Giveaway!

An amazing mom - Stephanie from Dover, Arkansas - contacted our little shop about a blog giveaway contest she is holding NOW through October 14, 2010.  She loved some of our Halloweenies (I do too ~ Halloween is my favorite holiday) so we decided to combine forces and make a special offer to her blog readers!

Find out more here: http://cartoonlovinmomma.blogspot.com/2010/10/dark-horse-arts-and-gifts-etsy.html

Win this pumpkin at Stephanie's Blog!

The contest rules are easy and I hope you enjoy her great blog! :)

A special thank you to Stephanie for having such a great idea and for sharing with others :)

Wishing you all the best of luck ~ Jeanie

Bloomin' Cactus!

Well, it's mid-August and still awfully hot here in Southern Arizona. Amazingly though, just this past Saturday, I noticed that despite the high heat some cactus around the house have started to bloom! I was thrilled to see such beauty in the middle of the hottest and driest season.....rather late bloomers I must say!

The colors on this small barrel cactus are really dramatic~

I love the flower-within-a-flower on this tall flowering cactus~

I just planted these cactus in April 2009, so to see them doing so well is inspiring. I must not be too bad at gardening :)

Also on Saturday, I went to a local art fair hosted by the Central Arizona College. I brought along some of my favorite ceramic pieces to show. Unexpectedly, a local store-owner in town commissioned me to make several sets of cactus salt and pepper shakers and a couple of large saguaro cactus for them. So it turned out to be a wonderful bloomin' cactus kind of day!

Custom order for Cactus Salt & Pepper Shakers will include
"Casa Grande Arizona" painted on the front of each piece.

A little of this, a little of that...About Dark Horse Ceramic Arts and Unique Gifts

My mom and I started making and teaching ceramics over 25 years ago. Mom had her own ceramic shop in a little town in the Midwest called Fox River Grove. The little town in upstate Illinois was only 1250 population at the time, but our little ceramic shop was always busy. My mom is a true artist and patient teacher and she taught classes so that others could enjoy the art of making something for themselves. Being 12 years old, I was thrilled with learning all about ceramics, pouring our own molds, mixing clay, using glazes, and helping my mom create all kinds wonderful ceramic keepsakes and little treasures.

For various reasons, mom closed her shop after only a couple of years despite good business and great students and customers.

Having recently battled breast cancer and winning (yeah!) mom told me she would love to get back into ceramics again. I have to admit, I was looking forward to it as well :) With a little coaxing, my husband Glenn even got interested in creating with us and there began our little family business.

We started Dark Horse Arts and Gifts. Named so because a dark horse is one who is not expected to win and often comes from behind in the race to do just that!

I created a website at DarkHorseStore.com where we showcase a few of our items and you can always find a full range of items at our Etsy Store here.

I hope you enjoy the chronicles of our journey in ceramic art here. I also will post other artist and hand crafter's work here for your enjoyment.