The Habulous Blog

It’s becoming more important and more essential to be eco-friendly. And, at Christmas time, we unfortunately tend to stray from our eco-friendly ways as we get wrapped up in the gifting frenzy. So how can we be more environmentally conscientious? Here are some quick and useful tips we’d like to share.

Firstly, we should try and step away from buying gifts that are mass-produced. Mass-produced products generally involve processes that use more power and methods which are fast-producing as this is more economically beneficial, but often in turn sacrificing the environmental aspect. At Habulous we would like to encourage moving away from a throwaway society - so when we use the term 'mass-produced' in this particular context, it refers to products that don't serve a long-term and sustainable purpose. We consider our ceramics as pieces that will last a lifetime, due to their functional and durable design which is all carefully made by hand. The act of gift-giving should be meaningful and thoughtful, not just for the sake of it.

Being a small, independent, handmade brand, we take pride in being as eco-conscious as possible: we recycle our clay so that even the little scraps get saved; reusing all sorts of materials such as packaging and anything that can be used in our making processes (we actually use old credit cards for shaping some of our ceramics!). All our packaging is recyclable and our products are designed to be long-lasting and lovable.

Small businesses like ourselves put more time and care into our work because it is our living and we care about our customers. Not to mention, an unusual gift from a little brand is definitely more special than something that is made by the thousands, wouldn’t you agree?

As for present wrapping, this is where paper waste becomes astronomical this time of year. Avoid using glitter or foil wrapping paper - this is typically unrecyclable and bad for the environment. There are numerous other ways you can still make your gifts look attractive, such as using newspaper, parcel paper, or even fabric adorned with string or ribbon that can then be reused too. Investing in biodegradable paper tape is also a great alternative for sticky tape, and can actually look a lot smarter. This interesting way of wrapping will not only look chic, but it’ll save you having to spend ages hoovering up all that glitter!

Other simple things that we may forget are items like Christmas crackers (you can buy eco-friendly ones), and the food you eat - is it locally produced? Is it free range? Although this might all seem like a lot to consider, it’s definitely worth taking even a few steps towards being eco-friendly so we can look after our planet in any way we can.

We hope you have a very Merry Christmas!

With love,

The Habulous Team x

Being completely new to clay, I’ve learnt a great deal from Nicky, as well as my own experimentation and exploration in the studio. We tend to think of a much more simplistic process in which artists create their work; for example, potters simply shape some clay on a throwing wheel, decorate it and fire it and tah-dah, you have a bowl. It was a misconception I had before starting at Habulous. There are actually a great number of careful, technical and detailed processes that go into making a ceramic piece. I myself sell my paintings and similarly have always found it frustrating when people don’t realise how much work is put into my artwork. However, this is also because it probably isn’t discussed enough to inform people. We only see the final outcome as a buyer or viewer, so we don’t realise or sometimes understand the length of processes behind the work.

So, when learning and actually making some ceramic pieces in the studio, I realised I too hadn’t been aware of the makings in this particular field of art. For example, Nicky taught me the fundamentals of clay before making the pieces to be sold on the Habulous shop: how it reacts with water, the different stages of drying, the different levels of kiln firing and how it can be manipulated. I initially thought you simply got the clay and made it into a shape, but I have now learnt you have to always be aware of how fast its drying to prevent it from being too hard to work with, and equally how moisture can either make it far too malleable to work with or how a simple damp sponge can help shape and smooth it. I’ve learnt that the texture of clay has a lot to do with the types of working you can do to and with it. 

What I also didn’t know is that we fire the pieces a couple of times. The first firing, which is usually done at the lower temperatures, is known as ‘bisque’ (which actually means biscuit which I liked). This makes the clay hard and unaffected by moisture, but still brittle. Next, we glaze the pieces. The glazes we use tend to have matte, pastel appearances, which to my awe completely transform when fired for a final time at the higher temperatures, producing much more solid and vibrant colours, as well as movements. After the final firing, pieces are much more sturdy, however obviously still breakable if knocked or dropped (which we’ve unfortunately experienced a few times in the studio!).

Although I’m yet to learn throwing on the wheel - something I’ve been told takes years of practice - I have still learnt a lot from observing. Throwing is definitely not as simple as plonking down a bit of clay and magically moulding it into the perfect shape in a matter of minutes. Each piece goes through a variety of shapes and heights until being formed into the desired piece. And even then, they have to be as similar as possible in size, weight, diameter etc for it to be saleable - it’s a lot of work!

So far, I have been learning how to hand-pinch pots (which as you might’ve seen already are in fact the heads of our very popular hanging jellyfish air plants), as well as individually cutting out, smoothing, glazing and lustering our small ceramic jewellery pieces (the photo above shows a sneak peak of my new designs using Nicky's glazes), and carving soap dishes. Although great fun to do from a creative aspect, I’m still trying to master timings and accept that artwork, especially when you are intending to sell it, sometimes has to be viewed from an efficient and methodical point of view, but equally remaining mindful of how we want our pieces to be unique.

For the past few months in the studio we’ve been working on some unique mini jellyfish pinch pot air plant hangings - which you may have spotted in our shops! This has been a long, thought-out process for our Habulous team, playing around with shapes, designs and sizes until we discovered what worked best. We wanted to creat a unique, quirky product that nodded towards our love for nature, and how important houseplants have been during recent times with brightening up our living spaces.

Ellie, who joined the Habulous studio mid-June, feels a great sense of pride in being a part of creating one of our most popular and fun pieces. Every step of the way has consisted of hand-making, not to mention becoming a part of a new and exciting working environment, learning about clay and the endless creative possibilities.

In terms of the making process, although the pieces may initially appear relatively simple, there are actually several making steps the Habulous team have to work through until we create these unique final products. First, the jellyfish ‘heads’ are hand-pinched out of stoneware clay, then left to dry. This drying process can take a day or two, depending on how warm the weather is (which isn’t often in England!). Once they are dry, they are individually placed into the kiln and then bisque-fired. Once this initial process is complete, each pot is hand-illustrated with vertical lines in underglaze pencil, before being dipped in our own unique turquoise glaze and then put back in the kiln for a final firing. The combination of hand-drawn lines and glaze creates a beautiful, watery-like movement on each jellyfish. Once cooled, each piece is individually hand-tied for hanging and ready to gently secure the air plant inside.

At Habulous, we aim to avoid the manufactured, mass-produced look that so many products tend to have nowadays, which is why we love these little pieces so much. Every ceramic pot and every plant is completely unique as they are both entirely hand-produced. And, for us, there is something very special about the feel and thought behind a handmade product: the texture, the passed-on teachings and skill of creating each element.

These Jellyfish Air Plants would make the perfect gift for a loved one or even to yourself, ideal for hanging in any room (although a humid bathroom would be ideal for the plant!). They bring a unique splash of colour and style to our indoor spaces, perfect for cheering us up. Definitely something to add to the plant collection, don’t you think?

The last few years have seen my pottery business Habulous grow substantially and many of you will have seen the expansion I have made to my studio too. Well, I’m now delighted that I have secured funding from the Government’s new Kickstart initiative to bring a new person into the business to work with me.

The scheme, launched in 2020, provides £2 billion funding for six-month work placements for young people – paying them the national minimum wage for 25 hours per week. It allows youngsters ordinarily reliant on Universal Credit to gain valuable work experience in the hope of securing future employment, while earning a wage.

When I heard about the Government scheme, it seemed like a perfect idea. It means that I can take on new commissions whilst providing employment to a young person in the area. I know from experience that many young people find it hard to get a job without in-depth experience and feel forgotten about, so this is an ideal opportunity for them, and me.

At Habulous ceramics I individually make by hand, wheel thrown stoneware pottery and ceramic jewellery. I make mugs, vases, storage containers, bird feeders, jugs and many other decorative and useful pieces for your home. I love what I do and my pieces of work all reflect the time, energy and skill that I put into them, no two pieces of my work will be the same, reflecting the individuals who use them. It means that a young person working within the business will gain the expert skills needed to work professionally both on business management and the pottery itself, whilst helping me to expand the business and keep up with the rising amount of interest in my work.

But it’s not just the hand-on pottery experience. It’s also marketing, promotion, photography and online sales. The young person will also be assisting with customer relations, preparing orders for the stores and online sales, stock taking duties and managing work flow. Administration duties are just as important including filing and invoicing, assisting with social media accounts, engaging with our followers and growing our social media presence.

The ideal candidate will have experience with ceramics ideally gained via a degree or other formal training.  Although a person with a creative ability and an interest in ceramics may be considered, if they have the right attitude and creative flair.

Prior to running my own business I worked within the recruitment industry so will be focused on ensuring the right individual develops good working practices to assist them in their future career. 

Anyone interested in applying for the position needs to contact their job mentor with job reference  KS4356966A