Laurie’s Cobalt World Blog

NEW ITEMS

About ten days or so ago, we received 46 new styles of cobalt blue glass to add to our offerings.  All of it is American handmade glass and it is gorgeous.  I can’t wait for you to see it.  The creamer shown at the left is just one of the many pieces that will soon be available.

You may recall that in another post I said receiving shipments was like Christmas.  Let me amend that.  The first five cases or so of a shipment are like Christmas.  After that, it starts feeling a little more like work.

I personally inspect every piece of glass.  With handmade glass, small variations and small bubbles are to be expected.  Each piece is unique.  But occasionally we receive a piece with more than a little bubble or a scratch or something that’s more than a small variation, and I refuse to accept those pieces.  So basically, I’m making judgment calls on hundreds of pieces of cobalt glass.

Luckily, the craftsmen who made these items did an excellent job (it can take up to 11 different craftsmen to make one piece).  There were relatively few problems and most of the problem pieces were highly debatable.  But I had to look nonetheless.

(Well, okay, I admit I have to play with them a bit, too, holding them in the light, looking at the beautifully polished surfaces, checking out all of the detail.)

You may be wondering why you don’t see all of those new products on the website yet.  The answer is simple:  we take our own pictures of our products.  Actually, my husband Andrew does that.  And since I only get his photography services part-time, it is taking a while to work through them all.  And of course, there’s a lot of programming involved on the website.  I do that part.

I work on updating the site when he has new pictures ready and catch up on other things in between.  One of the other things we’ve been doing is testing recipes.  We make every recipe we post.  My family loves that.  Especially when we try cookies and then I say, “I want to try it again with a little salt in it.”  “Yeah!” is always the response (or some variation on that).

PHOTOGRAPHS

I received an email asking how we make the white backgrounds for our pictures.  The bright white backgrounds are actually pictures in which we digitally removed the background.  We don’t enhance the products, by the way.  They don’t need that.

The picture of the creamer at the top of the page is an example of a transparent background where we removed the background completely.

Often the deep cobalt color will cause a magenta or other colored shadow to form as the light passes through the glass objects.  In that case, it is sometimes just easiest to remove the background altogether rather than have a distracting color in the picture.

To get the almost-white backgrounds, we use a homemade lightbox.  I made it from a cardboard box, tissue paper, plastic lenses meant to cover a florescent light fixture, and shelf liner.  I made it in one long evening.

The picture of the candlestick is an example of a picture with the background left unaltered.  (It’s also one of the items that will be available soon.)

The lights on top of the light box are just small utility lights clamped onto the bottom of an old metal music stand!  The side lights are desk lamps.  Andrew uses a variety of small boxes to do some of the height adjustment on the camera. 

It’s a pretty low-tech solution.  But so far, we like the results.  I hope you do, too.

SALE ITEMS

You may be wondering about the sale items.  I moved a lot of items to the sale page and drastically cut their prices.  In some cases, the items are hard to find and we only have one left.  I cannot find a reliable source to continue carrying them.  In some cases, I’ve decided not to carry items of that type, that is, items that are not made from glass.  I had thought at one time that I might focus on the color cobalt, but I love the glass so much that I’m going to keep my focus on glass.

(Surprise! there will be a couple of red glass pieces and clear glass pieces in the new products.  I really like them.  It’s not the same level as my love of cobalt, but they are very, very nice.)

If you purchase more than $99 in sale items, I will actually be losing money since I cut the prices so much.  That’s fine with me.  Go for it.  I look forward to the opportunity to show you our outstanding commitment to customer service.  I don’t look at my business as a series of individual transactions but rather as building relationships with customers that will last for years to come.

One last thing - don’t forget that Mother’s Day is right around the corner.  We would be glad to gift wrap your purchase for you and send it directly to mom with a special note from you for no additional charge.  You know you’ve been drooling over the cobalt glassware.  Mom will, too!

Yesterday, I was making myself one of my favorite breakfasts. I was enjoying the anticipation of having something delicious when disaster struck. Okay, that was a little overly dramatic for breakfast. Let me rephrase. I was disappointed to realize that I was out of a main ingredient.

I teach my children to read their recipe first and make sure that they have all of the ingredients before they begin cooking. I wish I could follow my own advice better!

One of my favorite breakfasts is steel cut oats with apricots and almonds. I was out of apricots. They really make all of the difference in this dish.

My aunt told me recently that she’d had a similar dish at a brunch and really enjoyed it. Yes, it’s great to serve on special occasions, but you deserve to be pampered for no reason at all.

I admit that I go through periods when I won’t take the time to make a favorite. But there have been long periods of time when I’ve made this recipe two or three times a week, too.

Preparation time is about 20 minutes. I’m worth that. So are you. It’s amazing how a little indulgence first thing in the morning can set you up for a great day.

I start with good steel cut oats. Yesterday, I used John McCann’s Steel Cut Oat Meal. One of the things I love about this oatmeal is that it comes in a resealable tin. That way it stays fresh, even if I skip a few weeks making steel cut oats.

These oats are imported from Ireland. The can itself is interesting to read. It includes awards and exhibitions that the oats were part of dating back to 1851. Impressive for a lowly oatmeal!

Per serving:

• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup steel cut oats
• scant 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1 (or 2) tablespoons toasted almonds
• 4 or 5 dried apricots, diced
• 1 pat of butter
• sweetener to taste (honey, sugar, brown sugar, sugar substitute)
• 3-4 tablespoons milk or cream

Bring the water and salt to a boil. Add the oats, stirring. Bring to a boil again and reduce to a simmer. Stir occasionally and cook for 15 minutes (the instructions on the John McCann’s can say 30 minutes, but I like mine with a nuttier texture).

Remove from the heat. Add the almonds, apricots, butter, and sweetener. Pour into a small cereal bowl. Top with milk or cream.

If you can’t find the time to treat yourself during the week, try this recipe on a Saturday or Sunday morning, whichever is your most leisurely. And if all else fails and you just can’t find the time, serve it at your next brunch.

Laurie