from lump to loved

How a mug is born

Abby is a mechanical engineer who throws clay late into the night, and it shows: every piece is planned like a project and finished like a poem. Here is the whole journey.

roll the tape

Watch it happen

fig. 007 — applying a custom underglaze transfer for seven embers coffee, june 2026

step 01

Dream it up

Every piece starts as a spark: foxgloves on a Scottish hillside, mushrooms on a walk, a mug somebody wished existed. Abby collects the world around her, daydreams on it, and brings it to the wheel.

Speckled mug with a red foxglove postage-stamp design, inspired by a family trip to Scotland

step 02

Throw

A weighed lump of clay is centered on the wheel and pulled up into a cup, a bowl, a vase. This is the part that looks like magic.

Lump of clay centered on the pottery wheel with tools and water bucket

step 03

Trim, carve & handle

Once leather-hard, each piece is trimmed, carved with leaves, ropes, and chevrons, and given a hand-pulled handle. Herb markers get their stamped letters here too.

Hand-carved greenware mugs with fern and dash textures

step 04

Dry & bisque fire

Pieces dry slowly for days, then take their first trip through the kiln at well over 1000 degrees Celsius (around 1900 Fahrenheit), turning fragile clay into tough bisque.

step 05

Glaze

Dips, drips, splatters, wax resist, and silkscreened underglaze transfers. This is where every piece picks its personality, including the little maker's stamp on the bottom.

step 06

Glaze fire & unload

The kiln does its final slow work, then cools all the way down before the best moment in pottery: opening the lid. As Abby puts it, these are the new treasures out of the kiln.

Large kiln unload of mugs and bowls in speckled green, amber, and black glazes

Want one made just for you?

Custom orders open with the shop in late 2026, and pieces typically follow this journey, usually with late-night photo updates along the way. The mailing list hears the moment orders open.

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