Cement Pot Maker and Succulent Lover in San Diego!

in introduceyourself •  7 years ago 

Hey Steemers!

Its nice to "meet" you all - I'm Christie, a cement pot maker recently transplanted from Brooklyn to San Diego. I gave up my corporate job in the heart of Times Square and with the hopes of breaking into the MMJ industry, packed up my boyfriend and moved to sunny San Diego last spring. I love succulents despite having a knack for killing them, and so I concentrate on making the pots instead ;) Hand mixed, hand colored, hand poured - handmade is better! Im inviting you along on my journey from full benefitted-salaried-employee-with-bonuses to a hopefully-not-starving-artist. A pre-warning before you hit that follow button: I grew up in Massachusetts, so the truck driver language is natural. I try to keep it classy for business purposes, but considering this is a blog platform, do anticipate feelings of anxiety, rantings and ravings and all around truthfulness of struggling to get an artisan business off the ground.

Me:
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My Work:

MARBLED CEMENT IS MY SPECIALTY
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CEMENT SHOOTERS FOR ALL OCCASSIONS

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PLANNING OUT WHICH SUCCIES GO WITH WHAT POT
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NEW YORK/TIMES SQUARE
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I'm (hopefully) going to be in a few pop-up shops and events this spring! Im very particular about how I want my display to be staged but I cant afford the props I really want. So, boyfriend enlisted, and DIYing has begun. Check out his post on the process: https://steemit.com/diy/@nutinbutdatruth/diy-ladder-shelf-usd60-usd80-in-supplies-and-2-days-work

Ill finish off with a little about me: I hate words like artisan and euphorbia because they sound snobby, but I realize they have their uses...Im cringing at my computer just typing them out though! I am a nature lover but not a tree hugger, I am a Cancer so I care deeply even if its trivial (maybe even more so when it is, to prove a point lol), and my mantra is if patience is a virtue then I'm going to hell. Sometimes everything seems urgent and exaggerated, so I'm hoping that this SoCal attitude will slow me down a bit.

Happy potting!
Christie

#introduceyourself #cementpots #concretedecor #diy #madpotters #newtosteem #succulentlove

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Nice ones - Maybe you should check out @steembay and sell some there :)

Hey there, @Welcoming - Ive never heard of @steembay! Have you used it before? Sounds interesting, but also a little risky. Is there a way to privately message on Steemit? I would be concerned about getting the shipping address after the auction ended. But hey, cant hurt to try it out once, right? Thank you for the tip!!

hey I like your post! Thanks for your post! lets make stemit togheter to a better place with our content!
I also just wrote a introduceyourself. maybe you upvote me and follow me aswell as I do? https://busy.org/introduceyourself/@mykarma/first-post-or-should-i-talk-about-jail

Hello and welcome, Christie.
Tip from a long-term grower: euphorbia are ridiculously easy to kill and stick with echeveria and you'll do well. Echies are so much more forgiving

HI Nik! Thank you! Since moving to San Diego, Ive had really good luck with echies - Ive got a four headed agavoides, and her tips are just radiating red! I always gravitate towards the more delicate ones, so now I dont bring it home from the nursery unless its got hearty leaves, LOL.

The best advice I ever got was to start with the cheap plants. With succulents, the easier they are to grow, the cheaper they are.
Once you have mastered growing those, blow the budget on the expensive, weird-looking, easy to kill plants. But living in San Diego, you finally have the weather on your side and you can even grow outdoors all year round

Oh man, I cant even begin to count how many dollars have been lost along the way! I first spent around $200 filling up some planters in my Brooklyn apartment and they all died within a month. They werent even the exotic or rare kinds, but east coast prices are crazy. Esp in NYC. I almost died when I found out I had been paying $5 for the equivalent of one leaf in comparison to the entire plant. Do you have a favorite "easy to kill" succie?

Euphorbia family, babytoes (fenestraria), conophytums and lithops are my favourite easy-to-kill plants. I'm getting better at growing them though, because killing plants makes me feel really stoopid

I've got some lithops I'm ignoring at the moment :P They look a bit wrinkly, but they havent died yet so I'm not touching them! The last ones I had exploded into goo. Too much water, I guess, LOL

Hey, welcome to Steemit, @madpotters! Your work is ah-may-zing! I can't believe thats cement. It's so smooth! I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work!

Thank you @powellx5 :) Ill be sharing more of my process along the way, too, so youll be able to DIY!

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Wow beautiful plants 🍀🌸🍃... good luck 👍
I follow you 😊

Thank you so much! Im doing my best not to kill them, haha.

Good luck ;)

I absolutely love your pots. and I just followed on Ig. You have great photos

Hi @alleygirl Thank you so much for the support! <3 Ill be sure to do the same for you!!

Sweet. About time you got on lol. Resteeming and followed

Can you verify me as a real person? Let steem know youve met me in real life!

Lol how ? But yes

by MMJ do you mean medical marijuana?

yessir, you got it!

very cool. So are you looking to grow? Im really interested in that myself. Unfortunately I do not live in a state where it is legal, but lets just say I consider it a hobby, and I hope to to get into the industry when it does eventually become legal here. Im trying to learn all I can in the meantime.

I am blessed enough to have gotten a farming job, and for the past few months have been learning everything I can. The industry is tough though, and unless you've got deep pockets, I think the way to go is makings specialized products with your own small grow of flowers. I think we'll see the country legalize it in our lifetime, but in the meantime, let me know if I can be of any assistance!

Thats cool. My cousin who lives in the Humboldt worked on a farm for a while. Im sure he could teach me a lot. But like you said, its big business out there so its kinda hard to compete with that. I do think all the states will legalize it eventually but of course the morons in the southeast will be the last to do so.

I guess its time to move west? :P Every grower has their own methods and what works for them. Pay close attention to your micro climate, though! What works in the Emerald Triangle is not always the best for where you are located. At the very least, I dont think people should be banned from growing their own for personal use. It's like tomatoes. Sure, I could buy them at the store, but why not grow them tastier and with less chemicals at home?

See- lmao!!! shoulda read this first

Welcome to Steem! Love your cement pots!

Thank you! I'm a coffee addict too ;)

welcome to steemit

why thank you, Lopezdacruz :D

Hello..! I welcome you to the steemit platform .. here you will find very interesting things! I invite you to vir my blog @idma

Thank you, Idma! <3

Welcome to Steem. Do read A thumb rule for steemit minnows - 50:100:200:25 for starter tips.
Please bookmark Steem BluePaper and Steem Whitepaper and don't miss reading when you have time.
All the Best!!!

thank you for the link! the 50/100/200/25 method is a great way to get started here.

Nice to meet you @madpotters! My name's Mark and I'm from the UK. I'm also a fellow potter, but making on the pottery wheel. I hope you will follow me for interesting content about my ceramics and other design/art. I am following you now so can't wait to see what you post about :)

HI Mark! Followed back :) I love your work - minimalistic style is my personal favorite. The tones and lines of your pieces are just gorgeous. Ive always wanted to try my hand at the wheel, and have been thinking of signing up for a local class - just for fun, though! Do you have any tips for someone just starting? I know there are so many different clays, glazes, firing methods etc...where to begin?

Hey @madpotters. Thanks so much. You should definitely give it a go. It's tough at first, but after a while it gets easier and is very rewarding. Definitely sign up for a local class :) Just don't give up ;)

Best to start on the pottery wheel and then move to glazes. Working with glazes is a another field completely haha I'm currently making my own glazes, which can be fun but also infuriating at the same time. Good luck and keep it touch! Let me know if you need more advice.

I saw these amazing succulents out of clay, and Im dying to try that too! Ill definitely be back with questions once I start the class, lol. Thank you for the offer!

Just followed you! You have a great blog, great personality from what I can tell and to top it all off you are very pretty too! I would a appreciate a follow back if its not too much to ask for... trying to build my community here on steem! Cheers, and stay toasty my friend!

thank you so much for checking out my posts! appreciate the love. still trying to figure out my way, too....followed back :)