Pretty soon..

Getting ready to bust out either some new pix or a video of how my crafts are made....Just waiting on the right timing for a photo assistant to come help me out... (interpretation:  my daughter...LOL)

Always Something New

Hi, Folks!
   
    As you may have read in my Etsy profile, I like variety, and I'm always changing up the mix.  We are currently making a new line of ceramics for sale locally (not allowed on Etsy...water pipes for smoking tobacco.)  It is an adaptation of an existing product, but gives us a new line.

    These, along with my Xmas decor items and Western themed items I enjoy the most, as I like seeing a piece through to the finished product.  Our wholesale line is far more extensive, ranging from dinner plates to piggy banks, vases, figurines and much more....but those, we see only through the cleaning and first firing, then they are 'outta here,' and we never see them at any stage more than plain white bisque...rather boring.

    I'm getting ready to pop out a whole new line of items, not ceramics, so keep your eyes peeled for my new Holiday offerings.  I'm excited! 
 

A WORD TO THE WISE

OFF-CRAFTS TOPIC POST. 

This applies to you if you are on FaceBook, and play any of their games and/or ever decide to click an ad for an online game.

WARNING:

Whatever you do, do NOT sign up for any online games with GAMEVANCE.com..  Here's the full explanation of why, as I sent it to Face Book under 'report an ad':

"There are some 3rd-Party applications and games running on FaceBook, and then there are those which come up as ads. I believe this complaint falls into that category, and this is an ad/company that FaceBook should block/disallow in order to retain its credibility as a safe venue.


"Specifically, the outfit in question is “GAMEVANCE.” They run the game “Duck Hunt” among their other ‘free online games’ offerings. In order to play, they require a person to sign up for an ‘account.’ This is free, but they ask for you to supply your e-mail address.

"Yesterday, I did sign up, and attempted to play a few games. The site is not user-friendly at all, because after you have finished a game, (screen reads, “game over”), you cannot open another one; it tells you that you already have a game open, and must close it first. Unfortunately, there is no way to do this. No ‘close’ button, and by the time this message is displayed, the game you were playing is no longer visible, anyway. The only way to effectively ‘close’ the game is to log out and start again. A nuisance, at best.


"Yet, that is not the worst part. The major problem with this outfit is that they ARE guilty of SPYWARE and ADWARE.

"I had not had my “account” for even 2 hours, when I noticed, when checking one of my blogs, that all of a sudden, one of the words well down in an article was underlined as a hyperlink, and a mouse-over brought up a “GAMEVANCE” search engine dialog box!!!! 



"Now, HOW did they get INTO my blog, and mess with it to do this??? Because they are SPIES!!! How do I know this? Simple! In signing up for anything that I’m not quite sure I trust, I use a DIFFERENT e-mail address than I do for anything else. No one knows about what this e-mail addy is; I don’t tell anyone. It is a DIFFERENT e-mail than the one I use for both my blogs and my FaceBook account!




"ERGO---this PROVES that “GAMEVANCE” snooped into my computer, and found all my other items, and without permission, inserted their invasive link into my blog!!! This is INTOLERABLE, UNACCEPTABLE, AND UNETHICAL IN THE EXTREME!



"FaceBook should take whatever steps are necessary to IMMEDIATELY block/cancel/remove “GAMEVANCE” and any and all of its apps from any connection with FaceBook. This is vital in order for FaceBook to maintain its credibility as a safe venue.



"This information WILL BE POSTED everywhere else on the web I can think of…including copies to the ‘big 3’ broadcast corporations. “GAMEVANCE” is a dangerous player, and needs to be taken down post-haste!"
…Liz

Thanks for reading my rant...and please feel free to re-post THIS article, (or excerpts/salient points therefrom), anywhere else you like.  We don't need anymore "players" of this nature online.

P.S. --I just found out that one of my acquantances on FACEBOOK had the SAME kind of experience with these clowns...only worse...she had to take her computer in for repair to clean out all the crap this outfit installed without permission!! 

NOT a good company--let's do all we can to spread the word & take them DOWN!

Ceramic Ornaments

Ok--bear with me--I'm still trying to learn how this 'insert picture' function works, and for me, it doesn't always work very smoothly...and the pictures don't come out spaced as I'd like them within the text, and the captions won't behave, either...But, here goes:

Some of my little mice fellows:  (I call these collectively, "The Mousechief Crew")

Then, there are the other animals...all are carousel style:  some are hung from a molded-in loop and ribbon or gold thread.  These can be hung directly on the tree, or from an optional brass stand for tabletop display. Some are actual carousel type, complete with pole. 

And there you have it.   The second of the two giraffes pictured is a "simple elegance" 24k gold-on-white, while the first one is more "realistically" painted.  Nonetheless, they are all "carousel animals," and as such, are painted in somewhat whimsical colors and with very colorful and bright trappings.

These Christmas ornaments will soon be making their way into my Etsy shop.  One of my tigers and a giraffe are already there.   Oh, and did I mention?  The giraffe found its way into a Treasury!  Woo Hoo!

My Etsy Shop

Ceramic Animal Ornaments: Behind the Scenes

Hello, there, and welcome to a short course on the creation of my ceramic animal ornaments, currently sold in my shop at http://www.etsy.com/.

ALL MY ITEMS ARE PERSONALLY CRAFTED :

MADE WITH PRIDE IN THE GOOD OL' U.S. of A.

The Basic Creation Process:

     I have basically two types:  various "mischeivous mice" (I call them "The Mousecheif Crew"),  and assorted carousel-type animals.


     The largest of these is only about 4" tall, and that would be the carousel giraffe.  The others are only about 2" or 2½" tall max.

   (While this article is specifically about my ceramic holiday ornaments, please note that regardless of the size,  type or subject matter of ceramics in my shop, they are all created by this same basic process.)

     First, the liquid clay slip must be poured into the molds, allowed to set up for a very critically sensitive period of time, and the excess slip dumped out.  (If they were cast solid, they would be heavy, if they survived the firing:  without the internal air space, they stand a much better chance of 'exploding' in the kiln during firing).
  
     Next, once the casting has set up to a point of being about like leather, it can be removed from the mold, and allowed to finish drying. 

      At this point, the green ware must be cleaned; that is, carefully scraped down to eliminate any seam lines left by the molds, which split in half so the item can be removed.  Prior to cleaning, the line this leaves is very visible, and most unappealing if not removed.  It is a tricky process--these are small, and poured thin--and at the green ware stage can easily be crushed in the hand.

     After the cleaning is finished, it is ready to be fired in the kiln.  This takes about 5 hours for the kiln to get up to the temperature required (and almost another 8 hours to cool back down enough to open the kiln and handle the items.)  The firing turns the items from extra-fragile green ware into bisque, which is still fragile, but no more so than a drinking glass...that is to say, it can be handled confidently, but it will break if dropped.


     The next step is the first step in the decorating process: to basecoat the entire figurine in a white stain.  This allows subsequent colors to 'float' as it were, giving a bit of added depth to the color--but it also has the advantage of keeping the color coats from 'grabbing' the ceramic too quickly before it dries--allowing time to fix any errant brush strokes.


Each of these miniature figurines is highly detailed, and much care must be taken to 'color within the lines.'  A good deal of the work requires the use of a high-power magnifying lens visor, and a "2-hair" paintbrush.  A steady hand doesn't hurt, either.


     Each color needs to be dry before the adjacent color can be applied.  That way, there is no blurring or muddying of the colors into each other.  Luckily, the non-toxic acrylic paints I use do dry fairly quickly--albeit if it is wintertime, the drying time is affected, so I try to paint these before the end of the fall season.  (Christmas in July and August..oh, boy!)   ;-)

     Once the painting is done, the piece is allowed to dry for at least 24 hours, and then an antiquing colorant is applied, and wiped back.  This accents the shadow details and makes for a more finished look.

     The antiqued piece must again dry for at least 24 hours (weather is a factor), before being sprayed with the sealer coat, which is almost the final step.

    The final-final step is assembly.  This varies from piece to piece, but may involve custom-fitting of the carousel poles, or measuring and tying ribbon to the hanging loops.




A Word on Pricing:


     Crafters for the most part know that they cannot recoup their time in pricing their items.  The most expensive of my figurines are the carousel animals done in a plain glaze with selected highlights done in a 24k overglaze.  These run up to about $12. each. 

     The color-painted ones run in a range of about $4 - $9, depending on whether or not they are true carousel type, complete with pole, or a simpler tree ornament hung from a built-in loop.  A few of these also come with a display stand included, and so are in the mid price range.


     Let's consider, for a moment....if I were to ask the hourly rate I used to get as a handy-gal.. (unthinkable in the crafts market, I know), each figurine would cost upwards of $90...because in that field I got $45. an hour.  To be sure, I cannot expect that from crafts...at least not for small figurines.  (A wood carver for example, working in large-scale statues, on the other hand, might well command such a price point.)


     That said, each figurine takes approximately 4 hours of labor to complete, from the casting, through cleaning, firing, painting, antiquing and seal coat.  (Naturally, I cannot count the kiln time as my labor time; it is just part of how long it all takes.) Even at the minimum wage of $8. per hour (here in California), the full cost of these figurines would come out to about $32. each....just for labor...that does not include supplies and utility costs.  The market won't support that.


     Ironically, the plain glazed and gold items take considerably less time in the painting end, but require 2 additional firings in the kiln--one for the glaze, and another for the gold overglaze.  This is actual 24k gold suspended in a liquid, and the cost on this is about $20. for a 1-gram bottle! (To put this size in perspective, the bottle measures a little less than ½" in diameter, and only about 1" tall !!)  Then, each time the kiln is run, it adds about $14 to the electric bill.

     So, the next time you are shopping online for hand-crafted items, or at a craft fair, before you walk away and decide that the item is "overpriced," just remember--most crafters are working for the love of the craft, and for less than minimum wage.  They have a lot of costs that may not be readily apparent to the casual observer or shopper.  They are hoping to at least make just a little profit  over their 'break-even' point.

    But, by purchasing your gifts and some of your needs from these craftspeople, you are helping the economy recover, and helping to stop the hemmorhaging of our jobs to overseas markets.  Every purchase helps.

Thank you for shopping and supporting  "Made in the U.S.A."

Publication Alert!

Friday the 13th of March, 2009

This time, it's a good luck day. I rather made my own luck of the day by my actions last Friday, but that's a long story.

The upshot of it is, I wrote an article for the local hometown paper, had it accepted and published, with a "contributed by" byline and photo credits!

The article is in the "community" section on page 18A, and is titled, "Main Street Gets Racy."

You can check it out at:

http://www.thepress.net/pages/full_story?page_label=results_content&id=2067412-Main+Street+gets+racy&article-Main%20Street%20gets%20racy%20=&widget=push&open=&.

If that link does not work, then visit:

http://www.oakleypress.com/

and just type the name of the article into the search box.

(No, I did not get paid, but it's a foot in the door!)

Some Humor

Little Johnny, about 9 years old came in the house and asked his father, "Where did I come from?"

Papa gritted his teeth, and launched into a 9-year-old-appropriate description of 'the birds and the bees.'

Johnny sat through all this, squirming somewhat, and when his father had finished, he said, "Oh. Tommy across the street said he came from Ohio, so I wondered where I came from."

Ceramics Running Amok

Wow! We have a 4-day weekend! That's almost unheard of. So, I'm working on my ceramics, and boy, talk about multi-tasking! I've got some stuff being painted with fired colors, some stuff being glazed, and some stuff done in stains.

Let's define all these types of painting:

Fired colors, also called underglazes, are painted on the raw clay once it is dry, but before it is put into the kiln (it's called 'greenware' at this stage.) Great care must be taken, as greenware is extremely fragile--you can easily crush it in your hand with just a hair too much pressure.

Adding to this stress is the fact that 90% of these underglazes must be worked in 3 successive coats, multiplying the handling time of the greenware immensely. There are some specialized single-coat colors for greenware, but these are normally used only for very small areas, such as for writing something, or for doing eyes or other fine details.

After the item has been fired once in the kiln, it is called "bisque." (Some folks also refer to it as 'whiteware.') At this point it can no longer be so easily broken by hand, unless it is a very fine, thin delicate piece. However, it is now essentially the same stuff as a normal dinner plate--if you drop it, it's going to smash.

Glazes are normally applied only to bisque. There are many types of glazes, both plain colored and specialty types which create many interesting random patterns. (See the blue crystaltone vase in the article just two down for an example.) Once the glaze (again, usually 3 coats) has been applied and allowed to dry thoroughly, it is fired again, at a slightly lower temperature.

The type used depends on the effect you wish. For items which have been pre-painted with underglaze colors, all that remains is to add a clear glaze finish coat. Some glazes have some translucent color and/or speckles in them, which make an interesting finish on the completed item while allowing the base colors to show through fully....see the S&P set at right-----> (click to enlarge)

When working with glazes, you do have to read the labels and pay close attention: not all types can be made lead-free, and those which cannot, such as the crystaltone and other special-effects glazes cannot be used on the insides of any items which will contain food. They should not be used on the outsides of any type of ware which will be in contact with the mouth, such as mugs.

Colored glazes can also be used as the only color(s) on some items, for example, my retro-50's Siamese cats are done only in glaze. I am currently working on a couple of items which will have a combination of colored and clear glazes. This is tricky, as you have to be careful not to overlap the colors as you can to some extent with underglaze colors or stains.

Overglazes are specialty finishes or additions which are applied after the glaze firing, and once the object is cool. Things in this category include gold or silver highlights; decals, and mother-of-pearl, for example. None of these things can be used on an unglazed piece. Once applied and allowed to dry, they require yet another firing to adhere them to the glazed item. This firing is again at a still lower temperature than even the glaze firing. Gold/Silver and mother-of-pearl can be fired in the same firing; decals cannot.

So, the next time you are looking at the price of a ceramic item, note if it has been glazed or not, and whether there are any special extras such as gold or mother-of-pearl. If so, this is all extra labor, time, and cost of firing, which add up. Yes, these items will command a premium price.

Stains, on the other hand, are pretty much a one-step do-it-and-you're-done technique. Most stains cover in one coat...but not always..some colors can be stubborn. Stains do not get used on food containers, only decorative items. These colors are applied only to bisque, and they are water-based. There are hundreds of colors of specialty ceramic stains, but any acrylic paint, such as is found at the local craft store, can be used. For the most part, it is fast and easy to work with stains....that said:

Price point with stains depends more upon the amount of detail in the item and the size. Some of my small hanging ornaments, for example, have such small detail that each one takes over 2 hours of painstaking paint work.

<-------(click to enlarge.)

However, once the painting is done, they can simply be finished off with either a brush-on or spray-on sealer, and that's all. You cannot fire stains: the heat in the kiln will burn the colors right off! (But, if you really foul up, and can't stand the paint job you did...that's a good way to start over.. LOL) ... A stained piece that has been re-fired will not come out completely white again...there will be some residual blotchy color, although very faded.

There are all sorts of other fun techniques that can be done both with stains and with other types of finishes....but that's a whole other article.

Cheers!...Lizzy

Groundhog Day?

Well, it's the evening of the 3rd, so I missed Groundhog Day. That's okay; I won't be doomed to repeat it over and over again. LOL Funny, don't you think, that if ol' Puxatawney Phil sees his shadow, there will be 6 more weeks of winter...and, hmmm...coincidentally, Groundhog Day is just about exactly 6 weeks prior to the first day of spring???? Food for thought. :-)


I'm posting some of the items I have in my shop at: http://www.Etsy.com/DzyMsLizzy


To the left is a blue crystaltone-glazed vase in a shape reminiscent of an Oriental ginger jar. You'll find it in my Home Decor section. I offer a wide selection of both purely decorative items, and utilitarian items. There is some overlap; I see no reason why something useful cannot also be decorative. That way, you can leave it out and enjoy it, thereby saving space inside your cupboards!







And on the right, is a pair of candlesticks with a faux-granite finish. They look and feel like rock, but are, in fact, ceramic. They are about 6" tall, so might want to take candles a bit shorter than those with which I've pictured them, to match the proportions better...but those are the only candles I had on hand.








Below, center, is another faux-rock item, purely decorative in nature. It resembles a chunk of carved rock with a bas-relief sculpture. Again, it is cast ceramic with a specialized finish. This is one of my favorite pieces. It is such fun to do!

Those are all the pictures I'm going to post for now. I'm still on a learning curve with this, and it taxes my poor old brain! LOL

Stop by my store and take a gander at all my items--I have over 70 things listed, from new creations to a good selection of vintage items, including quite a bit of antique sheet music; some of it is really old stuff.

Thanks for stopping by!

...Lizzy

Greetings and Welcome!

This is my first blog, so please bear with me while I learn the ropes. :-)

It is my hope that this blog will be an exchange forum for sharing tips, ideas, suppliers, shortcuts, and so forth, as we all travel down different forks of the Crafty Road.

I love to do all sorts of crafts and woodworking, but consider myself a mere apprentice woodworker compared to my hubby's skills! He is a master. My forte is decorative ceramics, both whimsical and utilitarian.

My current site for crafts is at Etsy.com: http://www.DzyMsLizzy.Etsy.com There, you will find the kind of assortment of crafts through which I rotate as the mood strikes me.

There is also a section on Etsy for vintage items, from the 50's and prior "antiques," in other words. Gosh, doesn't it seem to you that the definition of antiques has changed over the years? When I was a kid, it meant anything at least 100 years old. Now, it seems 50 or 60 year old items qualify.

Well, that's it for today. I hope you will visit often and join in with your ideas, information and tips.