A little comparison...

Just to let you know the difference in sizing for the mugs...  My original mug, if I don't cast it too thick, holds 8 oz. per the dinnerware industry standards (to the rim).  The new mug is about 18% larger.  Why 18% you ask???  Well, because the porcelain shrinks so much (18%) I was asking a few people over the years how large they'd like the mug.  I showed them the mold for the original mug.  They liked the size it starts out as the finished size.  Wha-la!  That is how I decided to make the larger mug 18% larger.  How much it will hold is an unknown at the moment.  (I should be able to start casting them tonight after work!  YAY!!!)

Original side-by-side with Large...

And, a photo of my nephew DragonBen taken yesterday, his last day of summer vacation before starting 5th grade!

What a face!

And the Winner Is...

56 entries

mix them up well...

WINNER!

 I want to thank all 29 people who entered for a total of 56 entries in my August Giveaway.  I have found some fun new blogs to follow in the process!

I wanted to do this drawing as early as possible... I had the names written last night and in the fabric bowl, waiting to see if any new entries would join them this morning... none did

So, I drew the name of the winner of the August Giveaway - ledamewood!

Then, feeling a bit celebratory over finishing the mold set for the Larger Mug... I decided on the spur of the moment to do a second drawing from the same group... to be added to the list to receive a new Larger Mug when they are ready...

Mix them up again for a 2nd SURPRISE drawing...

2nd WINNER!

And Carol Dean of Sand Fibers is the winner of my SURPRISE 2nd DRAWING!

Congratulations to both of you - I will be sending emails to you in just a few minutes (as soon as this is posted).

My apologies to my niece Karen who really wanted to win this... but she knows where to get a necklace and mug made by me anyway... I love you Karen!

The Larger Handle Mold is FINISHED too!!

This handle needed to be about an inch longer than the handle on my original mug.   Otherwise it might not be balanced when the mug is filled with the beverage of choice...  Not wanting to deal with the fragility of carving a new handle, out of plaster, from scratch, I press molded a handle in the smaller mold, then press molded a smaller section and spliced them together.  I used my modeling clay for this process.

The model set up to pour the waste mold

The waste mold with modeling clay keys added

Once I had the waste mold made, and added some modeling clay keys, I was able to set up the coddles and cast the first side of the working mold.

ready to pour!

Then, I had to wait for the modeling clay to cool off after casting the first half of the mold.  The heat from the curing of the plaster caused the model to deform when I removed the waste mold... So we went out to eat for Dad's birthday...

Not too bad... needed a little more work before casting the second part of the mold...

Ready to pour part 2!

this is what the poured side looks like while it is curing!  Almost like watching paint dry...

Waiting to see what the mold looks like... patience!  I don't want to open the mold too quickly, the plaster might not be hard enough... breathe!

When I finally opened it, I noticed some air pockets inside... but they are patchable... and I just want to get a few mugs out of this to see how they work...

OK - it isn't a pretty mold... but it'll work!

Then I strapped it all together and put in in front of the fan to dry... With all of the humidity, I don't know if I'll be able to cast tomorrow evening or not... time will tell...

The set of molds for the larger mug!

And here is a photo of Dad's gift all wrapped this morning...  (A little bit of color to the post, plaster is kind-of boring looking...)

Giveaway & Parsley

Viking Braid in (from top) Non-tarnish Brass, Non-tarnish Silver & Non-tarnish Copper

First order of 'business'... The deadline for my August Giveaway is midnight tonight.  And entries received after that, sorry.  I will choose the winner when I get up tomorrow morning and see if there are any additions to the drawing.  I am doing it by names since I haven't figured out the random number generator thingy yet...

If you want to enter, scroll down to the original post and the 'Another way to enter' post for rules.

The sprouts are thriving!

Next on the agenda is the Italian Parsley plant that was devoured by the Black Swallowtail army of caterpillars this past week.  It is thriving!  There were 4 sprouts visible yesterday afternoon and they look healthy!  All the Parsley needed was a little pruning.  And the result being the possibility that there will be 10 more Black Swallowtail butterflies in our garden is DEFINITELY worth it!

The Basil

And, I did keep a watchful eye on the Basil (every time I snipped some off to add to lunch or dinner) even though it is not on the list of preferred foods for the Black Swallowtail Caterpillar...  And, it looks (and tastes) GREAT!

So, in conclusion, if you have not entered the giveaway and would like to, please do so today or your eligibility will expire.  And, if you should ever see the beautiful caterpillars I did this week, munching away at your parsley, I hope you can let them enjoy their feast.  That is, unless you are growing the Parsley for profit and can't afford to lose any right now...

Hoping you all have a wonderful Sunday.  I have a handle mold to make.!

The Larger Mug Mold is FINISHED!!!

Despite the heat and humidity, I persevered and finished the mold for the Large Mug...

Measured & marked carefully... secured model to the coddles.

First, There was a lot that went into making this mold... I have taken some step-by-step photos to walk you through it.

Making sure the coddles meet tightly...

Adding the last side with the model attached...

After I had the box made for the plaster to be cast in, it was time to pour the plaster....

The plaster was slowly added to the water and allowed to slake for a few minuted before mixing...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gently mixing the plaster so as not to introduce any bubbles...

What happens when the plaster is mixed too long... it gets messy!

I don't know where to look in that storage unit for all of my formula sheets to know how much plaster to make... so it was trial and error.  My first pour (besides being too thick) was not enough, so I needed to make more to top it off.  This part of the mold was a waste mold part to help set up for the actual working mold parts.

It cleaned up pretty well!

 After pouring that, I needed to cut some keys (registration) into the waste mold so when the working mold is finished it will fit together properly every time.

The waste mold with keys all set up for the next pouring.

Again, I sealed the surfaces with release and set up the coddles once more...

The new mold part - looks fabulous!

And the pair of working mold parts - FINISHED!

I won't show you the pouring of the second working mold part, it looks pretty much the same...

Here is the completed mold with the model showing them off for us!  

The mold all strapped together and set to dry.

I made my mark!

What to do with left over plaster :~)

Now my mold is complete!  Yay!  I just have to finish the handle mold today (it dries faster) and I can start casting.  

Please, don't put any visions in your head of me doing a happy dance, it isn't a pretty sight!  Which is why I only do one when I am alone!

And, for those of you who know that you NEVER pour unused plaster down a sink without the proper settling tank, what do you do?  I just poured it out on the ground and picked it up after it cured and threw it away!

And, as a side note... today is my Dad's 79th birthday... HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!

The Larger Mug

Some people started asking for this when I first started making my Ebonyware mugs... 20 years ago... the current mug sold so well, I procrastinated... then took a couple of years off from production, for a number of reasons... and now, do not have the equipment to make the turned models.  What to do?  Then, in talking with my brother Bill back in April, I discovered he has a lathe.  A-Ha!  Out comes the drawing I've had - FOREVER!  And he agreed to make me a wooden mug model.  YAY!!! Thanks for being such a wonderful and helpful big brother!

The beautiful turned wooden mug model - out of cherry!  Gorgeous as a piece of art in itself!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The model and my newly made plywood coddles to make the framework to pour the plaster into.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I took some photos of them as they were drying after a coat of clear polyurethane was applied... light sanding in the morning and another coat...  Plaster should be able to be cast on Saturday!  If the sun stays out, I should have a dry mold to work with on Monday...  I can't wait!

Hopefully the new coddles and the mold in the imminent future will entice my muse to return from wherever she has been hiding.  I am taking all the extra time I would have been in pottery classes and just diving in!  Well... almost all... I did take a bit of time to feel disappointed, but I'm over it now... I guess my pottery related creative slump is officially OVER!

My first few large mugs are spoken for already (and YES - I will complete the wish lists of others at the same time), including the Cider Mug Sale at the Clemson Arts Center in September.

Hungry?

While the family is off visiting other parts of the family, part of my vacation to-do list is to keep the outdoor plants from frying in the sun or wilting into oblivion with this heat (today 95 with a heat index of 102!).

On Monday, I was really actually looking at the plants as I watered them, and noticed that some of the Italian Parsley looked as if it had been picked.  I figured Mom had taken some with her to my brother Rick... who doesn't LOVE to receive a fresh bouquet of parsley???

Then, on Tuesday, MORE was gone!  I began to think someone was snitching our parsley!  Then I looked closer...

These caterpillars were munching away on the parsley

You can see that now (Wednesday) they have eaten quite a bit!

Not just one...

And not that one and this one...

 In this photo, if you look closely... there are 5... but that's not all...

More than this!

They were EVERYWHERE!

As I looked around the plant, there were a total of 10!

I looked them up in the Butterflies of the Carolinas book that Mom has... I wanted to be sure that they were not destructive (to anything other than the parsley, that is...)...

They are the caterpillars for the Black Swallowtail Butterfly!

WHEW!

Then, I went about my business and let them eat the rest... it was mostly defoliated already... I can always get Mom a new parsley plant...  I took the photos late yesterday, and they had munched all night and there isn't much left... some of the caterpillars even left the plant to go find something else yummy.  (And yes, the plants in the carrot family - of which parsley is - are a common food for this caterpillar)  







I am keeping an eye on the basil now... though the book says nothing about them liking basil...


OK... so now I have gone back out in the sweltering, muggy heat and looked at the parsley again... the pretty caterpillars are all gone now...

And so are ALL the leaves!

Are those little green round things on the top of the soil what I think they are??? 
(see the new sprout coming up on the left?)

And here is one of Mom's miniature roses... just covered with blossoms!