On 2014-03-25 14:37, TikiHula wrote:

On 2014-03-24 20:59, danlovestikis wrote:
Always wet your tool as you use it to prevent dragging.

On 2014-03-24 23:19, hang10tiki wrote:
Time to put the lime in the coconut

Sexual euphemisms all over the place. A bunch of perverts on this thread.

Wow, Wendy - those are some gorgeous coconuts. (Mugs, I mean.)

hang10tiki that's why I don't wear jewelry, it looks so much better on men.

littlegiles I'm working on getting little. 22 pounds off and more to go. I used to be Peter Pans and Caspers friend and sometimes just a good witch. I think I like being like a fairy godmother, thank you.

MaukaHale I hope everyone likes them when the crawl is on.

TikiAno after making the first 20 molds it isn't scary any more. I'm glad when you write here because it reminds me to check your thread. I don't want to miss the coffee reward mugs being glazed.

MadDogMike you even look handsome without the earrings. The bowl will really be something special when glazes and on fire. Mike thought up something really fun.

hang10tiki I sure do like your dressed up images.

TikiHula Tsk Tsk Tsk. Are you coming on Saturday or Sunday or both days?

GROG you should work in a hospital...since you have such a good vocabulary. I think you've taken a step up the evolutionary ladder. Have you discovered the wheel yet you darling caveman?

ebtiki I wish I knew the next line to "put the lime in the coconut and".

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Gsc posted this on my Gallery page and I've moved it here for fun.

Here's my new mug from Wendy! She is soooooo awesome & talented! It's the prize of my mug collection- thank you so much Wendy!!!!!!

Lesson of the day.

What do you do when the casts are dry? You sand them, fine tune the carving and do the first firing called bisque.
This first firing shrinks the casts so that when you fire on the glaze it doesn't pop off. It's always good to reach the top temperature and then hold it there for another 20 minutes for maximum shrinkage.

I finished off a mug and then Dan would air compressor off the dust and put it in the kiln.

We always wear masks and ear protection. This is a very dusty job.

I'm at the side and Dan is as far away from me as possible.

Hello Kitty Bob joins the Zombies on the bottom. The kitty is for WaikikianMoeKele. The Zombies for Tiki Hula, VampiressRN and the Corona Contessa. The rest are available.

She fit right in. During bisque they can touch. The bottom is loaded so shelves go in for the next layer.

Dan is dusting the Kings Goblet for Tavarua Tiki.

I've done the sculpt, made the cast, re-carved the coconuts surface and now I use a wire brush to add more fine lines.

Dan dusts them.

Now the top shelf is loaded and it's time to fire.

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Time to rest up, there's more work tomorrow. If I don't work I can't take photos, if I don't take photos I can't post on Tiki Central, if I don't post I don't get messages, if I don't get messages I'm sooooooooo sad.

Thank you all for keeping me happy, Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2014-03-25 22:05 ]

Great update

Classic picture of Dan! You have such a happy tiki family!

Hi Wendy, just reading your last couple posts. I can't believe your slip doesn't come ready to use. You have to mix water with it? then you leave it in the mold for two hours, WOW. I leave mine in the mold for 40 minutes to an hour. I guess it depends on the mold and the slip.
Keep up the good work!
ALOHA!
See you at Oasis this year!

hang10tiki great improvement on the photo!

Tavarua Tiki its good when it a family thing.

MauiTiki we learned the hard way when the slip wouldn't pour out of the mug we had cast. The two hours is my preference because we like all our mugs to be thick and heavy. Good to hear from you. Are you Beachbumz going to Oasis this year?

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Tiki Hula mentioned that I'd made another severed head. Here it is.

First I took one of my classic Ren Clark severed heads.

I made his hair go away by adding clay to make a larger forehead.

Next I changed his eyebrows to be more expressive and enlarged his eyeballs.

Then I put clay on his chin to hold the big tongue I was making.

I attached the tongue and lengthened the teeth. I need to change those he looks like Bugs Bunny.

Side view.

I put him a plastic bag so that the clays moisture content can equalize.

The next day I finished him and forgot to take photos. He's on my table so I'll do that tomorrow.

I had a very busy Clay Day so I'm calling it a night. Cheers, Wendy

I think this should be the Gene Simmons severed head mug :)

Wow Wendy, that is quite a tongue on that severed head. That isn't Gene Simmons is it? LOL

• Dale

Worst sound ever, slurp of an empty tiki mug through my straw!!!

[ Edited by: hang10tiki 2014-03-27 16:57 ]

TikiHula my camera's battery had just quit when Gene Simmons in full Kiss outfit and his body guard walked past us at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. You can imagine how upset I was that I missed that photo op.

See you on Sunday. We can modify your crawl mug and fix the top of your AL DEAD bowl.

littlegiles maybe...maybe not.

hang10tiki that's the guy alright. I think his tongue is smaller!

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I found the rest of the photos in another file.

Now the head was firmer from sitting in the bag overnight and it was ready to carve. This also prevents cracking.

I shortened the teeth and did the Moko carving.

He got some hair too.

All done.

=======================================================

I had a few Bob's to use up so I started one with a hat.

This sat over night without a bag because the clay was mush.

The next day I was able to pick it up. I carved it until it would fit in the top of the mug.

Dan loves the new TV show the Vikings so I decided to make a Viking's Bob. I made a bunch of parts

and begun to stick them on the mug.

I made Bob mean.

I enlarged the size of the hat to cover the top of the mug. Then I used the lock and key method to add the horns.

Using water I smoothed the hat and Viking Bob.

I didn't push the helmet into place because it's too wet and would stick

but you can get an idea from the photos.

I still need to carve fingernails on Bob's fingers. Any other suggestions???

Cheers, Wendy

PS update on the Wish List #4 tomorrow

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2014-03-27 17:12 ]

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2014-03-27 17:20 ]

ragnar lothbob
see ya guys tomorrow.

[ Edited by: kingstiedye 2014-03-27 17:25 ]

Love the new severed head, even if you did take off the bunny teeth. :) I also think you are correct, and in a tongue contest your mug would beat Gene.

The viking bob is really cool, but I always picture vikings with a beard. Beard would be hard, but maybe a wooden shield on his other side? Just a thought.

• Dale

ragnar has a huge ponytail sticking out of the back of his head and the sides shaved. i'll bet dan would look good like that.

The face on the tongue dude looks cool
Viking Bob, now that's funny ( in a good way)

Jon

I like Viking bob! How cool!

I think that you may have to drink mead from it though, instead of tiki drinks.

On 2014-03-27 17:23, kingstiedye wrote:
ragnar lothbob

[ Edited by: kingstiedye 2014-03-27 17:25 ]

Ha ha! Bob the Viking looks great. Metallic glaze for his helmet?

Made me think about "Erik the Viking":

http://movieclips.com/LEbK9-erik-the-viking-movie-seating-arrangements/

On 2014-03-25 06:37, littlegiles wrote:
Wendy, I read your posts and every time I do, I smile big and think what a lovely person you are! You and Dan live in your Tiki house and create mugs and both of you are always smiling. I know you work so hard on your mugs and art to make them perfect for everyone. You make dreams come true for people. You are like a little fairy godmother. :)

I couldn't agree more. Thank you so much for all your hard work, Wendy!

just picked up my zombie village mug for winning the contest. eat your heart out, rest of the world, because dan&wendy bought me lunch at the chinese buffet too! i also received the usual heavy dose of cheer while I was there. should fulfill my cheer quotient for awhile. huge mahaloz d&w!

Gee thanks....now here I sit....heartless after eating my own heart out. Hope you are happy!

Sounds like you had a great time. No pictures???

• Dale

well now i feel a little bit guilty, dale. all of wendy's fans should get a chance to spend a day with her. tikihula and i are spoiled.

kingstiedye I'd say looking forward to your visit but you've already come and gone!

littlegiles new photos of Viking Bob tomorrow. I have others to post tonight. I did add a few embellishments. I'm glad you liked the head too.

kingstiedye you'll have to see what I did to Viking Bob tomorrow.

hang10tiki I like entertaining you because you entertain us all right back.

lunavideogames do people really drink out of these? Oh yes Chippy does, I've see photos of him with his Chippy Bob in use. I have so much fun dressing Bob up.

hang10tiki fun, I wonder what it tastes like.

TikiAno I do have metal glaze.

Tiki-Atari we cast a kickstarter mug each day. I managed to trim the tops are remove some mold lines today on 6 of them. On step at a time. It's good to see you stop by here. It was fun to read the older post too and have you agree. I'm smiling.

kingstiedye it was great to see you and to have a fun play day. I loved going off my oil free diet. Tiki Hula will be so sad to have missed this day but he's coming here Sunday. I found my missing camera battery.

littlegiles my camera was dead at the Buffet but I did get one with his prize mug.

kingstiedye all you men have made my day. Where are all the women?

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The winner of the 1,000,000 views contest kingstiedye. I won too because I didn't have to ship it, instead we took him to lunch.

Thank you all for entering the contest. The next contest will be when I get close to 5000 posts.

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UPDATE ON WISH LIST #4

Just a reminder that the reason I don't take any "up front" money is because I always work at my own pace which is 7 days a week from morning until night. Even though I work this hard things take a long time from start to finish. I will always post my in-progress photos and one day your project will be finished. Thank you all for your patience.

It's been raining in California. We came out and found that the cover we put up had been collecting raindrops.

I got Dan a broom to push the water out.

The bisque fired Wish List projects second load had cooled and I opened the kiln.

This close up is for Tavarua Tiki.

I started unloading the kiln onto clean trays to transport to my washing station.

I think these photos show some projects that I haven't shared yet. Oh well, I show them being made on another day.

Dan filled the wash and rinse tubs.

I started unloading the lower level.

Not a single thing cracked or exploded. I had another good firing.

Once everything was out Dan disapeared

and I went to the tubs to start to wash and scrub.

Tavarua Tiki's Place of Refuge King's Goblet.

Close up.

Moai Mike's mug.

When I finished Dan came back and

carried them to the dining room table to dry.

I covered them with plastic table clothes to keep dust from landing on them. Now they wait until I'm ready.

Every single Wish List Project has now been made and bisque fired. The next step will be to glaze them. I still need to finish casting and carving the Sacramento Crawl mugs and also to cast the kickstarter mugs.

Once these have been cast I will clean up all the mess associated with these projects and I'll start to glaze. So maybe two more weeks until then.

Thank you always for the visit, cheers, Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2014-03-28 21:50 ]

I always do my best to drink out of them, Wendy.

I think things need to be used for their purpose, otherwise they get sad. :)

I will have to post pics of me and others with your mugs.

Wendy, I'm still amazed at the amount of work that you and Dan do. There are nights that I get tired just reading about it. :)

Kingstiedye, awesome win on that mug! Congrats!

The "Place of Refuge" goblet just blows me away everytime I see it. I can't wait to see that one get glazed up. Beautiful piece.

• Dale

Wendy! That is not a tiki mug! A tiki pipe maybe. A tiki cylinder maybe. A tiki chamber maybe. It is too big to be just a mug! Thank you so much! It will make me think of you and your beautiful mana always.

I see he was caught looking for trade secrets again...

Wendy,

I am always amazed at your skill and creativity. It is such a treat to see all the wonderful designs and creations you keep coming up with.

Keep up the good work, and as a 1/4 Norseman I dig your Viking Bob. :)

Congratulations Brook...that is a good looking mug...and so is yours!!!

lunavideogames I love photos of owners with my mugs. I never get to see enough of those kinds of photos. Please do post some.

littlegiles thank you it was a challenge. Gecko has made some beautiful full size mugs with these two tikis. $650 a pair.

Moai Mike when I added all those rocks it did grow to huge proportions. You'll build muscles if you ever drink from it. I'll want a photo of that for this thread!

hang10tiki he is just such a cutie. Thanks for helping him out.

Chippy it's fun seeing your posts of your Tiki Bob collection on facebook. I tried to copy one of your photos and it blocked the "steal". Maybe you could post a photos here, hint hint.

VampiressRN he resembled that remark.

===================================================================================

Today we will not leave the house for any reason. We will work tiki starting as soon as I finish this post until the sun sets in the East. Tricky I meant West.

Here's the photo of the finished Viking Bob mug.

I took the advice of:

Littlegiles by adding beard and shield

kingstiedye by adding a ponytail

tiki Ano by using a metal glaze in the future.

and I ask Chippy should that hair and beard be blond?

First I needed to finish off the hat. I used my scrapper to flatten the surfaces and to reduce them to make enough space for glaze.

Next I carved out the clay from the inside of the helmet so that it wouldn't crack.

I smoothed the inside with a wet brush.

I carved a straw hole.

All done with the additions suggested by my friends.

Does he pass inspection and will he be added to the fighting clan?

Cheers, Wendy

great touches, wendy. he's sure to be welcomed to valhalla.

Bob the Viking looks perfect- the beard is fantastic. Look forward to seeing it bisqued and glazed.

Moai Mike's mug is definitely a vessel. A large vessel. A very, very large vessel. Wowzers. A good looking gigantic vessel. :)

That is one might-fine looking viking Bob. :)

• Dale

Wendy, The Viking Bob is another one of your masterworks! just great.

(But allow me to insert a bit of historical fact, the Vikings never put horns on their helmets
this is one of those inaccuracies from the movies) just keeping it real.

Love the viking.

not true, the vikings of minnesota have always worn horns on their helmets.

TikiAno glazing the ultimate challenge. Viking Bob thanks you, he is a fahionista. Moai Mike is lifting weights to prepare for his mug.

littlegiles he's all set to do battle.

Atomic Tiki Punk no kidding? When I googled for Viking hair I got Tom Sellek (sp?) so it could have been worse. As it stands he's just another horney guy.

VampiressRN we love you!

kingstiedye way to go Bullet.

===================================================================================

So many photos so little time. So here's a project I sculpted awhile back. It was a Dan request for work provided.

Introducing The Volcano Tiki Bob bowl and all the steps it took to put it together.

I choose a bowl that had the size necessary for the addition of a volcano. I cleaned up the edges.

At thrift stores I buy table top whatchamacallitz that rotate and put something waterproof on top. These are larger than professional turntables and work well for big ceramic projects.

I needed a hollow base for the volcano so I sacrificed a Big Bob mug.

I cut a hole in the center of the bowl and a corresponding hole out of the Bottom of the Bob mug.

I set Bob in the bowl and then cut off the top of his head at the height of the rum cup he would need for flames. The disk I cut out of his bottom fit nicely for the top.

I used sticky clay to glue that top on and then added it to the sides and bottom of the rest of the mug.

Now it is ready to stick to the bottom of the bowl.

I smoothed the bottom with some slip to remove tiny air bubbles.

I stuck it in place.

I built up more sticky clay on the sides.

I built up the sides so that there is a rum pocket on top. Now put into a plastic bag he rested overnight.

Then next morning it was time to work with the small Tiki Bob statues that go on the outside of the bowl.

I carved around their faces and

then I carved the rings.

I tried to space them equally around

the bowl. I never make it perfect because I'm always a bit off...

I cut clay off the back of a small Bob in the angle of the bowl. I start small and slowly cut away clay until it fits.

I add sticky clay, carefully to not introduce air pockets.

One by one they are all added on.

The bowl is done for now.

I let it sit over night and then I flip it over and make the sticky clay smooth on the inside of the volcano.

Now he'll be allowed to dry very slowly so nothing cracks. The volcano is very thick so it takes weeks for it to dry. I take it out of the plastic bag for an hour each day and then back inside. Before bisque firing I will carve the rings on each Bob back towards the bowl where the attachment messed them up.

Dan's happy with the way his bowl shaped up. It is the first volcano bowl I have made where the volcano is attached.

Cheers, Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2014-03-31 13:17 ]

I like, I like....

most happiest celebration of the anniversary of your birth!!!
it's Wendy-Day!!!

Nice bowl, Wendy!!

Wendy, you never cease to push the outside of the tiki envelope...a Ren Clark severed head Maori doing the Haka, man I wish I thought of that! Simply amazing!!!! Love the Bob Bowl and the Viking Bob is over he top as well. So glad to hear the pieces in the latest kiln made it out safe and sound. Place of Refuge goblet is looking fantastic!!!!

Wow
Volcano Bob bowl is sweet

TikiAno I like your thread.

muskrat I made your Kiki's version crawl mug yesterday. I'll post photos. You can't have it until the crawl. I also put
Kiki's #1 on the bottom. Do you want to give us your mug spot on the regular run?

ebtiki thank you Eric.

Tavarua Tiki have you seen all the Creature of the Black Lagoon heads on facebook? Look at David Nelms posts. Glad you like your Goblet etc. Glad we got back in touch.

hang10tiki I've never lit a volcano so I'll have to have Tiki Hula help with that when it's all done.

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muskrat your name is the only one today that doesn't highlight for needed spell check.

I made the changes you requested to your Sacramento Crawl Mug yesterday. Here it is...

First I filled in the lettering with sticky clay.
After this was done it sat over night in a plastic bag to firm up and equalize.

I sanded a plastic stick into two width sizes that I could use to carve out the letters.

Large size for Kiki's and smaller for Tiki Village so that it could all be seen at the same time.

I added #1 Kiki's to the bottom since it is not part of the regular run of mugs for the crawl.

I carved the background for the coconut and

finished off the tiki.

The G in Village is larger than it looks in the photos. I'll sharpen the edges when it's drier.

Awhile back I used up some more casts leftover from the Wish List #4.

I made a another Flame Bob this one with a flame lid. I started with a cast ornament that fit and I carved flames on the sides of Bob.

I turned the ornament into a flame and finished the flames. I did flame eyelashes and flames at the corners of his mouth.

All done.

Update on the Kickstarter project for Tiki Atari. I am lining up the mugs to work on in my kitchen. I've run out of space anywhere else.

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hang10tiki after you posted a photo of GROG sneaky peeks over the edge of the roof he won't come down, he just sits up there all day. I had Dan whack his bottom too.

Happy April Fools Day everyone! Wendy

Being off dealing with real life for to long, cause I come back and see this great picture and quote about Grog's butt and shot coffee out my nose, all down my shirt and all over my keyboard. Best start to an April Fool's in a long while.

Wendy love all the flames and volcanoes...Makes me antsy to see glazes go on.

That's a big bottom

Is that what they call a "Double Wide?"

Wendy,

Love the viking bob and the newest Bowl! I too can't wait to see how you glaze the Place of Refuge goblet! Nice work - as always. Catching up is exciting!