Wendy Cevola - New colors of the Frank mug by Frankoma now available.

Wow
Gone for a week and look at all the update pics I missed
Awesome

I’ll post trip pics soon

Cheers

Aloha

Day 1
(Not many pics, beach day)

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

[ Edited by: hang10tiki 2019-07-14 13:05 ]

hang10tiki your days on the islands are always so fun and beautiful. I think we'll go your post then mine then yours then mine. I hope you have lots of them to do. Thank you always for sharing them.

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

These photos were taken from 5/20/19 to 5/22/19.

After the kiln cooled It was time to open it and to remove the mugs. I could already see that the pingo glaze on the black

rocks had dozens of glaze skips. So already I knew that I would be re-glazing and re-firing all of these mugs.

But the big shock was to see that the Duncan CN glaze has many skips. We scrubbed the mugs in 40 degree water this past winter and maybe we didn't do a good enough job. All these problems can be fixed with more work.

There wasn't a good solution because all the fronts of the mugs were all glazed and many of the rocks too.

The next load was dry so into the kiln one

layer at a time.

Then I put Dan to work with the dremmel. Some brown glaze poured over the L on the front so I needed that removed.

When the mugs come out of the kiln I scrubbed them again to remove the dust that caused the glazes to crawl.

The next load out of the kiln had the exact same problems.

More scrubbing in preparation for re-glazing.

More mugs are waiting for the next steps.

What a way to retire from the crawl mugs. Number 10 is a dozy! Wendy

Wow
Looks like a lil tiki bar city in your kitchen
:)

Day 2

hang10tiki your photos bring back so many memories of being ill on our Oahu trip and spending all our time in our hotel rooms, north and south. I guess it's a good reason to plan a trip back to make up for what we missed. I'm so glad you had a good trip and that you are sharing it with us.

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

These photos were all taken on 5/23/19.

No matter what I have to just keep on going. I have a deadline for the Sacramento Crawl. The first weekend in October.
I opened that lid of the kiln to inspect the next load that had fired.

As I lifted them onto Couroc trays, the best ever work trays for my ceramics I

inspected each one. Even the very best one had multiple spots to re-glaze. I know now that I will do every mug twice.

There were skips in every glaze color. Each mug had to be scrubbed to remove the dust.I just did one right after the next.

Then it was time to glaze. In this shot there are problems with the sign, the bamboo sides and the rocks.

I sure hope I've scrubbed all the dust off each mug.

I did do more work on the sign to make it better. I have now glazed the word The and the tiny palm tree. I will do that for every mug.

One by one I will get them done. However I have yet to see if they are fine after the second glazing and firing. I was hopeful.

Cheers, Wendy

Every mug twice
Daaaaang
They look good though
:)

Day 3

Welcome back, H10.

Wendy, I was worried when you didn't post yesterday. You two are retired; you should get a day off every third Sunday....

Hamo I glazed yesterday morning and then we took off for the gold country. It was such fun. Photos soon. Only three weeks and we can do it again...as long as I glaze in the morning! Wendy

Thanks Hamo

Day 4

hang10tiki - Wow what stunning photos of SewTiki! Beautiful wife - happy life! Such a fun place to go. I hope you are not done posting. Happy Anniversary.

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

Hamo figured out that I took most of a day off. We got a new GPS that needed to be charged for one hour non-stop. So we drove to the gold country.

But first my nephew sent me this comic.

On the way I saw all these jet exhaust trails but one looks a bit different. What do you think it is?

We stopped at a thrift store and I found a t-shirt to buy for $2. Then we went to Sutter Creek 2 miles away.

Once in Sutter Creek we found all these motorcycles parked precisely. A great photos op.

Back to work! Wendy

Glad u had a day off
Funny sky picture
The motorcycles look great

I forgot the La Mariana photos

Day 5

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

[ Edited by: hang10tiki 2019-07-18 05:45 ]

hang10tiki the photos are wonderful. What a great trip. Did Sew Tiki find her rainbow dress at the Hilton Hawaiian Village because it looks like the tall wall mural on the side of the building. She's beautiful in the dress.

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

These work photos were taken 5/23/19 to 5/26/19.

After they had all the different glaze issues re-glazed they went into the kiln to fire when there were dry. Bottom shelf and

top shelf.

When they came out in when another load.

The mugs were in so many stages but I was doing my best to see if I could actually finish a mug.

Some mugs were far worse than others but

after scrubbing I just did the work to re-glaze. I did

all the brown glaze first. Then the doorway and bamboo sides. Then the rocks. If there were any tiny missed spots on the roof I fixed those too.

I loaded the kiln as I went. When it was filled I fired.

After the second firing I examined each mug.

The flash glare shows up as white but I didn't have any skips the second time around.

I just keep at it day after day.

These are the most touched up mug I've ever made. In the end it's worth the trouble.

Cheers, Wendy

The mugs look great W
No, she got the dress before the trip
:)

Day 6

An anniversary in Hawaii is very special. You two are beautiful and seeing you have so much fun together is very enjoyable. I feel like I got to go on the trip with you!!! Keep having fun and posting for all of us.

NOTICE: MadDogMike will eventually take over the administration of Tiki Central from Hakalugi. It is in the works with Hanford. Meanwhile TC is kind of frozen. No new members can sign up. I've noticed a huge drop in those who participate by viewing or commenting. I really hope that this transfer happens soon. SAVE TIKI CENTRAL.

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

Most of my photos will not seem repetitious because they are. These are Progress Report photos as I keep glazing, firing, re-glazing and re=firing. But you know I can't help but share. Thank you all for taking time to view them. Wendy

These photos were taken from 5/26/19 to 6/2/19.

So I loaded the kiln.

When it finished I saw that the cones on the shelf that were 05, 06 and 07 had melted showing the kiln to be over heated. This will need to be fixed. Maybe that's the problem?

Every mug that was fired for the first time had skips that could have been caused by dust. To out to the yard they went.

We re-scrubbed every white spot so that the glaze the second time around would stick.

Re-glazing the Pingo.

Then into the yard to dry.

They can't have direct sun on them or the glaze will crack and that will cause more skips when fired.

I began to wonder if the yellow glaze that had run onto the rocks was the cause of the black pingo skipping so badly. So I scrubbed it off and

then re-glazed the bamboo leaving it on it's side to dry so that the glaze would stay off the rocks. After doing a couple I gave this up. Too hard to do. I'd rather just re-glaze the pingo.

I continued to glaze more mugs for the first time. However I had done all of the fronts in a marathon and that's why I couldn't go back and re-scrub after the failure of the first batch. Oh well!

When I re-glazed the fronts I kept them like this to dry.

Work all the time and you get a lot done. Wendy

Thanks Wendy
You are to kind
Glad you feel like you came with us

Interesting about Mad Dog Mike
Leave it to you to have the inside scoop

Lots o work on those mugs

Day 7
Last full day on Oahu

Next is the last day
(1/2 day)

hang10tiki why do you go on vacation when you two are far prettier than Hawaii. You could just spend the day enjoying each other without the distraction of the island breezes and swaying palm trees. But since you went we all thank you for the outstanding photos. Sew Tiki dresses are so beautiful but they don't compare to her beauty at all. You two are so perfect for each other. Did you get a new shoulder tattoo? I can see some tribal designs that I do not remember. Photo? Looking forward to the half day. Wendy

===================================
More new photos of the steps we took to make the Sac Ohana Crawl mug for October 2019.

I confess. I've been negligent in putting the temperature cones into the kiln when firing. I finally did it.

You want the cone to bend like the first one. However that's on 05 and I'm firing at 06. My kiln is firing too hot. I still think the problem was dust but I need to install a new thermal couple. Meanwhile I will fire at 07 to cool it down. Kilns fire like this:

08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 etc. So 07 is cooler than 06.

Glazing.

Glazing.

Firing.

Firing.

The mugs go to so many locations as the work is done.

Out of the kiln.

Even with the lower temperature the same skips are showing up.

Fire.

Scrub.

Glazing.

Fire.

Fire.

Those having fired twice and looking pretty good now.

After the first firing it's back to the glazing table.

There's so much work to do however I am seeing the end coming closer. Wendy

Wow--that is a lot of work. Good thing you started right after the last Crawl and had all that time to get things right.

Blushing
:)
No new ink, same tattoos I’ve had
But
Hmmm
Maybe time for more :)

Question: how many hours on these crawl mugs??

Last day:

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

[ Edited by: hang10tiki 2019-07-22 21:55 ]

The finds we brought back

Back to the WENDY show

hang10tiki, J + J is going strong! Dan said your tiki find is pregnant! Thank you for taking us along on your anniversary trip to Oahu. I had fun every single day you posted.

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

Back to work on the production of the Sacramento Crawl mug for October 2019.

Once again the cones that are too melted are the 06 cones. Those that are just bent over are the 05 cones. The kiln is firing too hot. So even though that proved to not be the reason for the skips it is time to change the thermal couple, which measures the heat level inside the kiln.

The part that is sticking out is the thermal couple. I need to remove it and put in a new one.

Dan removed all the screws for me and opened the box. The thermal couple is right in the middle of this mess.

I'm pointing to the two ends of the thermal couple. The two screws holding it in place are lessened and then

I just pulled it out from inside of the kiln. So this is now garbage. I reversed the process and installed a new one.

Since I was still worried as to whether this fixed the heat issue I put a line up of cones to check. The first is O5, the second just bent over is the 06 and the last one badly melted is 07. Fixed? NO because I fired at 07 just in case. So it's still too hot. But since I can just fire one number down I'm not going to worry about it. Problem solved. Wendy

Progress Report on the Sac Ohana Tiki Crawl mug for October 2019. My last and tenth crawl mug. I'm ready to pass the torch to Mahalo Tiki. I will in the future stick to my own projects and the Wish List. I'm scaling down my work load. This is my hobby not a business.

These photos were taken from 6/5/19 to 6/10/19.

I filled up the kiln shed with mugs to dry.

Then they were loaded into the bottom layer and then

top layer to fire for the second time.

Dan doesn't do art but he helps me do all the heavy lifting and clean up. He makes it all possible.

Time to unload mugs that have fired twice and are

now almost done.

Next load re-glazed and ready to fire.

Out of the kiln and ready to go into the house. All the skips are gone. The white you see in the photos is from the flash.

The last few mugs needing to be fired are into the kiln.

Done!

Done! I can't believe they are all fired and the skips are all gone.

The last load of crawl mug have been removed from the kiln.

This will be my last photo of Scrabble in my house. Busted for keeping her too many hours. Now I have to be good and just play with her outside.

All the mugs have been glazed twice and fired twice. They will each be tweaked next so stay tuned for that!

Cheers, Wendy

Wow
Awesome lineup

Poor Scrabble....always so happy to come visit and now gets punished for being friendly.

Love the last photo. Like a small army of Tiki Happiness.

hang10tiki it's so fun to take those group views of the mugs. After this next crawl I think I'll post one of each of the ten mugs as a retrospective. Is that the right word?

littlegiles she is here every morning to watch me open molds and clean them up. Then on and off during the day she looks in the back sliding glass door so I go out and give her some attention. Our other neighbors cat hangs out at the same time and they get along. But I know they only show up because I give them Temptation Treats. Dan's happy because he does our vacuuming and Scrabble sheds like crazy so he was vacuuming several times a week and more if company was coming over. I'll still have some cute photos to post of them.

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

The Sac Ohana Tiki Crawl mug for October 4th, 5th, and 6th, 2019 is finished! Actually I was done on 6/13/19. I've been glazing ever since so I'm not going to run out of photos to post.

Here are the last production steps.

Some of the glaze ran a bit outside of where it belonged. I decided to use automotive pin stripping paint in gold to fine tune the mugs. I chose the areas that made the mug better so it also went where it wasn't even needed.

I started with the name LANAI.

Then I did the L, the cross beams, the palm trunks and the door frame.

See how well the second glazing and firing filled in all the skips.

One by one I carried them to my work table and did the painting.

Done!

I'm done!

I'm really done!

This is my last crawl mug. I did 10! It's fun to see these all together. There is another table with the glaze tests.

Close up. All the glaze skips went away with a second glazing and firing. I'm such a happy artist.

Next I did the photo for the signature card.

I sat down and went to work with a gold pen.

All the cards were numbered and put with the mug. I had to spread them out

to dry. No smears allowed.

Once the cards were done I matched them to their boxes and mugs and we packaged them up.

We did a good job of protecting the mugs so that these can go into a second box for shipping after the crawl.

No more deadlines. Now I will work on the Wish List and my own SMALL projects. It's been a fun run. Now Nelson Parker aka Mahalo Tiki will take over for 2020.

Cheers, Wendy

The Tiki Central MadDogMike ARt SWAP has ended with a drawing. Full details on his post.

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

I opened my mail this morning and found a card from MadDogMike saying he would work for tiki mugs. Woo Hoo now he'll get one of mine in the mail back.

MadDogMike Dan is just as excited as I am. He's found a perfect place in the tiki jungle room to hang the lamp. A real treasure.

Thank you so much for setting up another fun swap. Once you are the new Hakalugi I know that Tiki Central will become stronger and more people will be back on here. The swaps will draw more people to participate. I've read that many people think this site is frozen and it is at the moment. But keep on trying.

This is a great way to have fun. I also thank everyone who did participate because I loved watching your work. Cheers, Wendy

MadDogMike made this Easter Island lamp and it's so funny because I made an Easter Island mug. We are swapping!

MadDogMike :up: swaps with Danlovestikis :down:

Another swap is sure to happen so think about joining in. Wendy

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[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2019-07-28 09:07 ]

Great work. After 10 years of Crawl mugs, you both have earned a day off.

The crawl mugs look fantastic Wendy
Good job

Gorgeous work, Wendy! I'm sorry you had so many issues with the glazing, but they look gorgeous.

Hamo Thank you. I wish you were my boss and so does Dan. There have been no days off. I'm once again far behind in posting. I have been glazing Wish List items each day and re-glazing those who had skips after firing. I can't seem to stop the skips even with extra scrubbing. However the second time around they come out just great. Maybe I should scrub wait a day and scrub again and then glaze them. I'll have to try that.

hang10tiki In the end I'm very happy with them. What a way to go out! I'm so happy about simplifying our lives. Now my projects have no deadlines and I work when it's fun to work.

Sandbartender Thank you. Ten years in a row. I still have a few years to go on the Wish List and then maybe a few more. We'll see as the years go by.

Thank you all for your messages. It's great to have made so many friends over the years. Selling most of the collection of tikis has brought us a few more. Another tiki home just opened in our neighborhood in a home I used to go to parties in while in high school. That's so much fun. We'll be seeing it again soon.

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

I'm organizing photos and then I'll be back to posting soon. Cheers, Wendy

Glad you can now work at your own pace

Quick family get together in Florida
Sorry
Not many pics

[ Edited by: hang10tiki 2019-08-01 14:31 ]

hang10tiki your photos though less than most trip were still eye candy and very much enjoyed. My favorites are always you and Sew Tiki in a selfie. You two are so dang darling. I bet everyone would agree with me. Thank you for posting.

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

Catch up's on a whole lot of Tiki Bob's and Wishes filled. I'm still working on glazing Wish List #8 phase four.

Each lamp is cast as a blank and then I add clay to the sides of the tiki and then I hand carve it all the way around and I also carve a unique top which is removable for the wiring to go in. This was done for Alexis Antonio.

This Hot Tub Hula Girl was done for Andy Baron.

One of these was done for Arthur Vasser.

This orange super carved Tiki Bob was done for David Kappadahl.

This Elvis Fun Fake was done for Chippy aka David Nelms.

This huge bowl was done for Fred Ferrer.

This Elvis Fun Fake was done for Vance Klinke's wife Janae.

This Frankoma War God mug was for John Markovich.

This Disneyland Tribute to the the brother of MaukaHale was copied as a wish and is to hang behind MaukaHale's tiki bar. I hope it brings back all the best memories for you.

This was taken home by Doyle Rockwell who lives around the corner from us and is working on his and wife Rachael's tiki room.

This supercarved Tiki Bob was done for Scott Nosenko.

I have a whole kiln full of wishes that I will open tomorrow. I sure hope they come out fine. Cheers, Wendy

WOW
Great pics
Bob heaven
Send all to Vegas please :)

hang10tiki soon something will be ready to ship to your city!!! It's fun you like my Tiki Bob's.

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

The Tiki Central Summer Swap by MadDogMike was so much fun. We got what he made and the box arrived.

My very cute and sill husband was afraid of what he might find.

With good cause too because it attacked him.

While he got untangles I checked out the special light bulb. We've never seen one like it before. A real Spiral.

The lamp is so beautiful. One day when it's hung in the Tiki/Music/Jungle room I'll post another photo.

Thank you MadDogMike. You made a beautiful lamp. We are so happy to have it in our home. Cheers, Wendy

Hope Dan got untangled from Mike's lamp; he's got a lot of tiki work to help with. Can't wait to see what comes out of the kiln today.

Hamo I am in need of doing catch up photos soon. So much is being worked on I am needing a short break from posting. Soon I promise. Wendy

Wish List #8 Phase Four continues. This tall mug was made for Fred Ferrer. It has an area on the top for burning rum soaked sugar cubes or dry ice.

It's been really challenging. The first firing had glaze skips. Maybe because I layered two colors.

I had to re-glaze and fire again several times. Not just for the skips but

because in this one area the glaze kept shearing off.

Once I wasn't carful when checking to see if it was going to happen again. OUCH!

It was so deep my kiln shed looked like a crime scene. I have been using paper tape to keep it closed for a couple of weeks.

So each time it came out of the kiln I used a washcloth to see if I could rub off some loose glaze.

Then I used sandpaper and then a pick.

It was now that I decided that firing wasn't an option. I would just have to "fix" it. I saturated it with water.

Then I piled on the Elmer's wood putty and let it dry overnight.

Then I sanded it. I then mixed paint. Glossies are no longer manufactured. When I run out I will be so sad.

I painted a layer, let it dry and then did it again. I did four layers until I was satisfied.

Here it is all finished after setting the enamel paint by baking it in the home oven.

From the beginning this has been one of the harder projects. Wendy

OUCH! That's awful. Hopefully it didn't go deep enough to nick any nerves.

I wish I'd photographed some of my more spectacular hand/finger injuries. The scars don't really do justice to the level of awful they originally were.

On 2019-08-02 09:04, danlovestikis wrote:
Each lamp is cast as a blank and then I add clay to the sides of the tiki and then I hand carve it all the way around and I also carve a unique top which is removable for the wiring to go in. This was done for Alexis Antonio.

I'm really hoping we get to see pictures of the finished lamp when it's all kitted out!

Are those Frankoma war gods a good size to make a small mood light size table lamp like you'd see in a bar?

Sandbartender it's still open weeks later. It is healing from the inside out. I'm still taping it closed. I've always like to document my injuries.

Philot she will send me a photo when the wiring and the lamp shade are all attached.
As to the question about the War God, it would have but I've just made a change which I will share soon. Now I may be sad because I never thought to do that.

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

While I continue to work on glazing Phase Four of Wish List #8 Dan and I get up each morning to pour molds so that when I finish this phase I can immediately begin to work on the next group of wishes. Pouring in the summer is so much faster. So we do this every day.

First up I'm pouring enough coconuts and Hot Tub Hula Girls to fill all the rest of the wishes so far. However some people haven't told me what their wish is so it could be more than I anticipate.

As soon as I start to work I have a guest who checks out every step.

Cleaning the molds for the coconuts isn't as hard as some such as the girls themselves.

Scrabble likes to pay with my tools too.

After cleaning all the molds I have three fans that bowl on them for a minimum of four hours. In the winter it's overnight.

Nothing goes perfectly when you are getting up to pour at 6 am. Dan forgot one strap and I didn't notice.

I used a vegetable scrapper to pull the slip into a waste can. It still hit the floor.

But after some work the table and floor was back to normal.

After strapping the mold we poured in more slip and let it set up. The next day I opened the mold and the Tiki Bob was just fine.

I always use wooden tools to clean my molds. They do not cut into the plaster.

All clean and ready to dry.

Scrabble is such fun to watch when out in the garage. I give her lots of scratches and kitty massages.

Cheers, Wendy

Wow
That finger pic looks painful
Ouch

Well well well
I think it’s time for

:)

Have a great day Wendy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Hope you have a great day and you get a little spoiled. :)

hang10tiki it was a couple of mm's deep and I wanted to pull it out fast but the photo op stopped me. Thank you for the fun card, you are so dang cute! I'm with Dan so my day will be wonder.

littlegiles it is a momentous occasion. Dan took me to a mall! I found a new pillow 70% off and two pairs of warm nighties at 50% off. Amazon is knocking off the stores one by one. So many empty stalls and so few shoppers. It's sad.

---

Back to work on Phase Five Wish List #8 projects. I finished casting all the coconuts I would need and now it was time to start casting the Hot Tub Hula Girls.

I have three molds. This is one piece of one mold.

I put them all together and then I build clay to hold the funnels. They hold slip so that I don't need to come out and top them off every 10 minutes. I keep the built up clay in a plastic bag when not using them so that they last for as long as I need them.

These girls are left in the mold overnight so that their waists can support their upper bodies. So each morning Scrabble was there to join me.

She just spotted Scottie coming to join us.

I take apart each mold and place each piece facing the fans that will dry them.

The queen of the garage keeps a close eye on me.

First I put each girl into a separate bag. I line them up on a hard wooden placemat.

Then I slip all three and the board into a gallon size plastic bag. I re-use these for years.

I do this because I may not get to work on these for months. But I've beat the cold winter out in the garage by planning ahead.

Cheers, Wendy

Hope ya had a great day

That cat looks to comfortable in your work zone
Put it to work
Lol

hang10tiki Scrabble has managed to knock a few clay crumbs onto the floor, however then I have to sweep them up. I think she needs more training.

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

Another Wish fulfilled! My Great-Niece Michelle wanted a mermaid that was blond with blue eyes to match her own. I think Michelle is prettier than my mermaid.

Wendy