Dirty Mouth?

That famous tag line from Orbit Gum commercials.

Now, there's Orbit Mist, a hydrating gum.

Do they market it in Germany? Would they leave out an entire market?

Why am I asking?

Mist means manure (really, the four-letter manure).

Dirty mouth?

Square Red & Black Porcelain Button

Square Red & Black Porcelain Button
Originally uploaded by la_v_i_k_a
Square buttons...a rarity, and often a collector's item. That's something new, that I just learned, lately. I thought it was interesting and then thought you might be interested in learning something new about bright red glazes.

In the past, red was a dangerous color: cadmium is poisonous. Its glazes could also be finicky and disappointing, burning out at the slightest overheating or affected by copper glazes fuming nearby during the firing, both resulting in a bland unattractive gray. Your work was ruined.

Now, cadmium is encapsulated in zircon (a silicate & a word we get from the Middle East) before being added to glazes. Structurally trapped within zircon and used as a stain, in suspension, rather than as a soluble oxide, it cannot leach (and soak into your dinner salad, in other words!). The result is that you can eat off of bright red dishes, as never before.*

This button combines a metal saturate glaze, on the left (most likely some combination of copper & iron, along with cobalt--It shows a bit blue when thinly applied), with a bright cadmium red. An impossible combination, just a short time ago.

*Just be careful: if you bought that bright red decorated dish abroad, in an unregulated market, it may still be unsafe.

Button Swap? It's a Snap!

I'm always on the lookout for clothing items that have large buttons, so that I can take them right off!
This short-sleeved knit vest originally had a plain, large plastic button for closure, at the neckline.




I removed that button and replaced it with the female half of a large snap. (I now know where to find the same size snaps in black, but fortunately for this posting, these are silver and easy to see against the black knit.)
Having whip stitched the buttonhole closed, I sewed a male snap part to the middle of the backside of the closed buttonhole. At that point, the vest could be snapped together, but had a blank, buttonless front.



Next, I sewed another female snap onto the outside, over the sealed buttonhole.
The last step was to sew a male snap part onto the back of my Dancer button and snap it onto my garment.

Now, by simply adding a male snap part to any of my buttons, I can change outfits at will!

Bread Art & 2 Recipes

This blog never has been conventional & this won't help ;)

I got a bread machine at the second hand store earlier this year. Long years of no time for handmade bread (I get called away for taxi duties just about the time I should be kneading or right before the end of baking!) and I'd heard less than rave reviews regarding machine fare. However, knowing time had probably led to improvements and after reading some encouraging stories, I got one (second hand store, but first hand machine: never used!).

It took a little while to get used to. Liquids are the controlling substance for handmade loaves; you can always adjust flour. However, pan limitations make dry ingredients the limiting factor for machine-made loaves; it's the liquids that must be adjusted!

Enough talk. Here's two base recipes, one for rye and the other for wheat. They are easy to modify...add things you like!

Rye Bread

This recipe is for a 2lb loaf. I like to put the first three ingredients into a 4 cup measuring cup, because that's perfect.

1 C Dark Rye Flour

3 C Unbleached White Flour or Bread Flour

3 TBS Gluten Flour --this makes chewy Euro (German) style bread.


Add to bread maker pan:

2 strict tsp salt (or 10g)
1 TBS Demerara Sugar (I like it, less processed...it's only to feed the yeast)
2 TBS Oil
1-1/2 Cup Warm Water

-Dump 4 Cup mixture into bread maker pan, on top of liquids.
-Make a small well on top and add 1 TBS yeast (or 1 packet regular, NOT quick acting) (or 9g)

White Bread bake setting

2lb Loaf Whole Wheat Bread

In a 4 Cup Measure:

3 Cups Unbleached Flour

1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour (Put it in on top of white flour. Should go into pan first, & soak)

3 TBS Gluten Flour

Into Bread Pan:

3 TBS Oil
1-1/2 Cups + 3TBS Warm Water
2 tsps salt (complete tsps this time)
1 TBS Demerara Sugar

If you increase Whole Wheat, you'll need to increase water.
For both WW and Rye, you could go up to 1/3 ratio. 1.33 C/ 2.66 C White

1 TBS extra water if you increase Whole Wheat to 1.33 Cups

-Dump 4 Cup mixture into bread maker pan, on top of liquids.
-Make a small well on top and add 1 TBS yeast (or 1 packet regular, NOT quick acting) (or 9g)

Whole Wheat bake setting

Old Car in an Auction Lot, Fresno

Old Car in an Auction Lot, Fresno
Originally uploaded by la_v_i_k_a

My cousin's property around their home was "shaved" into a nice lawn, beyond which the remainder was left to grow. Just over the line, side by side, sat two old Chevy's-- full of dust, cobwebs and a variety of spiders. Despite my fear, I would climb into the cars. The enticement to go on long imaginary drives with my cousin Bonnie was way too hard to resist.

She drove. I kept an eye on the spiders.

The Doors of Tripoli Series

The Doors of Tripoli Series
Originally uploaded by la_v_i_k_a
Fired last night, kiln opening this morning. They are in the same positions as in the last two photos, when they were green, unfired. There are three additional buttons here: the influence got into my other work.

These were inspired by Hibo's photos of the Old Doors of Tripoli, on FaceBook.

As Sue Michael reminded me, buttons are like doors. Another friend responded by acknowledging their role, for women, as a fastener of clothing, a keeper of person: our safety.

I had a hard time finishing these. I cried many times thinking of the women and children, waiting behind doors in Tripoli.

The Old Doors of Tripoli: Glazed & Signed

The Old Doors of Tripoli: Glazed & Signed
Originally uploaded by la_v_i_k_a

This set is now ready to be fired. Many risks here: I can guess about how some glazes will behave together, but I cannot know for certain. And, here I'm using many of them over translucent porcelain, for the first time.

During firing, porcelain becomes a ceramic that is nearly glass; its surface vitrifies and almost self-glazes. That changes the behavior of the underglazes and glazes that sit on it.

Yes, for those who might have noticed: I glazed on greenware and will fire once to maturity. I single-fire.