"The Newly Born Blogger"

I'd never ever read a blog until I met Ivar. He finds the goodness and truth of the world in a random moment that he captures and sends out to all for eternity. How cool is he? He has enticed me to want to see, and see, and see.

Oh and ithere is the raptor documenter in Spain, the city boy in New York, and the Inushuk adventure of Rob. These blogs are all too wonderful and divert me from my world into theirs.

I feel so blessed to have these new people in my world.

~Lynn

Finite resources...

To create a sense of legitimacy within myself, I tried to find gifts for my family and friends were not brand new to reduce the carbon footprint of the gifting season. Well I suppose there were emissions in the travel to and from to get some of the gifts but truly, it was a huge reduction.

I wasn't sure if everyone would love old stuff as much as I so the element of risk taking was present. I wasn't 100 percent effective in eliminating all new product shopping. I did buy a few things I thought people really needed like a new, down jacket or a bottle of wine here and there.

It's several days past my gift giving and I've since contemplated, did I do the right thing? Did I make my family and friends as happy as I would have if I'd done all my shopping in mall as usual?

My self reply is that I am going to start now doing the same sort of thing for next Christmas. It worked out that well. I was careful to purchase, hunt for, find and match the right old stuff with the right people. I found new homes for old books when I went to our local Bay View library book sale (old books including classics, treasures and gems that were taken off the shelves). I scoured the auction ads in our local paper, seeking interesting things for interesting people. It was great fun searching though antique shop inventories (including my own) to find just the right vintage or antique items.

All in all, I'm glad for the experience.
Happy New Year to the person who might stumble upon my ramblings!!!

Why Florence???

Florence Ceramics, a porcelain manufacturing firm of Pasedena, California, made a huge impact on the global porcelain industry.  Florence Ward pioneered porcelain processes that changed ceramic manufacturing, turning it into an art form.  Although her ceramics plant operated for only 22 years from 1942 until 1964, her line of fine porcelain figurines, serving pieces and statues, continue to be measured by many as the finest art porcelain ever made in America or perhaps the world. 
     Her pieces were carefully manufactured to be as near to perfect as could be.  Each piece was hand crafted with layers of lace covered with porcelain which was baked until only the porcelain skeleton of the lace remained.  Florence believed in high maintenance techniques such as hand painting and multiple firings.  Her work comes alive.   Her earthen materials have expressions of innocence, dignity and charm. 
     Florence expected perfection from her employees.  She supervised the processes she didn’t control herself.  Florence inspected each step of the manufacturing process.  She was not one to let a “very good” product leave her factory; only perfect pieces were sold to fine department stores and gift shops. 
While she had high expectations from her employees, she was a stellar employer to work for.  Being an excellent employer was as important to her as creating an excellent product.  
    While Florence Ward’s ceramics will never be created again (her molds were destroyed when her firm was sold in the 1960’s) her legacy as an American art porcelain leader remains in these wonderful pieces. 

How to Maintain Antique Porcelain

Antique porcelain is wonderfully durable if given the appropriate conditions.  This Royal Rudolstadt hand-painted fine porcelain plate (see my website blog to see the plate) was made in the Thuringia of Germany in the nineteenth century and looks as though it left the fatience factory yesterday.

Here are requisite care factors that should be used to keep your antique porcelain in excellent condition:
Temperature:  Keep porcelain at a constant temperature between the range of 60 deg F to 80 deg F.  Porcelain will craze if it is kept in a place that experiences change in temperature like an attic.  Porcelain needs one temperature.  Period.
Cleaning:  Clean fine porcelain with water and a soft cotton cloth.  Do not rub the porcelain.  Let a gentle stream of luke warm water bath the porcelain and dry it gently.  Detergents will degrade any paints, finish, gold, etc.  It is not safe to use them; any of them.  Period.
Light:  Keep porcelain out of direct sunlight or strong florescent light.  It can be in indirect light or a distance from lumination that doesn’t create heat.  Porcelain in a window has the opportunity to acquire a temperature change.  Don’t do it.
Handling:  Handle porcelain safely from rims or bases.  Do not put finger prints and/or hand prints all over your piece.  Hand oils are left on your porcelain after holding it so it is best to reduce the amount of holding or touching.  When you must touch your porcelain pieces, do so with extreme care.  Many pieces are absolutely or nearly irreplaceable.  Do not move them excessively or allow others to pick them up to get a closer look.  Actually, behind glass doors is a wonderful place to keep your fine antique porcelain safe. 
Hope this helps you keep your porcelain beautiful for generations to come!

~Lynn

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Vintage American Collectibles

Thanks for visiting my blog.  I hope you will visit my website at www.vintageamericancollectibles.com. for shopping for vintage American collectibles.