My Ceramic Beads

As you may recall, I took a class at the B&B show about how to make ceramic beads. The class was taught by Jennifer Heynen, who is a real sweetheart, always smiling (this is not the most flattering photo of her but it was the only one I got).

We shaped the beads out of clay and then had to paint and glaze them. I ended up making about 40 beads and I only got about half of them done by the end of the class. I took half of them back to my hotel room and spent the next few days trying to find time in between classes and shopping to finish decorating the beads. I did finally get them done and dropped them off at Jennifer's booth on the show floor on the last morning. Better late than never!

Jennifer had set it up that we would all hand in our beads on a paper plate with our name and addresses on it and she would (very carefully) transport them to her home, fire them in her kiln and then mail them to us. It was so exciting to go to the post office and pick them up last Saturday.

Here's how they turned out. I'm pretty pleased with the result - I love the bright, bold colours. I had to laugh though, as one or two of them have unglazed portions. It's not really a problem, it's just they feel a little rough in that area and the colour is less vibrant. I found it was quite difficult to figure out if I had already glazed certain parts, or if I had put on two coats of colour or just one on certain sections. I probably forgot to turn certain pieces over! I figure it's because I was rushing and doing it in the hotel room, without proper lighting and squeezed onto the little hotel desk. Plus, the glaze goes on a pale pink colour so by the time you're done, they all look the same! At least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. :)

BTW, did you notice the one that looks like a piece of cheese? That's my souvenir of Wisconsin, a.k.a. the home of the cheeseheads. That's what their football fans call themselves. I could have bought myself a foam hat shaped like a wedge of cheese but somehow, I think this bead will do the trick instead, don't you?