Decal Success at Last

I reduced in size the homemade decals to see if they would adhere more firmly to each bead and it seems as though this is working.

Matriarch Daisy Iron Oxide Decal Porcelain Bead

This came out of the kiln the other morning. I call this bead: Matriarch Daisy. She's one of the few that came out well in that batch of beads. The rest were missing petals or leaves.

Bummer.

I have some more porcelain rounds in the kiln today and I printed out some more (and smaller) daisy character decals yesterday. The plan is to see if I can get these to stick better to each bead and I'm thinking the smaller size decal might be the way to go. I'll know if a few more days for certain.

Texture Ceramic Beads

Yesterday I decided to play with some texture tools. These are my favorite. They have many different shaped ends and combining them satisfies that occasional whim to go geometric.

This is pretty self explanatory. First I measured out a small ball of clay, rolled it, and pierced it. The next photo shows a small cap that I used to make circles. The third photo shows the two tool bits I decided to utilize. I love triangles! The fourth and fifth photo shows the end result after playing around a bit.

If you click on the photo it will take you through to a bigger photo. I am planning to rub these with an underglaze after they are bisque fired. Then I will rub off the excess underglaze so that it is deposited into each geometric shape. Last I will coat with a glossy clear or very transparent glaze and refire them. I haven't decided yet between the clear or transparent glaze.

In other news, I will try to post some of the homemade decal beads tomorrow. I got distracted with creating new beads. I also meant to list in my bead store a couple of the 50's "Kitchen of Tomorrow" beads in my previous post, but I never got around it to with all the creating.

Beads are SO much fun!

50's Style Kitchen Beads

When I originally started these beads, I had in mind a black and white cow pattern, but then thought better of it ... what woman wants to wear a 'cow bead'? So I filled in the white with a soft pink glossy glaze and this is how they came out ... and they remind me those 1950's Kitchen of Tomorrow" color schemes. This is a fun look. I will be making more of these. Definitely.

In Today's Kiln

The other day I was watching television and a commercial about mayonnaise came on. It featured olive oil instead of regular oil as one of the ingredients and it showed an olive shape with black and white cow pattern markings. It captured my attention and I thought ... oh I have to make a bead with cow markings.

As I was applying on the black underglaze I thought to myself, "Now what woman would want a cow bead? Probably not many ...." But I really liked the pattern and I thought I would fill in the white with a pink gloss glaze. So that's what I have here cooking in the kiln today. This is what it looks like glazed but unfired. The black underglaze will not be shiny or glossy, but the pink will be both. I am eager to look in the kiln tomorrow.


Also in the kiln are some of these homemade decal ceramic beads. I drew the daisies, altered the fractals and some other patterns that I had scanned into my comptuter, and I hope these turn out well. Yesterday some of my earlier decal bead efforts were featured in the Beads of Clay blog along with two other bead artists whose work I admire greatly. It was an honor to be included.

Barbells -- dynamic duo Ceramic Beads

I placed these rods too close to each other in the kiln and the beads fused together. It makes for an interesting design opportunity though. I'm thinking these would make a fun addition to a double stranded bracelet or perhaps a dangling focal piece on a necklace. I'm intrigued by the possibilities.

Teapots

I love teapots and for a short while I collected them, then I started making them, too. They are satisfying and the spout is always a challenge. There is a way to help them not to dribble, the idea is to give a nice sharp edge. And no matter how many times I make a teapot the real test is to see how it pours after it is bisque fired. However, these sculptural teapot beads are not functional. They are just lot of fun to sculpt.

Check it out here.

Alphabet Ceramic Beads

A few months back I acquired some letterpress ... perfect for making alphabet beads. The first step is deciding which clay body to use. I'll start out with a nice white. This particular porcelain clay body is quite translucent. If I use a transparent glaze, then it should break in interesting patterns over each textured letter.













I think I want a bead that fits nicely between the thumb and forefinger, so I'm going to use this home made bead 'measurer' which will give me a bead that is between 13 and 15 mm.












In trying to decide which letters to start off with, Wheel of Fortune pops in my head: RSTLNE ... so I'll make about 5 of each of those, plus five of each the vowels, and three of the rest of the consonants. Happy Clay Day!

Egg or Teardrop Shape Porcelain Beads

Dangling opportunities abound with this shape of a bead. These are pierced from top to bottom, but I have some that are pierced through on the side, too.

I first started making this bead for a fellow crafter's Etsy store. I've been making them ever since in different sizes, shapes, and glaze combinations. This particular glaze may or may not be a fluke. It's the first time I've used this glaze combination and I really do like it so I'm going to try for more. I wrote down all the specifics in the glaze notebook I started keeping a while back. We'll see if it is a fluke or not.

Click Here to see more egg and/or teardrop shape beads.

Ceramic Bead Bone

I rolled a slab of stoneware clay and then used a small bone shaped 'cookie cutter' to get this shape. I smoothed around the corners, then pierced with a hole fired and glazed it and refired it to maturity. It is 30 mm long and 18 mm wide and 7 mm thick. The hole is 1 mm.

I think this would be fun addition to a doggie collar or a focal point on a necklace for a doggie lover. Click here to view it in my Etsy store.

Ceramic Pendant Heart for Wirewrapping

I have made more round beads than pendants and for some reason this particular day I was in the mood to make pendants. I used a pair of plastic scissors that is normally used in scrapbook making to cut these strips of clay. I lightly dusted the clay with baby powder so that the clay did not stick to the scissors. I used a small amount of water on a Q-tip to moisten the clay shaped heart in order that the zigzag strips of clay with adhere properly. Then I dried and fired this with several more heart shaped pendants

Click here to see this particular pendant

Ceramic Bead Sculpture - Elephant

I have been trying my hand with small sculptures ever since the Etsy Mud Team Challenge a year or so ago. The sculpture challenge was a blast and I never would have tried any kind of sculpture without that challenge.

I started with dogs, then birds, then fish, now I'm getting braver with elephants. This particular elephant was made with soldate 60 clay from Laguna Clay Company and glazed with a cone 6 shino glaze. It is 31 mm from nose to tail and 24 mm wide from ear to ear and 25 mm from top of the ear to bottom of the foot. The hole (2 mm) goes through its back to its stomach.

The ears were very fun to make. I pressed them flat with my thumb on the palm of my hand. The small ball was perfectly shaped in that fashion into an elephant's ear!

I have this one in my etsy store. Click here if you're interested.

Bead Naming Contest

Apologies for not having written anything in a while, a long while. I've been on vacation. I've started firing beads again only the last few days. I've come up with a few bead combinations. I am planning on making this one a permanent part of my glaze collection that I'm slowly putting together.

However, I am at a loss for what to call this glaze and thought I would hold a small contest and ask for help in naming this particular glaze.

So this contest is going to continue until I see something that I really like, and if I like YOUR suggestion, I will contact you and send you some thank you beads (at no cost to you of course) ... so leave an email addy in your comment.

This glaze is brushed over a terracotta clay, and goes transparent in spots, though the bead is completely covered with glaze. Have fun! And hey, thanks!

----UPDATE-----
These were all great suggestions. I've had a hard time deciding, but in the end, I think I liked the rhyme factor in the first one: Cantaloupe Smoke.

At some point I may end up using the others and if/when I do, I'll get in touch and send off some free beads.

Eileen B -- please email me with your address and I will send you your beads. Thanks so much!

Steve Horn Workshop

When my husband had to go to Pasadena on a business trip, I decided to tag along. While he's been working, I have been attending this workshop offered at the Xiem Clay Center. This is a workshop for those who want to learn printmaking onto clay. It is a very simple process, but the hard part is having the right equipment.

For example, you have to have a photocopier which will allow you to hit the off button mid-print, then the top has to be lifted out and the paper removed from the belly of the copier. This is so that the iron oxide ink does not become set into the paper. You want it to be messy, to rub off easily, because when you put that paper face down onto the clay, you want it to come off.

Do you remember those ink tattoos that come out of gumball machines? As a kid, I remember wetting down the back of my hand and putting one on, rubbing it, lifting it off and having a cartoon character becoming a part of me for the next 12 or so hours. That's what this process is like. EXCEPT this ink won't wear off anytime soon because it is iron oxide from the laser photocopier and can be fired up to cone 10.

The above photo is a simple slab which has been lightly coated with colored slip and then 'tattooed' with a photocopy I made of a pattern I found in a book. Most workshop participants,however, brought photographs, photocopied those and used those with stunning results! The possibilities are endless. I can't wait to get home and experiment -- except I don't have a laser photocopier. HOWEVER ... the second process we learned was how to print onto a type of paper named Pronto-Plate (here's a link to learn more about that: http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/staff/okinczyc/pdf/prnto_ht.pdf ) ... I do have a laser printer and I can do that process. And for those who do not have laser printers, you can also use simple Sharpie markers on the proto-plate with excellent results.

I am excited about printing onto clay and can't wait to get home and experiment more with this particular process. We also all learned how to make our own ceramic ink.

Etsy Yart Sale

It has been almost a year since the first unofficial “Yart Sale” on Etsy. Yart sale? What exactly is a “Yart Sale,” you may ask? Visit this blog post in the Etsy blog "The Storque" and read about it and how your Etsy shop can become involved:
http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/ya-gotta-yart-4049/

The “2nd Annual Yart Sale” will be held from Wednesday June 10th-Sunday June 14th, 2009. This year the “2nd Annual Yart Sale” will be sponsored by the Etsy Supply Street Team (Team ESST). Although not an official Etsy event, it is Etsy supported as evidenced by the Storque article.

A “Yart Sale” is an artistic spin on the traditional Yard Sale: Art + Yard Sale = “Yart Sale”. There are many art museums, artists, and groups that have Yart sales annually to raise cash.

All Etsy shops are invited to participate. Choose to participate in your Handmade Store, your Supply Store, or your Vintage Store. If you have more than one shop you can participate in all of them.

To join the sale, simply post the following Yart Sale Announcement in the Shop Announcement section of your Etsy Shop and please include a short description of how you will be participating in the sale:
“I am participating in the Yart Sale on Etsy sponsored by Team ESST”.

Team ESST invites you to come, post, chat and shop on the “Official Yart Sale” thread in the Promotions Section of the Etsy forums. A new thread will be posted daily at 7:00 AM EDT beginning on Wednesday June 10th by the Etsy Supply Street Team with the forum title:
“SECOND ANNUAL YART SALE sponsored by Team ESST – June 10th, 2009”

Participating in the daily forum thread is a way that shoppers can find your shop. Simply post what you are offering. You could also encourage visitors to search “Yart” in handmade, supplies, or vintage. Even if you are simply offering a discount, it would be to your advantage to place Yart somewhere in at least a few of your titles or tags in your shop to draw those searching for items to your shop.

If you choose to get involved in the Yart sale sponsored by Team ESST (beginning Wednesday, June 10th-Sunday, June 14th). We encourage you to blog,tweet or post on your social networking sites to get the word out. Feel free to add your post links here after you have posted.

We highly recommend blogging before the sale to get Etsy people involved and during the sale to share what you will be featuring in your shops. You may choose to also feature on your blogs shops that are participating. Check out the Team ESST blog post and feel free to share the information and link our blog to yours:
http://teamesst.blogspot.com/

The Yart Sale certainly provides lots of promotional opportunity this week! Come on Etsy - join in!!!

(this information has been combined from various ESST sources)