Candle HOLDERS

These sweet little dishes are perfect for tea light candle, rings and other bits a pieces

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Ceramic BUTTONS

My Handmade and Hand Painted Ceramic Buttons will make a great embellishment and give any handmade item that finishing touch. Can be used on tote bags, quilts, hats, scarf, jumpers,etc

Take a look at my button creations, click here

ABSTRACT Art Platters

Designed for people looking for something UNIQUE and HANDMADE

Hot Pot COASTERS

 

Hand Painted, 15cm tiles with 4 cord feet.
May be used as a pot stand or a cheese platter.

Available On-Line http://www.facebook.com/ArtbyJenG 
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Drink COASTERS

Make your Gift Unique with these HANDMADE and HAND PAINTED Drink coasters.

How I MAKE Ceramic Beads

All the Ceramic Beads are made by me and are painted with tiny brushes, one-at-a-time in my home studio. Because of this handmade process, no moulds insight! - all my beads are slighty different in size and shape giving them that authentic handmade appeal. This guarantees that each bead is a One-of-a-Kind, Unique, little piece of art.

There are 3 main stages in Ceramics:- Greenware, Bisqued & Glazed

Greenware

I start forming the clay into the shape I want either a ball, a flat bead, a twisty etc and either add a hole or pieces of high temperature wire as needed. After the beads have been slowly air dried, and this drying time can take a minumum of 4-5 days in winter, each bead is cleaned gently with a damp sponge to make sure the surfaces are smooth. Re-drilling is usually required because with this cleaning process, the holes can be partially lost.

Bisqued

Now the beads are placed in an electric kiln, for the first time - and this is known as a bisque firing - where the temperature reaches 1101 Celsius. The beads must be completely cooled in the kiln before removing. This whole process takes about 24 hours. After this first firing the beads are ready for underglazing and glazing. [At this bisque stage, you may cover the beads in PMC, Art Clay Silver, Bronze Clay, Resin, Enamel, Cloth, Acrylic Paint etc which of course eliminates the final firing]

Glazed

Once out of the kiln, each bead is painted with tiny brushes. Usually 2-3 coats of specially formulated underglaze colour is applied to each bead and then 2 coats of a clear glaze. After complete drying, the beads are inspected and cleaned as required, glaze left in the holes makes the beads stick to the wires - not good. Now they are placed back in the kiln, for the second 24 firing process. Known as a glaze firing. This time the beads need to be hung on supporting wires. Too many beads per wire can make the wire to sag. This is a bad things because if the beads touch each other, they will permantely fused together - also not good.

Once this second process is complete, I can hardly wait to open the kiln and catch the first glimpse of the small treasures I have created!

I hope you will enjoy my Handmade and Hand Painted Ceramic Beads as much as I do creating them.

In Summary...
I MAKE every single Ceramic Bead has been handmade and painted by me. This is a 'one lady' hobby and I really enjoy making my own ceramic beads. It is a lengthy process, but it's very rewarding.
I hold classes fo people wishing to paint my Ceramic Bisques Beads and classes for the more adventerous person who wishes to MAKE their own beads from clay. Just check out Classes with Jen.
I also custom make beads. These make a unique gift for christenings etc.