Fresh Off the Kiln this Morning!

This is what my kiln looked like this morning through the peephole!

And this is what they looked liked when all beads were collected, touched, admired, played with, admired again, and put into this pretty dish I got the other day!

             Aren't they pretty?   

The Bird and the Beads Giveaway

I've been wanting to do a giveaway lately, and like always just needed to get my act together.  Well, it is not totally together, but anyways here I am with a giveaway.   To enter the giveaway you need to post a comment on my blog let me know why you like ceramic beads, and how you heard about me and this blog.  Feel free to share this giveaway with your friends etc.  I need to get my  name out there and any little exposure helps.

I am giving away a set of six beads and a bird made from stoneware clay and glazed in a teal green shade.  They have been fired to cone 5.  The bird and beads are all handmade by me so please expect a little of the handmade  look and feel.  The bird I love, it's a little plump measuring about 1" and the beads range from 10 to 13mm. These beads will go to the lucky winner  when I announce it on February 11th.

Please leave your comments.  Last day to enter is Thursday the 10th.  The entry time will end at 9pm PST.   I will announce a winner  Friday Feb. 11th. in the morning.  Thank you for visiting and good luck!

Beads beads and more beads!

I have been busy with glazing and trying to make new work pieces and  jewelry in preparation for a show.  All this while I have a ton of things to do around and out of the house.  Plus taking care of my dog who the last couple months has been showing her age.  New things keep coming up with her symptoms, so trips to the vet have been often.  Her most recent and scary situation this week is that she has no control of her rear legs, she has little balance and walks like she is drunk.  The xrays showed she has the lower part of her vertebrae fused on three places.   So I am keeping an eye on her, she is on meds to help with inflammation, pain etc.  But if things don't get better, sadly I will have to make the decision
to have her put down.  In all other aspects she is doing great, she has an appetite, looks happy, wants to go on walks (but can't) and seems to be okay which makes the decision hard.

In the meantime here are some beads from the last firing, I hope to add more.  Hopefully I will have time to add some to my etsy store in the next couple days.

I will keep you posted on Sparky, hoping that she pulls through and is able to give me a couple more years of her companionship, love and reason to get out there with her.

Bead Frenzy

Beads beads and more beads..... I have a show next week and most likely I will not use these beads for that show, still, I need to make some more. I got an order that I have been putting off long enough that now it's do or die! So, I got into it yesterday and just started cranking them. I am posting some pics for the different shapes, textures and sizes.... nothing new or amazing that you haven't seen before, just good old clay made into something small.



The bottom pictures are beads in different shapes I made these beads in less than one hour....  you can see that the darker the clay the more water it still has,  at this point the beads have dried for a while and it would be hard to change the shape or add texture.  This stage is called leather hard.  The beads that are white are completely dry, and definitely you cannot change anything at this point, their stage is called greenware and they are ready for their first firing called bisque firing.  Greenware is very delicate, if you drop a piece most  likely  will break, with beads they either break or chip.

I am using stoneware for these beads, I hope to fill the kiln with just stoneware pieces and label really well.  I  have several withe clays but they're not all the same, some low fire and high fire,  labeling will help avoiding under or overfiring....   the picture above is of some stuff made earlier this week.  I  have some pendants, beads, and connectors for jewelry.

What is your favorite clay to work with?

You're it!!

Amy a friend from the CA Etsy group was very sweet in thinking of me by tagging me. I'm supposed to tell 7 interesting things about me, which will be very hard..I'm not interesting!?! but anyhow, here we go to give it a try.

1. I am the youngest of 9 children, born and raised in Tijuana Mexico. I have 4 brothers and 4 sisters and a whole bunch of nieces and nephews. I am blessed that my Dad is still alive, and unfortunately my Mother passed away in 2000. I miss her everyday and think of her a lot.

2. And after being raised among so many kids and always thinking that I would have a bunch myself... I have only one child, a daughter who is 17 and is a Senior in High School. Which comes to be sweet to only have one specially when you are dealing with the teen years...Wheww!!

3. I have worked in many fields from an assembler in an electronics factory, a florist, retail, property management (my longest job 16 years), as a realtor, and now a days I'm embarking into a new thing as we speak Medical Interpreter, let's hope I stick to this one for another 16 years perhaps.

4. I immigrated to the US in February 1983, my decision to come here was to save money to buy a car and then go back. Well, I loved it here so much I never went back and have decided to stay here for ever. I became a US Citizen In May of 1997. A proud moment for me, the memory of being at the LA Convention Center among thousands of people and taking the oath to be loyal to my new country will stay with me for as long as I live.

5. I have always been a crafty girl, I think I take after my Mom in that regard. I can remember going to the craft store with her as a little kid when raffia flowers were in, and when you'd make trees out of wire and seedbeads. She was always working on something, she was a good seamstress and always knitted and crochet. It wasn't until my young adult years that I realized how much I liked making things with my hands.

6. My clay endeavors started when I took my daughter 10 years ago to a clay class that her parental grandmother was teaching in Laguna Beach, and man I was hooked!
I started building a small studio little by little, bought a kiln then a wheel and have been collecting tools and what nots ever since. I started making jewelry two years ago and right after that started making ceramic beads and pendants. It's this year that I started doing shows, craft fairs, boutiques, and different sales with friends to sell our stuff. I am happy where I am right now with my ceramic's jewelry.

7. I consider myself a peaceful person, hardworking, fun and friendly, concerned about issues going on in the world right now, I don't like conflict so I'm pretty mellow, I like to read sometimes, I like to exercise sometimes, watch tv a lot,
Ohhhh,,,,I procrastinate a lot that's my worst quality.

Well there you go, you know a little more about me....boringggggggg.
Thanks Amy for giving a chance to look back.

Private Ceramic Jewelry Classess

If you live in the Orange County area in California, and would like to learn how to make your own ceramic beads, pendants and jewelry. I will start giving classes in a private setting, your place or mine. Email me at for further information.

Aardvark's Workshop Update

Last Friday was the second class of three were I am teaching ceramic bead making at Ardvark Clay in Santa Ana, CA. I have eight wonderful women take the classess, we made clay beads the first class, and this past friday we did the glazing. This coming is going to be putting our jewelry together.

Aardvark asked me to do another workshop in the summer, lasting longer than three weeks. I am working on a program where we have more time and choices on the fabrication of beads. We will continue the handbuilding and stamping methods, but I will also show how to make plaster and clay molds, slip casting of beads and also adding glass to them. This should be fun and can't wait for summer! also because I am tired of cold weather.

Have a great week and visit again. I will post some pictures later in the day.

Happy New Year!!

Best wishes for a great 2008 everybody! I know I have not been as good as I should on the posting here. Things get in the way and time is flying so fast lately, I can't keep up with all things I'd like to do.

I am excited that I did my first show and things were really well, sold some pieces, recouped my fees so I'm happy. I am not going to say that I made money because that would be a lie, I have so much money invested in supplies, equipment, clay materials
etc, etc, etc. But I am getting in gear to add more venues for the cause. So, in a way I am excited about that beginning for me for the new year.

I am also going to be teaching a six-hour workshop on making ceramic beads, pendants and ultimately the last class is making jewelry with the ceramic pieces made. I will be teaching it at my local supplier,in Santa Ana, California. The workshop will be held Fridays, February 15,22 and 29, from 9-11am.

This Chritmas was fun for me, I got to spend time with my Dad, brothers, sisters and their kids. Some of them I had not seen for a few years since they live in Yucatan, they are all grown and beautiful kids. Lots of food, screaming, laughing, and games we played that almost turned into a war....it was fun.

More later,

Etsy

I have sold a couple things at etsy, and bought more than sold...lol. But it's been fun being able to create treasuries, I am featured in a couple and have one that ends tomorrow. Go visit and see what you like. I have a couple new things there as well, and will add new beads tomorrow.

There is always a first time

I have been putting off doing a blog long enough. With the encouragement of my friends at the Beads of Clay Yahoo Group I'm feeling brave today. The main reason for this is to spread the word about our wonderful community of ceramic artists throughout the United States and other countries, and their creations of jewelry components such as beads and pendants as well as handcrafted jewelry pieces by many of them. Everybody's creations are different but all are beautiful. I will be adding in the days to come more information about the group, their blogs and websites. But, first I will start with mine since I know my info by heart. A couple months ago I got started with my first internet store, you can find me at www.yolanda.firedclayartists.com. This is my direct page which is hosted by www.firedclayartists.com and at it you will find many of my fellow ceramic amigas and amigos selling beautiful one of a kind pieces of clay goodies. Please visit us and enjoy our little treasures.

I will also use this blog to let you know a little bit about myself and my life, and how I have become involved in ceramics. That's it for now, until next time. Good Night.