Craft Diva

How-to Glaze Ceramic Beads

Above: batch of bisque beads, coated with glaze and waiting to be fired in the kiln.

Unglazed Ceramic Beads

I bought a bunch of bisque beads a couple of years ago to use as a base for metal clay beads. Bisque refers to unpainted pottery which has been fired but has not been decorated/glazed. Bisque firing takes a raw clay item, which has been dried leather hard, and fires it in the kiln to turn it into a hard ceramic item. I still have a ton of beads so I thought I'd buy some glazes and paint a few beads. I have no experience with glazing ceramics and had to do a bit of research. But I taught myself how to fuse glass in the kiln years ago, so I was pretty sure I'd be able to figure out how to glaze and fire beads.

I went on-line to research how-to glaze and fire bisque beads. I couldn't find any information on how to fire bisque beads but I did find lots of information on glazing and firing bisque items, such as bowls and plates, so I used that as a general guideline. Most of the glazes I have don't come with any sort of directions expect to fire them to cone 06, which is around 1798 degrees Fahrenheit. So I did a search on how-to fire to cone 06 and found some basic information.

Above: beads after being fired in the kiln.

Firing Schedule for Bisque Beads

I am posting up this schedule on how I fired my bisque beads after coating them with various glazes. I am assuming you have a basic knowledge on how to operate your kiln. I used a Jen Ken kiln with digital controller. I love that kiln, best piece of equipment I ever purchased for my studio. I can fuse and slump glass in the kiln, fire metal clay projects (i.e. Art Clay Silver or Precious Metal Clay), fire copper enamel or fine silver enamel pieces and even glaze a variety of bisque projects in the kiln.

1. RA = ramp temperature per hour
2. F = target temperature in degrees Fahrenheit
3. H = time to hold at target temperature

• RA1 = 150
• F1 = 300
• H1 - 0
• RA2 = 400
• F2 = 1500
• H2 = 0
• RA3 = 120
• F3 = 1800
• H3 = 10
• RA4 = 150
• F4 = 400
• H4 = 0

Above: my box filled with bisque beads and pendants waiting to be decorated with glaze and fired in the kiln.

Translation of Bead Firing Schedule

Once the kiln is turned on, choose the correct firing program and start the kiln. This firing schedule heats the kiln at 150 degrees per hour until it reaches 300 degrees. Then the kiln heats up 400 degrees per hour until it reaches 1500 degrees. Then it heats up 120 degrees per hour until it reaches 1800 degrees and it holds at 1800 degrees for 10 minutes. Then the kiln cools down 150 degrees per hour until it reaches 400 degrees.

Above: one of my ceramic bead sets which is available on my ArtFire store: Craftdiva.artfire.com.

Then I let the kiln cool down to room temperature before opening it up and removing the glazed ceramic beads. Total firing time takes approximately 17 hours. That seems like a long time but it takes quite some time to safely heat the kiln to 1800 degrees and it takes quite awhile for the kiln to cool back down to room temperature.

Above: my Jen Ken kiln with digital controller. 14 inch diameter interior, I can fit up to a 12 inch kiln shelf in this kiln.

Craft Diva's Ceramic Beads

I'll be selling ceramic bead sets on my ArtFire store: Craftdiva.artfire.com. I'll also be offering a ceramic bead class at the studio, pick out your beads, pick out your glazes, paint/decorate your beads. I fire them in the kiln then you arrange a time to pick them up once they are ready. Complete information on all the classes I offer at my studio can be found here: Craft Diva Classes.

Above: another one of my ceramic bead sets which is available at my ArtFire store.

Take care,
Lynn Smythe, AKA the Craft Diva

Visit CraftDiva's ArtFire Shop

Beadwork; Not Just for Jewelry

Above: dolphin pattern worked in single count peyote stitch using Miyuki delica beads. This pattern could be repeated, to make a 3D amulet bag. Left as is, and framed, this pattern can make an interesting home decor item. Original design by Lynn Smythe.

 

Decorative Beadart

I used to create a ton of seed bead jewelry. The smaller the bead, the more interesting. I got bored only making wearable art, so I decided to create some larger beadwork patterns. The larger patterns can be attached to a fabric covered cardboard backing, then framed, to create unique, beaded home decor items.

 

Above: large single bead peyote stitch beadwork pattern using Miyuki delica beads. Original design by Lynn Smythe.

 

Above: beadwork attached to a fabric covered cardboard backing and framed. Original design by Lynn Smythe.

 

Above: Three peyote stitch bead pictures; Angel Heart, Isis and Butterfly Fairy. Original designs by Lynn Smythe.

 

Beadart or Bead Jewelry

The three fairy/goddess bead pictures could be worked in a smaller bead to make a piece of wearable art. Try using size 15 seed beads to make an amulet bag sized beaded bag.

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Craft Diva

Wire Sculpture Tools and Supplies

Wire Sculpture Website

Wiresculpture.com is an online jewelry supply store. They sell a variety of wire wrapping and jewelry making supplies including beads, gemstones, wire, chains, tools, DVD's, jewelry findings, cabochons and Swarovski crystal.

Seed Bead Sculptural Flowers

 

Sculptural peyote stitch beaded flower by Lynn Smythe. I attached a pin/necklace finding to the back of the flower, which is covered with a scrap of suede. You can wear the flower as either a pin, or attach a gold or silver chain through the finding to wear the flower as a necklace. I used size 11/0 Japanese seed beads for this project. The leaves are made using the brick stitch technique.

Sculptural Peyote Stitch
Peyote stitch is one of my favorite techniques to use along with seed beads. Sculptural peyote stitch, is a kind of free-form technique that uses various bead sizes and bead counts. Sculptural peyote stitch can be used to create an organic, 3-D beaded effect, which is perfect for making beaded flowers.

Here are a few pictures of beaded flower projects I've created using the technique of sculptural peyote stitch.

 

Sculptural peyote stitch flower necklace by Lynn Smythe. The neckstrap also uses the sculptural peyote technique. Each row of peyote stitch has slightly more beads than the previous row, causing the beadwork to ruffle and undulate, which creates a very organic looking project.

 

Closeup of previous seed bead flower necklace. Size 11/0 Japanese seed beads. Brick stitch used for the leaves.

 

I call this necklace the sea anemone. I created this project as a bead sample for a multi week class I used to teach when I had a bead store. Besides the sculptural peyote stitch technique, this necklace also uses tubular peyote, beaded fringe, spiral rope chain and tubular African helix.

 

Close up of beaded sea anemone. I used a combination of size 11/0 Japanese seed beads and Czech seed beads.

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Craft Diva

Heart Themed Jewelry

 

Necklace by Lynn Smythe, featuring art clay silver heart pendant by the artist.

Heart themed jewelry can be enjoyed anytime of year, not just on Valentine's Day. This post features some of my beaded jewelry creations which feature one or more heart components.

 

Beaded necklace by artist Lynn Smythe.

 

Beaded necklace by Lynn Smythe, featuring amber heart pendant, lampwork glass beads, vermeil bead spacers, and swarovski crystals.

 

Beaded pendant by Lynn Smythe, featuring Venetian lampwork glass beads.

 

Beaded bracelet, featuring fused glass hearts created by Lynn Smythe.

 

Beaded bracelet by Lynn Smythe, with vintage German heart beads, seed beads and vermeil clasp.

 

Close up of beaded bracelet created by Lynn Smythe. Featuring new Czech glass beads, vintage German glass beads and Venetian foil-lined glass beads wire-wrapped with copper wire onto copper chain.

 

Heart necklace and earring set by Lynn Smythe. Featuring lampwork glass beads, swarovski crystals and sterling silver.

 

Heart themed necklace by Lynn Smythe. Featuring lampwork glass beads, swarovski crystals and sterling silver.

 

Beaded heart watch created by Lynn Smythe.

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Craft Diva

Sculptural Peyote Stitch Beadwork

 

Close up of sculptural peyote necklace featuring fused glass donuts by Lynn Smythe

I got into sculptural peyote stitch a few years ago. It's a free form method of bead weaving, which can be done with a variety of bead sizes. You can also embellish free form, or sculptural peyote stitch pieces with a variety of buttons, sequins, nail heads and other decorative accents.

 

Sculptural peyote stitch bracelet by Lynn Smythe

Free Form Peyote Stitch Classes
I used to teach sculptural peyote stitch as a two day class, back when I owned my bead store, which was called Dolphin Crafts. I'd like to get back into teaching bead and jewelry classes someday, my dream is to have a craft studio, which is separate from our house, when we relocate to North Carolina.

 

Sculptural peyote stitch bracelet by Lynn Smythe

Fun With Color
Sculptural peyote stitch projects are a lot of fun to create. I always decided on a color scheme, using three main colors, then set up a work area with all my beads and embellishments in those colors. For instance, jewel tones, would be beads in the emerald, amethyst, topaz color range, as shown in the first bracelet pictured in this post.

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Craft Diva

Beaded Needle Cases

Three beaded needle cases by Lynn Smythe

Beaded needle cases were all the rage a few years ago. They are a bit like a larger version of a beaded bead. Beaded needle cases are popular among beaders, quilters, sewers, and anyone else that uses a variety of sewing needles in their craft work.

Beaded turtle needle case by Lynn Smythe. I created a pair of matching earrings, using size 14/o seed beads. View my Turtle Powered Beadwork post to see a picture of the earrings.

 

Detail of turtle needle case

Wearable Work of Art
Both the body and the lid of the needle case are beaded. Decorative fringe is usually added to the bottom of the needle case. I liked to add a beaded strap to many of the needle cases that I created. That way you can wear your needle case as a piece of decorative artwork.

Pretty cool, a functional craft tool become a one-of-a-kind work of wearable art. Here are a few more pictures of my beaded needle cases, which feature my own designs.

 

Patriotic needle case by Lynn Smythe

 

Detail of patriotic needle case

 

Long and skinny beaded needle case by Lynn Smythe. Featuring size 14/o seed beads. Fringe beads include copper, freshwater pearls and goldstone beads.

 

Beaded needle case by Lynn Smythe. Featuring a citrine cabochon on top of the lid.  Fringe beads include Swarovski crystals, copper, freshwater pearls, tigereye and amazonite.

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Craft Diva

Beaded Beads

5 beaded beads by Lynn Smythe. I used tiny, size 15/o seed beads and decorative glass nailheads to embellish the base wood bead.

Beaded beads were all the rage a few years ago. I used to be quite the seed bead addict and made tons of beaded jewelry projects using tiny seed beads.

Small beaded beads are tiny, self-supported beads, made out of seed beads. Larger beaded beads have some sort of support structure, such as a plain wood or plastic bead in the center, to prevent them from collapsing in on themselves. If the base bead is decorative enough, various techniques, such as netting, can be used to let part of the base bead show through.

 
Four beaded beads, with 3-D embellishment, by Lynn Smythe. Miyuki delicas were used to cover the base wood beads using peyote stitch.


Beaded bead by Lynn Smythe. Tiny size 14/o seed beads are used to cover the base metallic bead using the techniques of peyote stitch (on the ends) and bead netting.

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Craft Diva

Designer Glass Bead Assortments

 

Cool Hues glass bead assortment

I like to work with certain color schemes when I'm creating a new craft or art project. I find staring at hanks or containers filled with one type of bead a bit boring. Whenever I start planning a new project, my first step is to decide what colors I want to work with. Then I get out all my supplies in those colors and start making custom bead mixtures.

 

Ocean Breeze glass bead assortment

I decided to offer some of my custom bead mixtures for sale on the Etsy.com website. The bead mixtures all contain a mixture of vintage German glass beads and new Czech glass beads. The vintage German glass beads date back to 1970 or earlier.

 

Tooty Fruity glass bead assortment

The glass bead mixtures are packaged in a round, aluminum tin which has a clear plexi-glass lid. I currently offer the glass bead mixtures in 28 different color schemes. To view all my designer glass bead assortments, that are currently offered for sale, visit my Etsy store: lynnsmythecreations.etsy.com.

 

Sugar Plum glass bead assortment

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Craft Diva

 

Patriotic glass bead assortment

Beaded Amulet Bags

Close up of my Dolphin amulet bag. This bag is featured in the book The Sea, Selections From the First International Miyuki Delica Challenge (Caravan Beads, 1998).

Yesterday, I blogged about my miniature, beaded amulet bags. As promised in that post, here are some photos of my full size amulet bags. These bags are large enough to hold a credit card, driver's license and/or a few business cards.

Dolphin amulet bag, featuring 4 of my beaded beads in the neck strap.


Hummingbird amulet bag, featuring vintage German glass beads in the fringe. This bag was featured in an article I wrote for Beadwork magazine.


Iris amulet bag. Beaded lid slides up and down the neck strap.


Seahorse amulet bag. Larger beads are new Czech glass, vintage German glass and Venetian foil lined lampwork beads.

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Craft Diva