Lentil beads

   Recently I've had a thing for making lentil beads; all sizes of lentil beads.  I've made big ones and baby ones and they are all fun.  I don't know what it is about them but they just appeal to me in a big way.  My Jealous Heart pendant was the first lentil bead I ever made. (it can be seen in an earlier post.) It is an inch and a quarter in diameter; my biggest.  Lately they've been getting smaller.  My last two were 5/8 ".  

   The beads are made by drying the cut-out clay circles over a domed form.  The bigger beads are dried over a light bulb stuck into a styrofoam glass to keep it up right.  I bought some spherical rubber molds in three different sizes and the small mold is what I used for my smaller beads.  One of the guild members brought a sheet of rounded candy molds to the November meeting and let us cut several molds off.  Those worked great for small beads too.   My friend Sarah also said the white domed tabs inside of juice cartons works well.   Of course all of these need to be oiled first so the clay doesn't stick.  

  When the circles are dry, the back sides are run over sandpaper to level them and create a flat surface for the paste.  The next step is just to paste the two circles together and you have the bead.

  There are various ways to ready the bead for hanging.  A bail can be added, a jump ring can be imbedded in one side, or it can be drilled.  Drilling can be from top to bottom or from side to side.  If drilling from side to side, make sure the holes are above the center and they will have to be elongated a little.  Test the holes out before firing, by inserting a wire through the bead.  That way if anything needs adjusted, it will be easier to do.  

   I'll be exploring the lentil bead further in a class I'm teaching on the 17th of this month.  

Will post all those new little babies here for everyone to see.