Meet the Almendra, an Almond shaped bracelet focal bead made of pottery

 Meet the newest shape Almendra, why Almendra? It is a beautiful almond shaped bead and being from Texas we speak some Spanish.  Almendra means almond in Spanish. These are a large focal bracelet bead, that is approx. 33X62mm (approx. 1 1/4 inch by 2 and 1/2 inches).  Curved to fit your wrist. It has holes on the sides, add a chain, leather or even macrame to finish into a bracelet. These are hand made of pottery by me a few at a time, the clay is textured, cut, dried, sanded, fired, glazed and ready for your creation. It is a 4-6 week process to turn mud into these beautiful beads.  I have a few listed in the shop and they are ready to ship.  I have more drying and will bisque fire soon, I have made them in different textures and colors also.   

Here is a peek inside the kiln, I finally thought to photograph it before unloading.  No matter how many times I fire a load it is always exciting to open the door after it has cooled and unload the beads. The upper right photo is a bowl of beads waiting to be photographed and listed.

I made just one for myself, I like the color combination and the different matte and shiny portions of the glaze.  I had a strand of 16mm round fire agate beads that I have been wanting to use and I love how this turned out.

 I also made some little tear drop shaped beads, they are drying and I will have some in the shop soon.  They will be fun to make earrings to go with the new Almendra cuff beads.