ARTISAN HANDMADE CERAMIC BEADS: When creating handmade ceramic beads, an artisan bead, I start by using a mid fire clay. Pottery clay typically falls into three categories: high fire, mid fire and low fire. I started creating my own ceramic beads in 2008 using a low fire clay. Although that offered a variety of options in terms of bright colors, I found that chipping around the hole of the ceramic bead happened too often. I graduated to a mid fire clay for most of my porcelain and stoneware beads. I have included a sampling of my  pottery beads. Check out my Etsy shop for the most recent listings.