I recycle my own Parin-body Porcelain at home using a homemade plaster slab and good old buckets of water.
Parin Porcelain is incredibly beautiful- when held up to the light it is translucent- this is particularly effective when I imprint lace detail.
The porcelain clay fires at 1280c and is hard, strong and durable.
I also make my own glazes, much like a cooking recipie- I weight out the ingredient and mix the parts together. The powders go through a fine sieve and are mixed with water to create the perfect consistancy- that of single cream. At this point the glaze looks like a grey mess of mud!
This sea-blue glaze has a soothing satin finish, as soft as a new-borns skin the glaze is irresistible to touch and has depth of different shades of blue.
The buttons are handmade from start to finish. I roll out the clay, imprint my lace, hand cut the button shapes and let them dry. Once dry I smooth the edges with a damp sponge and let them dry again. At this point my hands are white and so is my carpet and sink!
Next is a 1060c biscuit firing, before sanding down with fine sandpaper and glazing. Then the buttons have their final firing at 1280c and are transformed.
The buttons are hand sewn, by yours truely, onto recycled kraft card using coral embroidery thread. The tag backing is tied with a stretch of gardens twine and completed with a beautiful heart cleanly stamped out.
