Beads are arranged on the sand .. pic shows the bead that was made for the demonstration in the middle of two already fired beads. One firing plate can accommodate 70 beads of the size shown or 100 of the smaller spheres - shown in the large white bowl on page 1.

A metal bowl, similarly well-used and battered, is placed on top as a lid.
The whole assembly is carefully covered in charcoal, taken outside and laid on a bed of charcoal which is set alight and the beads left in the surrounding fire for 2 hours.

My good friend Gabriel ( of Gabriel of Paris fame ) shared this experience with me.
At the end of the demonstration, Ghayda said that she could make us Kiffa beads to order in whatever shape and with any decoration we would like and if we would like to buy them, she and her sister Thisslim would make us a selection of the range of beads that they already made. I politely declined her first offer in favour of them keeping as much to tradition as possible .. although the thought of having my own triangular Kiffas with an
ATB motive design was a tad tempting !! Readily agreeing to their offer of producing samples ( shown above ) we returned to their home two days later, in the late afternoon.

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