Tag: Flowers

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Carving Clay

It’s been a busy few months, OK, 6 months! :O since I last wrote here. Time flies! My husband finished building me a pottery studio complete with a tiled floor, electrical, a beautiful farmhouse sink and a 1/4 bathroom (just a toilet in a small closet) lol. My studio is amazing!  He also built me an electric slab roller from parts from here and there which I will feature in a future post. It’s not pretty, I should call it “franken-slabb” but it works amazingly well!

But the most amazing thing in these past few months is —–We found clay in our yard while digging for another project! My husband processed the clay and I threw some this week on the wheel and have been carving it. It’s beautiful! It’s a deep chocolate- (at least the test tiles before we really processed it were dark chocolate) I hope it stayed chocolate. It throws amazingly well! There is some in the bisque kiln at the moment. Stay tuned for an update and to see pics of that clay– or visit and follow my semi-new Instagram account, hydeparkhill and see current pics for my wild clay!

In more update news: Yes, I am still making cards! And new glass studio is now being built, near my pottery studio. It’s slow going getting everything set up, but it’s coming along.  So many fun things coming up! Here are some projects I have been working on!

JLHR1350[1]
Wheel thrown heart bowl, hand-carved, stoneware clay
IMG_2419[1]
seashore mug, wheel thrown and altered, stoneware clay
LKGE3332[1]
wheel thrown, hand-carved, beeswax candles available in my etsy shop, hydeparkhill.etsy.com or at claysharemarket.com
IMG_2025[1]Here is a new wedding card I created this spring! I love the lace, flowers and die cuts! But adding the vellum just makes it glow!!

Have a beautiful weekend! And keep Crafting Art!!

Eileen

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New Year, New Designs

Happy New Year!

Wow, it’s been a long time since I have posted on my blog! I’ve been busy making, making, making and not recording! Although, I did start an Instagram feed! Check it out! #hydeparkhill Last fall I had three market events and then Christmas! Now that its the new year, I am excited to have lots of projects and good news to share.

My husband is building me a pottery and glass studio! After a year of having a pottery wheel (SSX Thomas Stuart Skutt Wheel) and making due in a small space (a corner of my basement), now I will have a large space with a bathroom in my mom’s basement. I will also be able to move my glass studio from my porch to the other corner in the basement. My husband has also built me an electric slab roller from parts of an old furnace and a wood planer from Habitat for Humanity Restore. It’s amazing!! It rolls the most amazing even slabs ever! Hand-building has become so much easier with even smooth slabs of clay. When my studio is done I will share pics of my new beautiful creative space!

I have been doing more carving in my clay and adding flowers, using embossing rolling pins and all kinds of other exciting experiments with my clay! I am excited for what this year will hold for creativity and design in my pottery, clay and papercraft!  Below are pictures of my new designs and new creations for the new year! They are available on my etsy shop! hydeparkhill.etsy.com 

Happy Crafting to you!

Eileen

blue sweater mug brown buttons3 white scrap treesyellow jug side leftsnowflake tree bluesnowflake tree clear glass 2white flower bowl pic 1

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Cherry Blossom Birdhouse

Well, spring is almost done and summer is almost here! I finally glazed up a birdhouse that has been bisque fired and waiting for glaze for almost a year! Sometimes I am just not brave enough. I love how it turned out! It was hand-built with coils in a style that reminds me of an old fashioned beehive. A jaunty  looking lid covers the top opening.  There is a drainage hole in the bottom. Trailing cherry blossoms and little blue butterflies wrap around. The red flower seems to sprout out from the 1 1/4″ hole in the middle giving the perfect size for a special backyard bird to make a home. It’s about 8″ tall and 7″ wide at the base.

Supply list and directions to make your own are below! If you are interested in purchasing this particular one, please go to my etsy shop, hydeparkhill.etsy.com where you can find this and many other lovely items to beautify your life!

Enjoy your cheery, cherry blossom spring morning!

Eileen

Supplies: Clay: speckled cone 5 clay for main body, b-mix 5 for flowers, leaves and butterflies, Other supplies: cherry blossom fondant mold, leaf shape cookie cutter, 5 petal flower cookie cutter, leaf or petal vein press mold (I used Wilton’s fondant flower molds & vein mold), parachute cord for hanging it up.

Glaze: Laguna White, Yellow, Clear Bright, Amaco Celebration Pink, Potter’s Choice Seaweed; Velvet Underglaze: electric blue, black, bright red, orange

Directions: Roll out a 1/4″ thick slab and cut your circle shaped base and cut an uneven wavy shape for the top- curve the sides with your fingers and use newsprint or paper towels to help the up and down curves to keep their shape, cut two holes for the cord about an inch or two apart. Set the top aside to be soft leather hard. Cut a hole in the bottom slab with a 1/4″ hole cutter for drainage, slip and score around the edge and roll out your first coil. Attach your coil and continue to roll and attach coils all the way up to the top- slowly bringing in shape to be more narrow at the top. Let it firm up a bit. Cut a hole 1 1/2″ in the middle of the side of your birdhouse. Cut two holes- one on each side at the top for the cord to be strung through and then through the lid- make sure everything lines up well. Roll a small slab and cut a 5 petal flower, cut the petals apart and give the petals veins with a texture tool or a leaf vein tool. Slip and score and attach your petals around the entrance hole. Using your flower mold and cornstarch, make flowers, branches and leaves attaching them wherever you want all the way around the birdhouse and on the lid. Slip and score and attach butterflies. Cover with plastic and let it sit for a few days. Slowly dry. Bisque fire to cone 05, glaze and fire to cone 5. I used black parachute cord for hanging it up!

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