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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!

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Wheel thrown heart bowl, hand-carved, stoneware clay
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seashore mug, wheel thrown and altered, stoneware clay
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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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2 Lovely Doves Wedding Card

Ah…. love! Pretty soon wedding season will be upon us! Get ready by having a gorgeous card available! Tulle, lace, feathers, roses, what’s not to love?!?! Here is one that I made recently as part of my application for the Heartfelt Creations Design Team! It’s an elegant, amazing easel card! Easel cards always surprise people! They aren’t hard to make, but the wow factor in giving them is priceless! This one features two Heartfelt Creations doves and a cascade of flowers from the new Flowering Dogwood Collection and my own special addition, a secret special message pocket on the back.

I wanted the look to be soft and romantic and I wanted the focal point to be the doves. Because of this, I made simple flowers and vines with no stamping details and no stamens in the flowers. I water colored them with Memento Ink and Distress Ink. The doves are stamped with jet black Staz-On ink and backed with real feathers. So without further delay: Supplies, directions and more photos are below!

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5” x 7” Wedding Easel Card

Supplies: HFC Classic Rose stamps and Dies, Classic Rose Vines Die, Regal Borders and Pocket dies, Flowering Dogwood and Doves stamp and dies, Snow Kissed Tag Die, Heart die (discontinued), dries clear adhesive, hot glue, Cold Press 140# watercolor paper (I use Strathmore), 110# White cardstock, Candlelight paper, Memento Ink: Angel Pink, Distress Ink: Mowed Lawn, Vintage Photo, Picked Raspberry, Staz-On Jet Black ink, a variety of lace, chalk white seam binding ribbon, white rose ribbon, feathers, white tulle, baroque stencil, modeling paste, super fine cool white glitter, scoreboard, paper trimmer, die cutting machine, flower shaping tool, water brush, one inch hole punch, distress tool

Directions:  Cut one 4.5″ x 6″ piece of watercolor paper and stencil baroque pattern on it with stencil, modeling paste and pallet knife. Carefully remove stencil from paper and sprinkle with super fine glitter. Set aside to dry. Assemble an easel card: Cut a 5”x 7” hinged at the top card base from heavy weight 110# white cardstock. Score top piece in half and bend forward. Cut one piece of 5” x 7” heavy weight 110# white cardstock, adhere to bottom half of folded piece- you now have your easel card base. Cut 3 pieces 5” x7” of candlelight paper. Adhere to top panel and bottom inside panel and underside of the folded panel. Cut classic rose shapes from watercolor paper to make 7 flowers (1 large, 2 medium, 4 small) Color middles with Angel Pink Memento Ink. Shape while wet and set aside to dry. Cut 3 classic rose vines from watercolor paper, color with Mowed Lawn Distress Ink and a water brush. Shape and set aside to dry. Cut one Regal Border from Candlelight Paper and glue to front panel layer. Measure and cut ribbon and lace, adhere to front panel and front of bottom panel. Distress the stenciled piece by tearing off the bottom at an angle and distressing all sides and layer on card front with adhesive. (I use an electric “distress it all” tool) Using watercolor paper, stamp and cut out two doves using Staz-On jet black ink, adhere white feathers to the backside with hot glue. Cut the heart out three times and glue them together, the top layer should be candlelight paper, the under layers can be basic white cardstock. Cut cascading dogwood flower and color with water brush and distress ink. Assemble flowers, cut apart rose vines. Make a triple bow from white tulle, adhere with hot glue. Adhere everything else as shown.

Final optional step: Make a personal message pocket on the back space. Cut a piece of candlelight paper 3 ½” x 5” and using a one inch hole punch cut a half circle from the right side of the 3.5” length. Decorate with die cut of choice, flowers, vines and lace, then adhere to the back of the card (see picture). Cut a tag from Snow Kissed Tag Die, use seam binding ribbon through the hole on the tag to help put it in and out of the pocket. Write your personal message and put the tag back in. Now give it someone special for their special day!

Happy Crafting!

Eileen

PS: candlelight paper can be found at Michael’s craft stores.