Hand Made Tools

I make a lot of my own texture rollers and stamps. Even when you make a stamp or roller with a pattern you have seen before, it will become your own pattern with your own style because it’s made with your own hand. Though there are a lot of great texture tools out there, I really like making my own. I also create templates using craft foam.

Texture Rollers

I love making texture rollers from extruded tubes. I only started making these in the past year and have become obsessed! Thanks to the potter, Sarah Pike, for inspiring me. I wasn’t very good at making a tube from a slab. I then had the idea to use an extruded tube. Now I can’t stop making them!

If you want to see how I make texture rollers from extruded tubes, check out this video

Craft Foam Templates

When I find a design I like that I want to keep for future use, I make it in craft foam. It’s durable and long lasting… and inexpensive. Plus it comes in lots of fun colors.

This is the craft foam templates for one of my most watched videos on how to make a hand built box/jar with a lid. It’s a great starting place to develop your own design.

Here is the template I use for making hand built mugs with texture either, using a fondant mold* sweater pattern or one of my own texture rollers. If you want to see how I shape these mugs using the pottery wheel, check out this video

*Fondant molds are a baker’s tool. The ones I use come from Marvelous Molds. We potters often steal tools from bakers.

Bisque Stamps

I love making bisque* stamps. I just use scraps of clay leftover from other projects. I make lots of leaves and flowers but also try other shapes now and then. I end up with a few favorites in every batch. Turns out I have to make a lot of stamps to get just the right one! If you want to see some examples of how I make these, check out this video

*Bisque is the first firing. The fired piece is still porous but can no longer go back to being clay. The bisque stamps will not stick to wet clay until they have absorbed moisture from use. Leave them to dry out and use again.