Where we live: making tablets

Last week you saw samples of stitched clay tablets. This week, I’m making new tablets.

Roll out the clay, cut it into rectangles, then use a small metal keyhole like a cookie cutter. Poke holes to sew through. After they dry, I sand them.

Luckily, I have a good stash of old keyhole plates.

For the keyhole tablets, I rub the surface with a smooth stone, which polishes the clay.

Other tablets are being impressed with the word HOME, in many different languages. For all the languages that use the Roman alphabet, I have rubber stamps and the keys from old typewriters:

For other languages, I ordered new rubber stamps…

…which worked perfectly:

Not at all sure what I’ll do with the door and window tiles. Just have to keep making them until they tell me what to do.

You can never have too many….

In a couple of old TV shows, I’ve seen characters make a clay sculpture and stick it right in the kiln. NOoooo!!! The clay must be dried very slowly, covering it, then letting it breathe; turning each piece over, repeat. If they are’t dried carefully, they can warp or split. And the clay must be absolutely dry before firing, because remember what a tiny drop of moisture does inside a hard corn kernel when it gets hot? That’s what would happen in the kiln.

More next week.