Textured slab plates!

My hubby got me this roller for Christmas, it is an "Xiem roller"; it works great.  I did have a bit of a problem with even pressure but once the glaze is on it won't be noticeable.

First, I took a lump of clay and rolled it out to 3/16". To roll out the clay, I used a fondant roller, Walmart sells them in their crafting section, they have guides on either end for thickness. I have seen other people just use a couple a couple thin pieces of wood and a regular rolling pin.  Once you have rolled out the clay you need to compress the clay.  To do this, I used a red rib and went over it twice, evenly, in two different directions on both sides of the clay.

Once you have the texture on the clay, you lay the clay on the mold of your choice, in this case I used a plastic plate from the dollar store.  You need to spray the mold with cooking oil or cover it with Saran Wrap; if you don't do this your clay will stick to the mold.

In this picture, I have laid the clay on the plate. 

I use a needle tool to trim around the plate. Just run the needle against the edge of the plate; I start in the middle on each side and then go either way!

To finish off the edges, use a little roller; I had a brayer in my stamping supplies so I used that and it worked good.  Once the clay has set, you will need to clean up the edges, I like to use a tool that looks like a mini cheese grater, not sure what it is called.

Here is a finished plate, on this plate I used a doily.   Well that was my first tutorial, I hope everything made sense, happy potting!