Before carving, wipe down the outside with ... I've found that trimming tools, commonly used for pottery or ceramics, work great for this job. For the etching, I grab a set of linoleum carvers.

‘Leather-hard clay’ is firmer than wet clay - it is good for detailed carving. Clay is leather-hard when it has dried for a few hours and has become slightly stiff. It feels cool to the touc ...