27 videos, step by step, beginner cane workshop
What people are saying about this tutorial.
jennifer rose
Just finished this first workshop on how to make canes, and I must say I learned so much. This is exactly what I have been looking for, someone who could explain cane making in a step by step that process that I could replicate. I watched the videos, went into my studio and began to create all of the canes Alice showed. I finally have results I can be proud of, and I say thank you so much for doing this workshop. My only question now is when do we get more workshops. If you are only going to take one online class let it be this workshop. Thank you Alice for your hard work, and your dedication to helping others learn the joys of polymer clay.
In yesterday’s post I talked about how I don’t plan what to hang my pendants on or from. After thinking about it overnight, I decided that statement wasn’t actually true.
I’m always trying to come up with different ways to add a bail, invent a bail or create a different closure. The project I will be teaching at Fandango this year is a prime example.
The stars are the closure. It’s an easy solution and adds a 3D element to the piece, that and the sculpted face. This cat uses the same idea with the tail and the head as closures.
You can use this type of closure on almost any design and I’ll show you how at Fandango in a couple of weeks. And there is exciting news from Iris Weiss the Education Manager from Polyform Products, Polyform will be donating some blocks of Premo for my student to use in my class. Thanks Iris and Polyform.
This piece that I posted a couple of days ago is another easy bail alternative. Creating something different and new is something I really enjoy.
I love the creative process of working with polymer clay. However the jewelry making part, findings, stringing, etc, are not on my love list and barely makes my like list. And my usual joy comes from colorful, fun, jewelry. It’s when I decide to create something more sophisticated that I lack the materials on hand to be able to spontaneously finish the piece.
In contrast, I always make sure I have plenty of canes on hand when I begin creating, it’s something I preach to my students. If you have a wide selection of finished canes on hand when you sit down to create, things just flow more smoothly. Not having to stop and make all the canes that need to go into a piece make it possible to create without having to stop the flow.
That’s not to say I don’t start a piece by constructing a couple of new cane, it’s just that I know I have lots of fillers to choose from already made and waiting for me.
So you see, I do plan ahead more than I realize, just not when it involves stringing and findings. So I’m still going to take a look at why I have a block with planning when making something more than a colorful, fun pendant (other than the obvious reason of needing more tools, supplies, etc. ). I’ve accomplished it before and think I just need to get out of my own way. Sound familiar?
So in the mean time, I’ll just keep doing what I love, making fun and funky things to wear and work toward improving my major jewelry construction.
I think these Stroppel Sweater Girls look kind of like Barbara and Cher with red hair. Okay, did that make you smile? Yes? Then my job is finished for today.
I can only say that I was delighted to have this picture with Kathleen Dustin wearing her stunning Necklace. She is such an incredibly talented artist and the polymer clay community is so lucky to have her as one of our polymer divas continually leading the way to excellence.
The entire Synergy 3 – Seeking Higher Ground was about striving for excellence, improving and growing. Becoming the best that you can be.
The piece I’m wearing I’m sad to admit was made at the last minute. I am challenging myself to continue with the design and improve it if I can.
I have a beautiful peacock shawl given to me as a gift that I wanted to wear wear the night of the banquet. I worked on a couple of designs but wasn’t happy with them.
Even though I say it was a last minute thing, I did try out several ideas before moving on to the one I actually wore.
Here are the first three attempts at a pendant. The one on the far right was actually too literal and I wasn’t happy with that. The other two just weren’t coming together. Everything was just too constricted.
I liked this one better, but wish I’d started on it weeks before I needed to wear it.
I decided to use my cane mapping technique and add a touch of metallic. It certainly matched my shawl better and I liked the flow. The bad part was not having a fabulous chain to hang it from, even though I wore it just the same. That seems to me to be one of my largest setbacks, making a piece and not thinking about the rest of the story.
It’s why I usually just do pendants and “slides”. I don’t have to think about the rest. I plan to give that part more thought in the future.
So this is my challenge…….plan, plan, plan and Make it Sing
Wish me luck and go spend some time on Kathleen’s webiste if you haven’t been there for awhile.
When I was getting ready to travel to Atlanta to attend the Synergy Conference, I wanted to make a few new things to wear. I’ve had a couple of ideas in my head for awhile and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try them out.
The necklace or “slide” in the picture above was really simple and fun to make. It’s more fun to wear because it has motion. It’s made with spiral canes formed into rectangles and of course round canes. I’ve attached them together with Buna Cord and looped the Buna Cord at the top to allow me to slide whatever chain or cording through and TaDa….it’s ready to wear.
I really like this necklace too. It moves and dangles and is just fun to wear. But I’m concerned with the o-rings shelf life. I’ve talked with several people that say that after many years, they begin to disintegrate and thus your necklace falls apart. So it’s not something that I could ever sell, but maybe it I keep searching, I can find a replacement.
I have so many things to show you and talk about concerning Synergy and the inspiring things that went on, what was shared, the friends I got to see again, the friends I met in person for the first time and just the overall experience.
Unfortunately I came home sick and am just not getting back to normal. I have lots of catching up to do.
DO take a minute to click on the sun on the righthand side of this page and see what is being offered at this years Fandango retreat. I’m teaching along with Suzanne Ivester, Sydnee Holt, Linda Hess and Penny Jo Couch. I hope to see you there.
For a couple of years now, I’ve been using a “light box” that I made myself out of an old cardboard box, paper, and muslin. It really has worked well for me but it began to be worse for wear and I decided to order a “real” one.
Cynthia Tinapple mentioned something on her blog, Polymer Clay Daily, or maybe in her newsletter, StudioMojo, (couldn’t find it on either) about a portable lightbox that people were using. I put it on my Amazon wish list and to my surprise, I got it for Christmas. I should have posted it to my shopping list instead….
Anyway, when I opened it, it was huge and wouldn’t fit in my photography space. I should have taken a closer look at the size. Anyway I sent it back and continued to look. I found Modahaus and their tabletop set up. The really cool thing is that I can take photos with my iPhone or my camera. Sometimes I just want a quick picture for my blog and sometimes I need a more professional photo.
There are several toppers that allow you to use different devices. The one in this picture is for an iphone. I do have a set of lights that I use, one on each side, that I’ve had since my sewing pattern days.
I have both a Steady Stand and a Tabletop Studio. I just wish I would have ordered the next widest Tabletop Studio. I might just have to anyway.
I think the price is reasonable and I’m very happy with the quality and the performance of this product. You can see all their products on their website Modahaus.
The other cool iphone helper is this iphone tripod adaptor from Studio Neat. When I first wanted to video a few things with my iPhone, I found that there wasn’t any way to attach it to a tripod. I found this cool adaptor and now I take my videos with my iPhoto. A far cry from the $1,000 plus camera I had a few years ago and now doesn’t take such great videos.
There’s also a snap app for iphones editing videos, it’s iMovie. I have the full version on my computer, but this little app is perfect for small projects. Sorry, put I don’t know about any other editing apps for other phones. Been a Apple girl for over 30 years and not switching now.
I was messing around with a large Stroppel Cane a couple of weeks ago and came up with this idea. This is actually my second one like this because I wanted to make a simple necklace to match. They are both simple and quick to make but the possibilities are endless.
I left the black surfaces lumpy-bumpy just because, but those surfaces could be smooth or covered any way your imagination takes you.
I used a square cutter to cut the hole in the middle but had to go back and trim again with my blade because the cutters aren’t sharp enough. I used my blade to trim around the outside. Of course you can use oval, circle or square cutters.
Tomorrow I’ll share the new camera phone light box set up I just ordered. Actually you can use it with a regular camera too. Very cool.
I’m thrilled to have a piece of my working included in Christi’s new book Flourish. On another page, Christi also uses the Stroppel Cane to make a swirly, twirly, flowery thingy, which is exactly Christi-like and so much fun.
My piece in Christi’s book is a piece I made using some of the tropical leaves from my…wait for it…Tropical Leaves tutorial that I have for sale in my Etsy shop. It’s both a video and a detailed pdf.
Here it is in the book and thank you Christi.
One thing I’ve noticed with artists that self publish is that their publications are crammed with information. It reminds me of myself when I’m teaching. I want to share and show you everything I can in the short time we have together. The other recent book that I’m thinking of is Helen Breil’s Shapes.
Each of these books are so full of information, photos and techniques that each new owner will have projects to last them weeks and enough inspiration to start ideas popping in their heads like fireworks on New Years Eve.
I’m getting ready for Synergy and looking forward to a very exciting, inspiring time. Along with all the talent gathering in one place, I’ll get to spend time with old friends and meet in person friends I’ve only met online. I hope to see you there.
Mary, Andree, Sue, Lori, Earnestine, Alice, Niki, not shown, Ruby and Audrey
I was so excited to welcome some of the members from the South East Florida Polymer Clay Guild to my studio. We spent two days playing with clay and enjoying each other’s company. Thank you all for coming……
I’m sorry to say that I did not take any pictures on the first day and Ruby and Audrey had already left by the time I remembered my camera. This time I was lucky to get in the picture because my husband happened to drift through the studio and I enlisted his help, a bit blurry, but hey!
Oh and our wonder dog Ceasar is shown at the bottom of the picture, okay, “kind of ” shown, really blurry…but he was so happy for the company.
We made face canes and then we made Flamingos. Not everyone wanted to make bracelets, so we have Lori’s punk candle ring and Andree’s sculpt to go on a mirror frame. Lori’s needs some feathers and Andree’s needs some skinny legs, they’ll finish up at home. Everyone else is going to be sporting a funky new bracelet. I think everyone did a fabulous job and enjoyed working with Ultralight.
Thanks so much to Mary Marzano for all the time she put into organizing the weekend. I’m not sure who had more fun, me or everyone else, I think maybe me!
To find out more about this guild, when they meet and where, visit the SEGPCG website or join them on Facebook.
The group came on a great weekend. It was downtown Sebring’s second Friday event and my good friend Janet King was the featured artist at Highlands Art League’s Yellow House reception. So we all met at the hotel and went to Janet’s reception then back to the hotel for dinner. There was Jazz on the circle and all the shops were open downtown. The next day was the Roaring 20’s craft show downtown, but we were busy in my studio with clay.
Janet F. King
Janet’s work is incredibly beautiful and I’m lucky to own a piece or two. Once you see her work, you’ll want to own a painting of her’s too.
If you’re in Sebring, be sure to take the time to visit the Yellow House, if not, visit Janet on her website at Janet King Watercolors. com
Way over a year ago, Suzanne Ivester and I met for the first time at Fandango, the Orlando Area Polymer Clay Guild’s yearly retreat. I had an idea for an online polymer clay magazine and Suzanne has excellent writing and editing skills. A plan was created and we began gathering artists for our first issue titled Polymer Portfolio – Wall Art.
We received such a fabulous response from a large group of wonderfully talented artist, sharing photos and informative answers to our questionnaire. It was a great deal of fun and we were looking forward to a series of themed additions of Polymer Portfolio. We saw it as an informative reference publication rather than a project oriented magazine.
After a year and a half , much thought and a lot of soul searching, Suzanne and I decided that the time and commitment involved were more than either of us wanted to continue to contribute. But most of all, I decided that the technology was moving way too fast for me and that the material that we’ve gathered would be better off in the hands of a specialist.
So we asked The Polymer Arts Publishing Director and Editor-in-Chief Sage Bray if she would be interested in publishing the material that we’ve gathered. I mean come on…look at what she’s accomplished with her dream magazine. Both Suzanne and I were determined to share the wealth of information and highlight the artists that shared it with us and are so pleased that Sage agreed and we can rest easy that everything is in good hands.
We begin with the first article Stories in Wall Art. Each of artists that Suzanne and I chose have stories to share with their polymer clay wall art and are a perfect fit for this themed issue of TPA, Stories & Symbolism. I can’t wait for you to see the lovely art and the wonderful article that Suzanne penned.
Thank you Sage, and thank you to the artists featured in this issue, Maureen Carlson, Gera Scott Chandler, Edgar Hernandez, Layl McDill, (cover art) and Marisol Ross for their time and for sharing their talent with us. By the way, I’m thrilled that Layl’s fabulous “Think How Books are Like Birdhouses” made the cover.
A special thank you to my partner in this adventure, Suzanne Ivester.
I’m glowing (no pun intended ) to be teaching at OAPCG’s Fandango this year, May 2 – 6th. I’ve so enjoyed attending and demonstrating at this event in past years, so being able to teach is just delightful.
I’m going to be combining a little bit of fun to make canes, adding a bit of sculpting and then throwing in a cool closure technique. I’ll also be showing you how I contour the design to finish the edges nicely, it’s a technique I use in many of my pieces. So bring your favorite canes and your smile, we’re going to have some fun.
I’ve been holding this closure technique since last year. This project was designed for Fandango and I haven’t shared it anywhere else. You can use this closure in so many other ways, I made this cat using the closure to create an articulated head and tail. It’s simple and easy to do.
My fellow instructors are Suzanne Ivester and Syndee Holt. Plus this year they’ve added pre-classes on Thursday with Penni Jo Couch and Linda Hess, so I hope you come on down to beautiful Lake Yale and join us for a fun filled four days.
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