Polymer Clay Canes for Beginners 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.
Online Workshops with Alice Stroppel
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I drew this woman on canvas last June with the idea that I was going to frame her, she has been patiently wanting to become something. I found this perfect wooden stool at a garage sale this week-end, painted it black and now my girl has a home. I have several other pieces I’ve been working on and will be sharing soon.
She is going to be for sale and I’ll be telling you more about that by the end of the week. I have some exciting news to share and can’t wait for it to happen. See you a a day or two or three.
 Zentangle This is a bracelet made from Zentangle canes I made several months ago. I don’t know why I haven’t made more in all this time, too busy making other things I guess. But a tutorial is on my list. I’ve listed this one in my Etsy Shop.
 I’ve also listed black and white cuff in the picture below in my Etsy shop. I don’t care how many bracelets I make like this, they still continue to sell well.
They’re fun and bold and really stand out with a pair of black jeans and a crisp white shirt, my favorite look still.
My Lady in Blue is in another Treasury…I’m so delighted everyone like her. Thanks again to Patricia Paquin from artistsloftpaquin1.
 Pen and ink and polymer clay Happy New Year everyone. I’m excited to be back to play…er..I mean work. I hope everyone had as wonderful a holiday as I did. I walked away from the clay table for a week or so and now I am back full force and ready to try new things.
I asked for and got, some really cool Figure Drawing books for Christmas and will be playing around with more Pen and Ink as well as polymer clay faces.
I am also beginning work on some other ideas that I had. My goal this month, forget the whole year, is to get a couple more of my most popular designs into tutorials. And to hit the road teaching, plus have more classes right here in my studio.
In the mean time I’m still producing my bracelets. Here’s the latest pen and ink.
I’m excited to begin my next project. Stay tuned.
 Pen and Ink Zentangle I got sidetracked last night, I was working on the orange necklace from the day before and put the beads in the oven. I had to wait anyway and started working on some bracelets that were waiting for me to draw on them with ink.
I finished this one and one with chickens, yes chickens, go figure. Once I got started I just couldn’t stop. I’ve listed this one in my Etsy shop and will list the chickens soon.
 I’ll show you the chickens tomorrow and by then I should be finish with the orange necklace.
 Another face bracelet made with black and white Zentangle canes. She’s for sale…in my Etsy Shop.
I need to make so more of these canes. When I do, I’ll try to make a video. They’re easy to make and very effective.
Thanks for stopping by.
 Pen and Ink Repaired I’ve been playing around with this technique and I’d like to share with you. The picture above is the bracelet from yesterday’s post. I’ve fixed her face.
The picture below is my daddy’s prototype for a hair color box. I didn’t realize until this morning that I was copying my father. It’s signed on the bottom of the box, E. Lamar Simpson, 1950, the year I was born.
 E. Lamar Simpson. 1950 prototype Hair coloring box It sits on one of my book shelves in my studio. I love it when it draws my attention like it did this morning. People always ask an artist where they get their inspiration. I’d have to say, everything I have ever seen. I think it is all stored and show itself when you are ready.
My Dad did a weekly cartoon for our local paper and I’d spend time watching him as he drew.
I wasn’t thinking of this box when I drew my girls. I wasn’t looking at it, but the technique is amazingly the same.
I began covering my bracelet with black clay. I layered the black with three rectangles of white equal distances apart. On the first bracelet I made, ( Can You Guess?) that was all I did. This one I added pieces of my zentangle canes.
Next step is to bake them. When they were completely cooled, I drew on the white clay. I used a black Micron Pigma pen. Size 01. For the lips I used red.
I always use this pen to sign my work and heat set it with a heat gun, being careful not to burn the clay. There was too much surface to cover with the heat gun (or maybe the truth is I just don’t have the patience) and when I wore it for a test run, the girl in the picture above had her lips smear. I sanded the bottom half of her face and redrew it with the pen.
This time I preheated the oven and put it back in for 5 or 6 minutes. That should take care of heat setting it evenly.
However, I would suggest, if you are happy with a part of a drawing, go ahead and heat set it with your heat gun. If you don’t, you run the risk of smearing it as you move on the the next section.
That’s it. It you use this technique, I’d love to see what you come up with. Leave me link in the comments.
 Polymer Clay Pen and Ink This is my second polymer clay with pen and ink. The first was the other day in this post, Can You Guess? This one I combined some of my Zentangle canes with my drawings.
I finished it last night and wore it all day today. My husband and I went to visit our son in Orlando, so it was in and out of the car, out to lunch and etc. By the end of the day all was well except with the lips of one of the side girls, they had smeared. I should have taken a picture of her before I sanded her mouth off.
That sounds pretty funny actually, looks pretty funny too.
 Correction I sanded way the ink and I’ll start again. I think I simply didn’t heat it enough with my heat gun. I think the answer is to pop it back into the oven for a few minutes. That way I will be sure that everything gets heated. Then I’m going to test wear it again.
I have some other things I want to try too. Some layering techniques. I’ll post more later.
 Redheaded Cuff Bracelet I’m posting this bracelet again today and pictures of the bracelet side because I had a problem and figured out how to fix it and wanted to share with you.
 Before The center of the two heart shapes are made with a translucent clay mix. Sometimes a translucent clay will darken during curing. Sometimes it doesn’t. Go figure.
This time both centers darkened. and when I took pictures to put in my Etsy store, I could really see how bad they looked. There were little burn spots in the translucent centers, I guess they are burn spots. But whatever they are, they weren’t nice.
I didn’t want to sell this bracelet that way, but I also didn’t want to trash it either. The rest of the bracelet was just fine.
 Redheaded Bracelet side I used my Micron Pigma pen, 01 nib, to make a grid on the hearts. I’ve used the pens for years on everything from wood to cloth. I’ve been signing my claywork with them for a long time now.
If you have been reading my posts, you’ll know I’ve been playing around with Zentangles, so I thought to use one of the patterns here.
I think it added another element to the design, it saved my bracelet and gave me a bunch of ideas for new things.
I must finish things I’ve started before starting another project based on another new idea.
I must finish things I’ve started before starting another project based on another new idea.
I must finish things I’ve started before starting another project based on another new idea.
I must finish things I’ve started before starting another project based on another new idea.
I feel like I should have a blackboard and write this 100 times.
 Dora's Zentangle picture from polymer clay As promised, Dora from Dora’s Explorations posted a tutorial for her canes that make up her Zentangle picture shown above. We have both been having fun with the Zentangle canes. I love what she’s done. View her tutorial here.
Here’s yet another cuff bracelet I made with my zentangle canes today.
 The Girl and Zen  The Girl and Zen from the side And here’s another Redheaded girl with a bright green background.
 Redhead Polymer Clay Cuff Bracelet I know you don’t believe me, but I am almost finished with my profile face cane tutorial. It should be ready sometime next week. It’s going to be in pdf form as well as a full video showing you step by step how to construct a profile face cane. It will be available on my Etsy site. If you are signed up for my newsletter, you will know as soon as I have it ready. If not, stop back often or sign up for the RSS feed.
Have a wonderful week-end everyone.
I believe that ideas are born and then float around and land on different people. It has happened to me more times than I care to think about. Here’s another one, only this time it’s someone I know through our blogs.
As I mentioned in my last post (about 30 minutes ago) Dora of Dora’s Explorations posted her Zentangles on her Flickr site last week and I just had to do some. I knew I had to try my hand at canes like this.
I didn’t realize that Dora was thinking the same thing. I check in on her site from time to time to see what she is up to because she posts some incredible cane tutorials. In fact, I’ve featured one of them here. When I was there the other day, she was doing home work for Color Inspirations by Lindly Haunani and Maggie Maggio.
So I had no idea that she was getting ready to do a tutorial for Zentangle canes. I should have known, that is how her mind works. She always does the most complicated fabulous canes.
I know her canes will be incredible and her tutorial inspiring. So go to her blog www.dorasexplorations.wordpress.com and see if she has her tutorial up yet, if she doesn’t, bookmark her site, you’ll want to check back until she gets it posted.
You can see more of her fabulous Zentangles on her Flickr site.
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