Polymer Clay Canes for Beginners

27 videos, step by step, beginner cane workshop beginner Cane Tutorial 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

Catagories

[caption id="attachment_102" align="aligncenter" width="100" caption="Member IPCA"]Member IPCA[/caption]

Czextruder Mini Review and Tutorial

Czextruder cane tute

I have been using the Czextruder from Lucy Clay for several months now and promised to give a quick review. I’ve been making a few different canes with a couple of the disk and really enjoy using this quirky little canes in my cane mapping. So I thought I’d combine the review with a short tutorial.

You can see this cane used on the wispy ends of the tail on this fish and across the middle.

Polymer Clay FIsh -  Alice Stroppel

If you’ll notice, I don’t care if the curvy parts are lined up perfectly, actually, I want the cane to go this way and that, more organic.

Fish Tail close up

I find the extruder to be very well constructed and it as a large loading tube which I like. It holds more clay than other extruders I’ve used. It’s easy to clean.

The part I find difficult is the loading. The plug is not attached to the plunger and that makes it harder to reinsert, but worth it in the end.

I like that the disks from other extruders and disk makers will fit this extruder. I believe Cynthia Tinapple’s disks fit as well.

Over all I find it an asset to my polymer clay tool box.

You can order yours from Lucy Clay or if you live in the United States Kimberly Idalski represents the company here.

Thank You, Pen and Ink, Trades, and my Mount Dora Class

This might be a long post…just so you know….

Thank you, thank you, and thank you some more. All of you who left a comment, joined my newsletter list, emailed me, ordered one of my videos from my Etsy shop, left a comment on Polymer Clay Daily or just stopped by to take a look at the Stroppel Cane.

I was truly blown away by the amount of traffic that my funny little blog generated in just a few days. I owe a great deal to Cynthia Tinapple at Polymer Clay Daily and to my blog and newsletter followers.

I knew I liked my new cane, but really didn’t realize just how much everyone else was going to like it. I’m thrilled to be able to share it with everyone. When I first started with polymer clay, I learned so much from the generous people on the internet and it was all free. Now, just to keep up with all the fees out there one has to make a little money here and there, but I will always give away as much as I can, kind of a play it forward kind of thing. So feel free to share the Stroppel cane with anyone you think would enjoy it.

Again, it makes a big difference to know that there are people out there reading, watching and interested.  The comments that you all left really meant so much to me. Thank you all.

Now on to other things. This picture is of what I did yesterday between answering all the wonderful correspondence. These are bracelet blanks covered with clay and baked. I call them canvases because they are ready for the next step of ink, markers and TLC.

I have several reasons why I needed to make these blanks.

1. I need more stock in my Etsy shop
2. I made a trade agreement with two very famous delightful pc artists
3.  I’m teaching a class on the 15th and need samples to show

Blank Canvas

I cover the blanks with a layer of black, then sections of white and in between I place black and white canes.

Laurie Prophater

Laurie Prophater

The first trade I made was with Laurie Prophater and I already have the bracelet and have been enjoying it so much. It is simply gorgeous, I am thrilled.  Laurie’s blog is that fabulous one we all love to visit Ornamental Elements. Here’s more good news, you can own one of these fabuloso Faux Ivory Bangle Bracelet bracelets for yourself Just visit Laurie’s Etsy site.

Laurie Prophater

Laurie Prophater

Each side is different and so lovely, plus she makes the accent pieces herself. I need to hurry up and get her piece finished. I have a couple started and will probably give her a choice like she so graciously did for me.

I’ll let you in on a big secret. Laurie’s bracelet has given me so many ideas to try using my style and she has given me the okay to use the basic idea. But if you know me, you know my crazy mind will take me places no one else has been before. lol. I already have one (actually two) made, but am not ready to show you yet, when have I had time anyway? The past few days have been very busy and so much fun.  And I’m all about the fun!

Pen and Ink Face Bracelets

The bracelet on top is more colorful and I’ve added some canes for hats and accent pieces. The bracelets on the bottom uses more of the white background giving the faces a kind of gothic feel I think. Next group, I’ll do just black and white and red lips, maybe some color in the eyes, like some of the first bracelets I did when I developed my pen and ink technique.

Pen and Ink Class

Pen and Ink Class

I’m teaching a class on the 15th of the month in Mount Dora, FL at the Mount Dora Center for the Arts.  Come on and join me, you’ll love this quaint southern town that loves the arts.

Here’s  a link to the information and the phone number for registration is 352-383-0880.

Back to drawing faces. Thanks again for everything, you guys are the best.

Bill Nelson and His Super Sculpey Characters

Bill Nelson's Characters

Bill Nelson's Characters

I don’t normally post  on this blog features from my other blog, The Figurative Artbeat. But because Bill Nelson is working mainly in Super Sculpey when he sculpts his fabulous characters, I just want to be sure you have a chance to see his work. Take a look at my post about him on The Figurative Artbeat.

More About Color Inspirations by Lindly Haunani and Maggie Maggio

colorinspirations

After spending more time with this new color primer, I can’t wait to try some of the exercises. I’ve done some of them before from Maggie’s website and videos, but there is so much more in the book and I can’t wait to continue to experiment. Maggie has three videos that will help you when you get to Chapter Five, Mixing Colors That Flow.

The first video is Color Scales Tutorial and found on Maggie’s website. The second is Color Scales II Playing with Color Scales and I could only find it on You Tube! The last is, Color Scale Triangles in Polymer Clay.

These are wonderful videos and will help you, but having the book brings it all together. The long awaited book is finally available at Amazon today

I’m most excited that Maggie will be posting  Weekend Extras on her blog, to encourage you to go through each of the exercises in the book. She will start with tips for the very first exercise, “Testing Package Colors.”  you will be able to ask questions and post comments.

Lindly’s blog is full of color information and links, with a fabulous link to Dulux paint in the UK with a color system that is really helpful.