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]

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.

Video of the Discovery Launch

My husband work at Cape Kennedy during the late 1960s and early 70s. We met during that time and were married. The fights to the moon and the Apollo missions were apart of our lives. It was an exciting time and we are still excited when another flight goes into space.

We watch each launch from our balcony hundreds of miles away from the Cape. I wanted to share this one with you. Don’t worry, The film is short, about a minute.

Okay, so what does the space shuttle have to do with polymer clay? I think without the kind of science that went into sending a man to the moon, polymer clay wouldn’t have been developed. Alright, I’m stretching I know………

My Copy of Polymer Clay Color Inspirations Arrived Today

My copy arrived today. I can’t wait to spend the time enjoying this addition to my polymer clay library. Just thumbing through it, I can tell you it has some fabulous eye candy.
There is going to be some serious color experimentation going on with the polymer clay community and we will all reap the benefits from the infusion of excitement.
I’ll let you know what I experiment with first, what parts of the book are you excited about?

Dora’s Explorations in Polymer Clay Puts a Hex on Us!

Dora's Joy of Hex Cane

Dora's Joy of Hex Cane

Lately, I’ve been following Dora’s Explorations Blog and her polymer clay cane experiments. She seems to enjoy the complicated canes and I understand the challenge.

Her plaid canes are fabulous and there are many more just waiting for you give them a try. She is generous to share these tutorials on her website.

If you want to challenge yourself, take a look at her newest cane tutorial, “Joy of Hex“. It free and the pattern possibilities are endless. Thanks Dora for sharing your talent with us.

Found Objects and Polymer Clay – Video

Bakers Man

Baker Man

Boy have I had fun the last few days. Filming the video on found objects and polymer clay really got me excited about all the projects that I have promised myself I was going to do when I wasn’t working anymore. So watch out..I might be on a roll. I say might because I always have great intentions.

I could have made this video an hour longer, I had that many found objects that I could have shared with you, but I figured you would thank me if I kept it at 15 minutes.

The photo above is just one of the projects that I used some of my found objects on. Kitchen items from my husband’s grandmother and a necklace from a garage sale. I love using items that have meaning to members of my family. He is going to hang on the Christmas tree and once a year we will be reminded of grandma and the fabulous things she use to make for the holidays. Easter pie was a favorite, even for Christmas.

Embellished Book

Embellished Book

This photo is of an old flea market book and one of the pieces I made in this video. Old watch part from my dad, who is no longer with us, fabulous magnifying spectacles that belong to a long ago relative.  A great coffee table book.  Enjoy the video!

Found Objects to Use With Polymer Clay

Found Objects

Several days ago, I promised you a video showing how to use objects you might have around the house to imprint polymer clay projects. Or you may want to use that interesting found object to embellish one of your creations.

I “found” all of these items while I was clean out and cleaning up. You might say I “re-found” them. Most are things I have collected over the years because they were interesting and I just knew one day I’d “make something from them”. ( I think there is a name for this illness……..most of you have it too I think!)  Some are just everyday items.

Even my husbands work space didn’t escape the scavenger hunt……don’t tell him though, he gets scared when I venture into his garage with that look on my face.

Today, I’m working on samples and tomorrow or the next day I’ll post the video. Start looking around you, I know you’ll find lots of things to play with. Roll out some fresh clay and experiment. Or be ready with your treasures for when you watch my new video and we can experiment together.

Just remember, if you use something from your kitchen for clay, you won’t want to use it again for food.

A Nod to Naama Zamir and Her Special Stripes Cane

Naama Zamir's Special Stripes Cane

Naama Zamir's Special Stripes Cane

While I was searching for the author of the eye cane tutorial at the bottom of this post, I came across this tutorial from Naama Zamir. She Posted this tutorial on March 1st, 2009! I made my Ancient Mystery Bracelet on Aug.10, 2009.

I didn’t see her tutorial until 10 minutes ago. In fact I had already started this post to look for the author of the eye cane tutorial.

Ancient Mystery I

Ancient Mystery I

This post is to acknowledge that she thought of the technique before I did! It just must have been floating around in the air and landed on me. Take a look, she explains how to do it wonderfully.

Now to the reason I was searching the internet… this ikat cane tutorial.

Ikat Eye Cane

Ikat Eye Cane

Do you know who wrote this tutorial for an Ikat Eye Cane? It was on a website several years ago.

I printed it out and I use it sometimes for my face canes. I copied and pasted it into another program to print it to save ink. I usually labeled things I printed out with the author’s name and the website address. But somehow I’ve lost that information.

I’ve searched for it online for quite some time with no luck. I’m afraid that it is no longer available. I would like to suggest this cane for my face canes and send people to this tutorial. If it is no longer available, then I would like to be able to share the technique.

If you know the author or the website address, or someone who might be able to help me, would you please leave a comment or email me at alice@polymerclayetc.com? Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

Update.. Several people were kind enough to leave comments or email me about the tutorial. Click here to go to Kerstin Rupprecht’s Ikat Eye Cane Tutorial. Kerstin shared this tutorial in 2002, thank you Kertin.

New Redheads – Polymer Clay Face Cane Bracelets

Redheads - Cuff Bracelets

Redheads - Cuff Bracelets

I was busy last night with these cuff bracelets. I really had fun! Seriously, I was smiling the whole time. When I took them out of the oven, I laughed out loud. They are are listed in my Etsy Shop. I’m working on a tutorial for the face canes to sell in my etsy shop. This is just too much fun.

I  wasn’t sure if I could use the profile face cane successfully on a bracelet, but I like her, she is really 3d.

I was stuck on redheads, now to move on and do some more blonde and burnettes.

Using Old Polymer Clay Canes

Ancient Mystery I

Ancient Mystery I

Here’s how this started! I was going to shoot a video to share about all the items I found while cleaning that I can use with my clay work.

But as always, I had to clean up my clay space before I could begin. There sat slices of canes that I used in my (not finished yet)  Polymer Clay Collage Project…. you’ll see a line of red squares across the bottom. Some were slices that I messed up and then there was this small little piece of cane left.

If you have been following this blog at all, you know me well enough to know that I do not like to make scrap clay. So, I layered the messed up slices with a layer of black #7 on the pasta machine. Then I sliced the remaining cane and added those slices with the  black layers in  between. Ending up with a new cane.

Why I didn’t start filming this for you, I don’t know, except that I didn’t know that it was going to come out this cool.

I sliced this cane into thin slices and added them to a sheet of black. Then placed the whole thing on my bracelet. It looks pretty good, I liked it anyway.

Then I had just a couple of slices left of this scrap cane (and I’m laughing here)! I didn’t want to scrap the rest of the cane I didn’t use because I liked it.

So I decide to play with what I had left. this next bracelet was the result and I like it way better than the first one.

Ancient Mystery II

Ancient Mystery II

I laid the left over slices out on a skinny strip of black and ran it through the pasta machine. It was ragged along the edges and I kind of liked that, so I put it on a layer of ecru clay and covered the bracelet form, added dots and there it was.

It was interesting and fun to experiment and the best part is I made something out of clay that was going to become a gray blob.

But..I still haven’t made the video with the found objects to use with clay. It will  have to wait now, I have a special request for more girl bracelets in my Etsy shop, so I better get moving.

I’ve listed the other two bracelets there, so cross your fingers that summer sales will happen.

Prizes for Adrienne and a Service Added to my Esty Shop

Adrienne' s Prizes

Adrienne' s Prizes

As winner of the Fish Mosaic Contest, Adrienne Lindsey will be receiving the perfume pen with one of my girls on it and as a bonus, (she doesn’t know this yet) I’ve sent her a note card with her fish on the front. I’m sending her a pdf by email with a layout for two note cards that she will be able to print over and over again. She can sell them, give away sets to friends or just use them herself for thank you notes etc. All she has to add is the envelopes.
(I also did a pdf for Laura Lang’s fish too.)

I’ve added this service to my Etsy shop, for those who don’t have the software to do it themselves. If you do have the software, you should consider using your artwork in this way. It really makes sense, you can sell the original and still continue to make money from the item. That’s what other artists do with prints of their originals. Why not Polymer Clayers? Gotta think outside the box.

I just looked at Naama Zamir’s two fish that she made after viewing the video. They are so cute, they would make darling cards or prints for that matter.