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 decided to do a couple more girls on bracelets yesterday. This picture shows each side of one bracelet and on the right side of the picture, all of the side put together to show what it might look like if it were a flat drawing.
I just received an package in the mail containing a large set of markers and couldn’t wait to try them out. In fact, I’ll be doing more experimenting today.
I’ve always been the kind of person that has to have every color of……well…..whatever I’m interested in at the time. I own every color of embroidery floss from years ago, every color of premo, every color of crayon (just because I love the smell) and I’m sure I’ve thrown away more supplies because I bought every color and then didn’t use them before they dried up.
But I’m not a clothes horse, I don’t have a million pair of shoes, but I probably have a million different kinds of supplies. They make me happy, they make me feel like I could at anytime create something wonderful because I have everything I could ever need to create anything. Okay, that’s not really true, I don’t have ALL the supplies in the world, but I’m working on it.
 These bracelets are really fun to wear because from the front, when it’s on your wrist, a person can’t really tell what it is. It just looks like an interesting, colorful bracelet. But then they say something about it and you show them the whole drawing, they are amazed. It’s pretty cool actually.
Then when you tell them it’s polymer clay, pen and ink, they want to know more. Mostly they say they can’t draw and could never do it. It’s really not true, everyone can draw something even it it’s just shapes and trust me shapes can be very interesting. But these girls are very basic line drawings.
Anyway, this is the face for the second bracelet. They will both be for sale in my Etsy Shop by the end of the day. Thanks for checking in.
When I came home from Woman Creative – Art and Jewelry Design Center just outside Atlanta, I came loaded down with rubber stamp shapes from Barbara McGuire’s collection. I started playing around with them and because I am so involved with my pen and ink technique I decided to marry the two elements. I, as always have created something I think if incredibly fun and a bit off beat, but I’m diggin’ ’em.
I have tons of old jewelry and buttons and well just stuff (cool stuff mind you) that I’ve be gathering over the years and have decided to continue to use those bits and pieces to accent my work. I’ve added a cool button to the top of the face pendant above.
The pen technique is the one I demonstrate in my video for sale in my Etsy Shop and the shapes are rubber stamps from Barbara McGuire’s collection. The ways you can use the pen and ink technique are endless. Use some of these ideas of mine or dream up some of your own. The sky is the limit and the only thing keeping you from floating away is you thinking you can’t fly.
Okay, okay, you can’t REALLY fly, but you can feel that way sometimes if you lose yourself in your creativity. Stop judging yourself and you will be more than surprised at what you can create. I’m talking to myself as much as to you, I produce things I’m proud of when I make them for the joy of it, not for the dollars I might gain.
Learning to let them go to someone else is the next big stumbling block for me, but I’m doing much better at that too. I can’t wear, look at or hang all the things I make, so I find it much easier to let them go than I did in the beginning.
I’ve also been playing around with whole shapes. I like this girl and really wanted to keep her, but I’m putting her in my Etsy shop. I have ideas for oh so many more. Here I am again, too many ideas and not enough time. Oh well, there’s always tomorrow. Maybe I’ll see you then too.
 My Birthday Gift to Susan Turney! First, I’d like to thank each and everyone of you for taking the time to join in my birthday giveaway and for all the wonderful things you had to say. You certainly made my birthday special. As I said before, I wish I could send you all a prize just for being so nice, but there is only one girlfriend to give away today.
After using the random number generator this morning to select # 18, Susan Turney is the winner of my Birthday Prize. I’m so happy to be able to send this girlfriend to a girlfriend made through our love of polymer clay.
Susan is not only a pc artist willing to push the boundaries as shown in her piece below, but she is also an accomplished quilter. You can tell she is a lover of color, a kindred soul.
 by Artist Susan Turney To view more of Susan work visit her Flickr site . Thanks again everyone.
My Birthday Gift to You! Friday is my birthday and I wanted to say a Big thank you to my newsletter subscribers with this small prize. A girlfriend Pin. Only one can win even though I wish I could send a girlfriend to everyone.
All you have to do is be a subscriber to my newsletter and simply leave a comment here on this post. You don’t have to wish me a happy birthday, thank you anyway for the thought, instead as a present to me tell me what you’re working on.
Or if you’re new to polymer clay, what you would most like to learn right now as you are trying to master this amazing product? Simple basic things, or more complicated techniques?
That’s it, that’s all you have to do and I’ll choose a winner on Saturday with a random number generator.
If you aren’t getting my newsletter now, it’s simply to sign up, it’s free and you get to watch a free 20 minute mosaic video. Just look to the right on this page and you’ll see the mosaic fish and there you are.
Thank you all for supporting me here at Polymer Clay Etc.
After I posted my girl yesterday, I saw what I couldn’t see while I was working on her. Her jaw was way wrong. I had corrected it a bit while working on her, but not enough. It’s funny how you don’t really see something until you back away from it. In this case taking the photo and posting it, then looking at it later online made me see what I could before.
I think I was excited by how the coloring was coming out and the use of the canes in combo with the drawing and didn’t really want to look at the face.
So last night I operated and she looks a bit better. Thanks for sticking we me through all this experimentation. For all those out there that say you can’t draw…..sure you can, you just have to look harder at what you’re putting on the canvas. We all know when something looks wrongand we can fix it.
Now to fix her nose……:)
P.S. I first was introduced to some of the colored pens I use by Kathleen Dustin. She is the master and a wonderful instructor. If you should ever have an opportunity to take a class with her, you should run, not walk to do it.
I just have been having a fabulous time yesterday and today. Had a dental appointment but there was a terrible storm and I have to drive over an hour to get there, so I didn’t go.
That meant I got to stay and continue experimenting with different shapes to hold my pen and ink and polymer clay.
This was great fun, but it’s still a WIP. Needs beads and a chain. The pen technique is the one I demonstrate in my video for sale in my Etsy Shop and the shape was a rubber stamp from Barbara McGuire’s collection.
I’ll post it when I have it finished. I have several more pieces that I really am excited about and I’ll be sharing those with you too.
On this piece I drew the woman and then layered slices of canes off to one side. I like the way it came out.
I can’t stand to throw anything away, even when things go a bit wrong. I was working on two pen and ink bracelets (using the techniques shown in my video tutorial for sale in my Etsy shop) for Woman Creative – Art and Jewelry Design Center when somehow my oven when crazy and I had a couple of scorched bracelets on my hands. Not totally black, but not fit for sending to Ellen at the Center.
But today as I was taking them off the blanks, I just couldn’t throw them away. So I began to play around with them and I cut them apart and repositioned them on other pieces of clay and I began to really like the antique look of the pieces.
What didn’t work as one of my usual bracelets really did work in a different setting. In the beginning I thought I might want to add some more antiquing to them, but I really like them just the way they are.
I’m thrilled to have saved them and I think I might be on to something else. But that’s the way it is, too many things I want to do and too little time.
I guess what I really wanted to share with you was that sometimes what you think as failure might just turn into success, never give up!
 It’s been a busy month! Yesterday I sent a large package to Ellen Prophater at Woman Creative in Buford, Georgia. (Scroll down to the bottom of this post and watch this short video I made while I was there earlier this month. ) Barbara McGuire is Education Director and Founder and Ellen is Exhibit Director and Gallery Manager. It’s a beautiful space and a must see if you are anywhere near by.
The Pen and ink bracelet above was one of the items that I sent for my display. ( It’s a composite picture of one bracelet, showing all sides) I created it using the techniques shown in the Pen and Ink on Polymer Clay video that I have for sale. You can purchase it by clicking on the image in the upper left hand corner of this page, or visiting my Esty shop here.
I love making canes and working with the colored clay, but I am thrilled to be able to combine both the drawing and the clay together. Exactly what one of my customers just emailed me about this tutorial.
I started out creating items with black and white with a touch of red, and still love those pieces, but have started to add color to the whole design and really am enjoying the color very much.
All of my items will be for sale in the Woman Creative Gallery along with many other well known artist’s work. Of course this is the place to see Barbara’s work, both current and some of her earlier pieces. Plus there are all kinds of classes you can take, click on this link to Woman Creative website, then on calendar on the right hand side of the page.
I sent all of these girlfriends to Ellen Plus other fun things. Can’t wait to see picture of how she displays them. Ellen has such a wonderful eye for display, she knows just what to do.
I also sent one of the large Girlfriends Galore Bracelets to Charline Ahlgreen for the Orlando Area Polymer Clay Guild’s annual Fandango auction. Plus two of my tutorials. So if you’re there and bidding, bid large..*g*
Don’t worry, I still have some for sale in my Etsy Shop. I am getting low on faces and need to spend a few days making more, so you might not see all of these same faces next time you look.
I’ve got to get busy, so see you later.
Last week I wrote about an international swap I participated in. Leila Bidler from Polymer Clay Italia hosted an international inchies swap and I just received my inchies in the mail today. I was very excited to open the package a take my first look at all these little gems.
 International Inchie Swap I wanted to identify each inchie with their owners name, but I’m having trouble figuring some of them out, so I’ll just list all the names. I’ll take time to figure them out and correct this list later.
Aren’t they great? Each one is so different and unique. Special in their own right because of the time and thought that went into them all.
Thanks to all of you who are listed below, now I have to decide if I’m going to frame them or wear them.
2 hearts at the top – Leila Beidler – swap mistress Italy
Rossana Malvani – Italy
Patty – Italy
Eva – Germany
Costanze/Polymericcia – Italy
Susanne Svenja/Svenelo – Germany
Joice – Netherlands
Liselot – Netherlands
Pauli – Netherlands
Sassy – Netherlands
Ariane/Magic Toscana – Italy
Daniela D’Uva/Alkhymeia – Italy
Leila Bidler/gom6699 – Italy
Svenja/Svenelo – Germany
Nevenka Sabo – Serbia
Karin – Netherlands
Pauli – Netherlands
Petra – Netherlands
Sassy – Netherlands
Christine Dumont – United Kingdom
I had this portrait idea in my head for awhile now and thanks to an idea nudge from a flickr friend I finished this girl last night. It’s a portrait mirror, I just covered the mirror part because of the reflection.
I’ve been having fun trading with new friends on ficker. I traded with Doreen Bell, an amazing Mosaic Artist, you can see her work here on Flickr. I traded several of my girls for a project she wanted to work on involving a mirror and the Seven Dwarfs of menopause. Here’s the crazy funky wonderful “Libby the Librarian” a hand held mirror Doreen created to make me laugh.
And you just gotta laugh at this girl. She’s even reading Alice in Wonderland.
Anyway, my girls on a mirror, I thought hmmmm sounds interesting, so I borrowed her mirror idea, thanks Doreen, and created the girl above. We Never Stop Blooming.
The other fabulous mosaic artist that I traded with is Laura Pattison in Spain. She wanted a crazy business card holder and I wanted one of her famous rainbow mosaics. I think we are both happy, I know I’m more than thrilled. You need to check out Laura’s work here on flickr
So that’s what I’ve been up to, plus a hundred other things, *g*. Have a great week-end.
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I decided to do a couple more girls on bracelets yesterday. This picture shows each side of one bracelet and on the right side of the picture, all of the side put together to show what it might look like if it were a flat drawing.
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