I’m having a great time with these Stand Ups. 
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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.  Member IPCA |
Still playing with Stand Ups.
Okay, I’ve been working on an idea using white polymer clay and alcohol inks in both liquid and marker form. I wanted them to be free standing and collectable. Tallest one, the guy, is about 4 1/2″ tall. The small singing head is about 2 1/4″ high and has a removable, exchangeable saying bubble.,
The girl was the first one I made and I wanted the white face with black wash and color for the hair and clothes. I think the black wash was a bit too much, so I made this guy and didn’t use as much black, I like it better. Looks more like ceramic or stone. The dots in the background are from a new technique design block by Sculpey.
Both of the larger figures are made with scrap clay, (yes I do have real scrap clay that looks like mud, some scraps are just not Stroppel Cane material hehe) covered with white Premo. But even I will run out of muddy scraps at some point, so I made a smaller one made entirely from new white clay. Needless to say I’ve ordered more white clay.
This one I decided to try a little bit of color on her face, and it’s okay, but I like the other finish better, for a signature “look”. I’m still playing and wondering if it would make a good class. I think most of the people that took my Sun class at Fandango made some great faces and I know these faces would be just as successful. I’m having a blast and my head is full of all kinds of new ideas with these stand alone, Stand Up, characters. More later.
I had a fantastic time at this year’s Orlando Clay Fandango! Here are all the instructors, the morning we are leaving after having such a wonder time teaching and demonstrating. Be sure to start saving for next year… save the date…May 1-5, 2014 I wanted to mention that I will be teaching my Pen and Ink one day workshop at the Orlando Area Polymer Clay Guild on Saturday June 29th. They meet in Winter Garden, FL . If you are interested in this workshop contact the guild for more information.
We were lucky to have Iris Weiss from Polyform attending and supplying clay for our classes. Thank you Polyform and Iris. Then there was Penny Jo Couch, Syndee Holt, LInda Hess, Suzanne Ivester, and me, Alice Stroppel.
Here are some of of the wonderful suns made this weekend.
Photo by Judy Mitchell Photo by Judy Mitchell
and some other fun stuff A colony of flamingos won, bought, and gifted….
My Stroppel Cane bracelet demo
Suzanne Ivester, me and Sydnee Holt
Synergy was wonderful for many reasons, but getting to meet in person people you have become friends with online has to be one of the highlights. My friend Nikolina Otrzan (Orson’s World) surprised me with with this so very thoughtful gift in memory of Ceasar, the oh so sweet dog we just lost. I was touched and so appreciative. Thank you Nik. Nik creates some fabulous polymer pieces and some very cool tutorials for sale in her Etsy shop. She also has a class on CraftArtEdu She is such fun to be around, meeting her after month and months of online friendship was a such a treat. She traveled all the way from Croatia to attend Synergy and I hope to see her again when Synergy happens in Europe. I’m lucky to own another piece of Nik’s work, we traded when she made me something from one of her Stroppel Canes. Love it.
Cara Jane Hayman is another friend from the other side… she surprised me with the darling little Stroppel Cane piggy. It was so thoughtful to bring it all the way from Bristol, UK just for me. Cara Jane started the Stroppel Cane Flickr group so that everyone can share their canes. Care Jane also has tutorial for sale. Thanks so much Care Jane.
Can you believe I am the proud owner of this fabulous piece of a art by Julie Eakes? Julie’s work in impeccable! We made a large trade and I am more than thrilled. The wording is, “As you’re pretty, so be wise, Wolves may lurk in every guise.” I wish you could see this piece up close, I think Julie said she made at least five canes to incorporate in this necklace. Julie and I have traded before I’m lucky to own a couple of other Julie Eakes creations. Julie teaches and if you can take a class with her, you should! Here’s one on CraftArtEdu Julie is soooo much fun and I’m lucky to call her friend…….Julie, I can’t thank you enough.
And finally, Meisha Barbee and I traded pieces and look what I got, a wowzer. Meisha doesn’t have a website, but I have a feeling that she will soon, In the meantime here is a google search with some pictures of her fabulous work. Meisha has recently started to teach, if she’s teaching near you, run don’t walk to take her class. Meisha, you make me laugh way too much, you rock friend, thank you. You see how lucky I am, not only to own such wonderful work, but to have made such wonderful friends through my love of polymer. It’s a wonderful life.
I am delighted to be featured on Eva Maria Keiser’s blog as one of her chosen artists for her Colorway series. Thank you so much Eva Maria. Eva Maria is an accomplish, incredible bead artist. From vessels to adornment, you will find her work mesmerizing. If you are a bead artist, Eva Maria offers several free tutorials on her blog. Grab a cup of your favorite beverage, you’ll be spending quite a while on this blog. You can also join Eva Maria on her Facebook page.
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.
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.
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