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

Workshops Online with Alice Stroppel

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

Experiment with Brass Rods and Buna Cord

I have this whole tin full of little brass rod parts and decided to incorporated them into a pin design. Some Stroppel Canes  made with scraps from the spirals…….I like the results. I think want to play with this idea some more.

 

This is a side view showing the dimension of the piece. In the middle of construction I decide to see if the Buna a cord would melt in the oven and if it might be something I want to use in construction in the future.

It didn’t melt and you can see it on the right. This is a mixed media piece for sure.

 

 

July 16th, 2012 | Tags: , , , | Category: Experiments | 4 comments

Experiments and Mangos

Just a quick post about my experiment. I’m kind of liking the one in the middle and maybe the one on the right. The one on the left is a going to the “yeah right” jar.

They look different in person, they are so dimensional and you can’t see it here. They are truly some of the funkiest beads I’ve ever made.

Still working on them and other applications for the technique. Not giving up yet.

Now on to what I’ve really been doing…twice a day ……everyday for the last two weeks (and it will continue for another two).

MANGOS…..lots and lots of mangos. I know they have nothing to do with polymer clay, maybe this could be the “etc.” part. They are keeping me for my clay, so they do play a role, kind of, sort of.

This is just from this morning. I’ll have this many or more this afternoon. I have to be quick or the squirrels beat me to them and they pick the best ones to take only a bite or two.

I’m pealing, dicing, and freezing bag after bag. I put a perfect size of one cup in every bag. After about the 300th bag I start to lose my enthusiasm for it all. But I soldier on knowing that in December I’ll be soooooo happy to open the freezer and see all those bags of mangos.

Plus, the margaritas and smoothies you can make with these frozen mangos are to die for.

This freezer is full, I have to move these downstairs……….see you guys later.

July 3rd, 2012 | Tags: , , | Category: Beads | 6 comments

Experiments in Polymer Clay

Over the last few weeks, I’ve spent more time at my clay table. The problem is, I don’t have many finished things that I can share.

Most of what I’ve been doing is experimenting with techniques and applications. Some of these experiments haven’t made it past the approval stage. I’ve been trying to apply what I stress in all my workshops, that is, play, experiment, stretch, because what’s the worse that can happen? You have to throw something away? So what? We always learn something along the way.

The beads up above are one of those experiments, working with Ultralight. Only the first stage, I can envision the next steps, lets see how it goes.

I’ve also been making slides to exchange on a retreat that is coming in August. I’ve had so much fun, but I can’t show them to you yet.

I’ve been adding to my cane collection, inventing different canes for my workshops. It’s one of my favorite things to do. So my work space is a mess and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

In the picture above, amoung all my  canes are two new tools that I find I’m using more and more. They are from the Clay Lady, Penny Jo.  I’m not using them at all like Penny Jo intended, but I knew that before I ordered them. I love tools. You can order your own in her Etsy shop

I’ve also been working towards being able to give classes and workshops right here on my blog, I’m in the middle of the learning curve, so stay tuned. I just keep thinking how much fun this is going to be.

 

June 26th, 2012 | Tags: , , , | Category: Beads, Canes | 6 comments