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 ordered some brass bangle blanks to play around with. I really like the way the bangles look even though I mostly use the cuff blanks. I like the cuffs because they fit most people even when ordering online, the bangles really have to be tried on in person to be sure.
But here’s the fun part, at least to me. I moved the cane mapped fish I was working on from a flat to be framed piece to a cuff bracelet. and really liked the way it looked. Here’s it is.
So when my order for the bangles came in, (I ordered 2), I thought how cool would it be to put the fish on the two bracelets. I made two fish and cut them down the middle and placed each piece on different bangles.
When the bracelet is worn the fish spin around and become a mix and match, just like those Cracker Jack prizes when the bodies, heads and feet of characters could be mixed and matched, remember? It made me laugh.
 Now to do it with my faces.
I was very happy to use several very old canes on this fish. I find him really interesting. When I’m wearing him you see the middle part with all the greens and yellows.
When I wore it today I had several compliments and one lady was very surprised, as I turned my wrist, to see it was a fish. A fun piece to wear.
Yesterday a friend of mine who is fish crazy, in a good way, asked me a couple of questions about my fish and if I had any for sale. Not for her, but for something else. The truth is I really don’t. the ones I have I use as demos in my cane mapping class, I have hanging on my walls or have given away.
I started this fish with just part of the tail when my friend Chrissie Baker was here in my studio. I wanted to show her how I did my big wall pieces.
So when I came to the studio this morning and was beginning to clean up my work table after my Stroppel Cane #2 video. I actually started cleaning the day before but got side tracked making hearts plant stakes out of the Stroppel #2’s that may for the film. Can’t throw them away of course…see.
Sorry, back to the fish. before I put all my canes away, I decided to use some of them to finish the fish. What fun it was, really lost myself in it. But what I wanted to show you was how thin these designs are and how easy they are to frame. So now I can say I have one for sale at least.
Oh and you can see how I used some more of my Stroppel cane #2 across the back of the fish. (first photo)
I call this technique cane mapping and it’s how I’ve done my large wall piece and this table.
If you are near Palmetto, I’m teaching a one day cane mapping workshop on June 7th. You must have lots of pre-made canes to bring with you. We won’t have time in class to make many if any. Skinner blends work best for me. Message me on Facebook, or leave a comment here.
I’ve finished another polymer clay cane mapped painting. Now that’s a mouth full…
I usually spend a bit of time looking at the painting before I bake it. wondering if I should make any adjustments. But when things really pop out is when I photograph the finished piece and look at it on my computer screen.
Do you see the fish? Seems like I can’t get away from the fantasy fish even when they aren’t in the plan. Pretty funny if you as me, wonder what a psychoanalyst would have to say.
I think I need to take a photo before baking from now on. On the other hand, it’s certainly interesting to just let things happen.
Happy New Year Everyone! I can’t wait to get this new year started, I truly finished with 2013 and I’m looking forward to an inspiring 2014.
I finished this fantasy fish painting a couple of weeks ago but couldn’t post it because if was a gift for my oldest son Brad. Brad is a master diver and often spends time in an underwater world. It’s safe to show it now, he has it and hopefully it’s up on a wall somewhere.
This painting is 9″ x 20″. I’m working on two more large polymer clay paintings now. One is huge, 28″ x 40″ …I know, I’m a little bit crazy, but hey, what’s the worse that can happen? That’s one of the things I love about polymer clay, if you don’t like what you’ve done, just start over. The clay can be recycled and isn’t lost.
Someone asked me to show a photo of the work hanging on the wall. Here’s a shot of some of the painting hung. It’s a new wall, that is, we rearranged furniture and there I was with the beautiful long wall to decorate, so it’s still a “work in progress” but I’m enjoying having some of my polymer painting in my house and not just in the studio.
Have a great year!
Oh and by the way, I’m adding the fish picture again because Facebook only gives me the last photo as the image to post to my page. Use to be you had a choice…geezzzz.
I was asked by Helen Breil to contribute to her new book Shapes and I knew it was something that I wanted very much to do for several reasons. Most importantly was that I knew it would be a well thought out and beautifully executed publication. I was so right.
Helen’s work is always beautiful and in this book she leaves nothing out. You’ll learn 5 surface designs techniques and 25 shapes to lend your voice to. Plus there are samples of each shape and surface design from Helen herself and over 29 artist from around the world.
Needless to say I’m honored to have been asked. Thank you Helen.
In her introduction, Helen writes about how she “stumbled” across the idea for Shapes. She was working on 22 pendants for a swap to be held at a retreat. It is the same retreat that I attended and came away from deciding to share my Stroppel Cane. Her “shapes” for the pendant swap came from scraps, but the results can hardly be called that. Here’s Helen’s swap pendant that I was lucky enough to come home with. Simple, elegant, brillant.
 Helen Breil - 2011 swap Here are the two pieces of mine that were included in Shapes. Fish……go figure.
Needless to say I’m honored to have been asked. Thank you Helen.
 Alice Stroppel gallery item Helen Breil's Shapes  Alice Stroppel gallery item Helen Breil's Shapes
You can order your online issue of Shapes today on Helen’s website. And if you haven’t already, you should really check out her fabulous texture sheets too. You’ll want some when you make your first “shape” pendant.
 I woke up this morning to a surprise. Both of the pieces I entered into the International Polymer Clay Association’s 2012 Progress and Possibilities placed. I’m more than thrilled that both the judges and the membership enjoyed my work.
“Tracey”, my giant necklace above tied for 2nd place with Bettina Welker’s hinged bracelet, “Circles” and with my second entry, “Fantasy Fish Bowl” ( in the photo below). How wonderful is that? I’m laughing because I’m tied with myself.
“Tracey” also placed 1st with the members and “Fantasy Fish Bowl” was second. Really, first and second? I couldn’t believe it, still can’t. I am honored to have been able to compete with such wide array of talented polymer clay artists.
Thank you to the judges and all the members who voted for my pieces. And a big thank you to Suzanne Ivester who encouraged me to create something to enter. (Shamed me into it would be a better discription, lol)
The rest of this day…..well…..it’s going to continue to be pretty wonderful, I’m grinning from ear to ear.
Have you ever had that “slap your forehead” moment, you know the one, the one where you say to yourself “why didn’t I think of this sooner?”
Well that was me yesterday, here is the result……….girlfriend slides. And why not I ask you, why not slides to go with the bracelets or instead of a bracelet? I know pins are good too but I love the necklace idea.
Sorry I know it sounds bad to say you love something you just did, but hey…..I would not be playing with clay if I didn’t kind of love what I was doing right?
So I’m off now to list these plus a fish slide in my Etsy shop. Dancing girl la la la girlfriend queen da da la la \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
 More to come of these I’m telling you, just watch!
Arlene Harrison from Harrison Hollow Designs left a comment asking what a slide was. Well my understanding was something that slides off and on a cord or wire. But later I began to think about the difference between a slide and a pendent with a bail. Or why isn’t the fish with the hole considered a bead? If I drilled the hole more in the center of the fish would it be a bead or does a bead have to have a design on all sides and be round?
What is the difference between my fish and the pendant I made for my class at Beads F.O.B. in Sarasota? I made the “bail” out of polymer clay for the class pendant and drilled a hole through the bail, with the fish I just drilled a hole straight through with no bail.
 But when I googled bail here’s what I found;
Bail A finding that connects a pendant to a necklace. They come in different forms: some clip onto the pendant, some have mounts to glue the pendant to, and some attach to a ring on the pendant. The purpose is to hold the pendant flat when worn.
So maybe the pendant above is really a slide just like the fish? I don’t know …….I’ll just have to ask Marty and Karen at Beads F.O.B.. But the good news is I can tell you how to make whatever they’re called.
 Once I’ve finished my mosaic fish I mount it on a piece of clay (double thickness of the widest pasta machine setting) and cut out with a exacto knife.
Then I poke a hole straight through the body of the piece and then insert small rivets that you can purchase in the scrapbook department.
I bake it and then remove the rivets and re-drill the hole with my Dremel tool then replace the rivets with a tiny bit of super glue. Make sure you don’t fill the hole with super glue. The rivets just finish the hole and neaten everything up.
Here are all my almost finished fishies, some are going to my Etsy shop. But I have to finish them by signing the back with my name and the date, so it will be later today.
For the last few weeks I’ve been working on these fish slides for an exchange I will be taking part in. They really have been so much fun and each one is different than the next so I can’t say I was the least bit bored by the number. I still have more to go and hope to finish up in the next few days.
Even though you can’t see it, there is metal leaf on each one of these fish. I’ve recently begun to use the metal leaf with my cane mapping and have some other ideas that don’t involve fish, so stay tuned. By the way you can learn how to map out the use of your old canes by signing up for my newsletter if you haven’t already. Just fill in your name and email address in the spaces on the upper right hand side of this page. I send out a newsletter about once a month and a class up date from time to time.
Okay so I’m not telling the exact true about being bored with these fish. I can say that bored is probably not the right word anyway, I think I get tired of doing the same type of item for a long period of time and have to break it up with other projects or activities along the way. But I’m always excited to come back and make more because they make me smile. Okay so they don’t make me laugh out loud like my girls do, but they do make me smile a lot.
I usually sit down and make five in a row, get them baked and the holes drilled, then I do something else for awhile. Today I am playing around with how to package them. Most of the time in an exchange just including your card is enough, but I wanted to do mine a bit different this time.
I’ve used cards like this before to display my pins and I think I just might use them this time as well. These are smaller than the ones I’ve used before and I like them better for these smaller pieces.
I have soft wire that I’ve run through the slide and out the back of the card, twisting it together to hold the fish in place. I use a very small hole punch to make the holes so everything looks nice and neat.
The next thing I’m going to play with today is the design of the card. I think it might need some updating, I just signed my name on the top but I don’t think I like that. You never know until you try…words I live by.
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