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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 Inspired by Cirque du Soleil I was asked this week about experiences I’ve had while sculpting. I scanned my studio and really looked at things that I haven’t paid much attention to in quite sometime. I found several things that I couldn’t give away to anyone, like most of the things I make then, because of some giant mistake. What I like to call “significant learning experiences”. 
I’ve always been entranced by Cirque du Soleil and was trying to create my own character. She doesn’t stand straight up but lays side ways balancing on her tip toes and hands. She can face either way.
She has fabric pants and a green bobble earring on her forehead. A fabric hat with fabulous feathers sits on top of her head. She has glass eyes.
I was really happy with how she was coming along, then I placed her in the oven for the last time, I burnt her face. She was so brown, not a nice brown that I would have been happy with, but a burnt brown. I don’t remember exactly what I did, but there’s no mistaking that she stayed to long in the oven. Like staying to long at the fair…….
I think that might have been when I began to cover everything I did with aluminum foil. Watch my video about baking polymer clay to see what I mean.
 Inspired by Cirque du Soleil I decided that I had invested way too much time and energy in her and I wanted to save her. I painted her face gold and called it a day. Not the greatest solution, but I’m happy I didn’t pitch her in the trash. I certainly learned a significant lesson that time.
So if you make a mistake, like we all do, remember, it’s significant. And don’t throw them all away, it’s fun to take a look later.
 Girl Night Out - Polymer Clay Bracelet I’m happy to be working with clay again today. I have so many face canes in so many sizes, I wanted to continue to use all of them. So today I went from the very large pins I was doing to these small girls on one bracelet.
 Girls Night Out - side view I’ve posted it for sale on my Etsy site.
 Girls Night Out - side view 2 I also baked another bracelet with white space waiting for pen and ink. Fun for tonight. Plus an experiment with glitter that I’ll share with you next week.
It’s good to get back to play…I mean work.
This week has been fabulous and frustrating. So humid all my canes just stuck together like they were magnets and now it’s cool and breezy outside. I like that, the cool part that is.
Good news, I finished my order. Bad news, something was wrong with my oven and several of them had spots on their faces when I took them out. The spots were all the way through and I couldn’t sand them away.
I had quite a bit of time invested in these girls and used lots of canes in the process. In the middle of the night I thought, okay, what can I do with these girls? Freckles are okay on the cheeks, but not down by the chin. I took my Pigma Micron pen and gave a couple of them mask with a bit of hanging fringe. I liked them.
If you want to use the Pigma Micron pens, just be sure to heat set them. The ink will rub right off if you don’t. Either use a heat gun, or pop them back into the oven for a few minutes.
I cleaned the pan I’ve used for years to bake my clay and I hope that that was the problem with the spotting. I also checked the temperature with a gauge, just to be sure.
I have an order in for blue and orange wine stoppers for a University of Florida fan in the oven now and should find out how all my cleaning and checking worked. I’ll let you know.
I still have a several more girls with spots but I’ll have to figure something else out for them as they are the full face girls and I’m not sure the hanging fringe will work. After Christmas maybe I’ll think of something.
Later …I just checked the wine stoppers and they are just fine, no spots. So I guess the lesson for me today is to clean your pan. Don’t know what was on it that could have made spots, but whatever it was, it’s gone now.
I know, you might be saying enough already. Well I think I might just be getting started. Okay, as soon as this order is finished, I think I’ll find some places to go teach. Anyone up for a class in face canes? Leave a comment. Really, I mean it.
Seriously, I’ve been having more fun than I thought I would making these girls. I really don’t like to do the same thing over and over again. Done too much in that in my life. But with the girls each one takes special consideration.
I have to decide what hair color, what color will look right on her and whether she is sweet sassy or showy.
Another wonderful thing that is happening is I’m using up lots of canes and I’ll have to make more. Some of these cane are my favorites and I might make another just like it, and others I’ll be happy to not see them again. Not that they are bad canes, it’s just that I’ve made so many things out of them, I’m ready to move on.
 A few more days to go and I’ll be finished and ready to get to my Christmas doings. After Christmas I’ll start on my next face cane tutorial. Can’t wait.
 But in the mean time, if you want to try your hand at one of these girls, go to my Etsy shop and try my Profile Face Cane Tutorial.
If you haven’t been here before there is a link at the very top of the page that says “Video Tutorials” or just click here.
I’ll be adding more free videos after the holidays.
Let me know what you want to learn, maybe I can help. Leave a comment.
 Girls of Color I made this face cane this morning, she’s a girl of color. A step closer to adding color recipes for different nationalities. I have tried in the past and failed. This time I’m closer. I would love some feedback from ya’ll. Especially if you are a woman of color. Just the first of many.
Next week, I will be working on another short video to add as a bonus to my face cane tutorial. I will be showing how to add a neck and tips on adding hair.
If you have already purchased the tutorial, don’t worry, I’ll send you the link.
 Redheaded Cuff Bracelet I’m posting this bracelet again today and pictures of the bracelet side because I had a problem and figured out how to fix it and wanted to share with you.
 Before The center of the two heart shapes are made with a translucent clay mix. Sometimes a translucent clay will darken during curing. Sometimes it doesn’t. Go figure.
This time both centers darkened. and when I took pictures to put in my Etsy store, I could really see how bad they looked. There were little burn spots in the translucent centers, I guess they are burn spots. But whatever they are, they weren’t nice.
I didn’t want to sell this bracelet that way, but I also didn’t want to trash it either. The rest of the bracelet was just fine.
 Redheaded Bracelet side I used my Micron Pigma pen, 01 nib, to make a grid on the hearts. I’ve used the pens for years on everything from wood to cloth. I’ve been signing my claywork with them for a long time now.
If you have been reading my posts, you’ll know I’ve been playing around with Zentangles, so I thought to use one of the patterns here.
I think it added another element to the design, it saved my bracelet and gave me a bunch of ideas for new things.
I must finish things I’ve started before starting another project based on another new idea.
I must finish things I’ve started before starting another project based on another new idea.
I must finish things I’ve started before starting another project based on another new idea.
I must finish things I’ve started before starting another project based on another new idea.
I feel like I should have a blackboard and write this 100 times.
 A funny thing happened. I was so happy that the shop I stopped in while I was in Tampa wanted to buy some of my pieces. So happy I shared it with you. Now I have to tell you that I emailed the shop and haven’t heard a word since.
Because of that shop, I realized that there were so many other possibilities out there that I wasn’t looking at. So It’s okay!
I began to look at dress boutiques and other speciality shops. I found quite a few and have emailed several. I’ve heard back from one, but she only carries local artists. she still was a bit interested and asked for some time to think about it.
As you can see, I am still stuck on Zentangle canes. I really have had fun with them.
I did my emailing on Friday and this week end was Halloween, so I’m not discouraged yet. Besides, I still have the whole United States and Canada left….and I’ve started receiving commission checks from Julia’s Art Gallery on Pine Island. I told you about that trip in September.
 So all of these items are now listed in my Etsy Shop with more to come. Life is sweet.
 Polymer Clay Redheaded Girl Pin I’ve been really busy making bracelets and pins like this one. enjoying myself. My mother has been here this week and I’ve enjoyed spending time with her. Worked on more black and white bracelets and pins. Just having a good time. The weather has turned and it’s cool today. What a relief.
 Polymer Clay Face Cane Bracelets I made another profile face cane this week. I am working on a tutorial to sell in my Etsy Shop. It’s coming along and I hope to have it ready soon.
In the meantime, I’ve made some bracelets with it and another mermaid with the older cane. This mermaid is going to one of my galleries and the other bracelets are going to be sold on AliceStroppel.Etsy.com
To photograph these ladies, I used the background in the pdf that I gave you in the last post. These girls are truly crazy and funky, but I have to tell you, they do get attention. One of my customers emailed me to tell me her sister was forever borrowing hers. I love that!
 Polymer Clay Mermaid Cuff Bracelet Okay I’ve figured my time and materials and have listed my mermaid bracelet in my Etsy store, I’ve listed her for a price of $60.00. She is all clay, no other materials were used. I don’t have a metal base on the bracelet like I do on most of my other ones.
However, there is much more clay used. The clay itself wouldn’t amount to very much money, maybe $4.00 or so, but the time that has been spent on the canes amounts to about 4 hours total. Plus the baking cost and spending time on the photos. Yes, I have some canes left over, but the point is, without spending that time in the first place, I wouldn’t have the canes to make my mermaid, so I’m generous in figuring the time spent.
Then I add the time spent on the mermaid bracelet, about 2 hours and I come up with about 6 hours to get this bracelet to my Etsy shop.
So, at the price of $60.00 minus $4.00 for the clay and $4.00 for the oven, that leaves me $52.00 for labor. Divide $52.oo by 6 hours and I will make 8.66 per hour. Hmmm. Oh I forgot, I still have to list it for $.20, then I have to package the bracelet nicely to send to my customer if it sells and drive to the post office. Then I have to pay a commission to Etsy, and one to PayPal.
Plus I have to spend time on my blog, Twitter, and Facebook to make sure everyone knows I’ve posted a new item. But I still don’t have the “right ” customers linking to my blog, Twitter and Facebook.
By that I mean, unfortunately, other polymerclay artists aren’t really interested in buying my polymer clay creations, they have their own.
If the item doesn’t sell right away on Etsy, people suggest that you re-list your items over and over. Just figure out the right time to re-list when the most people are on the front page of Etsy and there you go. What??? I know it probably works, but I’d rather spend time making something.
But I do like Etsy, I’ve had a few good sales and I’m happy. But I want to branch out further and continue to find galleries and shops to take my work.
Back to the money…..So now that $8.66 per hour isn’t looking very fat. (Not that it was a ton of money anyway) But that’s okay. I enjoy making my items and I really like it when other people buy them and I know they are enjoying them too.
If I sell it wholesale, because I could by the way I priced it, I would divide the 8.66 in half. Leaving me with $4.33 per hour. Not even minimum wage. But I don’t have to do anything but get it to my retailer. With my items I can send them by mail and send several at a time.
I’ve made the seconded mermaid bracelet, using the same canes. this bracelet took less time because I already had the canes, increasing my profit somewhat. Providing they both sell. I’m going to send this one to a gallery and see which one sells first. I’ll let you know.
Part 1 Selling Your Polymer Clay Artwork
Part 2 Pricing Polymer Clay Artwork to Sell Wholesale
Part 3 Mermaid Bracelet Listed on Etsy
Part 4 Inventory Lists for Your Polymer Clay
Part 5 Display Cards for Polymer Clay Pins and Necklaces
Part 6 Creating Tags for Your Polymer Clay Creations
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