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

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

Catching Up or What I’ve Been Up To

It’s been over a month since I’ve posted here on Polymer Clay Etc. and so much has happened. All good, exciting and fun.  You might have seen these images and heard all this before on Facebook etc. but this is for my friends who aren’t on those other social media sites.

First of all I had a private Pen and Ink workshop with Mary Jane Reinhart and she created a great bracelet that day. You should see the work she’s doing now, fabulous! Plus she’s so much fun, I love having her in the Studio.

Mary Jane Reinhart

eye - Mary Jane Reinhart

I was over the moon when I received the newest addition of Belle Armoire Jewelry magazine,  just before I left town for a retreat.

Belle Armoire Jewelry Magazine 

Laurie Prophater wrote a wonderful article about a challenge she proposed to Meisha Barbee, Julie Eakes and me when they were all staying at my house and playing at Studio 215 while Meisha was teaching. (Read about the fun we had here.) I’m thrilled to be published along with these talented women. Thank you Laurie for thinking of such a enjoyable project.

Next I met up with several claying friends in Denver, Syndee Holt, Julie Eakes, Meisha Barbee, Libby Mills, and Emily Levine, we had a great time.  Crazy but oh so much fun!

syndee, Julie, Meisha

 

Then it was on to the retreat where we exchanged bowls. 25 incredible bowls came home with me and this exchange started me on my bird obsession. I posted about my bird bowls and my larger bird wall piece here.

I came home with many wonderful things from an auction we have every year and I purchased some lovely pieces from my friends to sell at Studio 215 with more to come. I can wait to share some of them with you. I’ll be posting them on my Studio 215 blog and on my Studio 215 Facebook page. If you’d like to see what I’m up to at the Studio, sign up to receive a notice each time I post, my newsletter, and like my Facebook page.

I can be found on Instagram , Twitter,  and Tumbr too. Whew.

Last week I was featured by Cynthia Tinapple on Polymer Clay Daily  and that is always treat and a compliment. Thank you Cynthia.

I was featured with my newest face that I created for the auction at the retreat. I was flattered that there was many bids on it.

Alice Stroppel Face 8-15

I made this cool graphic using an app called Canva. My friend Meredith Arnold shared this with me and I can’t stop using it. Very cool, thanks Meredith.

Here’s another graphic made with Canva showing off my newest bird weed pot prototypes that I worked on while on retreat. I hope to get more of these done showcasing different critters and characters. I’m smiling and that is always my goal, to create things that make me smile.

Alice Stroppel bird weed pots

The beginning of September brought more laughter and fun at Studio 215 when several of my favorite people came to take a Profile Face cane class with me. We had a great time for sure.

Polymer clay face cane studio215--9-3-15

Dottie, Kathryn, Barbara, AnnaMarie, Majel, and Mary Jane are new converts to polymer and I believe they aren’t getting away without clay sticking in they brains. They’re having as much fun as I did with I first started, but they’re lucky to have others to share the experience. Thanks, ya’ll are making me so happy to see you having so much fun and making such cool things.

Then to top it all off, Kathryn Obidzinski has been my apprentice for several months now and before I went on retreat she started a palette knife polymer clay self portrait. I think she created a wonderful piece. I know she had fun, learned a lot and I hope I can reel her in to explore polymer clay a bit more.

Katherine-Obinzinski

 

I’m spending the rest of the day prepping for the Houston Polymer Clay Guild’s Lone Star Retreat. I’ll be teaching along with Randee Ketzel and Sarah Shriver. Next month it’s Sandy Camp in San Diego. Just too much fun!!!

 

Thanks for stopping in, Alice

 

 

A Great Clay Day with Chrissie Baker

Chrissie Baker Alice Stroppel 2014

 

How lucky am I? Yet another day of playing with clay in my studio and this time with Chrissie Baker my internet clay buddy all the way from the UK. We made profile face canes and then created our bracelets.

Chrissie Baker Alice Stroppel profile Bracelets 2014

 

It was so  much fun, thank you Chrissie for wanting to spend the last day of your time in Florida with me. I hope you go home and get to work playing with clay. Canes can be fun, right?

And thank you too for this fun and funky crocheted vase your friend made, I love it. I’m thinking of adding some equally fun and funky pc flowers.

See you again soon Chrissie, I hope, if not in person, then here on the www.

gift from Chrissie Baker to Alice Stroppel

Great Fun at Maureen Carlson’s Center for Creative Arts

Maureen Carlson and Alice Stroppel 9-2012

This picture shows you just how happy I was to be asked to teach for three days at Maureen Carlson’s Center for Creative Arts. I was in Jordan MN at Maureen’s Center over a week and a half ago and I wish I were still there or at least lived close enough that I could visit, spend the night and enjoy the camaraderie of fellow seekers of artist expression or just plain good company.

Last night I was at Highlands Art League in Sebring, FL giving a polymer clay demo and Chuck and Vada Thomas were there. Like me, they saw Maureen on the Carol Duvall show in the late 1990’s and heard her mention that she had a center in Jordan where you could take a class and spend the night in the dorm rooms upstairs. They called Maureen and were shortly on their way to Minnesota. Maureen remembers them and says that Chuck’s sweet potato carving and wooden gnome carving still grace her shelves. It’s a small world, even here in this little county in Florida Maureen has touched many people.

These are a few of the polymer clayers that were at Maureen’s. Kit is pictured below, but sorry to say we never did get a picture of Ann Poulson and Kit Wojcik on the day they were there, Maureen took this of Kit on another day. Sorry Ann.

Linda Garbe, Maureen Carlson, Beth Wegener, Karen Nelson, Renee Carlson, Anne Brown

Kit Wojcik

We did face canes and pen and ink and cane mapping, and as usual, there were some wonderful pieces that were created. We all enjoyed each other and everyone finished pieces that they really liked. In fact Kit went back to Maureen’s another day and she, Maureen, Renee kept working and creating more projects. they said they had a ball with the Stroppel Cane.

Anne ‘s face cane was it was really good. She made this bracelet with a slice. Wish you could see it on her, taking pictures of a face on the curvature of a bracelet doesn’t do it justice.

Karen created this fabulous, funky, colorful cane mapped cat. I’d say she likes purple. She kept saying, “I’ll never be able to do this, I don’t like intricate work”.  But oh how wrong she was, I think she had a good time too.

Renee hasn’t finished this butterfly, but I hope to have pictures when she does. Just so fabulous I can’t wait to see the finished piece.

Linda had fun with her faces and made a beautiful bracelet and cane mapped design. Wonder what she’s going to do with them?

Beth was in a avian mood and made several stunning birds. Wish I’d gotten a better photo of her work. Try and zoom in on this bird, it’s beautiful. Beth if you read this, send pictures, pretty please.

A shot of the classroom. It’s the best place to be, seriously just like home, full of touches of Maureen’s art and others all around the room.

Anne Brown created this beauty that holds special meaning to her. It really made me happy to see the smile on her face when she finished it.

Maureen combined her cane mapped piece with a pen and ink face and accents to create this enchanting pendant.  I love this piece.

Now really, who would have ever believed that Maureen would be sitting in classes taught by me? Not this girl! She was pretty well behaved and as expected, a model student, accept when she and Renee were cutting up and laughing too hard.

Renee made these when Kit came back another day to play.

And Kit made these excellent bracelets on that day. Two are from Stroppel Canes and the last features her pen and ink face.

More after class fun and co-ordinated “homework” by Renee. Love them both.

Just to show you how much fun we had and what a crazy bunch of woman were in attendance, Linda made these outrageously fabulous earrings that she and Karen are modeling. (she didn’t make them in my class, she just brought them to share.) They’re titled, Ears to You Mr. Spock. How Funny! You should take a look at some of Linda’s videos, her work and stories are wonderful and you’ll learn something, I promise you.

There are picture on Maureen’s website, showing the outside of the center and the dorms. Here’s the charming room I stayed in. Complete with WiFi and all.

When you first walk through the front door you’re charmed and know you are at Maureen’s. Wee Folk, Maureen and her husband Dan’s creations, are everywhere, smiling at you from all directions. Look to your right and you see the stairs leading up to the dorm rooms upstairs.

Look to your left and be lead through Maureen’s workspace into the classroom.

Peaking into Maureen’s office you are greeted by this jolly life size Santa and Maureen freely admits that it’s a museum of sorts, housing many pieces of her’s and other artists. Love the positive words dancing across the walls.

Here’s Renee’s sweet dog, Poochie, keeping great company among some of Maureen’s favorites surrounding her work space.

Maureen sells finished items but also all the supplies you might need for any of her class. See…. once you get there, you never have to leave. Unless of course you’re tempted by charming antique shops and delightful cafes, then you might want to stretch your legs with a walk up the street. Or maybe sit by the sweet babbling creek out the back door.

So there you have it, a very full, fun filled 5 days at Maureen’s, a dream come true. Now to start planning my trip back, maybe as a student taking a class with Maureen or one of her guest artists.

Here’s Maureen, Anne and me on the last morning, I hated to leave. Anne was driving right by the airport on her way home and graciously offered me a ride. Thanks so much Anne.

I’m teaching at Maureen Carlson’s Center For Creative Arts – Come on Over

Come over ….or up …….or down to Maureen Carlson’s Center for Creative Arts in Jordan, MN. Join me at Maureen’s for three full days of fun filled classes, take one class or all three, spend the night or just come for the day.

Check out the dormitory rooms at the Center. How could we not have fun? Just like at school except everything you do here is fun, even the homework. Watch this video and see how peaceful it is at Maureen’s.

Isn’t this the coolest thing you can think of to actually own? Your very own shop where you have a fabulous studio to create in, you can teach classes and week long workshops, have guest instructors visit and on top of that students get to sleep upstairs. Slumber party!! Retreat time for sure.

Well this is exactly what Maureen Carlson has and I’m lucky enough to be a guest instructor on September 21 – 23 2012. I’ll tell you more about the three classes I’m going to teach in a minute.

I have been a fan of Maureen and her work for years. One of the first polymer clay books I bought was her book Family and Friends in Polymer Clay.  Then I watched her on the Carol Duval show and loved her more.

When I finally was able to concentrate on polymer clay alone, I started two blogs, this one and The Figurative Artbeat. Maureen was kind enough to allow me to do an post on her and her fabulous work. It was the first time I actually contacted Maureen and then we met at Fandango that year were she was demonstrating her new face bead molds, she is just as fun and warm and inspiring in person. We’ve been friends ever since.

I’ve have wanted to visit her Center for Creative Arts for years, so this year is it. If you’re a fan of Maureen’s and want to experience the fun of her center, come on and explore it with me, we’ll have the best time, I know we will. Plus I’ll be sharing some of my favorite techniques, tips and ideas with you.

Now… I’ll be teaching three of my favorite things. Profile Face Canes, Cane Mapping/Contouring, and Pen and Ink. Each class is filled with as much information as I can fit into one day. August 21st is the reserve – by date for all three classes so be sure to follow the links below and let Maureen know you want a reservation.

Sept. 21 – The Profile Face Cane – reserve your spot here

Making this profile cane is surprisingly easy and we’ll spend some time making hair canes too. We can make bracelets, pins, or slides. I promise you we’ll giggle. Plus you’ll get a pdf file and a video link for later reference.

You can make pins from your face canes, put them on vessels or glass vases.

Or a cocktail shaker, how funny is that. Here’s three side of the same shaker.

Sept. 22 – Cane Mapping/Contouring – reserve your place here

This class is super fun and so far everyone that has taken this class with me has produced some wonderful pieces and had many “ah ha” moments. It’s a class about opening your mind to the possibilities that await you with all those canes you love to make.

 These fairy dresses were made using my cane mapping technique, so was the design on the necklace below. Tracery tied for second place with the judges and won first place members choice in the IPCA’s Progress and Possibilities 2011. I’ll even show you how to display some of your work when you’re not wearing it. The fairy dresses above are actually pendants.

Tracery - Alice Stroppel

As you can see it’s a technique that can be used in many ways, big and small. Be sure to bring lots of your old canes, plus we can make some new ones.

Sept 23 – Pen and Ink on Polymer Clay – reserve you table here – With this class you’ll receive a pdf of face patterns and a link to a video for future reference.

Now this class is a blast. Again…you can use this technique on polymer clay bracelets, pendants, buttons, plaques, canvas, or whatever you can think of.

You can use just black and white or you can go full color. You don’t have to do a face, you can do simple graphics and produce fabulous pieces.

I created this cat and mouse pendant for a friends, fun I think.

This one is a favorite too. I’ll demonstrate how to construct these windows for your drawings and how to cover a bracelet.

There are endless ways to use this pen and ink technique, your imagination will run wild. And you won’t be able to leave until we’ve all made a Stroppel Cane.

So do not delay, Maureen and I would love to see you there.  Reserve-by date of August 21st.