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.
Thank you Kim and Sydney for the photo. The always fun group at Florida Gulf Coast Polymer Clay, thank you all for having me.
Well everyone’s smiling, that’s always a good thing I think. I know I had a great time and was so excited to see the canes everyone made. The exciting thing is that there is going to be a part two to this workshop.
I’m going back in June and we’ll explore how to turn all those canes into wall art, objects and more. So everyone has homework hehehe.
I also shared my new Stroppel Cane #2 with this group. It’s a little different and fun. I’m going to film it today and post it tomorrow so you can play with your scraps tomorrow if you like the way it comes out.
Here’s a picture of some of the Premo blends and the canes we worked on in this workshop. I have to send a big shout out to Iris Weiss and Polyform. they generously donated all the Premo clay for this workshop. Everyone went home with clay to “do their homework”. Thank you so very much Polyform and Iris.
I’ve always used Premo polymer clay. I wasn’t interested in putting forth the effort to condition the harder clays and I was so invested in Premo by the time the others came out with a softer clay that I just never switched. I love many of the Premo colors. I make my face canes with Premo and they are more complicated for sure, so Premo works for me with my more complex canes.
My approach to caning is a bit different than the norm. I don’t worry too much about everything being perfect, I don’t mind if my canes are a bit wonky so my caning style may make some want to look away.
Some caners are producing more than just a few pieces for sale. Either in their online shops, in galleries, at festival, or they are wholesaling to stores. Others are doing precise design work and have refined their caning skills.
I don’t sell that many finished pieces, so I never make very large canes. There a several more reason why my canes tend to be small to tiny. I don’t want to surround them with translucent, I don’t want to have to reduce then very much and I want to create a new design each time I make something from the canes.
Example: I could have made a large cane for this cat bracelet but I used lots of smaller canes. There will never be another one exactly like this one, I like that. I call my process Cane Mapping but you could say it was like mosaic work without the grout.
This fish is made the same way
As are all my wall pieces.
Explorations – Alice Stroppel
I have a very laid back approach to cane making. there truly are NO mistakes with my canes. It kind of takes the stress off of building canes, at least it does for me.
The artists that can be exact and create those fabulous intricate designs have my complete admiration, their work is stunning, I just can’t do it so I don’t try.
There are lots of you out there that are just like me, I know it. You want to cane but are afraid, you don’t want to waste all that clay, it makes you nervous to even think about it, you don’t think you’re good at it.
By starting with a bit of freedom attached to you caning, you can learn without stress and then later if you want to evolve, move on, learn to make the more complex canes. Or stay here with me, it’s all good.
Online right now is a great group on Facebook led by Rian Sanderse called 52 Weekly Cane Projects. It’s a fantastic way to practice canes with any pressure and it’s free. It’s a pretty wonderful thing Rian is doing for the pc community. This last week she featured my Stroppel Cane and Ronit Golan’s scrap cane. go join, you’ll have fun.
If you or your group is interested in taking my canes and/or cane mapping workshop/s please leave me a message on the comment page or on Facebook. I’d love to come met you all if I could.
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’ve been working on the polymer clay cane mapped top of my little table off and on for days. Right now I’m not able to work days in a row, but can only get to my studio 3 or 4 days a week. So getting this piece finish it taking awhile.
I thought I might not share with you what happened, you know, admitting to a huge mistake and all, but then I decided that you might benefit from my lesson learned. Besides, (laughing) I was able to save it so I don’t look to stupid.
I’d already baked the top once with only the girls on the glass. See last post. I finished the background and cane slices and places it on the table top to see how it looked. I added some more cane circles and then baked it again.
I added my dot, dot, dot cane around two edges of the baked piece and then a row of black and white check. The reason I only did two ends was because my glass wasn’t big enough to do the other two sides.
I baked it again and I was very happy with the way it was coming along. Then…..DISASTER….I can’t show you pictures, because I had to work quickly to try and save the piece and all my work.
Here’s what happened. I removed the baked top from the glass and put it on a large ceramic tile that I work on. I thought, great, this is just the right size to finish the edges. I added more dot, dot, dot cane and checkered canes to the remaining two edges. I finished off with a larger dot, dot, dot cane.
Fabulous, now to bake it and see how it fits the top. I had planned to figure out the very edges once I could really see how much room I had left.
I considered using an extruded piece that I could bake and then glue in place. I received a new CZeXtruder from Kimberly Idalski and want to try it out on the edge. I’ll be posting more about using the new extruder in another post.
Well………..I put it in the oven, baked it the normal time, the buzzer went off, I opened the oven and the piece was a total mess! YIKES!
Buckling in the center and a couple of other places and so drastically the blonde girl had cracked right in two across the middle of her face and neck. Circled in white in the picture below, this is after the fix and I’m still amazed a how well it turned out.
I won’t repeat what I thought and said in the minutes that followed……. but I was able to save the entire piece and honestly I still can’t believe it. I wish I had pictures of the before.
Here’s what I did to save the piece. At first I just used a towel to press the bulging clay gently back down. It seemed to help but it wasn’t enough and the pressure wasn’t even. The tile was still extremely hot. I used another tile the same size to place on top of the piece to apply even pressure. I first placed a piece of paper on top of the design, I didn’t want the second tile to create a shine.
I remove the tiles from the oven tray and onto a cooler surface, not a cold one, just cooler. When I had completely cooled I removed the top tile and paper and it had pretty much gone back into the original shape. You can imagine how relieved I was. I’ve ruined many things in my day, but this was the biggest, most time invested piece that I “almost” lost.
I glued it down quickly to my table top. The blonde girl was actually in three pieces, but I put her back together like a puzzle and glued all the pieces in place. You can barely see hair line cracks and that my friends is the ONLY way you can tell the was a near disaster.
Now, there are two things that may have cause the buckling. At first I thought it might have been because I moved the rack up one level, I wanted to bake another piece at the same time and that put the whole thing closer to the top of the oven, you know, heat rises. And that may well have contributed, but this morning I really think the main problem is that it was on the large tile. I actually had the tile at an angle in a broiler pan and air could get underneath it. But the tile was very hot and I think the glass must not get as hot or maybe not hold the heat as well.
I bake in a regular home oven, by the way.
Whatever the reason, I will stick to baking my cane mapped pieces on glass and I won’t move away from the center of my oven.
Here’s the finished top, whew is all I can say. I’m still not sure about the very edges and I want to add more slices to the leg etc. More when I can….
This is the second large wall art piece made of polymer clay. It’s 9″ x 20″. About half the size of the first picture, Wall Flowers. It’s totally random pops of color that has already been speaking differently to each person. I began working on it with this view as the way it should be hung.
Explorations – Alice Stroppel
But when I posted it on Facebook yesterday, people started telling me they thought it should be hung a different way.
Explorations – Alice Stroppel
Nikolina Otrzan , Orson’s World, said she saw it hanging like below, and I quote, “because those “eyes” look to me like Pink panther in distress. Nik, you’re so funny.
Yvette Macy wants to sing, “We all live in a yellow submarine.”
Explorations – Alice Stroppel
Maybe I should take a vote. voice your opinion, leave a comment. I think it will be interesting to see what ya’ll think and what you see. I’ll tell you what I think in a couple of days.
In the end, my son Jason will decide because this one is going to him.
Top – Linda Boyd, Middle – Monica Sauls, Bottom – Barbara Snapp
Every Monday evening, three friends i’ve known since we were kids, Barbara Snapp, Monica Sauls and Linda Boyd, come over to my studio and we play with polymer clay. I was so excited by these cane mapping pieces they finished last Monday, I just had to share them with you. Remember these are relatively new clayers.
It’s the same technique I use to make my large Wall Flowers and I teach in one of my workshops.
How they ended up spending time in my studio in the first place is pretty funny.
Sebring, where I live, my home town, my mother’s home town, is pretty small. Granted, it’s grown quite a bit over the years, but it’s still a small town by most standards. Even so, most people don’t know that I work with polymer clay or even what polymer clay is or can become.
Shortly after I was on the cover of Polymer Cafe, I was walking through Home Depot (looking for stuff to use with polymer I’m sure) and ran into Monica. She asked me if my ears were burning from being talked about. I smiled and worried what I might have done now!!!. She told me how Barbara was in Books-a-Million, (yes we finally have a large book store) and picked up several craft magazines including Polymer Cafe´. It wasn’t until she got home that she really looked at the cover. She said, “That’s Alice!!!”. Too funny.
I’m showing you this cover so you can imagine how funny it was for Barbara to see my face staring back at her.
So Monica said she and Barbara and some others might be interested in learning more about polymer clay. Music to this “polymer clay is for everyone” crusader. Besides as much as I love the internet and all you guys, it can get lonely working in my studio without another polymer clayer to share with. So the thought of new pc players coming to spend time with me in the studio was exciting.
It’s been several months now, with a pretty steady exploration of polymer clay. Gradually, canes are being stockpiled and things are starting to really come together. I really think they’re having as much fun as I am. Linda said, “I didn’t like Mondays very much and now I know I get to play with clay, so I can’t wait.” Makes my heart sing.
Here’s wishing you all have someone to clay with from time to time.
This is my newest adventure, I pushed myself to create something large and more complicated than in the past. I used my Cane Mapping technique with an added twist.
It’s a large piece, 19″ x 27″, framed it’s 20 1/2″ x 28 1/2″. I bake my polymer clay in a regular kitchen oven, but even so I had to construct it in pieces like a giant jigsaw puzzle.
After baking a pieces, I constructed the next piece on a piece of glass and by fitting it to the last piece. I placed a roughly drawn pattern behind the glass, but as you can see by this picture, I didn’t follow it exactly.
I continued this way until all were pieces were baked and then glued them to a back board. Actually this board came with a frame I bought. Here’s a look at each step as it was completed.
After completing and taking a picture of this step, I realized how disjointed some of the yellow flower petals looked. So before I baked it, I made some corrections.
Not completely satisfied, but knowing this was as good as it was going to get, I baked it and moved to the next section. Once again I used my and for size reference.
And once again the finished piece. I certainly learned a lot and look forward to making many more.
“We’re all mad here.”
― Lewis Carroll (The Cheshire Cat), Alice in Wonderland
I feel like I followed the White Rabbit into a hole and don’t know when I’ll get out again. I began the long put off task of cleaning out my spare room. I won’t go into details, it’s just too scary. I didn’t need halloween, I had my own frightening adventure in my house.
But I’ve taken a day to play with clay and get something out of my head and into a design. It’s my contour cat bracelet. I think he is related to the other Alice’s Cheshire Cat, don’t you?
Here’s the other side.
And here it is on my wrist. I can tell you from experience that I always get compliments and comments when I wear my boldest contour bracelets, mainly because they’re so crazy.
I have lots more work to do on “the room” but I can’t stay away from clay for long. I agree with the Cheshire Cat, I am a bit crazy when it comes to clay. See you next time.
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.
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.
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.
As are all my wall pieces.
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