All Entries in the "Canes" Category

kato’s skinner blend stripe cane

Donna Kato has updated her tutorial page to include the Skinner Blend stripe cane that she uses to make her wonderful, wonky Squiggle and Pod beads. Check it out here. Thanks Donna!

For more of her Squiggle and Pod beads, click here - and take a look at the rings - Kato’s making polymer clay rings! Fabulous.

snowflakes & santas?

snowflakes and santas already? maybe a little early for most of us, but sandy figured out an easy way to make snowflake canes - she shows us how right here. take a look at this wonderful old-world santa cane she’s been working on. so charming.

i know, i know, we’re still shaking the sand out of our swimsuits, but winter and holidays are right around the corner. they say it’s never too early to start thinking about the holidays…

another kind of lily

parole de pate has posted a lily cane tutorial created by cristalline. lovely colors and detail - and look how she used it! sweet!

the last to know

i might be the last person to know about this tip for reducing canes, but i wanted to share cat therien’s technique anyway just in case there are a few others who aren’t ‘in the know’.  those are washers on the end of the cane. it looks like a super efficient way to reduce waste.  cat’s canes are always so lovely - i’m guessing she knows what she’s talking about! read about it here.

birds of a feather…

flock together? is that how the saying goes? back in april i watched new jersey pc guild president robin milne demonstrate her ’scrap feather cane’. she promised to publish the tutorial as soon as she had the time - not an easy feat for this artist, art teacher and homeschooling mom of two. i’m delighted to report that you can now find the tutorial on polka dot creations. lisa clarke has added it to the growing list of tutorials she hosts on her website. very cool way to use up scrap clay.

thanks robin and lisa - hope to see you at dan and tracey’s workshop in philly this weekend!

reduction

candice mathewson shows us how to make a whiteflower cane and then demonstrates her way to reduce the monster cane - no ‘resting’ required. she uses her arms and legs and wears shorts to keep the clay clean. she also employs some ‘three point triangle action’ around the cane.

now that’s a cane! you go girl!

eye spy

kathy gose posted an interesting new tutorial for an eyeball cane. the eyeballs are centerpieces for gose’s dragon eye beads, pictured here - she’s been fooling folks who thought they were glass.

make sure you read the tutorial all the way through. it is easy to follow; there are several photographs and a graph. i like the way she shapes the cane slice over a spoon to give it the proper 3d effect. better play nice, that thing really appears to be looking at you!

beat it!

kathy gose makes monster totem canes, then reduces them to a size that is manageable and useful. gose reduces one of her canes in this video, set to michael jackson’s ‘beat it’. ummm….i don’t think i’ll be making a monster cane any time soon. i sure don’t have the upper body strength to beat it - looks like i’d lose a fight with the likes of one of them!

the link comes via tooaquarius.

caty-did

caty has made one of the prettiest face canes i’ve ever seen.

french twist

here’s a french twist on the russian matryoshka doll. you remember them, don’t you? the nesting dolls. i’d like to see what the artist does with this cane. i think maybe if she doesn’t reduce it too much it would be a good candidate for maureen carlson’s 3-d technique.

small world

today the internet certainly helps us to feel that the world is small. lucky us. this morning i found cristalline’s blog, complete with detailed how-to pictures of canes and jewelry design/construction, through iris mishly’s very informative israeli polymer clay forum.

the polymer clay community’s generosity and willingness to share ideas and knowledge is one of the things that keeps it alive and fresh. is it lunchtime yet? you might want to spend your lunch hour cruising through these sites. lots to look at. makes me wish there was a universal language, but i guess that’s what translation tools are for!

many thanks to our friends around the world who share this wild and wonderful passion for polymer clay.

here’s a picture of cristalline’s tiger cane before reduction

and just one way she used the cane

more fabric fun

lisa clarke’s color coordinated canes - she made these to match a skirt.

very nice…

fabric finds

what happens when you leave a polymer clay artist in a room with fabulous fabric?

take a look

now go get your stash of favorite fabric finds and get to work!

3 links

3 links to pictures of cane assembly and cane reduction
all from our french claying neighbors!

dragonfly cane from creations rue fedor
very realistic looking vegetables from paroledepate
dragon from creations rue fedor

dimensions

a few weeks ago cynthia tinapple posted a picture of a face cane slice that maureen carlson expertly manipulated into a 3-d face. i immediately thought that this technique offered another dimension (pun intended!) for polymer clay artists to explore. no need to limit this to face cane slices - oh, the possibilities are endless! i found instructions that are sure to get your wheels turning this morning. the pictures are a bit fuzzy, but you get the general idea.

the ‘pc demo addict’ makes a 3-d rose from a thick slice of a rose cane

here she’s got a whole bouquet!