More kaleidoscope canes

Such an addictive technique and I made 4 more Kaleidoscope canes. Tried using different color combinations and here is what I have.

Naama zamir kaleidoscope cane workshop

After a long break I am here blogging. Thanks to Naama Zamir. The workshop was basically about how to give an interesting twist to the kaleidoscope canes. This is the cane that I made at the workshop. It is really intersting to see what huge difference a small variation in the technique can bring about. Working on more such  kaleidoscope canes. Will be back soon with the pictures.

Yonat Dascalu Clay Fabric workshop

Last Saturday this workshop was conducted by Yonat Dascalu. She demonstrated the clay fabric technique with simple canes. A good technique to use and create beautiful patterns even out of scrap clay. It was a 3 hour workshop and at the end she handed out a CD with the complete technique on video. Till date I have been an internet learner and I do also try and experiment a lot omy own. This one is my first workshop and I really enjoyed it. The Hamsa was made there, baked and brought home. 

Layering effects

I have been trying various layering effects with different types of canes. These are pieces of jewelry that I made using a striped background on which flower, leaf and butterfly canes were layered.

The black and white striped base cane offered the right kind of contrast for the burgundy roses and transparent leaves, maintaining a very delicate balance with the tiny lilac flowers.

 The base cane in this piece was created out of a skinner blend using Fimo turquoise and emerald green.  Liked the combination so much that  I decided to use only transparent flowers so that there are no other

colors that interfere with the base combination.

Next came the green base, a skinner blend striped cane using white, avocado green and sap green for the stripes. The base looked more or less like a lawn and decided to make it bright and colorful. Added some slices of brightly colored flower canes and this turned out to be a really nice.

Created another set with the same base cane but with a different set of flower canes, this time with bright yellow and transparent , with a leaf here and a leaf there. The leaf shaped pendant and earrings added dimension to the green skinner blend base and guess what!....It is already sold.

Well, this one is my favorite, with the blue green and white striped base, a few teal flowers, white flowers and the gorgeous blue butterfly emerging from the garden.

I did make a square pendant and earring set with just a butterfly on blue green stripes too and that one is all sold, but here is the picture.

Most of these pieces are listed on my etsy shop,  please go ahead and take a look.

http://www.claybazaar.etsy.com/

Etsy shop CLAYBAZAAR

I have been busy in the past two weeks with an art show and setting up of my Etsy shop  CLAYBAZAAR. The shop is up and running and two sets got sold the day they were listed and I am just glad about the great beginning. The shop is a joint venture with a dear friend who lives in the US. We have about 23 items listed for sale as of now and I am looking at this shop as an outlet for excess canes and jewelry. There are many plans to diversify later. Right now we have some jewelry including a turtle set in animal print listed there.
Look at the shop if you have a minute.
http://www.claybazaar.etsy.com/

Pearl-ex and texture effects

There are about a dozen texture sheets in my desk that I always wanted to use. Tried some mokume gane using one of the sheets some time ago and that was all I did with those wonderful tools. Couple of days back I pulled out the sheets and some pearl-ex powders from my stock and this is what I ended up with.This turquoise pearl-ex is tried and tested and I love this color particularly in contrast with the black base. I did a similar piece long time ago and posted the picture on flickr. The stamp is from the Barbara mcguire collection. I just love this stamp. It has about five different patterns flowing and works so well with polymer clay.

Next came the copper powder and the Spring Morning texture sheet by Sculpey. This is another texture sheet that I love. It creates nice sharp impressions on clay. The effect of copper on black and the impression of leaves translated into the shadow of a tree branch and I am glad I tried this combination.

How would it be to have two different colors of pearl-ex on the same piece? Well, this is what it looks like. This stamp is also from the Sculpey collection. The combination of gold, copper and black made the piece look kind of antique but the pattern very ethnic with the arabesque motifs.This one is my favorite. This piece looks a lot metallic than the rest in my opinion.

The next piece was made with a burnt pinkish shade of pearl-ex and by the time I reached this piece I got so bored of the cutters and the monotony of the common shapes. Cut out the pieces in a way that the shape flows with the pattern,with no symmetry and I think it looks good this way. Added a pearl at to each piece while stringing. I may get tired of the shapes but not the stamp. This is my favorite stamp and Thanks to Barbara McGuire.

I made a few more of these in other color and patterns. For pictures, visit my flickr album

Journey of the butterfly

The butterfly cane that started out a couple days ago as two sheets of skinner blend has come a long way (the actual process of metamorphosis). It grew spots all along the edges of the wings, got a little body and is all ready to fly away now. What fun it was, making this fantasy butterfly cane. I am happy that in the process I could make a tutorial too.

Butterfly wing cane tutorial

Many were curious about how I made these butterfly wings www.flickr.com/photos/malsarts/3662799486/in/set-72157615943466756/
Here is the tutorial ( in a different color scheme for obvious reasons). I have outlined just the basic cane. Add bull's eyes to the periphery if you like your butterfly that way. Let your imagination and creativity run wild.

Leave a comment if you like this tutorial. Visit again if you would like to see the completed butterfly cane. Happy butterflying!

Grazing turtles

The kaleidoscope cane ends metamorphosed into these cute little turtles. They looked rather dull and drab when I tried photographing them on a piece of fabric, so sent them out to the lawn to graze. These are meant to be used as paper weights and so filled their tummies with some metal balls to add to the weight element.

Calculated canes

These canes are the outcome of yesterday's play. Kaleidoscope canes in different color combinations. With kaleidoscopes some canes turn out the way you expect and some leave you wondering if you should have taken more time to decide how to put the triangles together . The blue one matched my expectation while the lavender and grey is a disappointment. The flaming square is my favorite. Love the glow of yellow inside the red streaks. Now I need to look at what can be done with these canes..

Sculpted roses and cane leaves

Did some useful work after a really long break. Sculpted the roses out of a petal cane and added some leaf cane slices. The tear drop beads and pearls add a touch of richness to the dusky pink roses. Made another set of roses in complementary colors, a lighter blend of pearl and sedona but yet to add the hooks. Happy with the way this turned out. Click on the image to view the pearlescent shimmer on the roses.

Today's experiment (Gerald the giraffe)

Trying more combinations with sculpting and canes. This cute little giraffe is the latest. The entire piece with the background is about 3 inches in length. Can I call this a 'mini' wall piece? The giraffe again has a touch of CF. Time to think of a name for him. Any suggestions?
29 Aug '09
Thanks to Dorothy who came up with the name Gerald for this baby giraffe. Suits him so well..

Medley of sculpting and cane work

Now that the sculpting fever is on and the cane bug has become no less virulent, there is no choice but to incorporate both in whatever I do. The result is what you see here. The body of the peacock is partially adopted from CF"s peacock piazzas, and I went ahead, embellished the peacock with tiny slices of the peacock feather cane that I made some time ago. Perched him on a branch embellished with leaf cane slices. The pendant is rather huge.....about 3 inches long and I wonder if some one would want to wear it. I can see this as the beginning of a long term addiction to sculpting.

Faux animal skin

This has been there on my mind for so long and finally I got around to making these animal skin canes. If you are able to make out what is what, I have succeded in my attempt. There is so much that i want to do with these canes. May be I will work on one cane a day. I am sure you know what I did with the cane ends. Yes, I have 4 hybrid turtles with animal skin on their shell. If you would like to see what I do with the turtles , please come back .

Cane end turtles

My cane ends usually get transformed into these tiny turtles. They are fun to make and this is how I make them. They can easily be converted to fridge magnets, pendants or earrings. I have made more than a hundred such turtles.

Today's creation

Made a pendant and earrings with the turquoise and lilac roses and triplets of turquoise and yellow flowers. The turquoise flowers with the yellow center kind of float on the back ground creating a 3D effect.

All from the same set of canes

Just played around with a set of lavender and pink flower canes and ended up making a few sets of jewelry with the same combination of canes as I liked the combination a lot. The framed pendant set is my favorite. Click on the image to view details.

Calla lillies - Inspired by CF

This is my first serious attempt at sculpted jewelry. I was looking at Christie Friesen's website while I was trying to decide on supplies that I could ask someone to send me from the US in return for the canes that she bought from me (my first sale of canes) . From the moment I looked at her jewelry collection I developed a very strong urge to try out some sculpting. This calla lillies is a piece that I saw there.
I have used canes for the leaves and petals, but I would still consider it sculpted. I have done some miniature animals etc for my son's friends but this is the first with jewelry. The pendant is about 2 inches long. It was great fun making these.

Rose cane How-To

Here is the Rusty Rose cane How-To slide show. This is how I make my rose canes. I am sure there are many other ways to do it. The slide show is made as self explanatory as possible as it is meant for beginners. Leave a comment if you like it.

Tube beads

I just discovered that making tube beads can be fun and very simple. Covered toothpicks with scrap clay and covered it with rectangular slices of canes. Used slices from kaleidoscope canes that I made some time back. Pulled out the toothpicks using gentle turning movements and curved the pieces by holding them at the ends and baked to make the slightly curved pendants. Added the hooks and strings along with a bead here and a bead there. Here are the pictures of some such beads that I made yesterday.