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.