Year of Clay - Bugs?!
Most of the time I make rose and other flower canes. They’re pretty, they’re typically symmetrical and they’re fast to make up, once you have the know how. I could make flowers all day! Actually, some days I do.
Bug canes are the reverse. I am not a fan of bugs, even the pretty ones, in real life. Like flowers, they’re sort of grown on me since I’ve begun caning. To make insect canes is a lot more work than flowers - there are usually more than two sub canes - sometimes, five or six - and there are usually several steps of reduction and combining. All of those factors make for big canes that can result in a huge pile of waste clay (bug guts anyone?) if you botch steps. So I make a bug for about every fifty or sixty flower canes I do!
This weekend, I made two. And there are a few others in stages - it’s disturbing, I have little bug bodies and antennae and wings on my desk that I had better not swat! - of production. Hanging out with the bug in the picture is the dark toned ‘marigold’ I made this weekend. The light tone one is coming up!
Year of Clay - Long Weekend Pansies
Here are some of the results of my Victoria Day weekend’s caning project:
There’s a little purple and white posie in there and an unphotographed black rose which went right to restocking my web store!
Year of Clay - Fruit Slices
I enjoy the nearly instant gratification of simple slice beads. The canes for these are simple to do and are either made small (10-15mm) or reduced to that size. The resulting beads are tiny little treasures.
As you can see, todays batch had fruit. There are more summer fruits ahead and a few (dozen) more flower types!
Anyone want to drill holes in a couple thousand tiny little beads for me?
Year of Clay - Infinite Ideas
One of the upsides of even the slowest of shows is you meet the very best people. Mid-April I had the luck of a show that got snowed out. Very few of the vendors appeared to set up and even fewer customers! So as happens at slow shows, the vendors sort of chatted and hung out. As I tend to do, I went and got the jewelrymakers to come take a peek at my beads.
One of those vendors was Nadine of Miyaw Designs. She was interested in some of the simple logo beads I had and asked if I’d be able to do something with a symbol they use (mother-daughter team) often in their work. So I agreed to give it a whirl, and here’s the prototype:
The infinity symbol is used as one of the symbols or logos of the Metis nation, most often on a background of navy or red. Armed with that I tried it in navy, making the rectangle first then making a segment of that into a round cane. Next, I’m working with some embellishment ideas to make more ‘interesting’ slice beads. Here’s one:
Year of Clay - Black & White Canes
I like the stark and simple look of items made with only two colours. It gives you the chance to work on form and function more than colour schemes. The emphasis is centered on the design.
This even extends to making black and white canes - which is some of what I did this week like these:
I did make other canes. It’s an addiction I tell you, once I start, it is hard to stop! I’ll pop the pictures of those up tomorrow, I’m guessing.
Year of Clay - Little Bowls Spring 2008 Edition
The closest to spring I am getting this weekend are the little bowls I made to prepare for the craft show that got snowed out.
These little guys are pretty much my favourite non bead items to make - enough space for a good selection of cane slices but not enough that I am cursing every slice by the end of it. Likewise for finishing - big enough to hold to sand, small enough that it’s only a few minutes a grit.
At the show yesterday one of the brave souls who ventured in picked one up, told me it was lovely. I thanked her and she asked well, what do you DO with them?
I guess that’s a good question 
They’re only about 2″ across. I use mine for holding rings and change on my night table. A friend uses hers for the dry spices at her raclettes and fondues.
Year of Clay - Beads
In the end, what I love best is beads. It’s why I started with polymer clay nearly ten years ago and pretty much all my canes are design with What Beads They’ll Go On in mind.
So last week I got to whip up beads and finish some that were sitting here waiting for their finishing. Here’s some caned beads made from canes I did in February:
I do love my beads! Some of these - in sets of six - will be in my store tomorrow.
Year of Clay - Sandblasted Beads
When I make beads I use a tumbler to sand the smaller ones. I love my tumbler, particularly since I upgraded to a nice, quiet Lortone last summer (from Green’s Lapidary, the source of many temptations and wonders). With it I can sand hundreds of small beads in a few days with a little sandpaper, water and the tiniest dab of dish soap.
I started reading on the forums and hobby groups that people had begun using rocks or other grit to tumble their clay beads - faster and less wasteful than sandpaper - so I picked up a few bags of stones here and there to try out and tossed a load of scrappy beads in with the first bag.
Oops.
The result was sweetly smooth beads but the end appearance was like a sandblast, mottled and pitted appearing (they are smooth to the touch though). For most of the beads in the load, this was not good as they had bright shading and clear, specific lines and detail. However, one of the sets in the tumbler actually looks better - or at least more interesting - after a sandblasting go. You can compare it to the originals in this picture which were nice but a little ho hum.
I think a very gentle buffing and I will leave them matte and ancient looking. And, update, the ones that were damaged perked back up after a couple rounds back in the tumbler with regular conditions.
Year of Clay - Into the Bright
These are a little out of my comfort zone, made with a mudpile mokune gane technique from some eye-popping bright scraps, as are their Natasha bead friends currently doing time in the tumbler. They turned out so cute though, so here they are, nuggets to become bracelets for upcoming spring shows!
Year of Clay - A Rose (bead) by Any Other Name
Last year I made several sets of rose beads using canes I’d put together at the time. This Easter break I had the luck to go and craft with a good friend and we ended up using some of my rose beads.
I made up a pair of earrings and she whipped up a set of wine charms.
The differences in even these simple projects goes to show what two interpretations of similar materials can result in.
-
Groups
