Cane Builder March 2017 Garden Canes

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Buddy Horn
6 years ago
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Cane Builder March 2017 Garden Canes by Meg Newberg of Polymer Clay Workshop I put this half page tutorial on my blog years ago. I ve always wanted to make water drops with translucent clay.

1 Cane Builder March 2017 Garden Canes by Meg Newberg of Polymer Clay Workshop I put this half page tutorial on my blog years ago. I ve always wanted to make water drops with translucent clay. I finally tried and I was amazed at the results! Here is the exact size template for the following blend. Translucent water drops can be placed on any patterned background. black white transparent

Make sure to insert white highlights before

Press the white corners together slightly

2 Water Drops You may or may not need to extend the blend. Don t get picky about this part. Cut it and stack it. Make sure to insert white highlights before you add the last two layers of black. It takes a little practice to form the square into a circle. Press the white corners together slightly spread out the dark corners as you round out the cane. Add a crescent moon shape to the light side of the circle. Make sure the dark side just barely touches the shadow. I used about 1 part black to 4 parts translucent for the shadow.

3 These easy sparkle canes can be added to anything! X 8

Look how tiny the drops have to be if you

These flower slices have been flattened to

Stack the blend a cut off a small section

4 Look how tiny the drops have to be if you want to put them on flowers! These flower slices have been flattened to be bigger than usual. Hibiscus Make a blend with alizarin and white. There is a printable template for the exact size of the blend on the last page. Stack the blend a cut off a small section to use later. Make a cane with lines in it. See the leaf cane for this technique. Squish the sides in to make a square cane.

Form the square into a petal in the same way you would

Gather the dark together and spread out the light.

The petals need to look like separate petals, but

To do this, repeatedly rub the pink part up the side of

The finished flowers with look like they have slightly

The final center part of the flower is made with the

5 Form the square into a petal in the same way you would form a water drop. Gather the dark together and spread out the light. This part is the signature technique for my flower canes. The petals need to look like separate petals, but sometimes I don t like to add an outline around the whole petal. I made a pink line on one side of the petal cane. To do this, repeatedly rub the pink part up the side of the cane to coat it all in a very thin layer of pink. The finished flowers with look like they have slightly curved petals. The final center part of the flower is made with the small section of blend that you saved at the beginning. Fit it into the center of five petals and let it curve up along the side of one of the petals. Add a mixed log of yellow, orange and brown to the top.

6 Premo Dark: 1 part Alizarin to 4 parts Green Light: Wasabi Leaf * If you want a brighter, purer green, just mix in less Alizarin If you want dark and light leaf canes, save some of the blend and cut it in half. If not, disregard this step. I ll use these later.

Press lines into the light side, and then turn it over and press lines into the

I ve tried different cards and things, but I finally settled on a piece of card

This provides a perfect surface to slide they colors through the clay.

This is because I want room for all the lines.

Press the sides together and reduce the rectangle to make it long in the other

Place a thin sheet of dark clay on the light side of on and a light side of clay

7 Press lines into the light side, and then turn it over and press lines into the dark side in between the existing lines. I ve tried different cards and things, but I finally settled on a piece of card stock folded around my tissue blade. This provides a perfect surface to slide they colors through the clay. I start out with the blend flat and wide. This is because I want room for all the lines. This leaf has about 6 lines pressed into each side (dark and light). Press the sides together and reduce the rectangle to make it long in the other direction. Cut the rectangle in half. Place a thin sheet of dark clay on the light side of on and a light side of clay on the dark side of the other. Haha, just look at the picture! When the top corners are pinched together the middle line naturally tapers to a nice point. Reduce the cane by pressing the top bottom and side. When it is long enough, you can twist and pull gently. You can always form it into the shape you want at the end.

Repeat these steps separately with the light and dark from earlier. (There will be half as much of each of these.) Pansy This pansy cane looks much nicer when it is reduced!

8 Repeat these steps separately with the light and dark from earlier. (There will be half as much of each of these.) Pansy This pansy cane looks much nicer when it is reduced! Before we start, it s important to notice the little details that will make all the difference. The back two petals only use the dark half of the blend. Notice the direction of the lines. They don t all gather to a point like the other petals because it is supposed to look like they are hidden behind. The little yellow face is supposed to form a triangle in the center. Here they aren t matched up perfectly, but they need to be close. If these are too big or too small, the pansy won t look the same. One of the most important design points is the way the lines radiate out from the center and the slight blue outline that reaches into the center of the flower. The bottom petal looks almost like two petals together. It is almost, but not quite, double the size of the of the other two front petals. It is double the amount of lines.

Light: mix 4 parts white to 1 part turquoise

Stack the blend and cut off some of the dark

9 Make a Skinner blend. Dark: mix 4 parts purple to 1 part alizarin Light: mix 4 parts white to 1 part turquoise I ll use this later. Stack the blend and cut off some of the dark part of the blend for the back leaves. Notice in the picture that it is just a little less than one quarter of the entire blend. Unfortunately the light half won t be used for this cane, but it mixes up to a lovely purple or can be used for a smaller accent flower or pansy bud.

Reduce the canes with the lines in it. Slice off the part for the bottom leaf.

Place the halves together. They will squish together and yet almost look like separate petals.

I mixed a little white into the cadmium yellow to make it a little brighter.

Use your thumb to spread the blue clay in a repeated motion as shown with the hibiscus cane.

10 Reduce the canes with the lines in it. Slice off the part for the bottom leaf. This is slightly less that half of the cane. Round out this part and cut it in half. Place the halves together. They will squish together and yet almost look like separate petals. Pinch and gather the dark purple lines together until they make a cradle for a small yellow log. I mixed a little white into the cadmium yellow to make it a little brighter. This is an important detail. Use your thumb to spread the blue clay in a repeated motion as shown with the hibiscus cane. This gives the petal the blue outline that is essential to differentiate the leaves and create an illusion of depth. In this picture, the left side of the cane shows how the blue should spread over the purple.

Use the rest of the cane with lines to make the other two

Make a small log out of the darkest purple.

too. Repeat the process with the dark section you set aside

It s very important to be careful about how you form these

Squish the lines into a nice square or rectangle and then

11 Use the rest of the cane with lines to make the other two petals. I used an even lighter yellow for these two. Make a small log out of the darkest purple. Place it in the center and then arrange all three petals around it. Make sure this top part of the petals has a blue outline too. Repeat the process with the dark section you set aside earlier. It s very important to be careful about how you form these back petals. Squish the lines into a nice square or rectangle and then pull down one dark corner to fit in between the front petals. Reduce this petal until it is long enough to cut it in half and double it. Make sure the dark borders the light blue of the front petals. Don t give up! Make it happen!

12 I use a minimal amount of translucent clay to pack in the background. The corners of these sections need to be VERY sharp. Decorated egg

13 This is the exact size for the blends for the two flower canes and the leaf. You can, of course, make any colors and any amount that you want.

Cane Builder April 2017 Canes with a Twist

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