Polymer Clay Extruder Designs with Cathy Harm a CraftArtEdu class Web: www.craftartedu.com Customer Service: info@craftartedu.com Polymer Clay Extruder Designs with Cathy Harm -This handout is intended only for use by students enrolled in the Polymer Clay Extruder Design class at CraftArtEdu. -Duplication of this handout by or for anyone other than the registered student is expressly prohibited. -This lesson is for your own personal use only. It is not for resale, the text and photos are not for reproduction or redistribution either in print or electronically. -You can save it to your computer, print it off for your own reference or save it to disk but please don't pass it around to others or reproduce it in any way. Under the copyright laws that's illegal and besides that... it's just not nice or fair to others. -The canes and projects you make from this tutorial are yours to do with as you like. -I really appreciate you honoring my copyright so I can keep on doing what I do. -Thank you for your understanding and co-operation. -Never use ANYTHING you have used on clay for ANYTHING to do with food. -Don't let the raw clay touch fabric like chairs, sofa etc. or wood furniture. -I use my home oven for baking my clay (frequent cleanings) but some use a dedicated clay oven. Either way an oven thermometer is a good idea. PS... the numbers on the photos in this handout do NOT relate to the chapter numbers in the class there are many many more in the class, but this will help remind you of the steps. *** If you'd like additional info on the quirky way I make my blends, you can take a peak at the three FREE blend classes I have on CraftArtEdu 1
To make the extruded lengths we ll need: - pasta machine to help make our blends - extruder (I use an older model Makin s with an Alley Crank kit from Clay Alley attached) - Disc shapes we use are the diamond, square, round, large slot and the 12 hole spaghetti discs 2
Additional items we ll need for our projects are: - clay blade - cutter shapes (check your pantry for spice lids, tin or jar shapes) - TLS (translucent liquid Sculpey) - texture sheet (optional but helps disguise fingerprints) - Barrette backings - Bracelet blank (or soda can) - Kato polyclay is the best to use for your bracelet blanks, it s both strong and flexible. I have used Premo, whichever you choose, one pack will make several clay bracelet blanks. - Marxit (great tool to help make uniform sized slices) Let s get our blends ready first. You can use your favorite colors and also use from two to however many blends you want. I m using four of my favorite blends for this class. - 2oz Ultramarine Blue - 2oz Turquoise - 2oz White - 2oz Red - 2oz Orange - 2oz Yellow - 2oz Purple - 2oz White - 2oz Peacock - 2oz White If you d rather have more Pink than Orange in your extruded length, replace the Red, Orange Yellow blend with: - 2oz Fuchsia - 2oz White 3
1) We re going to cut slices from the blends about ¼ thick to combine and make a colorful log for our extruder. Don t worry if they re a bit smaller 2) Take a slice from each and stack them alternating the light shade of one against the dark or larger or even if they re a little on the wonky side of the previous slice. Repeat until you have a side! They ll work just fine! log that is a wee bit shorter than your extruder tube. 3) Roll the log smooth against your table trying not to twist the log and making sure it s a smidge smaller than the size of the extruder tube, this ll help it slide into the extruder easier. 4) The color that comes out first will mix into the next color and so on all the way up the stack you inserted into the extruder, so the order you put the stack into the extruder matters. Just take a few slices from end and put them at the other end. 5) Insert the log into the extruder with the color you want to come out first to be the last that goes into the extruder. Last one in is first one out. Keep the center of the log straight as you insert the log. 6) Place the diamond shaped disk in the center of I just follow the light shade lines of the blends. the exposed blend so that both the light and dark Always clean your extruder out after each shades of the blend show. extrusion cycle. 4
7) With the ends trimmed, you can see how the design changes because of which color gets extruded first. 8) Whichever disc shape we re using, center shape over the blend the best you can. Extrude a few shapes, this will give us plenty to work with but you may want to combine some cane work into the design you create using the slices. Wrap up the extruded lengths and set them aside for a bit so we can run through making all the different types of canes before we get into designing pieces. 9) The Blended Stripe is made using the large slotted disc and a solid length of blend. When reducing the blend down to the extruder size keep it as straight as possible. Keep it straight as we load the extruder too. Place the disc so that the shading of the blend shows and extrude the length. Do the same for all the colors you want to use for your Blended Stripe. 10) Roll out a very thin sheet of black clay (about a #5 or #6). Lay the blend down on the black so all the shades touch and cut away the excess black. Flip the blend over and line the other side. 11) From the long lengths of the lined blend we ll be using lengths to make the Fan and Mosaic cane and you may want to use just a slice from individual colors too. So cut about a quarter of each length and combine them, cut in half and combine again for a beautiful Lined Stripe cane. 5
13) Work the cane into a fan shape and you have just created an easy to make Fan Cane! 12) The Fan cane begins with the Lined Stripe cane. Simply begin to pinch along either the light or dark shade of the blends. 14) Cut 9 equal square disc lengths and combine them in rows of three and combine to create a stunning Blended Mosaic cane. 15) Play around with lengths of the Blended Stripe and Square lengths combining them into a unique Striped Mosaic cane. 16) Using as many lengths as you like of the Diamond shaped colorful extrusions extrude a length long enough to be able to cut into thirds and then in half again. For example, if you extrude 15 of Diamond shape, cut three 5 long lengths, we ll be able to cut this in half and we ll have a 2½ long Feather cane to cut slices. 17) Position the three lengths as shown. Play around with the colors at each end of the lengths, sometimes flipping one or two over may suit you better. Cut this combination in half and decide if you d like to line the center of the cane. 6
19) More decisions to make! We could fill in the center top using a length of Diamond shape design or we could use black clay and fill in the center top and bottom. 18) If you want a lined center, use a thin #4 piece of clay and line one half and combine the two halves back together. 21) There s a couple ways of making a Bargello Border cane using the extruded Diamond lengths. Lets make the first one using an extruded length 20) If you d like to use slices from this cane on a of the solid fan fold blend only and the Diamond piece, you can add another piece of black to ONE shape disc. side of the cane. 22) Making sure that your blend is not twisted, insert it into the extruder and line up the Diamond 23) Extrude a length long enough to give us three disc so both shades of the blend shows. equal length pieces. Repeat this for all the colors you d like to have in your Bargello border cane. I like working with 4 long lengths so I extruded 12 lengths of each color. Position the pieces as shown, making sure that the light shades are all in the same direction. 7
25) If you know you ll be using slices from this cane side by side, don t fill in the sides, leave them on an angle so they ll line up when placed side by side on your piece. Place the filler clay in, smooth out the cane and trim the ends. 24) Roll out a log of black clay and extrude a triangle shape that will fit in between the colors to fill in the background, or pinch a log of clay into a shape that fits. 27) Three lengths of the colorful extruded Diamond shape looks when you create a cane and use it alone or as a border cane. You can see how with each slice, the design changes just a bit, adding interest and color changes to your projects. 26) Fill in the sides of the cane with background color clay if that will work better for your projects. 28) Because we ll be using slices from the shapes, we need to make a backing to place our design on, creating one solid piece. Barrettes 8
30) We could use cutters, jars, tins or my favorite a petroleum jelly lid to make the shapes for our Barrettes. A 2-½ circle cutter works perfectly to make a large barrette, or cut it in half for two half moon barrette shapes. We ll be using a small 1 round to cover the barrette on the back. 29) Roll out a sheet of the backing clay on a medium thin setting (#3 on my machine) and texture it on BOTH sides. Or use two different texture sheets, one on top and one on the bottom! 32) Be careful as your slicing, you don t want to have to skip a half inch of the length because the design will look different and won t show the flow 31) Using the Diamond shape length and a sharp as well. Two or three missed slices is fine, but 10 blade begin to cut a few slices from the length and just won t look right! Use slices from the round place them onto your barrette backing piece. I like (or square) lengths to finish designing your to make my slices about 1/8 thick or even a wee Barrette. bit thicker, it s up to you. We re placing raw clay slices on a raw clay backing so we don t need to use TLS or Polyclay, the slices will permanently adhere raw on raw just fine. Keep them in the order you cut them so don t cut many at a time. The design within the length changes slightly with each slice giving a wonderful interesting flow to your design. 9
33) As you design your pieces, let your creativity loose, have fun! Play with different shapes and slices. When your design is complete, very lightly and gently smooth your slices onto the backing using a roller or glass spice jar. 35) Use two or three strands, depends on how thick you want your border to be. Take the strands and while holding the ends still in one hand begin to gently twist the group with the other hand. I find it easiest to let the strands dangle off the table while you twist them. It may take a few tries but you ll get the hang of it! 37) Snugly place the rope all around the Barrette. Cut the ends on an angle to join them together. 34) Twisted rope clay around the piece, gives it more of a finished look and also adds some texture and dimension to the piece. To make some rope, fill the extruder with black clay and using the 12 hole disc extrude the lengths. 36) Even though this will be raw on raw clay, because the twisted rope is not completely smooth, it s a good idea to put a fine line of TLS along the border to help the rope adhere more firmly. Place a line of the TLS and smooth it out using your finger. 38) Flip your barrette over and center the clip. If your clip is curved, gently curve your piece to mold around the clip, it ll take on the shape during baking. But before we bake this 10
39) Add a little extra security for the clip to adhere to the barrette by placing one of the tiny circles we cut out earlier (or any random shape) to place between the barrette and the clip as shown. If your barrette clips have a curve to them, place this entire piece on your baking tray with the design side up. Bake according to the manufacturer s instructions. Because I make my slices about 1/8 thick and my clay is Premo and Fimo Soft, I bake my pieces at 265 degrees for 25 minutes. 41) Glue the little cover piece over the clip and onto the barrette. 40) After the baking is finished, you ll find that the clip and the cover piece pop off of the barrette very easily. Pop them off and using some super duper glue (and great care) glue the BACK of the clip onto the barrette. 42) Press the clip and backing onto the barrette to make sure the glue takes a hold. Make sure it takes a hold to the clay only and NOT your fingers!!! 11
44) Cut into thick slices and stacked ready to use! 43) Here s another color combination to show that by simply taking out the Orange blend and putting in a Fuchsia to white blend you can create another very pretty combination. 45) A bracelet blank, the extruded round shaped length and a backing. 46) Is all we need to make this bracelet. 47) I m using a bracelet blank that is one size smaller than what would actually fit my wrist. That way you can use a thick band of clay and reuse the blank to make many more! Place a thick textured band of clay around the bracelet blank and trim. Kato Polyclay is the best clay to use for the band because of it s strength and flexibility. Premo clay will work too if you re careful with it. (My Extrusion Design class has instructions for making a channel bracelet and also how to use a cat food can). 12
48) Begin slicing the round cane in ¼ thick slices. Be sure to keep them in the order they came off the length, so maybe just slice a few at a time. Keeping them in order will keep the design 49) Begin to snugly place them on the bracelet on the bracelet in order. row by row. Up one and down the other. 50) When the slices are all placed, gently smooth them out using a roller or a spice jar. 52) Smooth these with your roller or jar and the sides are as beautiful as the top! 51) If you d like to decorate the sides of the bracelet as well, cut thin slices from a square length and keeping them in the order they were sliced, place them around the edge of the bracelet. 53) Bake your piece on the band according to the clay manufacturers instructions (it will take longer to bake because of the thickness of the clay). While the piece is still warm, gently take it off the blank and let it cool off completely. What a unique bracelet! I love this design! 13
54) Begin with a thin shaped backing piece same Using our different extruded shapes, we can make as we made for the Barrettes, and just start some pretty spectacular focal pendants in different designing your piece. Let your creativity go wild and try all sorts of designs. Sometimes the design shapes and designs. Here s just a few ideas. you think will never work, actually turns out to be the most spectacular you ve ever made! And sometimes, it s the worst thing you ve ever seen but just take the slices off and try again! 55) Experiment by adding a border too! The twisted rope or striped cane makes interesting borders! 56) Smaller 1 pieces combined with a focal pendant piece would make an absolutely knock your socks off necklace! 14
57) The Diamond Skin A design is made by 58) Diamond Skin B is made by placing the cutting slices and placing them in rows. Lay the diamonds all in the same direction. Simple little first row in keeping the slices in the order they were sliced, then place the second row in going in changes can create an entirely different design. the opposite direction. 59) Combinations of the Diamond with Round and Square slices make interesting designs. 60) Squares 61) Squares 62) and more squares. 15
64) It can be used in all sorts of designs! 63) The simple Striped Cane isn't just for borders! 66) All we need is a wire and about 1 oz of base color clay. Shape the base clay into a log. 65) Hanger beads are very easy to make. I call them Hanger Beads because I use a piece of a coat hanger to make the base. You could use any thick wire but coat hangers work fine, just be sure to cut the wire a length that fits into your oven. 67) Insert the wire into the log half way on both ends of the log. 68) Roll and smooth the log into a long length over the wire. 16
70) Bake on the wire and take them off while they re still a little warm. 69) Place slices from your shaped lengths onto the log and cut the size of bead that you want. You could cut the sizes before you design them, it s up to you. 71) String them together to make a unique necklace and bracelet set. 72) Hanger Beads make perfect spacer beads too! 17
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HINTS THAT I HAVE FOUND HELPFUL I've been sending out this Tip Sheet since 2000 maybe you will find these basic tips helpful too if you don't already know them... -To REDUCE a round cane, pinch off the ends to close (so you won t lose a lot of the pattern) and gently squish or choke the cane evenly from the center out to the ends. For square canes you can start in the center and gently stretch the cane slowly. You can take some square canes and make them round (depending on the pattern) just round the edges with your fingers. -BAKING: I bake my pieces on an old cookie sheet lined with parchment paper that avoids any shine to the piece. For delicate items (eggs etc) place them on polyfill batting to bake them. The makers of Sculpey clay (Polyform Products) provide the following baking instructions Bake at 275 degrees F for 15 minutes per ¼ of thickness. Thicker pieces may require additional baking time. It is a good idea to check the accuracy of your oven with an oven thermometer. Avoid over baking, USE GOOD VENTILATION, and do not inhale fumes. DO NOT use a microwave oven. I bake all my work at 265 for 18 minutes. -GESSO: I apply a coat of Gesso to bisque, wood and eggs that I'm going to cover. I find my slices of cane work stick and bake better. -SEALER I prefer PLEDGE acrylic floor wax with FUTURE shine on finished baked pieces. It s acrylic and a whole lot cheaper. I transfer from the bottle to a clean spice jar, that way I can clean out the jar when needed without wasting a lot of glaze. I put on one coat, let it dry, bake at 225 for 7 minutes, let it cool and repeat this process for up to 5 baked on coats for a glass-like finish. DO NOT do this on plastic or pens, reheating will melt the plastic. -For simple PENS to cover I only use the BIC STICK pens, the crystal pens imploded on me and the generic type melted. There are pen kits that make up retractable pens. -BEADS made from canes with an overall swirl pattern make terrific and interesting beads, so do flower slices simply curled over a wire. I reduce a piece of cane down to a ½ or so, then I slice off ¼ little pieces. You can use them as they are or roll into a ball or make little tube or oval shapes. I use a #18 or #22 gauge floral wire and poke a hole thru one end of the bead to the center then the other end to the center and string them on the wire for baking. I seal them while they are still on the wire too, I find that to be the easiest. BEST ADVICE: If your not sure if something you re covering will melt or implode, bake one without clay on it first. If you have any questions about clay or making canes, please feel free to email me at harm@rayharm.com. I ll try to help if I can. 19