This colourful cane is fantastic to make your own polymer clay jewellery with. In the tutorial I show how to make a brooch/pin but you can make necklaces, earrings or anything else with this fun and adaptable cane. I take you step by step through the whole process, so sit back, relax, and then have some fun and make your own.
The music from the video is English Country Garden by Aaron Kenny and is available from the KZfaq Free Audio Library.
If you like my work, then please do have a look at my website, www.fionaabel-smith.co.uk/ and follow me on Facebook / fiona.abelsmith and Instagram. / fionaabelsmith.artist
I also have Polymer Clay PDF Tutorials to buy in my Etsy shop, PolyOriginals - www.etsy.com/uk/shop/PolyOrig... and a video tutorial - polyoriginals.thinkific.com/co...
Here is the link to my conditioning Polymer Clay video - • Conditioning Polymer C...
Here is the link to the Skinner Blends video - • Basic Skinner Blend Tu...
Fantastical Kaleidoscopes Video - • Fantastical Kaleidosco...
The Polymer Clay Bowls with Hexagon Designs Video - • Polymer Clay Bowls wit...
Polymer Clay is oven baked, always follow the manufacturer’s instructions for the brand of clay you are using.
I used FIMO Soft Polymer Clay, but all well-known brands of polymer clay will work well for this project.
I used 3 groups/blends of colours, with differing shades. The first was Brilliant Blue/Peppermint/White, the second Violet/Lavender/White and the third Cherry Red/Tangerine/Sunflower Yellow/Lemon Yellow/Apple Green/Emerald Green. Each of the larger amounts was ½ oz/14g with the White being ¼ oz/7g x 2.
I have listed below everything I mentioned and alternatives where applicable. But just use what you have to hand.
NB: The Pasta Machine clay thicknesses for those with no pasta machine are pinned as the top comment below the video.
A flexible Polymer Clay Blade {please keep fingers away from sharp edges) or a sharp round cutter will work as an alternative to cut through the cane. If you do not have a polymer clay blade to cut cane slices, then a razor blade can be an alternative - but again, keep fingers away from the sharp edges.
Small roller
Craft Knife
Cling Film/plastic wrap
3mm/4mm Cable Needle - or something similar
Round Cutter of your choice - mine was a 1.75 inch / 4.5cm in diameter
A couple of small sheets of Baking Parchment/wax paper/tracing paper/parchment paper or something similar
Brooch Pin (I used safety ones, available from most bead/jewellery finding shops)
Stainless Steel Soap/burnishing tool/smooth round pebble or use your roller.
Liquid Polymer Clay or Bake and Bond or PVA glue.
Wet/dry sandpaper (if you want to sand) - I used 600/1000/1500 grit.
Unstitched polishing mop - if you want to polish any sanded clay pieces. These can be added to hand held machines like a Dremmel, or onto a bench grinder. You can of course polish by hand with a soft polishing cloth - a piece of clean denim like material also works well to give a soft sheen.
CaneCaps, are from Tiny Pandora, and can be found here: tinypandora.com/products/cane... and if you are in the UK, then the Cane Savers can be found here: www.etsy.com/uk/shop/UKPolyme...
The measuring sheet is freely downloadable from www.printablepaper.net and I use the 4 squares to one inch sheet. I print it out, laminate it and then it can be used multiple times.
I have an old, blunt, polymer clay blade that I have masked and use to help place my cane slices. An old, expired credit card, or short ruler would also work well.
Biodegradable wet wipes, or wet cloths to clean your hands as you work.
Domed mould - I used the Sculpey Hollow Bead Maker which is available from many outlets - www.sculpey.com/products/scul... . You can also buy semi-sphere moulds in stores and online, they are often found in cookware departments, and bath bomb moulds (not plastic ones) are often good to use too. You can also use the old fashioned round topped spent lightbulbs instead. Put a little scrap clay at the bottom to hold it upright and use the top of the spent lightbulb as your rounded mould. You can carefully cut off the bottom end of a used drinks can, and masking the cut edges, use either the inside or the outside as a gently domed mould, (if there is printing on the bottom, sand it off first). Finally, if you have none of these, then a nice, rounded spoon can act as a good mould.
Aluminium foil to cover the clay while it bakes.
Hopefully that gives you everything you need to know to make some of your own. Have fun.
Thank you so much for watching.