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with Sue Heaser
Flower canes are easy to create from polymer clay and make beautiful jewellery. You will need the
following materials and tools:
Step
1
Make a blend using the white and violet clay (see
how to make Blends). Roll
the blend thinner into a long strip with the white at one end and the
violet at the other. Roll from the white end to make a cane with
a light centre. |
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Step 2
It does not matter if the end of the roll or the
edges are ragged – this will not be noticeable in the finished cane.
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Step 3
Roll out a sheet of black clay and lay the cane
on one edge. Trim the black sheet into a rectangle that is the same width
as the length of the cane as shown.
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Step 4
Roll up the cane in the black sheet until the edge of the
sheet touches itself and makes a slight mark. Unroll a little and trim the
sheet at this point.
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Step 5
Roll up again fully and butt the edges of the black sheet
together, smoothing them down.
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Step 6
Lay the cane on your work surface and roll it smoothly
to thin it and extend it to about 25cms long. It needs to be an even
thickness all along its length.
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Step 7
Trim the distorted ends of the cane and cut it into 5
equal pieces about 5cms long.
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Step 8
Pinch the top of each short length into a point all
along its length to give it a triangular cross-section. These will form
the petals of the flower.
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Step 9
Roll a log of golden yellow clay, 5cms long and 5mm
thick. Press the pointed sides of two of the petal lengths together and
press the yellow log onto them. The flower will begin to appear at both
ends in the cross section of the piece.
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Step 10
Continue adding petal canes, pressing the pointed
side onto the yellow log all along the length of each. If the petal canes
do not touch the yellow all along their length, the flower will appear
distorted when the cane is sliced.
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Step 11
The cane now needs to be “reduced”; that is, made
longer and its cross section therefore reduced. Round canes can simply be
rolled to reduce them but the flower cane has indentations between the
petals and it is attractive to retain these. To reduce an irregular
cross-section cane like this, it is best to reduce it by squeezing and
pulling it to the required length.
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Step 12
When the cane is about 15mm diameter all
along its length, cut it in half. The flower is revealed. You can now
reduce one half of the cane further for smaller flowers and cut slices as
required for your project.
The image, right, shows the detail of the blend.
These pretty flowers can now be used for any number of
items. They can be pierced (before baking) and wired together to
make jewellery, rolled onto the surface of a bead or sliced more thinly
for decoration on vases, boxes and even book covers! See
how to make a cane decorated bead from slices of a simple cane from our
Fact File page Polymer Clay Bead
with Spiral Cane Slices. |
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