Polymer Clay Tutorial: Striped Filigree Christmas Bulb

It's time for a holiday tutorial!  This one is a really simple project that can be quite striking.  This one is in candy cane colors but you could add green to the red and white or use any other Christmas color combination you want. 


I've also included some information in this tute about using an extruder.  I use mine a lot and I've mentioned it in a few of my other tutorials so I thought it was about time I showed you some of the hints and tips I've learned.  Hey, let's start with my extruder pusher!

So this is what it looks like.  There are two 18-inch 2x4 boards.  Drill a hole in the top one with a bit a little bigger than the barrel of your clay gun.

Attach the two boards together with a big hinge.  (My clay pusher is covered with white duct tape 'cause I was too lazy to sand and paint it but I didn't want slivers.)  You can kind of see the shape of the hinge under the duct tape.

 

Close the boards and stick the drill through the hole in the top board to make an indentation in the same spot on the bottom board.  This is to keep the plunger from slipping.  You don't want it more than 1/4 inch deep or so.

To use it, you just load the extruder with clay (more about that below), stick the plunger in, stick the head of the clay gun through the top hole, rest the end of the plunger in the bottom hole, and push the boards together to get the clay through the hole.  (This photo shows the plunger not quite lined up with the barrel of the clay gun.  You don't want that.  I made sure everything was straight before I pushed the clay through.  It helps if you only load the clay gun 3/4 full or less.)

Now you know how to use an extruder! :)

Okay, so on to the real tutorial...

Striped Filigree Christmas Bulb

Supplies Needed:
about 1 oz red clay, well-conditioned
about 1 oz white clay, well-conditioned
waxed paper
1 3-4 inch glass Christmas ball ornament
ribbon bow and glue

Tools Needed:
extruder with medium round hole disk and optional pusher
tissue blade

Directions:
Make sure your clay is good and soft so that it will be easier to extrude.  Roll each of the colors into logs small enough to fit in the extruder and about 3/4 the length.  (I needed about 2 1/2 barrels full.)

Cut both logs in half lenthwise...

...and switch them so you have two logs that are half red and half white.

Wrap each log in waxed paper, leaving about 1/4 inch of the log hanging out the end.

Close up the other end of the paper.  This is to keep your extruder clean.  The paper will kind of scrunch up in there and leave no clay in the barrel.  Wonderful!

Extrude your clay.

Take the plunger out of the extruder before you take the end off.  Toss the paper, unscrew the other end of the extruder and clean it out.  Now you're ready for the next load.

Twist one of your extruded strings on the work surface to give it stripes.

Trim the end of the string and start rolling it into a coil.

When you've gone around a couple of times, press it onto the bottom of the glass bulb.  You should be able to see a mark on the bottom of the bulb.  This should be the center.  If you have trouble getting the clay to stick to the bulb, you can brush a thin layer of liquid clay on there or rub it with one of those glue sticks that kids use for paper and stuff.  This will give the clay something to grab onto. 

Keep wrapping the string around in circles, twisting as you go.  Cover half of the bulb and trim the end neatly.  This was one entire string for me so it fit perfectly.

It's easier to handle the bulb if you don't have raw clay covering the whole thing so at this point you need to bake it.  I like to hang it on a bamboo skewer and rest the skewer on a glass candle holder with the bulb hanging inside.  Bake at 265F for 30 minutes.

When it is cool,  pull the cap off.

Get another string and cut the end straight.  Lay it on the bulb flush with the end of the other string.

Keep wrapping and twisting.  If you run out of string, start another one.

Hopefully, your strings will get to the top at the same time.  If you have a bigger gap on one side than another, you may have to tweak a little.  The last strand should go about halfway up the neck of the bulb.  Trim the end at an angle so it lays even with the rest of the strand.

Carefully put the cap back on.  Hang it up and bake it for another 30 minutes.

Add a bow and hook and you are done!

The kids are looking forward to making some of these this week!

Enjoy!
Korrina

Polymer Clay Tutorial: Purple Flower Cane

This cane is really easy!  It would be great for a beginner.  In fact, my 7 year old daughter is wanting to learn some flower canes- maybe I should teach her this one.

Anyway, only two colors involved and it only took be about an hour to make (including color mixing and working out the geometry of the thing).

So here it is:

Purple Flower Cane

(I really couldn't think of a more creative name for this one, sorry.)

Materials:

equal amounts purple and white clay

translucent clay for background

Tools:

pasta machine or acrylic roller

tissue blade

Directions:

Make the purple and white clay into a skinner blend, starting with the shape shown below.  For more info on making a skinner blend, see here.

Make it into a blended log with the white in the middle.

Reduce the log (see here for reducing info) and cut into 3 equal pieces.

Take one of the pieces, further reduce and cut into 4 equal logs.  Cut 3 of these in half the long way.  You will have one whole log and 6 halves.

Reshape the halves to fit around the whole.  You will need to squish the corners toward one another a little to make them narrower and give the cut sides a little curve.  Place the petals around the center.  Set aside for a minute.

Take the other two logs from the original three, cut them in half the short way (for 4 logs) and cut them into thirds the long way.  Stand the log up on your work surface and make a vertical cut straight down the cane. 

Eyeball it a little to see where the next two cuts need to be made.  Cut all four logs into thirds. You'll have 12 wedges.

Place six of the wedges in the grooves around the first row of petals.  Press them on firmly.

 Now use the remaining 6 wedges for the outer row of petals.  Use your fingers to pull and stretch each wedge to make it wider and thinner.  Place them in the grooves around the flower.

Roll out several sheets of translucent clay and wrap the flower 4 or 5 times with it.

Trim the excess background so that the cane is round and not flower-shaped.

Reduce and trim the ends to see your finished cane!

Enjoy!
Korrina

Polymer Clay Tutorial: Orange Star Flower Cane

I know I've been promising this tutorial for a couple of weeks now but with one thing and another- it didn't happen.  Part of the problem was all of the trouble I had making this cane.  It just didn't want to come together.  I was also fighting some really soft clay and, instead of leaching it, I just decided to go with it.  That was a mistake.  Hmm, maybe my next tutorial needs to be some basic polymer clay vocabulary and techniques for those of you who are new to the medium.

Okay, moving on...  This tute is for the

Orange Star Flower Cane

Supplies:

Polymer Clay in

     orange,

     white,

     deep purple,

     light brown,

     black,

     translucent or other color for packing

Tools:

pasta machine or acrylic roller

tissue blade



Step 1:  Let's start with the petals today.  (You'll see why later.)  Make a skinner blend with orange and white clay.  (For detailed instructions on a skinner blend, click here.)

Make your blend into a long strip and fold it accordion-style into a block.

(Don't know why I took this photo... but here's another view.)

Compress and roll it into a round log.

Cut the log in half the long way and perpendicular to the folds and set aside.

Now make a skinner blend with your deep purple and white.  (It looks black but I didn't like the pure gray with the orange so I mixed some purple into my black.)

Here you can see the purple in the black.  Make your long skinny strip and fold it up accordion-style.  The narrower the folds, the more gradual your blend will be.  I wish I had made this one narrower...

Compress and flatten the block into a flat strip.  Try to make it the same size as the cut side of your orange log.  (If you made this too big, you can make it longer and cut the end off.)  This is going to be the stripe in your petal so the thicker it is, the fatter your stripe will be.

Put it betweeen the two halves of your orange log (white sides together).  Compress and roll the log to make it round again.  Reduce to a long skinny cane.

Cut the cane into equal 12 pieces.  Next I'm going to share a little more detailed info on how to shape the cane pieces into petals.  Skip the next few steps if you don't need this and just form all of your logs into long, skinny petals.

Okay, we want the white side of the cane to be the point of the petal.  Look for a faint line along the white side of your cane.  You can barely see it here.  You are going to pinch the log all along this line.

If you can't see the line on your cane, pinch the each end of the cane where the purple line tapers off.

Twist the cane to line up the pinched parts and pinch a straight line between them.

Your log will probably end up curved like this.  Flatten the round side of the cane a little.

Keep shaping, squashing, pinching and stretching until you have a long skinny petal.  Do this for all 12 of your segments.  Stand them up on the work surface in a circle with a hole in the middle.  This is why we did the petals first instead of the center.  Now you can see about how big your center needs to be.

Step 2: Now let's make the flower center. Make an orange log about 1/2 the diameter of the hole in your petals and the same length.  Wrap the orange log in a thick sheet of clay so the log is about 3/4 the diameter of the hole. 

Reduce this log and cut in 7 equal pieces.

Arrange the pieces in a flower shape, compress and reduce.

Cut the cane into 7 equal pieces and arrange into a flower shape again. Compress and reduce to the length of the petals.

Now make a white log about 1/2 the diameter of your brown and orange center.  Wrap a thin sheet of black clay around it.  Reduce and cut into 12 pieces. 

This is where you can really see the trouble I was having with the soft clay.  Reduce the pieces as needed to the length of the center piece and arrange them around it.  I gave up on getting them all the same diameter and just settled for getting them on there.

Compress the black and white logs onto the center a little.  Arrange the petals around the center.  You may have to make some of the petals a little skinnier to get them all around.  Kind of try to arrange them so the round base of the petals sits sort of in the groove between the black logs.  This will turn the logs into triangles when the cane is reduced.

Make wedges of translucent clay and pack in between the petals.  Trim off the excess and let it rest overnight. For more information on packing, see the last three photos in another tutorial.

Reduce your cane and cut into it to see what you have made!

If you want more definition between your petals, you can wrap them in a slightly darker orange or something before reducing and cutting.  I forget that step a lot but I think in this cane it worked out pretty well without wrapping the petals.

Enjoy!

Korrina