My way of Reducing a Square Cane

Barbara, one of my friends from Polymer Clay Central was having problems reducing sqaure canes made up of extruded square logs, every thing went fine until the final reduction and then the cane went "wonky". I want to make some quilt pattern canes and figured I would have the same problem so I set out to solve the problem.

I used Barbara's pattern to make the following cane. This is not a tutorial on how to make the cane but rather on my way of reducing a square cane.
I reduced the above cane to 6" in length, divided it into 4 1 1/2" logs and assemble it below
I then place it between 2 sheets of clear acrylic. I grasped each sheet as shown in the photo, my fingers over the top and the heel of each hand pushing in on the cane. I started the pressure at the bottom where the sheet rests on the table and firmly push upward with the heel of my hands. I, of course, used both hands but in this case had to use one to take the photo. After I pressed on one side I turned the cane a quarter turn and did it again, then another quarter turn until I had turned it 4 times. I then flipped the cane over and did the quarter turn 4 times a second time. I kept doing this until the cane reached the top of the sheet and was approx. 1" square.
I then switched to my 1" acrylic rods. I placed the cane between the rod and gently squeezed... again using both hands. I repeatedly turned the cane a quarter turn and applied pressure. I did this several times then I grasp the cane on each end and gently pulled. Put it back between the rods, squeeze, turn, squeeze turn.. stretch.. squeeze, turn... you get the picture.
At times I would place the cane against one rod holding it in contact with the rod and gently stroking with my fingers.
Then flip the cane over and do the same again.
When the cane became more pliable I put it between both rods and gently squeezed.
When the cane was a little over 6" long I trimmed the ends, cut it into 4 logs and repeated the reduction as above.

And as you can see, in this step, the cane turned out wonky... not what I wanted it to do.
So I went back to the drawing board. After I had reduced the original cane, I cut it in 4 sections and assembled them as seen below, I added a band of brown clay around the cane. To make the band I ran brown clay though the pasta machine on the #1 setting. To keep the corners sharp I cut 4 sections to place on the sides instead of wrapping the cane.
I reduced in the same manner as above. The only thing I did differently was to reduce the 4 part cane to a little more than 8" instead of 6", trimmed the ends and cut 4 2" logs before I assembled and reduced for the final time.. Turned out pretty good. Now I can make quilt canes with less distortion. I worked this out on my own so if there is an easier method please let me know.
Thanks for stopping by.

This Years Gift Wrapping Winner

And the winner is...... granddaughter Sarah for her cadaver dog Darby.

Cory and Amanda have a real dog named Darby. He is a Brittany Spaniel mix that looks like a black lab. Darby is almost a year old. They got him from the animal shelter when he was a pup. Darby is a sweet, happy dog but he loves to chew/eat everything. I know most puppies go through the chewing stage but Darby has taken it to an extreme level. He rips up and eats anything with stuffing... couch cushions, comforters, his own doggie bed... he has torn holes in the carpet, eaten holes in the wall board, and damaged the bed frame. The remote control, Amanda's cell phone and other items to numerous to mention are covered in bite marks or have been totally consumed. Darby was Sarah's inspiration for her gift wrap project... Cadaver Dog Darby.

Cadaver dog Darby went to far, he ate Cory's Christmas gifts.... then died.... that's why we call him cadaver dog. He looks pretty healthy but as you can see from the red tag on his leg he is "DEAD"

Click on the photos for a closer look... and so you can read the tag.
Cadaver dog was placed on a cookie sheet. Cory was given a scalpel so he could retrieve his gifts.
Cory was a little apprehensive as he made the incision.
Yikes! blood began to spurt!!
Really getting into it now Cory expanded the incision.... do we have a surgeon in the making, should he should change his major to medicine?

Check the startled look on Eric PEZ... he's thinking "Thank God I wasn't a gift for that guy!" Cory, on the other hand, is really getting into this surgery thing.
Progress is being made... first present is removed.
More to go so he keeps on digging. Second gift come's out with sucking sound... we like realism in our family.

All done, time to clean up a bit. Poor Darby, really looks like a cadaver now, see his lolling tongue and the blood drops on the floor? Remember I told ya, Sarah is a little strange, but we love her anyway.
Here's the real Darby "playing" with a friend.... who appears to be begging for his life. He most likely has heard the rumors and is a little concerned he may be Darby's next victim. Hopefully Darby will be over the chewing stage soon. I'd hate to see him become a cadaver dog.
And here is Sarah receiving the coveted Christmas Trophy from the here-to-for undefeated champion Roger.
Now wasn't that fun? Will Sarah retain the trophy, will Roger make a come back or will a new winner emerge? Oh the suspense! Tune in next year to find out. Wishing you all a happy, healthy and peaceful 2010. Thanks for stopping by.

Christmas Gift Wrapping

Here it is at long last... the saga of our annual gift wrapping contest. This is going to take awhile so grab a cup of coffee or tea or something stronger... wine perhaps... settle back and enjoy.

Okay this first one may seem a little strange for a Christmas gift. It is a gift for Sarah from her cousin Nick, they both have, oh I don't know, how shall I explain it... rather quirky senses of humor. The wrapping is based on a short story "The Gift" by Lou Reed. Google it and you will see what I mean. You googled it ... right? not exactly what you'd expect for Christmas huh? Told you they are weird, they take after hubby's side of the family.

All is not lost, the crate was filled with craft supplies which made Sarah very happy.

More in the spirit of Christmas, Amanda wrapped her gift as a Treasure Chest and filled it with artistic treasures she made herself. Uncle Brad was thrilled and Grandma was envious.

The Eric PEZ (last years winner) was put to good use by me again this year. Eric collects PEZ so the Eric PEZ was given a hat and scarf and filled with collectible PEZ. See that poor pathetic package sitting next to the Eric PEZ... that was Roger's entry this year. In fairness to Roger he has been working a lot of over time, his mother is ill and he thought he had more time to wrap his gift. The Eric PEZ reminds you what a good job he did last year. He'll make a come back next year.

Benjamin had Brandon's name so he wrapped his gift to resemble an Xbox. It was filled with collectible comic books ( I know they are called "graphic novels" but they look like comic books to me) and two really cool Tee shirts he printed himself. Benjamin has a TeeShirt printing business.

Brad went the more traditional route. His gift was a small tree all decked out in flowers, ornaments and lights that he found at Mom's house. The gifts for Andrea are at the bottom of the tree wrapped in paper and ribbons that he also found at Mom's house. Zachery had my name. He wrapped his gift as a Santa bag inside a chimney. Inside the bag is a wonderful Jim Shore Santa. I collect Santas and Jim Shore figures so it was the perfect gift.
Andrea gave Pathena (my not-Heather daughter) a set of stainless steel mixing bowls cleverly wrapped as a Christmas tree. First she individual wrapped the bowls is shiny green paper then assembled them in the shape of tree, added big stars and lights and a cool ornament at the top. How's that for a neat idea?
Cory and Eugene went together on their gift for Heather (my not-Pathena daughter) and Roger. They gave them a gift certificate to a Bed and Breakfast so they wrapped their gift as Breakfast in Bed. Check out the bacon and eggs, they look good enough to eat.
Okay I wrapped this one.. although technically the gift was from hubby for grandson-in-law Brandon (we have two Brandon's, grandson Brandon and this one who is married to granddaughter Sarah and is the father of sweet little Lily) His gift is a ukulele. At first I was going to wrap it as a gingerbread man then grandson Brandon suggested a hula girl...because of the ukulele. Okay, I thought, I can do that. I made polymer clay coconuts for her bra and had this neat shredded box for a skirt.... then her top was giving me trouble, the coconuts weren't working so I switched to a gypsy hence the scarves and jewelry which kinda transformed her into a cross between a gypsy and a hippie. As usual the family thought her a little strange....maybe "they" don't take after hubby's side of the family after all.
This pretty wrapped table is a gift for Benjamin from Lily's dad (easier than explaining it's from grandson-in-law Brandon rather than grandson Brandon). Benjamin is a Cardinals fan so his gift was a Cardinal's lamp and Cardinal's clock.
Grandson Brandon drew his granddads name. Granddad is a pharmacist so Brandon, along with his best friend also named Brandon (we are over run with Brandons), created a giant pill bottle and filled it with gift capsules. All my grandkids are talented.
Daughter Pathena... also called Patty.. drew Nicks name. Nick likes to make films so his package was wrapped as a projector and contained a fancy pair of pants for bicycling which he also like to do.

Heather's gift was for Eugene. Eugene is a big rock and roll fan, especially loves the Beatles so Heather wrapped his gift as a guitar adorned with big lips. She got him a "bunch of Rolling Stones stuff, that's why it's a Rolling Stones guitar". ( I couldn't remember what she got him so when I asked her that is what she said)This was one of my favorite gifts. Eric, with help from Brad, wrapped it for Amanda. He recreated a giant Lindor Truffles bag (see the real bag of Lindor Truffles sitting next to it) filled with individually wrapped truffles. Each truffle contained a hand made ceramic mug.
You still haven't seen the winning package... that's a whole story in itself and will be revealed

tomorrow. Oh come on, you knew I couldn't do this all in one day. I can feel the excitement building, can't you?

Removing clay from brass tube

As you know the last couple days I have been making pens and pencils. I was breezing along making more when one of the tubes came out of the oven with a big ole air bubble... dang! I tried sanding it but then ended up with an air bubble hole, you can see it here, the light spot a little to the right of center.

Click on the photos for a closer look

Obviously the sanding didn't work, I needed to get the clay off the tube. I went to my friends on Polymer Clay Central for advice. Jackie, Ginger and Moe (I know sounds like the 3 Stooges but these gals are experts and gave me excellent advice!)

First I need to put the tube back in the oven and heat for 10 minutes. I did that. Moe recommended that I hold the heated tube with a pot holder and use a wooden scraper to remove the clay. Ginger said it would be easypeezy to slice with an exacto knife and peel right off. I was to lazy to go to the kitchen for a pot holder so I folded up a paper towel and held the tube with that. I don't have a wooden scraper... I know Moe, I'm sure every PC artist should have one but sad to say I don't (next trip to Michael's I'll get one okay?), so I decided to go with the exacto knife. First I laid out my First Aid Kit and the box of Bandaids, just in case. I'm prone to injuring myself. I then took a deep breath, secured the hot tube with the folded paper towel and made an incision down the length of the tube.

Ginger was right, it was easypeezy, peeled right off licky split! SeeFortunately I had a small piece of the original clay sheet that I hadn't tossed in the scrap box. It is just barely big enough to cover the tube once again. But first I followed advice from Jackie and wiped the tube with the above mentioned paper towel doused with alcohol,( waste not, want not). Jackie said it is important to throughly clean the tube so I did just that.
I now have matching tubes to complete the pencil. I need to sand and assemble the pieces.... maybe tomorrow. I still have a cold and I need a nap.
While I'm thinking of it..... check out my new Flickr link. The old one hasn't worked for weeks. All on my own I figured out how to add the new one. And what a grand link it is, it randomly selects new photos each time someone logs on... I'm seeing photos I haven't looked at for months and they are pretty neat, if I do say so myself!!

For all you computer nerds this probably doesn't seem like much of an accomplishment but for those who are computer challenged like me it will seem like a miracle. (I still think the internet is magic!)

Polymer Clay Pencils & Pen

I planned to post the Christmas wrapping saga today but I still have that miserable cold and all I want to do is sleep. I did prop myself up in my recliner and sand a few things, that's the best I could do... well that and eat, I'm rarely to sick to eat.

Folks liked the pens I made and I had several requests for mechanical pencils so I made these. The top one is a pen I made for myself.

Click on the photo for a closer look.

Polymer Clay & Beads

I apologize for neglecting my blog.... I have a head cold and now that the holidays are over I have a bit of a let down and am experiencing a case of winter blues. I do this every year and turn to my hobbies to pick me up. So be prepared, I'll be making lots of stuff.

I made these pendants from thin sheets of polymer clay that I folded, gathered and twisted into different shapes. I then added lots of crystal beads in complimentary colors. I will make matching chains when my wire order arrives.

Click on the photos for a closer look

Same pendants from a different angle.
I will be showing you the Christmas wrapping entries soon.... I have to edit the photos and write descriptions... right now my brain is a little fuzzy... head cold... or old age... or both.

Polymer Clay Autumn Cane

I still have holiday company until the 5th but I snuck in a couple hours of clay time this morning. I made this cane from some bulls eye and leaf canes I had laying around. I love these colors together, they should made pretty jewelry or maybe a small lidded box.... right Pete?