new pages on masks and more

I just put up new pages on my website about a week long polymer clay class I
did in Jackson Mississippi and blog posts too that you can view from he
http://polyclay.com We made lots of masks, with all sorts of faces and
molds that we made with silicone Amazing Mold Putty. from Alumilite. And we
made beads too--I even showed the students how to make hand beads, which I
rarely ever do, but they were school teachers and not looking to be
professional beadmakers in competition with me...so I showed them!

Sarajane

(re-sending)
That class sounds wonderful. A teacher friend of mine from a remote village
comes to Fairbanks every years for classes at the International Arctic
Research Center at Univ of AK. She was a railroad tramp who worked summers
as a paleontologist, before an injury turned her to teaching. So I know the
synergy creative interested people, professionals, and high quality teaching
develops.

This group looks like it had that same dynamic. What a lot of fun projects
you put together. I wonder if the two part mold you used is like the one I
used with PMC. I made a silver button from a silver button from my
grandmother. A new generation of buttons by a new generation (well, newer
than hers!).

I have a PC question. Where do canes come from? Many beads seem to use
rose canes. Are they handmade? I know I've seen some lovely roses on beads
that are not well formed and so I figure the canes were purchased.

That leads to other questions. Do I like that I could make a bead from
someone else's better canes? Of course. Do I like that someone else is
offering a bead for sale that isn't really her own work? Well, I like that
less. But is that so different from my making a necklace from someone
else's beads?

Hey, it's 11 PM and beginning to get dark. Or is it just overcast? I miss
darkness this time of year.

Tina

"Sarajane Helm" wrote in message
. ..
I just put up new pages on my website about a week long polymer clay class
I
did in Jackson Mississippi and blog posts too that you can view from he
http://polyclay.com We made lots of masks, with all sorts of faces and
molds that we made with silicone Amazing Mold Putty. from Alumilite. And
we
made beads too--I even showed the students how to make hand beads, which I
rarely ever do, but they were school teachers and not looking to be
professional beadmakers in competition with me...so I showed them!

Sarajane

Tina, cane work is a technique borrowed from Italian glass makers from
several centuries past. The artisans who knew how to do this were not
allowed to leave their island on pain of death... but I'll tell ya now.
They used rods of colored glass, placed in patterns and then heated and
pulled to make them thinner and narrower. With polymer clay, we can put the
patterns in place with no heat, and then use pressure to extrude (squeeze)
the shape so that it becomes thinner and narrower. Detail is built in big
and then reduced in size.

Lots of people make canes in polymer clay and then sell parts of what they
make. When I make a face cane, it is often 7 or 8 pounds of clay....I end up
with 5 useable pounds of slices and 2-3 pounds of salvaged clay and thats a
LOT of the cane. Even smaller canes yield a lot of slices. I don't sell my
canes; I like making them and I like using them and I like showing others
how to do it too. That seems like enough for now.
SJ


"Christina Peterson" wrote in message
...
I have a PC question. Where do canes come from? Many beads seem to use
rose canes. Are they handmade?

Another of the many things I'd like to try.

Tina

"Sarajane Helm" wrote in message
...
Tina, cane work is a technique borrowed from Italian glass makers from
several centuries past. The artisans who knew how to do this were not
allowed to leave their island on pain of death... but I'll tell ya now.
They used rods of colored glass, placed in patterns and then heated and
pulled to make them thinner and narrower. With polymer clay, we can put
the
patterns in place with no heat, and then use pressure to extrude (squeeze)
the shape so that it becomes thinner and narrower. Detail is built in big
and then reduced in size.

Lots of people make canes in polymer clay and then sell parts of what they
make. When I make a face cane, it is often 7 or 8 pounds of clay....I end
up
with 5 useable pounds of slices and 2-3 pounds of salvaged clay and thats
a
LOT of the cane. Even smaller canes yield a lot of slices. I don't sell my
canes; I like making them and I like using them and I like showing others
how to do it too. That seems like enough for now.
SJ


"Christina Peterson" wrote in message
...
I have a PC question. Where do canes come from? Many beads seem to use
rose canes. Are they handmade?