FLOWER EARRINGS
Now that I have a few canes made, I had so much fun coming up with the way to use them. Earrings are fun to make because it is fast and easy and sell well.
1. Cut out 4 slides from leaf cane. You can cut 2 thick one but I like mine puffy.

2. Put a small piece of clay in between 2 leaves, close the edge by pressing it with your fingers.

3. Poke a hole on the top, set aside.

4. Now we are going to make like a head pin with clay. First cut 2 pieces of wire of your choice. I used copper wire. Bend it down like so. Roll a scrap clay into a ball then press the wire in it. Now you can use any color scrap clay or using slides from the cane that is not so perfect. Set them aside. Make 2 more using the color that match the flower cane.

5. Now we are going to make flower. Cut 2 fairly thick slides from flower cane. You can stretch them if they are too small. Cut 1/2 way through the slides. Wrap it around the headpin in a way that it spiral up the wire.

6. Wrap some green color cane around the stem. Bake.

7. Using the clay covered headpins to make the loop on top of each leaf and flower.

8. Put them on ear wire of your choice.

There are so many way to use the cane. Hope you have fun with them.

PINK FLOWER NECKLACE
This is how I put my necklace together. I used the flower canes that I made and came up with different variety of beads. Using the scrap or left over to make accents beads, you will get matching beads to help pull the design of the necklace together. I used copper wire to make those small flowers and wrapped the together.

The finished necklace is not the same as the original design shown here. The way the second bead was hanging is not quite right.
I have a few more details to add to the necklace. Hope you get the idea.

EASY FLOWER CANES

I used to wine about I don't like to make cane. I think it is because I was afraid to make mistake and made some not so perfect cane that I can't stand to look at. This flower cane method is easy (for me) and I get the same result every time. My friend, Jackie, sent me a box of scrap clay. I sort through it and found a small stack of white layers clay between brown clay. I played with it and came up with the idea of using skinner blend log instead of white clay. And here it is.

1. Roll out a sheet of skinner blend. There are many combination you can choose from. Keep one end white and other end dark. For example; white- yellow,-orange, or, white-pink,-red or white-fuchsia-purple. Since the dark color will be in the middle of the cane, make the sheet with more light color than dark. My log is about 1/2" dia. and 6" long.

2 Cover the log with Brown or Black thin sheet of clay

3. Press the log down and even the size. Keep it within 1" wide, until you can put it through the pasta machine at the thickest setting. (I am using Imperia and it might be a tad bigger than most). Cut in 1/2 and stack on top of each other. Cut into 3" pieces and cut in 1/2 lengthwise.

4. Roll a tiny snake with Brown clay, fill the gap on the top of each section with it (see the picture). This will help round up the top of the petals.

5. Squeeze the other end together, then start to put each petal section together. Fill the gap of each section with a tiny snake clay like before

6. Stack the petal sections into a round, donut shape, fill the middle with some left over cane. I like the simple jelly roll with lots of color. Gently squeeze the flower cane so all the sections came together. That's all. Now you have a cute and easy flower cane.

I used these canes for many different way and I will show you how to use these cane to make cute earrings soon. Thanks for watching. Any question or comments are greatly appreciated.

EASY LEAF CANE
1. make a big sheet of skinner blend from GREEN, YELLOW and WHITE. Rolled it into a bull's eye with the Green inside and white outside.
                                    
2. Wrapped it up with a thin sheet of Brown clay. You can use Black if you like. My jelly roll is about 1/2" Dia. x 10" long.

3. Flatten it between your fingers, then pressed it down with the brayer, trying to keep it the width at the same size till it is thin enough to pass through the pasta machine at the thickest setting.

4. Roll it through the pasta machine. You will get a long thin noodle like sheet. Cut in in half or in a manageable size.

5. Cut the noodle into 3" strips, then cut them lengthwise in the middle.

6. Now cut a piece of thin sheet from a brown clay about 1/2"x 3". This will be the stem.

7. Squeezed one end to make a point.

8. Squeezed the open end of the leaf sections, the one that show green clay, leave the other end round as it is.

9. Lay the vein section and one leaf section together, like so.

10. Stack up the other leaf section, overlap each other a little bit.

11. Now be patient and lay the rest of the leaf sections on the other side, try to match them as best as you can.

12. Squeezed the canes lightly but try to retain the shape of the leaf. Reduced as needed. Easy, isn't it.
From the same technique, I will show you how to make cute flower cane with it. Please come back in a couple of days.

What do you think?

Shell Texture earrings

This is not a new technique but since I have not written any tutorial for a while, it is kinna rusty. Ada's friend went to Florida and picked up a bag full of broken shells. These shells have rich texture from getting beat up by the weave, sand and time. I made molds out of them and start using them for texture.

After baking I painted them with acrylic paint (yellow Ochre). Using my finger, I dabbed on the paint and pressed on to the pieces lightly, so the only raised part will cover with paint and the groove will not. First paint it with paint that has been mixed with a little bit of water, then added with almost dry paint. You will get more depth that way.

With Black clay, I was using rub&buff (Amaco) and it picked up the details real well.

Hope you like them.