Hey Iris, Can you give me 3 tips for succesful caning?

Hello Everyone :)

It's time for Q & A!

I have been getting questions from some of you and wanted to help with some answers!

1st Question is about millefiori work -

"Hello Iris, can you give me 3 tips for succesful caning?"

Only 3? wow, i have so many tips for you but i'll keep it short :)

1st of all, work with clay that is not too soft and not too crumbly, when i use FIMO classic i tend to let it sit on my shelf for about 6 months before i use it, like old wine, it gets better with time goes by ;) same with FIMO soft, Leaving it on my shelf harden it a bit but not too much, this helps me make my canes sturdier, more accurate and firmer. When Premo and Kato are the clays you use i recommend do the same, either wait few months till you use it or absorb some of it's moisture by putting sheets of clay between paper for few hours.

2nd tip, plan ahead - take the time to plan your cane if you can, sketch it, see which parts you'll need, how much material, which sizes, when you're building your cane use a ruler to measure things, this is very important if you want to achieve accuracy. This plan helps you avoiding making un-necessary mistakes or mis-calculations of material needed, the last thing you want to happen is to ran out of translucent clay for your background and now you can't finish your project...

3rd tip which is also very important to me - don't rush! work slowly and find the right time for your art, caning is similar to meditation to my opinion, it's all about making these small movements, repeating actions, and relaxing your mind of anything else :)

4th tip (even though i was asked for just 3), when you get to a new material and you want to get good results in a short time, take a class or a tutorial, there many great artists all around us, I am learning all the time, even from you! some of the great ideas came from my students! and of course i am taking classes from pros, improving my techniques, using shortcuts, there is nothing like that "a-ha!" moments when you realize how things are made, and most of the tutorials available a quite affordable too!

2nd Q - "How do you keep sharp corners on square canes?

The 1st thing that cross my mind when i think of square canes is again, work slow. when i am reducing square canes, i take the time to look at each side, checking corners, checking lines and make sure i am not moving things from side to side.

you can see more in my 2 parts video on how to reduce all 3 types of canes: round, triangle and a square/rectangle. In this video i will be demonstrating how to reduce a rose cane, butterfly wing and signature name cane.

Last Question -

"I would love to know how to use the right colours when creating a cane, mine are always dark!"

I am not a colour expert but i tend to "feel" which colors goes right, the most important thing is to use lot's of light colors - white, yellow and pastels, when we make a cane the pattern sometimes is so small we loose all it's clarity after reducing, the light colors helps us to brighten up the cane. When you use darker colors and reduce to small diameter, all the colors are almost mixing and you can't see any clarity of contrasts or pattern.

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I hope this helped you guys, canning in polymer clay is one of the popular niches and it's also my favorite :) keep on the good work and enjoy the process.

Do you have more tips? let me know! i will love to hear from you, email me or send me a message via PolyPediaOnline site, i will post them in my blog with your name!

Want to ask me a question? fill in this page and an answer may come along!

p.s - i am making a special sale this week with a cool bonus of a new flower cane! Join PolyPediaOnline mailing list for more info

Have the best day :)