votives!

[LuxieLou]

I recently started covering these votives and they get better each time I make one.
This is the first one I ever made, I still need to sand off a few bumps on it that bother me.


I just made this one for my mom, it's kinda dark and I didn't use any translucent clay but it's what she wanted..so it's what she gets!


And this last one is my fav but it's gone to my grandma. It glows so nicely because of all the translucent clay. I made extra of this cane so I will have to make one for myself!

Thanks for looking at my stuff! 

[booip]

Wow! Those look soooo great. I just love the last one, the colors are amazing. I have never tried covering things with clay but this really inspired me. Is it hard to do?

[krazigal72]

nice!! I'm planning on making these for people for christmas! I suck at making canes, but i figured i have time to practice, lol.

How long did you bake them for?

[LuxieLou]

Wow! Those look soooo great. I just love the last one, the colors are amazing. I have never tried covering things with clay but this really inspired me. Is it hard to do?

Thanks! These were the first things I covered and they really weren't that hard...if you don't have a pasta machine though I definately suggest getting one..that was key! I got mine at Michael's with a 50% off coupon. and making them with translucent clay either mixed in the color or by itself is cool too cause then they really glow nice! if you have more questions definitely ask me!

nice!! I'm planning on making these for people for christmas! I suck at making canes, but i figured i have time to practice, lol.

How long did you bake them for?

I baked these for 15 min, turned the oven off and let them cool down in there before removing them and it was perfect. There is not a real thick layer of clay so it might take longer if thicker...but that's prob a good starting point for you. Good luck with your canes! 

[Diane B.]

Ooooo... very nice votives!  I know they were big hits as gifts too.

it's kinda dark and I didn't use any translucent clay but it's what she wanted.

Actually, it might look kinda cool just having the interior color flickering in the light too.

(Did you actually try lighting that one from the inside?... many clay colors have been manufactured with much more translucent in them that one could guess! (many dark blues, e.g..), and those will all show light through nicely too. 
I think I mentioned before that when I first covered a votive, I finally figured out that I had to put flatttened samples of the colors I was thinking of using onto a sheet of acrylic, then take them into a closed closet and shine a flashlight back up through the acrylic to be able to tell which ones were translucent and which weren't... had to change my pattern all around when I also found out that white is opaque and all those colors I'd made into pastels by adding white were now blocking light instead of showing it ...ack!


(For those interested in covering glass votives, check out the lessons and tips here:
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/covering.htm
... click on Votives,etc. under Glass...)



Diane B.

[LuxieLou]

I didn't realize that Diane B. I'll have to try it with a votive before I mail it and see!

[betzi]

ooooh i love em!  i really like the last one too, but they are all great! 

thats really interesting DianeB.   i'll totally have to try it out!

[jezebel7383]

Very pretty! I need to be brave and try these. Making canes just seems so hard.

[Diane B.]

Making canes just seems so hard.

Please believe me when I say that many canes are totally simple! . . .in fact, much easier than making some of the little sculpts you've seen here on the board (that's a different thing entirely).

Canes (like sculpts, or anything really) can be all the way from dead simple to very difficult and complex... just depends on which canes you're trying to do.  Making "picture" canes, in particular can be the most difficult, but that also depends on the picture you want to do ...a simple smiley face, for example, would be much easier than a painterly, highly-nuanced realistic face... the exact same would be true for a caned xmas tree, a lemon slice, or a landscape.

The simplest canes are probably geometric:
spirals (jellyrolls), bullseyes ("wrapped" canes), stripes (stacks), and things like folded canes (which are long strips of at least two colors of thin clay, folded in some way).  If you never did anything but those few canes, you could create a bajillion different patterns and looks (some very exquisite too, just depending on your color and size choices, etc.). 
What's more, once you know how to make those basic canes, you  know most all the basic techniques (except for some of the picture ones) and can easily make those more complex in many ways.

After making a cane, the other learning curve is keeping canes from squishing while "reducing" them (making them smaller) and/or cutting slices from them, but there are a few very simple guidelines to learn, then you're pretty much home free!

I have been trying to find the time to post lessons for a few simple canes here just to let everyone see how simple they could be, but Life is intervening and don't know if/when I'll be able to.  If you want to look on the Canes-Instructions page at my site though, there are many lessons for each of the canes listed above (and most will have photos when you click on the links).  That could get you off to a good start!
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/canes--instructions.htm



Diane B.

[LuxieLou]

thanks for your nice comments!! 

and Diane B. is totally right making canes are simple...try them out..they're fun too!