Extruding in the 'Round

A couple of weeks ago, I taught a workshop using polymer extrusions.  The workshop was designed to  teach the technique I described in my blog post of May 25, 2014. I call it "extruded mokume gane" since the extruded design is shaved in mokume gane style and the result is 2 different flat sheet looks.

At this particular workshop, the group was doing quite well with the process, so I decided to also show them how to make round beads using the extrusions and the mokume gane technique.  Here is a bracelet made using a set of beads made this way.  The extruded snake is wrapped around a scrap clay core.  A tissue blade is used to cut off small pieces of the snake.  This reveals the colors and layers underneath.  A gentle hand rolling helps reform any beads that might have gotten distorted in the process.

Here is another set of extruded, shaved beads in a different color palette.











The rest of the photos show one of the extruded snake designs after the top layer has been shaved, and a purple sheet of clay with pieces from the shaved design.

 Finally, here is a picture of a pendant piece made from the sheet.  A different base color would create a very different look.

New Earring Style for Striped Canes

I have a few striped cane ends sitting around.  They are small, so I can't do a lot with them.  Playing with one of them the other day, I started making little round beads.  I flattened them slightly - for no other reason than I was curious what they would look like.

I liked the flattened beads, and began experimenting with different designs.
Earrings seemed best, since the cane supply was limited.  The photos here show some of the little earrings I made.   Making the stripes come together on each side took the most time.

While I was playing with stripes, I decided to make a few more wrapped bracelets.   These are such fun to wear, and I love the summery colors.