My work shown at Synergy3 Conference

I have enjoyed reading the recent posts on Polymer Clay Daily about the Synergy3 (Polymer Clay) Conference that was held in Atlanta - just wish I could have attended. So I was delighted that some of the presentations were being posted for others to look at. Looking at the 'How to How to' presentation by Judy Belcher and Cynthia Tinapple, I was amazed to see two photos (taken from my blog) on one of the slides about 'How to use scrap' - it was my first attempt and making a 'Stroppel Cane'. I feel very priviledged that a tiny piece of my work made an appearance at the conference, even though I could not be there.

My first 'Stroppel' cane

The 'Stroppel cane' has generated a lot of interest (in the Clay-Polymer Yahoo Group). It was introduced recently by Alice Stroppel, as a way of using up scrap canes - so I thought I would give it a try. I do not have many scrap canes but I just added some blobs of coloured clay as well. It was great fun to do, as you do not know how it will turn out. Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos during the construction process, as I was having such fun. Here is my first Stroppel cane, which I am really pleased with.

The two slices are the ends of the long sides that I trimmed off, when making the cane a rectangular shape.

I  then ran all my trimmings through the pasta machine, so the pattern has stretched (see above); pieced them together and cut out a few shapes (shown below). This is just from the scrap - from a cane made of scraps!

I love this technique, as it is so easy to do. I will have to include it in my teaching workshops, giving full credit to Alice Stroppel of course. As for what I make with my Stroppel cane - I have some ideas but I am waiting for some more black clay to arrive first.