Interchangeable Snaps with the Retro Extruded Pattern

So here is another new pattern idea for the interchangeable snaps.  I was digging around in my clay stash and found some Extruder Canes we made a while ago in a variety of colors.  They are fun to make and even more fun to wear!

Interchangeable Snaps in Assorted Colors

Leather Bracelets with Interchangeable Snaps

Spiral Necklace with Interchangeable Snaps

Snap Button in Retro Pattern

Snap Buttons in Retro Pattern and Interchangeable Snap Jewelry

Pantone Spring 2015 Fashion Color Custard and New Extruder Dies

The Pantone Spring color Custard is soft shade of yellow that is, as Pantone describes, "sweet and sunny".  Pantone says this color pairs well with Classic Blue.  I have found that it compliments most of the colors in the spring palette.  We made some heart canes using our new extruder dies from Lucy Clay Tools.  We made a sort of Klimt or retro cane for the heart using the Custard combined with the Strawberry Ice, Tangerine and thinner slices of Marsala.  We then did the outside frame for the heart in Custard and some in Tangerine.  Below are some buttons we made from the cane slices.

You can see a demo for the heart shape extruder dies on a YouTube video here.  It isn't in english, but is easy to follow from the demo.  Since our new Extruder (CZextruder) and dies arrived we have been wanting to play with some of the unique patterns.  There are some interesting shapes worth experimenting with and these also fit other clay extruders such as the Makins or Walnut Hallow.

One thing that didn't impress us at first was how the dies were packaged.  We thought they were pretty cool coming in a CD case and all, however every die had to be removed from the metal frame.  This is done by "twisting" each die around until it literally breaks away (see pic 1).  So now we had these metal burrs on each side of the die (see pic 2) to deal with.  One person on the web said to just file them off.  After attempting one piece I decided it was a job for my claymate hubby to do!  He managed to work on the first set and then said he would finish the others later.  We decided there must be a better way so I asked Diane of Van Island Jewels, to see if she had any suggestions and she shared with us what she did.  I thought it was nuts when she first told me but we decided it was worth a try.  Well lo and behold!  Her tip worked like a charm and was so easy, we could hardly believe it!

In pictures 3 & 4 you will see what tool we used.  That's right!  Nail clippers!  We looked around the house and found a pair that we decided was worth sacrificing for the task.  The burrs were easily removed by grabbing it between the nail clippers as shown in picture 3.  Clamping down hard with the clippers, twist the burr off and nip the piece off in almost one movement.  You can see the before (#2) and after (#4) pictures below. 

This was such a great tip, we wanted to share it with you.  If you would like to buy some of these really cool dies or other Lucy Clay tools, they are for sale in Diane's Etsy shop, Van Island Jewels, here.

So here is the clay recipe for the color Custard using Kato clay:

Custard

2 parts Kato Yellow

1/2 part Ecru # 2-7 *

4 x White Mix # 1-2 *

* These clay base colors are found in my

"Clay Color System" tutorial

available as an instant download in

our Etsy Shop

or manually sent in an e-mail from

our online store.

Extruder Adapter Set-up and a Clay Marking Tool

We purchased the Driver Adapter from Cynthia Tinapple some time ago.  It is a tool that connects a polymer clay extruder to your power drill making it much easier for extruding your clay.  We still hadn't used it yet until we finally reorganized the studio.  We have been using the extruder tool more these days so I wanted it in a spot where it would be handy.

This is how the set-up now looks on our clay desk work area.

The vice is a screw down type and we didn't want to drill holes in our table so we attached it to a wood cutting board.  The cutting board is then clamped down onto the desk so it can be moved to another location if needed.

The drill we are using is cordless so can be a little heavy when the battery is attached.  I happened to have a box that was the perfect height to sit the drill on so we don't have to hold it while extruding the clay.  To use the adapter, we fill the extruder with clay and attach both ends.  We then insert the adapter end into the drill and then place the extruder into the vice so it is lined up and even.  There is a piece of parchment paper in front for the extruded clay to fall onto.

This set-up works really well and makes extruding the clay so much easier.  The clay we are extruding in the above photo is for our toglet buttons so they are consistent in thickness.  We are using a washer we found in just the right size to use as our die.  To make them all the same length I came up with my own marking tool.  I cut a strip of plastic canvas and cut out sections to create notches for marking.  On the opposite side, I cut out notches at a different length.  This tool works great when making beads as well.

Extruder Cane Designs Using Kato Clay

When I came across Bettina Welker's Pixelated Retro Blend Cane tutorial, I knew I had to give it a try! Then I came across the Rainbow Daisy Pen tutorial by Amber Elledge of Starless Clay and absolutely loved the bright colors she used.  I finally had a block of time to do some experimenting and decided to cover some seam rippers and a stylus pen so finally gave it a try using both methods.

In her tutorial, Amber shared her color mixes using Premo clay.  Since we work almost entirely in Kato clay, I pulled out some clay colors that I thought would make a bright  rainbow blend.  I thought I would share the colors that I used for those of you who have my Clay Color System tutorial.

Whenever I create a new cane or color blend, I like to document it with the color recipes I used and how it was done as in the index cards shown here:

These are the color recipes I used in the order of loading the extruder.

Plum - Clay Recipe # 10-5
Lighter shade - 1 part Plum + 2 parts white mix # 1-2

Bubble Gum - Clay Recipe # 11-3
Lighter shade - 1 part Bubble Gum (#11-3) + 2 parts white mix #1-2

Cayenne - Click here to see the Pantone color recipe
Lighter shade - 1 part Cayenne + 1-1/2 parts white mix # 1-2

Celosia Orange - Click here to see the Pantone color recipe
Lighter Shade - 1 part Celosia Orange + 1-1/2 parts white mix # 1-2

Freesia - Click here to see the Pantone color recipe
Lighter shade - 2 parts Freesia + 3 parts white mix # 1-2

Bright Chartreuse - Click here to see the Pantone color recipe
Lighter shade - 1 part Chartreuse + 1-1/2 parts white mix # 1-2

Teal - Clay color recipe # 8-4
Lighter shade - 1 part Teal (#8-4) + 1-1/2 parts white mix # 1-2

Dazzling Blue - Click here to see the Pantone color recipe
Lighter shade - 1 part Dazzling Blue + 2 parts white mix # 1-2

Violet - 4 parts Kato Violet + 1 part Kato White
Lighter shade - 1 part Violet + 2 parts white mix # 1-2

-----

Now for Bettina Welker's method of the Pixelated Retro cane, I used the same color recipes as above (Bright Chartreuse, Teal, Dazzling Blue, Violet, Bubble Gum).

I like how it turned out but decided to do a second batch and switched out the Bright Chartreuse green for Olive green (Recipe # 7-8).

Rendition of the Extruder Cane

We are requesting anyone to share their creations from any of our tutorials or handcrafted beads.  Dana Jones sent us some photos of several pendant and earring sets she created using the Extruder Cane Tutorial I want to share with you.  If you click on the last photo it is linked to her Etsy Shop called Smiley's Designs.

We have received a lot of positive feedback about this tutorial and it is definitely a lot of fun and addictive!  A PDF version is available on Clay Lessons if you want to download it for free, all you have to do is register with them.

Another Color Variation of the Extruded Swirl Cane

Here is the other color combo I did with the Extruded Swirl Cane Tutorial I shared with you last week.  I did this one in the Pantone Spring 2010 colors of Tomato Puree, Fusion Coral and Pink Champagne and used the same three extruder dies as the last cane experiment.

This color combo is a little more subtle and makes a nice soft blend.  Here are some pieces I made with the above canes.  I only did a small cane for this one as an experiment but I still managed to make a few things with it.  I decided to put some cane slices on a black background to really make the colors pop a little more and added some bling with some rhinestones.

It was fun experimenting with this technique and I'm starting to see more possibilities with it that I might try out later.

Variation on the Extruded Swirl Cane Tutorial

I've been working on some color and extruder variations since I shared the last tutorial with you.  I used a three color combination this time -- A thin sheet of black (#4 setting on the pasta machine) and a layer each of Turquoise and my own color mix of copper (both #2 thickness on the past machine).    I also experimented with a couple more dies.  It was my first time using the large square die from a set I recently purchased and the pattern came out almost the same as the small square except it was actually easier to extrude.

Here are a few pieces I created with my new canes ready to bake.

Tutorial - Extruded Swirl Cane

A couple of weeks ago I was experimenting with my extruder and discovered a fun type cane that has a sort of yin yang pattern.  I then discovered that Sandy (Simple Inspirations) and Cara Hayman of Surfingcat were experimenting with something very similar around the same time.  I wonder if it was a full moon that week or what -- I like to think that it was just some great minds thinking a-like.

I redid my experiment and created this black and white pattern and put it in the form of a tutorial.

1.  Roll out 2 sheets of clay in contrasting colors on the #2 (second thickest) setting on your pasta machine.  Cut each sheet into a 3" x 3" square.

2.  Stack one sheet on top of the other and cut in half.

3. Stack the 2 pieces, cut in half and then stack again.  There should be 8 layers.

4. Form the stacked clay into a round log.

5. Roll the log and twist each end several times in opposite directions.

6.  If the log becomes too thin, manipulate and roll the log with your hands bringing them closer together so the log is about the same thickness that will fit into your extruder.  Trim each of the ends and cut your log in half.

7.  Insert one of the halves into your extruder with the small square die.

8.  Extrude the entire amount of clay.

9.  Trim each of the ends until you get a nice pattern inside.

10. Use these individually as a small cane or cut into sections and stack to create a larger cane.

11.  Here I sliced my stacked cane to create a veneer sheet.

12.  And here are some fun pieces ready to bake.

Extruder Fun

I'm still working on the tiled table I posted about earlier and it is almost finished. I should have some photos of it sometime next week.  In the meantime I have these clay sheets and pieces left over so I decided to play around and see what I could come up with.  I always wanted to try making those retro type squares with the clay extruder like on the cushions in this photo I cut out of a sales flyer advertising paint. (I love the wall color by the way -- thinking of a shade like that for our livingroom -- )

So the result was this pendant and earring set below.  The pendant is on a really neat red colored cable.  I love the screw type clasp which I covered as a clay bead.  You can see a photo of it on our Artfire Studio.

I made this set for myself for something fun to wear.  The pendant, clip-on earrings and watch bracelet are all reversible and the photos show each side.

I'm not one to wear a bracelet but prefer beaded watch bands instead.  I started out making interchangeable bracelets with my watch faces using the lobster claws but never was really happy with the look.  I've been playing around for a few months now and finally came up with this design.  The bracelet part is on elastic and I basically wired my watch face through the holes at each end to hold the bracelet part.  I now have a silver and a gold watch face in which I can change my bracelets to match my wardrobe.  I was visiting with a friend the other day and she suggested I make these to sell as well.