Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

Translucent polymer clay with no color added Translucent polymer clay has intrigued me for quite a while.  Every time I went to Hobby Lobby I would buy 3 packets of Pardo Translucent Clay.  When I asked if there were more, the response was, “Each store only gets 3 packets a month!”  I would have felt bad about taking all three but it was usually the end of the month!  The funny thing is that I did not use them often and now have a nice stash.  Of course, when you keep polymer clay a while, it can get crumbly and be difficult to condition.  Yes, that did happen to several packets!  It just takes more time and a little of clay softener to get the clay to the correct consistency.  Pardo seems to be the most translucent and you can actually see print through the cured clay. There are two beautiful polymer clay necklaces hanging on my studio wall that I made a good year ago.  I did not add color to that clay, edged the circles in wire and found it fun to work with.   The al

Today I want to share some pictures of finished jewelry from last week's butterfly cane. I decided to use the scrap part (the beginning and end of the cane) and see what kind of designs I could create.  ( I have yet to cut into the 'good' butterfly canes.) Earrings         Pendants    Bracelets   Beads   Buttons Most of these are in my etsy shop  www.etsy.com/shop/lindabrittdesign

Inspiration comes from many sources – in this case a stylized butterfly on a pottery vase in a magazine. I knew it was time to play with my polymer clay.  Finding a photo of a favorite butterfly - the Monarch- and corresponding clay colors (some mixed and some straight from the package) got me started.  I'm including some pictures of the various stages in making the cane.  Maybe it will help non-clayers understand the process a little better. Ready for the white dots and then to reduce this cane. Adding the last bands of white dots to the cane.  There is a layer of black clay, rows of white snakes, another layer of black and another layer of white snakes.  This is added to the outside of the cane. It seems that every time I make a cane (clay in rods with color or pattern) it comes out much larger than necessary.  It takes more clay (I ran out of black and had to buy more).  The larger cane is more difficult to reduce. That’s just the way of it!  This