THE WELKER CANE IS ADDICTING AND FUN

It's been over a month since I've done clay and today I decided I was tired of beading so I got out my clay.

 Every where you go on the internet the Bettina Welker Pixelated Retro Cane is showing up. http://www.beadworx.de/2012/07/03/the-pixelated-retro-blend-cane/   I have three extruders and they were begging to get used.  So, I thought I would give it a try.

 

This is the first one I did.  I used white, brown, yellow, turquoise, light green and 14 karat gold with a the black discs in between.

 

Once I made the cane, I cut a slice off that was about 1/8th of an inch and I ran it through the pasta machine first on a number one and then turned it one quarter and went to number two and turned it a quarter and put it through on number 3.  I made a sheet of black and ran it through on the number four.  Laid my cane on the sheet and started cutting it by hand.  It was big and I wasn't sure where I was going.  I lost a little of the gold on the bottom but not bad.

 

 

There was an opening down the middle so I added a line of black and some squares and put smaller pieces on those.  I purchased a pack of hamburger patty papers from Smart and Final.  One side has wax on it.  These papers are great for polymer clay.  I laid the paper over the pendant and rubbed it to get rid of the finger prints, embed the smaller pieces and round the sides down.  I baked it for an hour at 265 degrees.  I sanded it but differently.  Instead of starting at 400 and working up, I started at 1000 and worked up.  1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000, this worked really well and there were no gouges.

Now I want to make beads to go with it so I can make a necklace.

 

That cane is really fun and addicting.  I had all the clay out so I made another one but this time I cut it in half at the width and put it together again.

 

 

These canes are really beautiful when they are run through the pasta machine and each small section takes on it's own identity.

 

Last night my husband took me out for my birthday and then we went to a casino for mental therapy.  He parked in an area where there were no cars.  I opened my door when the car stopped and started to get out and a big SUV came flying up and hit the door.  I almost had a heart attack.  If it had been one minute later I would have been standing where this big SUV came flying in.  My door left a big scrape on his car and his car undid the bottom panel on the door on my side of the car.  He acted like he was crying when he saw the damage on his car and started yelling at me about looking before I get out of the car.  My husband told him we were parked and my door was open when he drove up and it was pretty obvious that it was his fault and that we should call the sheriff.  He really backed down and said he would take care of the damage himself if we would.  With insurance being what it is now, we decided to do that.  He ran away as fast as he could and that's when my sweet husband said "Don't worry, s--t happens".

 

BUT, the reason I'm telling you this is so you will be careful getting out of cars AND my husband said if something like this happens again and he's not around, don't get out of the car, lock the doors, keep the windows closed and call the police.  Ladies, if you are alone and in a parking lot and something like this happens, don't be stupid.  Stay in the car, lock the doors and windows and call the police.