If you can make a Skinner Blend and a Jelly Roll Cane you can make this fish. Please feel free to change the colors to suit you, as well as the shape of the fish and fins, that is what I love about Polymer Clay, no two cane will ever be the same even if we all follow the same directions so please have some fun with this!

 

1.  Begin by making 3 skinner blend canes, the size depends on you, I don't think you can ever have enough skinner blends around so I used 2 ozs of color and 2 ozs of white per cane. Cut off what I need and wrap the rest up for later. Now I made a LARGE cane, you can cut this amount in half if you want. Here is a great site that shows beautiful step by step photos and instructions on making a skinner blend http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/poleigh/skinner.html

 

The body of my fish was 2" long by 2" wide, you can reduce the width but do not reduce the length very much, it will be much harder to reduce.

 

2.  Choose the fin color and cut it in quarters.  Flatten the points of all 4 pieces, then pull the outer edge up towards the white, do this to all 4 pieces.

 

 

3.  Put all 4 pieces side by side and press them together, reduce to about 1" wide and 6 " long, or half the original width and double the length. Trim the ends until you have no distortion, cut the cane in half, put the pieces side by side and reduce again, half the width and double the length, trim the ends and your cane should look like the one on the right above. Cut two 2 inch pieces, or two pieces the length of your fish body, then reduce the remaining piece of cane by half, cut two 2 inch pieces.

 

 

Set your fins aside for now and get your fish body.

 

 

 

4.  Now you are going to cut a wedge out of the body to make room for one of the fins, use your clay blade to do this. Remove the wedge and save it for another project, maybe a baby fish!!

 

 

5.  Insert one of the large fins into the cut out area and one on top of the body. Press the body around the fin and press the top fin into the body.

 

6.  Mix together some of the scraps from the fins, and make a pink to white skinner blend. This cane doesn't have to be very big, maybe 1/2" across and 4" long. Pinch one side and make a tear drop shape. Cut two 2" pieces, these are the lips so make them to fit your fish!!

 

       

 

7. Use your magic wand, round handle of a paint brush, or a dowel rod to make a round valley in the side of the fish body where the lips will go, put the lips into the valley, press lightly into the body.

 

 

8.  Add the two small fins to the sides of the large top fin, use a needle tool to carve channels into the fins, this will make since in a minute.

 

 

9.  Okay, I cheated a little bit here, I had this cane made from another project, it is just a green to white skinner blend with a black and white stripe border wrapped in pink. You can use a simple bulls eye cane in any color you want. This cane should be reduced to about 1/4" or less.

 

 

 

10. Now you are going to put the eye into the body, you need to make a hole all the way through the body, I used a long needle to get all the way through, then used a needle tool from both sides to enlarge the hole then used a round paintbrush handle to enlarge it some more, you can use a knitting needle too, but you get the idea, the hole needs to be larger then the eye cane you are try to put in it, this will be the hardest part of this cane!! Once you have the eye cane all the way through leave about an extra 1/4" - 1/2" on each side then trim, now  holding both sides of the eye cane press it back into the hole, this will help fill in the gaps!!

 

 

11.  Next you will make the tail fin just like you made the other fins, follow steps 2 and 3, just don't reduce it quite as small, I like the look of a little bit bigger tail fin, you will have more of this cane left over for another project. Press the fin into the body and admire your work!!

 

 

12. Onto the background, if you want you can pack this whole cane with translucent and be done with it, I wanted a bluish background because I want to use my cane to cover an item and will be using thicker slices.

I just mixed blue and turquoise with translucent and white, made skinner blends, and rolled into jellyrolls, the amount will depend on the size of your cane, there is about 5-6 ozs of clay here. Reduce some of the cane about the size of a toothpick to go into the grooves in the fins, make as many groves as you want, some in the tail fin and bottom fin too.

 

  

 

13.  Here is the packed cane before reduction, see the penny, that gives you an idea of the size of this cane, 18-20 ozs. Just a note, I wrapped this cane with some left over light blue clay rolled out on the #4 setting of the pasta machine, just didn't take a picture of it, I think this helps keep everything together.

 

 

14.  Some of the reduction with process, the ends will always distort, you just have to get used to it!!

 

 

15.  TAAADAA, the finished cane, reduced to about 1" across. Slice and use to make beads, cover items whatever you want.

 

  

 

Here is the scrap that was left after the reduction, only 4.6 ozs, I completely blended one of the slices and the ball is the color it made, very usable and of course I had to swirl a couple of slices and it made a beautiful lentil bead. I ended up with 13 ozs of beautiful fish cane.

The first thing I did to get ready to make these beads was to roll translucent clay through the thinnest setting of the pasta machine, then I laid a piece of silver leaf on half of the translucent, folded it in half and rolled it through the pasta machine again, then I put it between deli wrap and rolled it through again, the thinner you can get this sheet the clearer it will be after baking. Don't worry if it tears, you will be putting torn pieces onto your beads.

 

                       

 

1.  Start with a brick of            2.  Hand roll the slices into        3. Cut tissue paper thin

     scrap clay, cut equal                beads.                                     slices from a cane

      slices of clay from                                                                  with lots of trans                        

      the brick,  the #                                                                      clay in it. I used a               

      is up to you.                                                                           mum cane.

    

 

            

 

4.  Apply slices to the beads   5. Apply torn pieces of the translucent        6.Cut tissue paper thin

    and roll in your hand.            with the silver leaf to the beads, roll              slices from another

                                                in your hand.                                               cane with lots of  

                                                                                                                   translucent clay in it. 

                                                                                                                   I used a mum cane 

                                                                                                                   with pearl & white.  

 

 

                

 

7. Here are the beads before     8. Swirled into a lentil bead, before      9. After baking @ 275

    swirling with all the cane            baking. Put holes in beads                   degrees for 45 min.

    slices & silver leaf                     beads now w/ a needle tool.                 I tent w/ batting.

    layer.                                                                                                                                 

 

  

 

10.  Here are the beads after sanding through several grits of wet/dry

       sandpaper, 400 - 1500 and buffed with a muslin wheel on my

       dremel tool. If you are careful handling your beads sanding will

       not take very long and the buffing just takes a minute or two

      per bead.

                      

 

Here is the finished bracelet strung with glass beads

and a toggle type closure.

 

 

For the best tutorial I have ever seen on swirling lentil as well as other great info visit...

 

 

Kaleidoscope Cane Photos

  If you have never made a kaleidoscope cane you are in for a treat. Gather up a few canes that didn't turn out exactly the way you wanted. They should be about 3" long. Combine these canes together.

      Now shape that combined cane into a triangle, reduce the cane, you will need 18" of usable cane. The ends will distort so be sure and trim the ends until you have a complete pattern at each end. You may have to stretch the cane again after you trim the ends to get you back to 18".

Cut 6 pieces 3" long, put them together lightly and look at the pattern, if you don't like it take it apart and put together in another pattern.

   These three canes were all made from the same cane, I just arranged them differently.

 

Now that you know how a Kaleidoscope Cane is built you can plan a design by making canes in certain shapes and colors, you cane build the cane in a triangle shape then you will have less distortion when you reduce the cane. Have fun!!

 

If you have any questions please contact me!