Have you checked out Lucy Clay Tools lately?

Well, if you haven’t you should ! Fair warning. There are an tools and inspiration to make you drool (and empty your wallet LOL) . http://www.lucyclaystore.com

I own the original CZExtruder and I will NEVER go back to another brand. The quality is so beyond superior to the others it’s like night and day. Plus there are now 8 different sets of shape discs available to extrude a mind boggling number of patterns and#9 is on the way.

You can use your old Makin’s extruder discs and Cynthia Tinapple’s discs in the CZ Extruder, too.

I also have my eye on the Lucy Clay Slicer. I hear it is a fabulous tool for slicing even sheets of clay off of a slab. Imagine getting nice veneer sheets for Mokume Gane !

Where to buy your Lucy Clay Tools

• UK:
  www.clayaround.com (Penny Vingoe)  
• Australia:
  www.2wardspolymerclay.com.au (Susannah & Suzanne Ward)
• France:
  www.polymerepassion.com (Nathalie Pinot)
• Israel:
  www.lctools.co.il (Dror Meron, LC Tools Israel)
• Germany:
  www.polymerclay.de (Marwel design)
• Netherland:
  www.happythings.eu (Marja Novratidis)
• New Zealand:
  www.etsy.com/shop/Ayeletbeads Pinterest (Ayelet Rottenberg)
• USA:
  www.kimis-jewelry-from-the-heart.artfire.com (Kim Idalski)
• Canada: 
• www.VanIslandJewels.artfire.com (Diane Bruce)
• Spain:
• www.conadearte.com (Noelia Contreras Martin)

A New Twist On An Old Extruder

Tina over at Polymer Clay Bytes shared a wonderful idea on how to make a add-on handle for your Makin’s brand extruder.

Let Your Extruder Do The Work For You

Now that I have souped up my extruder, I am thinking there are more ways I can use it other than extruding bracelet cores. These other techniques include making quilt canes, retro canes and filigree work.

Filigree is actually an old favorite of mine, but I quit doing it because it was so hard to get the clay out of my little Kemper brand clay gun, even using the adapted caulk gun idea designed by Nan Roche. Thank goodness Makin’s came out with a better extruder. Which I made the best by attaching it to my cordless drill. 🙂
Here are a couple of my filigree project from the past.


Here you will find a gallery of filigree from a PCC Claypen.
Kelly Robinson wrote a nice tutorial on cover eggs.
Mia Rox shows here how to make a colorful barrette.
And a short tutorial over at Polymer Clay Express.
Ever wonder what to do with those old crumbly canes? Try this filigree technique.

I have made a couple retro style extruded canes, but I have no pictures. So here are a few wonderful projects by some talented artists.

Arzu Musa

Linda Sokovich

Keila Hernandez

Cindy Walcott

Look at this amazing vessel !!!!!!

Extrusions by Susan Lomuto Rose

A picture tutorial on making the extruded retro cane
And another tutorial at the HGTV website.

I have never tried to make a quilt cane, so I was very interested when I came across this YouTube video.
You can buy these cool shape disks from Quilted In Clay to extrude all the perfect shapes to make your quilt canes.

There is a dvd you can purchase by Cindy Beljan called Extruding Polymer Clay Canes for visual learners like myself.

A list of quilt cane tutorials
Latin Square Quilt Cane by the late Alan Vernall (he will be greatly missed)
Ohio Star
Quilt Cane
There is also a book called Adapting Quilt Patterns To Polymer Clay by Judith Skinner and Sarajane Helm.

I don’t own it (yet) but I am sure it will be a wonderful addition to any personal library.

I hope this inspires you to dig out your clay gun and create. 🙂