Fimo Nail Art Designs – Making Polymer Clay Canes To Fit Fingernails
The size of your Fimo cane really does matter for today's nail artist… Here's some polymer clay techniques for teeny tiny cane designs:
The fun thing about Fimo nailart canes is that you can make one large cane and then reduce it down to the tiny size of 1/4 inch. You end up with hundreds of wonderful detailed mini artworks to add to your nail art design tool kit.
Problem is, not every polymer clay cane design will shrink down that tiny and still look good.
First there is the problem of the clay. Soft mushy clay gets very badly distorted the further you try to reduce it. Lines twist, shapes contort and become out of proportion. Colors blur. A very disappointing ending to a beautifully built cane design!
Another problem is the colors. In a large cane it is easy to see the subtle shadings of a expertly constructed fimo cane. But shrink it down to nail art size and the colors will visually mix together. This is where using colors of high contrast is very important.
Also the intensity of colors is critical for making Fimo nail art canes. Colors get denser and darker as they are compressed.
So a lovely blend of light blue to Medium Blue to Dark Blue in a large cane, may end up looking like just one shade of blue when reduced down to a small cane. So a better way to achieve a similar blend would be to shift from White to Dark Blue.
Electric colors like Florescent Green or Hot Pink are great choices to use in Fimo nail canes because their shocking intensity is muted by the smallness of the cane.
Black and white are also good candidates for their high contrast to each other.
The cane design itself should also be taken into consideration. Bold graphic patterns do well when they are shrunk down.
If you look carefully at the photo of the nail art canes above, you will see that the flaming heart cane and the flower cane stand out quite clearly.
Even the highly detailed spider cane and pirate canes are recognizable at this tiny size because of the clear outlines and the high contrast colors of black and white.
For a size contrast, here's some links to photos for 3 of these cane designs in larger form. Have a look:
So as you can see, unique polymer clay canes like the four pictured on this page, have a lot of versatility. Used large they can become jewelry beads and pendants. Made tiny they become fun and funky Fimo nail art designs. That's pretty good mileage that you can squeeze out of just a few blocks of colorful clay!
Filed Under: 05: Techniques, 07: Cane Work, 12: Inspiration by Comment. 
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Comments on Fimo Nail Art Designs – Making Polymer Clay Canes To Fit Fingernails
6:55 pm
Cindy,
Nail art is not my thing but really appreciated the suggestions about contrast when working with small canes.
10:47 am
MJ thanks for the comment! You're right about this idea working for all small canes.
If you can see my nails in the picture you can see that I haven't spent a lot of time on my nails. ;)
Though with all the cool nail art I've seen lately I can totally see getting my nails done for a special occasion.
Fimo nail art is perfect for Weddings, Proms, banquets, nightclubs, costumes, and summertime beach parties!
Cindy Lietz's last blog post..Cool Polymer Clay Tutorial – A Fimo and Sculpey Cane Making Tip
1:44 pm
Hi Cindy, I was reading on your home page about the fimo in nails art. I'm a nail tech and I just bought a bunch of canes. I tried slicing them but it is not a clean slice. Then I seen that you wrote that they get warmed up before getting sliced. How do they warm them up?
1:47 pm
Hi Lona,
Thanks for dropping by. I published some information that addresses your question in an earlier post. You can click on the link by name above to go that that article. Be sure to read the comments on the article page as well. There is additional information there.
If this information is helpful, please do leave a comment to let me know. Thanks.
8:39 am
hi, how do you apply the canes on acrylic nails. I'm curious and have never heard of this. thank you
11:21 am
Yvette, the canes are warmed slightly in hot water and sliced very thin. Then after a layer of acrylic is added to the nails, the slices are glued on with nail glue. You can sand the nail art slices slightly if you wish and then add a couple layers of acrylic on top of them. Don't use regular nail polish with nail art cane slices because it will react with the clay and get all sticky.
Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any further questions.
5:43 am
Hi! Cindy I was hoping you could help me find a book on making nail art canes. I would like to get started as soon as possible. Thanks.
9:28 am
Hi M.Peters,
Although I don't have a how-to-make-nail-art-canes book recommendation to pass along to you, I can provide a link to another post in this blog that may be helpful for you.
The Fingernail Art Designs link by my name above, will take you to a conversation I had with another reader (vito) who was looking for some advice on how to get started making Fimo Nail Art Canes.
If you are brand new to polymer clay, the advice I provided to vito over in the other thread, may apply to you too. Have a look.
If you have any further questions, by all means, ask away. I'm here to help.
4:45 pm
I was hoping maybe you could tell me a website where I can buy the canes?? I've only found one so far, and the designs aren't that great =( Please help!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!
4:53 pm
Hi Heather,
I provided a link to where you can purchase polymer clay canes over at another article. You can click on the "Fimo Nail Art Designs" link by my name above to go there.
Please do let me know how you like the canes that are being offered there.
12:39 pm
I have begun to have trouble with my finger nails. I do not have polish on them. They are not nearly as strong as they used to be. The edges seem to have soft spots. Have you ever heard of polymer clay damaging finger nail?
12:52 pm
I have never heard of polymer clay causing problems with peoples fingernails. I have super strong nails and work with polymer clay all the time, so I suspect it could be something else all together. I'll keep an eye out for others mentioning this, just in case.
10:13 am
quisiera saber domicilio de aqui en mexico donde adquir su productos
GOOGLE TRANSLATION: I want to know where to purchase your products in Mexico.
10:49 am
@liliana: Hola, Liliana, Ir a este enlace, alguien que ya hizo la pregunta dónde comprar Polymer Clay en México.
Buena suerte!
3:03 pm
I can't get over how well the Gerbera Flower Cane reduced so small! Incredible! I bought that back issue (Vol-015,) because I loved the flower cane. It never occurred to me to make it this small – the only cane I've made this tiny was a leaf cane. I guess I'll start practicing some of these little ones. They're so cute, even if I don't use them for nail art! (And the spider cane is a must-make. There will be some trial & error, but it is AWESOME!)