I’d probably either use it for bead cores so that I didn’t have to use up so much of my “good” clay, or to make texture sheets.

For bead cores, most of the time I roll a log of scrap clay, wrap that log with whatever design I want on the outside of my beads, and then cut it into even-sized pieces which I form into the final bead shapes (e.g. pinch the ends in to cover the scrap clay, then roll into a round and/or form into the final shape).

For texture sheets, you can either press designs into sheeted clay (this works well for making negatives of existing texture sheets too), or carve them into the sheeted clay using linoleum cutters or similar tools (this is great for sharp/deep designs). Cindy recently published a video on Making Texture Plates Using Sculpey MoldMaker, but you can use ordinary clay too (I’ve only ever done them that way, actually).

I’m sure you’ll get plenty of other good ideas from other members here. These are just where most of my scrap clay goes. (I never have enough scrap clay!)

One other quick thought… you can make a really handy moveable “bumper” to narrow the opening on your pasta machine, for example to prevent skinner blends from becoming too wide. Have a look here:
desiredcreations.com/howTo_TLPMNarrower.htm

Have fun!

Sue

@Dora: It is so nice to hear your story and your experiences in making polymer clay canes. Sometimes people who are beginning don’t understand how important trial and error plus practice goes into getting good at any technique. Just because something seems hard at first, doesn’t mean it can’t be learned over time. Thank you for sharing your cane knowledge with everyone here. I very much appreciate that!

@Silverleaf: There is a bit of a trick to knowing what size works best for you when making canes. I find if I start out fairly small there is less distortion by the time it is reduced. You do have a point about starting too small however. When you start really small, it doesn’t take much for the alignment to be off. It is easy to get a design element off kilter a bit when you work small. You are also probably right about no one else being able to notice! :-)

Of course, someone else probably wouldn’t notice!

Mine aren’t perfect but I like them anyway. :) Time to practice I think!

Someday, we’ll be able to download a process into our brains that will automatically allow us to both understand and use our physical abilities to automatically recreate beautiful work like yours. Unfortunately, don’t think I’ll make that one, lol.

Going to give it a real bang this winter though, and I eagerly await the process. Struggle is part of mastery and if I come close, you and Cindy and most of the others here will be the reason.

Thank you for sharing.

dorasexplorations.wordpress.com/

Dora you are the master of shading and contrast. If I die, I want my casket scattered with all those cane patterns right up to the brim!!! I lust to be able to create such beautiful cane work. You must be a very methodical and patient person to be able to get them to reduce so perfectly.