Polymer Clay Canes | Favorite Polymer Clay Cane Designs of 2008

Recognize Any Of These Clay Cane Colors, Shapes and Designs?

January is always a good time to reflect on the past year. To review your accomplishments… what you liked and what you would like to change for the new year ahead.

Well today while searching my own blog for something, I got a chance to review all of the cool polymer clay projects that I've written about since February 2008 when this blog was born.

So today I thought it would be nice to share with you some of my favorite polymer clay cane designs from 2008.

The first photo in the collage above was from the July 16th post, Polymer Jewelry from Handmade Beads and Cane Slices. It featured a Translucent Rainbow Jelly Roll Cane with a lot of drama. Because the rainbow colors were mixed with a fair amount of translucent clay, they have a depth and brightness when placed on white clay, like they were on that particular bead. This type of cane can have a dramatically different look if created with a white layer instead of the black… making it a very fun cane to work with!

The Spider Cane from the July 20th post: Itsy Bitsy Spider Jewelry Cane, was a favorite this year for me because of its graphic and playful design. I originally created it for a  Harry Potter Theme, but quickly saw its potential as a Goth Jewelry Accessory and of course for Halloween. The funny thing is I found that I wore my Spider Cane Pendant more than anything else last summer, just with my jeans and a T-shirt!

The next cane in my collage that I really enjoyed, is the Little Green Birdie Cane from the August 18th post: Bird Pendant Jewelry Trends on Etsy. I designed this cane using the Spring color palette. I love this chubby green bird and found that the beads from this cane had a youthful and cheerful feel to them. A feeling that we can all use in our day to day lives!

My next favorite cane of 2008 was the triangular Hollyhock Cane. It was showcased in the October 19th post: Flower Cane Pendant with Handmade Copper Findings. There are lots of things I love about this cane… its shape, the colors and the painterly way the Skinner Blends were created. I think it looks beautiful paired with copper but of course it looks great with all the metals and is a very pretty and versatile cane.

One of my very favorite cane designs, (that I still haven't made into a cane) is the petroglyph design in the middle of the photo collage. It is from the April 1st post called, Polymer Clay Ideas from Ancient Petroglyphs. It is a 'Cindyglyph' of a man eating whale. Still cracks me up when I see the grin on the whales face! Which reminds me, the next cane I make, needs to be this whale!

Another huge favorite of mine this year was the brown and black Pirate Skull and Crossbones Cane in the picture next to the whale. It was shown a few times on the blog, but this picture was taken from the April 19th post: The Biggest Problem With Hemp Jewelry Beads. I just love to make pirate beads and jewelry from this cane! The great thing about doing a quirky, distressed type image like this is that any distortion you may get while reducing this cane, just adds to the character of the image. Which means you don't have to worry about waste in this cane, since you can pretty much slice it from end to end, distortion and all. Another great thing about this very graphic design is that it can be reduced to a very tiny size and still be recognizable, which makes it perfect for Fimo Nail Art.

The Flaming Heart Tattoo Cane was also a big favorite from 2008. Featured in the November 17th post: Flaming Heart Tattoo Inspired Jewelry. I love the fun bright colors in this cane and the dramatic black outlines! Tattoo designs have become very popular in fashion and fashion accessories and this cane playfully fits right in. It is also a great design for both girls and guys!

One Polymer Clay Cane you will see used in many different projects on this site is the flower cane called the Gerbera Daisy Cane. This pretty flower cane pictured in the bottom center photo was first seen in the May 21st post How to Make Polymer Clay Pendants with a Silver Spoon. You never can have too many flower canes but this one is especially pretty. It is simple and arty and looks great large or tiny. Because I love it so much, you will see it many more times on this blog, so watch for it.

The last cane in my list of favorite polymer clay canes of 2008 is the Extruded Rainbow Quilt Cane. Even though I created this cane at the same time as the Rainbow Jellyroll Cane in the first photo, this cane was not written about on my blog until December 21st in the post: Rainbow Quilt Polymer Clay Cane Design Perfect For Pillow Beads. Though it was seen in bead form earlier. This cane is a fun one because it uses a polymer clay extruder to create long colorful logs of tinted translucent clay, which are cut and stacked to create this quilt patterned cane. Just like a regular quilt, if these blocks are combined in different rotations many, more complicated designs can be created from this one cane. Therefore making it a great cane design to add to your repertoire!

I hope you enjoyed taking a look back at my favorite canes of 2008. Make sure to visit the original posts to learn more about how these canes were made and used.

I will also be writing about some of my other favorite posts over the last year. Do you have any favorites that you think I should include in the list? I am very curious as to what you all liked, so I know better what types of things to feature in 2009. Please do leave a comment below with your votes!