Video #243: “I’m really excited about this months projects. Love anything Celtic.” ~DixieAnn-S
In the furniture making industry, high quality veneers are commonly used to cover the surfaces of finely crafted artisan pieces. Same goes for polymer clay.
Last week, I demonstrated how to make a layered faux wood cane (Vol-045-2 video), and also showed several examples of how faux wood grain can be used in your polymer clay projects.
Cindy, I just wanted to tell you how cool this faux wood looks on your son’s knife! ~Phaedrakat
Tomorrow, in the Friday Feb 17th tutorial at the Polymer Clay Tutor Library, I will demonstrate how to use your faux wood grain cane to add a beautiful veneer to the Celtic Love Knot we made in the Vol-045-1 lesson.
This 4 part February series will wrap up next as follows:
Vol-045-1 – Feb 03: How to make a Celtic Heart Love Knot Pendant
Vol-045-2 – Feb 10: How to make a faux wood cane
Vol-045-3 – Feb 17: Applying cane veneers to baked piece
Vol-045-4 – Feb 24: Making a faux wood Celtic knot necklace
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Please Note: A general prerequisite for all of my weekly tutorials is that you have a good understanding of the polymer clay basics, including: conditioning clay, using a pasta machine, clay blade and other simple tools, making Skinner Blends or Teardrop Blends, baking clay, as well as sanding and finishing. If you need help in these areas, my Polymer Clay Beginners Course will get you up to speed quickly. There is also plenty of free information on this blog. Use the search box at the top of the page to find articles on specific topics.
Supplies & Tools: Video-045-3 Faux Wood Veneer:
- Faux Wood Cane from Vol-045-2 Lesson
- Baked Polymer Heart From Vol-045-1 Lesson, for Covering with Veneer
- Clay Blade
- Sculpey Bake & Bond
- Cornstarch
- Blending Tools such as Sculpey Style and Detail Tools
for Smoothing Clay
- Acrylic Clay
- Pasta Machine
- Scissors or Exacto Knife
By the way, if you did not already know, those “shopping” links I provided above for the various tools and supplies, are “affiliate” links. That means companies like Amazon pay me a small commission if you click on the links and end up making a purchase at their site. It’s not a lot, but every bit helps in keeping the cost of my tutorials so low… at only $3.32 per month ;-)
The full version of the Vol-045-3 Faux Wood Veneer video will be posted in the Polymer Clay Members Library on Friday February 17, 2012.
The full version of the “Faux Wood Veneer” preview video shown above, is now available for purchase at the Polymer Clay Library in the Vol-045 Back Issue Package.
Customer Feedback About Membership Value:
Hi Cindy, I am new to polymer clay and designing or creating different types of medium of jewelry, and I must say I am truly loving the ability and all the possibilities of working with polymer clay. Your beginner course videos have truly helped me understand that even I can create with the gift of the way you describe and direct me on creating wonderful pieces. In the beginner lessons you introduced me to different ways to accomplish what I am wanting to create. Such as mixing, creating, shaping, firing, sanding, buffing, gluing, tumbling, and a finished product.
I also look forward to every Friday video. I have learned to create beautiful, not a lot of effort beads that fit in my time frame of doing what I love to do. Since joining I have purchased almost all the back issues, created a color mixing spreadsheet, and still have not been able to do all the projects but it is on my too do list.
I might watch one of your videos several times just to make sure I can absorb what you are saying and I so love the fact that I can replay the videos as much as I want. I truly like the fact that we can purchase the back issues because I get to learn what I would have missed had I not been able to purchase them.
So many beautiful beads and techniques I have learned to do. The possibilities are endless. I really love using the future and the E6000 adhesive. You have different ways to accomplish the same result that I can chose which way I like to do things. I can now make rings of different sizes and can make faux stones at a fraction of the cost and I can also be proud of because I am the true creator and not just an assembler. I can determine how I want my stone shaped and if I want to be able to string it or place it in a bezel. And yes all of this is from watching your beginner course which of course made me more curious and expanded my knowledge and now I am “on the roll”.
Before taking this course I knew nothing of polymer clay except that I can mix and make beads, who knew there was a whole world of possibilities out there. Thank you Cindy and keep doing what you do best. Explaining by your mistakes so I don’t have to make any! Give us the different ways to sand, buff, finish because without those tutes I wouldn’t know which way was best for me. Regards.
~Janet-S
The following topics are included in this week’s Polymer Clay Tutor Library, Faux Wood Veneer video tutorial:
- See examples of Faux Wood Projects including a Celtic Love Spoon, a Covered Utility Knife and some Celtic Knot Heart Pendants.
- Find out how simple it is to create gorgeous and realistic faux wood veneers you can add to any polymer clay project.
- Learn the secrets for adding faux wood veneers to pre-baked polymer clay beads, jewelry, and other projects like the Celtic Knot Heart Pendant.
- Plus, with some creativity and ingenuity, there are many ways to come up with other unique designs of your own.
The full version of the “Faux Wood Veneer” preview video shown above, is now available for purchase at the Polymer Clay Library in the Vol-045 Back Issue Package.
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So excited for this! Can’t wait. Better get some baked knot hearts ready!! Oh! And maybe another color wood cane. I don’t think I’ll be sleeping tonight. LOL!
Another fantastic Friday coming!!!
OHHHHHHHHHH boy -actually USING the veneer ! This has sooooo many possibilities !! Thanks in advance…………….pant pant
Absolutely brilliant! I love your work Cindy, you make it look so easy, I actually think I could do this and can’t wait to try! As always, many thanks to you and Doug for this fantastic website!
Marion
Thanks, Cindy! Another well-done video from you & your talented hubby. Some smart tips here, on how to attach a veneer or other cane to a baked piece. This addresses how important the “grain” is in wood-grain. As Cindy mentions in the tute, beginners may want to start with a solid heart/shape…or take her advice to “heart” (LOL) — by taking your time, & being patient with it! I’m inspired, and hope to make something in wood veneer asap. Thanks again! Hope everyone has fun with this…I’ll be watching for other member’s projects on Facebook!
~Kat
Nice to hear from you again Kat! You’ve been away for awhile. Hope everything is a little better for you now. I know things have been tough. Thank you for your kind words. It is always so great to have you around!
This is an excellent tutorial, loaded with information. I will watch it several times for all the specifics. It boggles my mind to see how you have condensed this to only the essentials, yet still cover all the potential problems.
great tute with lots of info.
This is a great technique! I am inspired by Fisher’s knife to cover a paring knife handle. We received this knife as a gift when we were married 43 years ago. The wood handle has started to fall apart, but I don’t want to part with it as the blade never needs sharpening. Will have to see how it goes on something like the solid heart shape first. Really like the Celtic knot heart, too. Thank you Cindy and Doug for all you do to bring us so much great information!
My gosh – Cindy you make it look so easy. With a little patience and gentle hand -this is possible!!!
What an ingenious tutel. Time and thoughtfulness went in teaching all of us how to do all the tricks and ways to make a perfectly wood veneer !!! Thank you so much. And Doug for such a clear video.
i like it so >> and i hope to make maney tutorial like that
thank u
Thank you everyone! I hope you enjoy working with veneers. You know you can use any type of clay sheet with this technique, right? I suspect you guys will take this idea and put your own spin on it. Looking forward to seeing what you can do!
Great tutorial, excellent series Cindy I love it. Thank you.
Well, that’s ingenious! …. I wouldn’t have thought of adding a veneer this way – I’ve been wanting to make faux driftwood lately, and I can see this is the way to go. Thank you so much Cindy and Doug for another brilliant (not to mention clear and well-explained as usual) tutorial! This has to be the best website ever!!!!!
Just had to TELL on myself. LOL I was too vigorous with my rolling – rolled the knots right down to nothing. !! teehee – just hafta make some more………………..;)
Are you talking about the knots in the wood grain Patt or the Celtic knot?
knots in the wood grain…………..sadly. However I AM GOING to make more – and be Careful……………thanks for asking !!
Hi Cindy,
I am really enjoying the videos but I have 1 question. In the Wood Veneer Video, you mentioned the slab that was used to take slices from was so high…it looked like from your hand’s position it might have been a 3-4 inch high and 3-4 inch wide cane. My question is if we are (especially in the wood grain) always rolling it out and down and flattening it to get a good grain, then cutting and stacking the cane to make the grain look natural, how then, does one end up with a can high and wide enough to be used to take appropriately sized (large) slices?
Thanks so much.
Sharia
Hopefully I understand you correctly Sharia. It is always harder to explain things with words than it is with a video… When you get your wood grain looking how you want it, you can reshape the cane (using your acrylic roller or a flat acrylic sheet) so that it is wider and taller but not as long in length. Alternatively you can cut the length in half or quarters and re-stack them side by side until you have the size you want. If you ever think you will need a larger ‘face’ on your cane to slice from, it would be better to use more clay at the beginning when building your cane. That will make it a little easier to deal with. Hope that helps!
Yes thank you very much!
I’m a wood turning artist and have just started with polymer clay. I have learned sooo much just watching your videos. Do you have any videos or other resources that deal specifically with wood.
Thank you,
Richard
Olympia WA
Thank you Richard, I am so glad to hear the videos have been helpful for you! Right now the only videos I have the talk about using polymer clay with wood are in a Polymer and Wood Ornaments Tutorial. You can take a look at the details and see if that interests you. I know there are some people who make there own polymer clay turning blanks, so you may want to Google that. (Though you’ll want to make sure you’re using a good quality polymer clay and that it is properly cured… Watch my videos on that. Not all YouTubers know what they’re talking about.) My husband Doug is also a woodworker though it has been quite some time since he has been able to get into the shop since he has been so busy with our business. Combining woodworking skills and polymer clay is an area we want to explore in the future though. SO if you come across any good content, make sure to let us know!