Don't you just love it when a plan comes together!

Woodland Owl Dagger Necklace

   I love making canes and I absolutely was tickled pink at how my owl cane came together.  The hardest thing for me isn't designing canes, it's how to use them after I get them completed.
   The first thing I did was to set aside all the leftover canes from my owl design.  I figured that I could use them as accent pieces for whatever I decided to put together.  Next thing to figure out - what to do with all the left over cane ends and pieces of scrap that are an inevitable part of the caning process.  Well that one is easy enough thanks to Alice Stroppel - I made a "Stroppel" Cane.  The one nice thing about using cane scraps is they make GREAT "Stroppel" canes.  You can see my left over owl parts canes and my "Stroppel" cane below!  I know I'll be using this for multiple purposes because of the wonderful color palette.
   My first experiment with my Owl Cane was a fun one - using a left over cane from experimenting with different sky techniques to make a stylized cloudy sky.

Whimsical Owl Bangle

 I covered a scrap bangle form with this cane and then added trees, leaves, and my owl.  It's very fun and whimsical - plus it gave me the added benefit of seeing how my stylized sky cane would look as a background.  It has lots of potential for more fun pieces!
   Next, I wanted to give my try to some larger tapered focal beads.  I started out with the center bead.  Using a faux ivory background, I added leaves, branches, and my owl to make a fun woodland bead. I made two slightly smaller beads with my "Stroppel" cane, tapered them and then added a faux ivory ribbon and some left over cane accents.  The three together make a fabulous trio on a simple buna cord.

Tapered Woodland Bead Set/Necklace

   The last piece I worked on ended up in a late night for me, as I fell in love with the design and couldn't stop.  I started with the same faux ivory background, but this time I shaped it into a simple dagger shape.  I added a cylinder of "Stroppel" cane with the same ivory ribbon and accents plus a round ivory bead as a top accent and bail.  You can see it pictured at the top of this blog post.
   Of course, the "Stroppel" Cane and scraps by themselves make some pretty lovely things, too!  Here is just a sampling of the wonderful creations made with leftovers that could have just as easily ended up in the scrap jar.  The frugal artist in me absolutely loves this!  And hopefully I've inspired you to think more about your leftovers, too!