Modeling from polymer clay- a painstaking, but fascinating task, and flowers made of polymer clay are no less pleasing to the eye than real ones!
In this master class I will show you how to make a heart from roses. Usually flowers are sculpted from deco clay (hearty soft, decoclay) or from “cold porcelain” clay (modena, thai clay, luna clay, etc., there are many of them).
It is also possible to make cold porcelain at home, but keep in mind that samovar porcelain is quite capricious and often cracks when drying.
To sculpt the roses, I used decoclay clay: it is light, very flexible, easy to roll out and almost does not stick to your hands. Working with her is easy and pleasant.
For this bouquet we need roses of two sizes (larger and smaller) and leaves. The heart base is about 15 cm wide, no more, so the flowers should not be very large either (the diameter of the central roses is 6–7 centimeters).
So, let's go.
Making roses from polymer clay
For the first part of the work, the actual sculpting of flowers and leaves, we will need the following tools and materials:
- clay (I used white, red, yellow and green)
- mold “rose leaf texture”
- wire for leaves - I used thin wire wrapped in green paper, number 26
- PVA glue
I will skip the color mixing step. Some people sculpt from cold porcelain and use oil paints, others sculpt from Deco-type clays, the essence is the same:
Let's take it big piece white clay and add paint or a small piece of colored clay to it. And stir until the color becomes uniform.
The roses in this master class will not be the same color as in the bouquet, but the creation principle is the same.
Little rose
Make 6 balls with a diameter of a little more than a centimeter each.
Roll out one of the balls in your palm. We try to make one edge, it will be the outer one, thin, and leave the second one thicker.
Let's twist it into a petal:
Preparing a petal in profile
This is the middle of our little rose
Set aside the center for now and roll out the remaining 5 balls into petals. Let me remind you, we make one edge thin, the other we leave thick.
In this photo, a handprint is visible on each petal.
In a flower, these imprints will appear as the natural texture of the petals.
After rolling, try to place all the petals with one side up, so that you don’t get confused later and all the visible parts of the petals in the flower are with or without texture - as you want and like.
We take our center and wrap it with the first petal. There is no need to try to tightly glue the petal along the entire length and width, just wrap it and hold it, it will stick on its own as you work.
This is what it looks like from the side. The petal is slightly higher than the middle, you can see it here. That's how it should be.
We continue to wrap the petals. We apply each subsequent petal to the edge of the previous one. That is, we place the petals not opposite each other, but as if in a spiral, overlapping. This is what we get after we have collected all the petals:
We pinch the bottom of the flower to create a “leg” like this.
With one hand we continue to hold the flower by the “leg”, with the other we carefully turn away the outer petals and make light creases on them (creases are not necessary, just for a specific composition I wanted exactly these life-like roses made of polymer clay)
Carefully cut off the stem at the very base of the flower, this is what happened:
Making a bigger rose
We make 6 balls with a diameter of about a centimeter and 6 - about one and a half centimeters.
We make the middle as we did for the small rose:
Roll all the balls into petals. We still make one edge thinner, the second thicker. We get 5 smaller petals and 6 larger ones.
First we use the smaller petals. We wrap the first one around the middle.
The second is opposite the first. We do not press the edges, we do not deliberately smooth the petal.
Having collected all the smaller petals, we begin to work with the outer large petals.
As you work, you need to ensure that the outer petals are glued at the same height or slightly higher than the inner ones. When we make a “leg” and turn away the petals, they will move down a little by themselves.
For a large rose, slightly turn away the large petal at once, without waiting until the entire flower is collected.
This is what the rose looks like from the side
We collect the whole flower (I turned away the petals in the process). We make the “leg” again.
Holding the “leg”, we adjust the petals with the other hand. We cut off the “leg”, the flower is ready.
Making leaves
I mixed white and green clay, I didn't want the leaves to be dark (Decoclay's colors are all very rich and concentrated).
Make a ball with a diameter of about 1.5 centimeters. In the future, you will need to make larger and smaller balls to get leaves of different sizes.
Let's make a sharp teardrop like this:
Flatten the droplet onto the mold with the texture of the sheet. We try to ensure that the center of the drop and the central core of the sheet texture coincide. Use your finger to gently walk along the edge of the leaf and roll it out harder: the edge should not be thick.
We do not touch the base of the leaf, the place to which the cutting should be attached, let it remain a little thicker. The bases of the leaves will be hidden, and in thicker bases it will be easier to secure the wire.
Here is our sheet:
Take a piece of wire, dip it in glue and glue it into the base of the leaf. How long this wire will be is up to you to decide; it depends on the size of the bouquet and on what distance is planned between the base and the flowers. My wire length is 6-8 centimeters.
How to dry flowers and leaves correctly
Now we leave the flowers and leaves to dry. I use upside down empty candy packaging for this purpose. The cells in it are rounded, thanks to this the leaves are obtained with a natural soft bend: the clay falls under its weight according to the shape of the cell.
It’s also good to dry flowers in such a thing: the protrusions prevent the flower from falling on its side. This is important, because if a raw flower lies on its side, it can crush itself with its weight and ruin the shape of the petals. And then all the work will go down the drain.
But it is better not to dry large polymer clay flowers in such packaging: dents may remain on the back side flower. But I've already gone astray :)
Using the method described above, we sculpt a lot of roses and a lot of leaves.
From experience: I usually end up with about 30 percent more flowers than it appears during the sculpting process. I've stepped on this rake several times, picking only half or two-thirds of the bouquet, and now I'm just making more flowers than seems necessary. But the quantity, naturally, depends on the planned size of the bouquet.
Assembling a heart from roses
All flowers and leaves are molded, dried, let's start assembling.
We will need the following materials and tools:
- oasis base (better for dried flowers, it’s gray, but I haven’t found a heart-shaped base for dried flowers)
- thick wire on which we will plant flowers (I had nine)
- in a good way - wire cutters, but I don’t have them, I use scissors
- tape
- round pliers
- PVA glue
Attaching a flower and leaves to a wire stem
It turned out that each long wire was cut into 5 parts. During the assembly process, it turned out that the wires were a little long, so I had to trim them a little.
I always prefer to cut the wire with a small margin: cutting off the excess is not difficult, and if the wire turns out to be short, there is no way to fix it.
Use pliers to make a loop at the end of the wire.
Insert the wire into the center of the rose. We try not to damage the central curl:
The loop should hide inside the rose,
it will keep the flower from accidentally shaking off
For some reason, a wire simply coated with glue and stuck into the base of a flower does not always hold the flowers well. That's why I make loops like this. They are sometimes visible in flowers, but I prefer that rather than risk that some flowers will simply fall off due to random movement. This bouquet will not be in my home, it is intended for a gift, and I want to protect the recipient from unpleasant surprises in the form of “base separately - flowers separately.”
We insert wires with loops into all the roses:
We select several small roses (I got about 10, the rest I left as is). Now we will wrap leaves to them. To do this, tear off or cut off a piece of tape. The length depends on how long the stems are planned to be connected. For me it is 5-6 centimeters. Take a piece of tape and the ends and stretch it to the sides: this will make it sticky.
We wrap two wires with tape.
We do this with all the selected small roses. In principle, you don’t have to wrap the leaves around the flowers, but it’s easier for me to then distribute the remaining leaves more evenly. This ten is like a support grid.
While working, I suddenly realized that I didn’t like the black plastic base of the heart. So I cut a strip of felt and glued it to the plastic edge. (Instead of felt, you could use ribbons, fabric, or roll out a strip of clay, but I wanted to use felt because it is somewhat similar to moss).
Here's what happened:
Let's start assembling the heart
I start with the largest flowers. I usually assemble simultaneously in the middle and along the edges - this makes it easier to ensure that the flowers are at the same height everywhere. This is important, the bouquet should not turn out lopsided.
We stick the flower in the middle and estimate the height of the rest of the bouquet using it. Let's look: what is the length of the wire between the flower and the base? Now we stick the rose to the very edge and slightly bend the wire down so that the rose better covers the ugly edge.
We compare the length of the wire at the bottom and at the top rose, it should be approximately the same. If it is different, we are guided by the bottom rose: we did not work on the “underside” of the flowers, this means that it should be carefully hidden.
If the length of the wire of the central flower is longer than the flower at the edge, stick the top flower deeper. If it is smaller than the flower at the edge, on the contrary, we pull out the rose a little. If the wire is not long enough, it will have to be replaced with a longer one. If the wire is too long and you can’t insert it deeper, cut it.
After we have decided on the height of the flowers, we take out these roses one by one, dip the ends of the wire in PVA glue and stick the flowers back in. We make sure that the height of the flowers determined at the previous stage is maintained.
We continue to collect the bouquet. We work simultaneously with the edges and the center, carefully monitoring the height of the flowers. Don't forget to dip the wire in glue. The less we take out and put in flowers, the better. Otherwise, you can exhaust the oasis so much that the wire simply stops holding on.
Once most of the larger flowers have been added, you can start adding the smaller ones. I start with those roses to which I tied the leaves. Here are collected only large flowers and roses with leaves:
Now add the remaining leaves.
We don’t add it just like that, we look at where we have gaps between the colors and put the leaves there. Perhaps if there are too many gaps, it would be better to postpone the assembly for now and add a few colors. This is what sculpting from polymer clay is characteristic of - refinement of details can continue throughout the entire process.
After all the holes through which the wire or base can be seen are filled, we stick in the leaves just for symmetry and harmony, so that it doesn’t turn out that half the bouquet is leaves, and half the bouquet is only flowers. We also dip the wires with leaves in glue. We make sure that the bases of the leaves are hidden between the flowers and do not stick out.
Hello dear readers. Here is the second edition (the third edition is available in PDF) of my very first article on the topic of polymer floristry. Since the day I wrote this article, a lot of water has passed under the bridge. I learned a lot of new things, rethought some important points for me, and even changed my opinion on something almost radically. In this article I will try to tell you as much as possible of what I know about this fascinating activity - creating artificial flowers from cold porcelain, polymer clay or even ceramics.
Flowers. How much joy they bring us. They are given as gifts for the holidays, they are bought simply for the soul, and they are grown on windowsills. But no matter how beautiful they are, cut flowers fade sooner or later, and potted flowers sometimes require such painstaking care that not every person can handle it. For many years, people have replaced natural flowers with artificial ones, trying to solve the problem of the fragility of natural flowers. They made them from stone, clay, paper, fabric, leather... And in our time, flowers made from cold porcelain and polymer clays, created specifically for polymer floristry, are becoming most popular.
Despite the fact that many people are hearing about cold porcelain only for the first time, it appeared in the middle of the last century. Many sources prefer to pay tribute to the first discovery specifically in Argentina, but there is a lot of information that it was “discovered” at approximately the same time everywhere. After all, cold porcelain itself is a simple material to make - it is based on starch and PVA glue. And only over time, when florists turned their attention to it, it began to be refined and improved in pursuit of softness and elasticity. Why is a composition that essentially has nothing to do with porcelain (starch + pva) called cold porcelain? Everything is very simple and no frills. The dried mixture resembles porcelain in appearance, and since the material does not require firing and dries on its own quite quickly, it was given the name “cold porcelain.”
I won't go into a boring story or comparative characteristics. I just want to say that today more and more polymer clays are appearing, which are similar in composition to cold porcelain, and even surpass it in technical qualities. But if you are just beginning to be interested in polymer floristry, and are not sure that you are ready to spend a significant amount of money on studying various types of plastic, as well as on purchasing a solid mountain of tools, then cold porcelain is what you need. The thing where polymer clays are unlikely to beat this simple mixture is price. Factory-made polymer clays are sold for relatively large amounts of money. For example, at the time of writing this article (beginning of 2013), polymer self-hardening clay Modena from the Japanese company Padico in Moscow costs 550 rubles per 250 grams, Sukerukun (Japan) - 900 rubles per 200 grams, Clear (Japan) - 450 rubles per 100 grams. Thai clays, which I put one step lower in quality, and also due to the absence or presence of a dubious non-toxicity certificate, cost from 300 to 450 rubles. While the material for making porcelain at home will cost you 5-10 times less. It all depends on what materials you buy and what effect you want to achieve. Of course, over time you will understand that the price problem is solved by purchasing clay in bulk for a year at once, but only those who decide to sell their products come to this. And even then, the price still remains higher, but you save in something else - the time you spend on the cooking process and your health, which few people think about, neglecting simple safety measures when preparing cold porcelain.
The second equally important quality is elasticity during sculpting. High-quality cold porcelain has an extraordinary elasticity of the material, which remains even when the clay begins to dry out a little and only particularly expensive clays (for example Sukerukun, Clear) can compare with it. This is very important, especially in cases where the master has to work for a long time with one piece of cold porcelain due to inexperience or due to the increased complexity of the product being created. Many craftsmen do not pay attention to this point and consider accuracy an excess. I'm not going to argue with them. Everyone is free to follow the path that he likes best. I prefer the path of grace, precision and tenderness. With each new product I make, I move slowly but persistently on it and don’t regret the time spent on all this accuracy one bit. Because I see the joy in people's eyes when they receive my flowers and decorations, and that's the most best indicator for me that I am doing everything right.
So, the time for lyrics has passed. I assume that since you started reading this article, you have heard something about artificial flowers made of polymer clay, flowers made of cold porcelain, ceramic floristry and the like. And you were wondering how to try to do something like this yourself? What is needed for this? How to start? Where? For what? How!!! Personally, I was overwhelmed with these questions when I realized that there wasn’t that much information on the resources I knew about. No, of course, if you set a goal, you can always find what you are looking for, but how much time was spent in order to isolate what is paramount and what is not so important to begin with. I think that many creative people We are familiar with the excitement that overwhelms us when we are fired up by a new idea. Without really knowing the technology and essence, we go to the store and buy everything related to the topic we have chosen, and only after some time we realize that about two-thirds of what we bought is either simply not needed, or will not be needed soon. When I started writing this article, my first goal was not so much to talk about cold porcelain, polymer clays and polymer floristry in general, but rather to show what a novice master might need in his first steps. How you can make do with scrap materials and keep costs to a minimum in case your passion passes. After all, not everything we want to try suits us.
I want to say right away that if you are planning to move along the path of polymer floristry, then you simply must have unlimited patience, well-developed finger motor skills, as well as a desire for neatness. And if you dare to look towards white porcelain... Then you need patience, speed and accuracy like air! The absence of any of the components does not deprive you of the right and opportunity to engage in this creativity. No way! But you must understand that realistic flowers are obtained only with the lion's share of patience, accuracy and dexterity of the fingers. Although all three of these qualities develop beautifully in the process. So, probably, the main thing is desire. Well, we have plenty of it!
Polymer and ceramic floristry
Artificial flowers made of porcelain, cold porcelain and polymer clays began to appear in our lives not so long ago. But every day more and more information is leaking out and becoming available. I would like to start, perhaps, with the fact that at the very beginning I, like many other people, was misled by the fact that cold porcelain and self-hardening polymer clay belong to ceramic floristry. This misconception was instilled in us by the first company to appear in Russia that sculpted flowers from polymer clay. Why such misinformation and confusion was created, I do not know. Perhaps the people who launched it really wanted to bring ceramic floristry to the CIS countries, but realized that distributing it to the masses is even more difficult than polymer floristry.
One way or another, remember that ceramic floristry is flowers created from clay, which must be fired. That is, made of ceramics. The most common material is white porcelain and certain varieties of it, which have very good elasticity. But, due to the high complexity of the modeling technique itself, the small circle of consumers (prices for such compositions reach hundreds of thousands of rubles) and the need to have a kiln on hand, this type of creativity is very rare, but I can assure you that the results are amazing.
With a big, very big stretch, cold porcelain, which as such is not porcelain, can be classified as ceramic floristry. Although, personally, I attribute it more to polymer floristry, which, in fact, is what we are talking about when we say “Flowers and decorations from cold porcelain” or “Flowers from self-hardening polymer clay.” Polymer floristry is the creation of flowers from various types of polymer clays. Whether it's baked polymer clay or self-hardening clay. Moreover, the degree of realism of polymer colors depends solely on the polymer clays you choose. Well, or, from the recipe for your cold porcelain. Some of them are not inferior to polymer clays in their properties and durability. But personally, I wouldn’t risk cooking these at home. I don’t recommend it to you either!
Cold porcelain and its analogues - self-hardening polymer clays
Since this article was first written, I have studied a huge variety of polymer clays and realized that my first conclusion was correct - there is no need to describe one hundred and one polymer clays in this article. But, perhaps, I will still tell you about a few of them as the ones that I remember the most. In all other cases, if you have a desire, you can go to a search engine and spend a couple of hours/days/weeks studying this material. You can spend money and buy yourself different varieties clay, in practice finding exactly the material that is most suitable for you. And here and now I will only briefly tell you what I consider necessary and what I am sure of.
First of all, it’s worth noting that all clay (let’s in the future call cold porcelain the same as one of the “brands” of polymer clay, although this is not true, but it’s easier for the story, and this does not contradict generally accepted concepts) can be divided into soft and hard, porous and smooth. There are many more different classifications, but for me they are not relevant. As I have already noticed, when it comes to sculpting techniques, people like to work either with very soft, elastic clay, or with harder, rubbery clay. My personal opinion is that elastic, soft clay allows you to make more realistic compositions that are closer to real flowers. My mind rears up when I come across a clumsy rubber material that can be used to make decorative flowers, but nothing like the real thing. Someone may disagree with me, but this entire article is my personal conclusions and reasoning, which does not claim to be training manual and common truths. I become my experience and my opinion. How to use it and what to learn from all this for yourself is up to you. So, it is for this reason that almost 80% of polymer clays are immediately eliminated. I didn't buy all the clays in a row. I read reviews about them, watched works made from them, and watched available videos. I just want to point out one thing. When buying clay, remember that almost all (or even all) of them are afraid of freezing. For this reason, do not buy clay by mail in the winter. If you want to try clay for the first time, buy it during the warm season or purchase it directly from the store. The clay will not die in the bag for a couple of hours in the cold. Frozen clay, after defrosting, loses its elastic properties and becomes “oaky” or “rubbery”. Some of them can be revived by mixing in water or glycerin cream, but in both cases the result will be, frankly speaking... a hundred times worse than the worst cold porcelain. Perhaps I’m exaggerating a little, but one way or another, flowers made from clay resuscitated after freezing do not look so “fresh.”
But let's return to our properties. The second attribute that is not unimportant for me is the texture of the material itself. I like the clay to have a smooth texture, reminiscent of Fimo polymer clays for firing/baking. That is, essentially, like very soft and elastic plasticine. For this reason, I immediately discarded two popular brands for ceramic floristry, Claycraft by Deco and Hearty by Padico. These clays have a more porous texture than I would like, although I do have the Hearty line, which I use in special cases where roughness and paperiness are needed. In addition, Claycraft is too fragile, and if you have to choose between it and cold porcelain, then the second is both cheaper and stronger. Although, if I choose between smooth polymer clays and cold porcelain, I will choose the first. Why? Because recently I believe that the polymer base is more flexible and durable. But if your main question is price at the initial stages, then I don’t see any reason for you to chase a well-known brand that you can replace with something that you can prepare yourself cheaper? The main thing is not to forget about safety precautions!
Of all the purchased polymer clays today, I liked Modena by Padico and Sukerukun clay. The second clay is just a dream! However, its price significantly reduces the excitement. The advantage of both clays over cold porcelain is that after drying, these clays become waterproof and flexible, which is not the case with cold porcelain, although flexibility can still be achieved when added to the mixture rare species PVA glue or elasticizers. Modena clay is inferior in elasticity during modeling to cold porcelain and Thai polymer clays such as Thai Clay, Modern Clay, etc. But, in my personal opinion, no clay can surpass the elasticity of Sukerukun. Perhaps this alone justifies its cost. Although, it seems to me that the price, which is almost twice as high as that of Modena, is due to the dubious transparency of the clay. Yes, undoubtedly it is the most transparent, but do not expect to get currants or grapes from it. Unreal. That's why, because of so much various properties clays, in my compositions I use combinations of different types.
For jewelry, I always use only waterproof and flexible clays. The main clay for jewelry is Modena. In cases where this clay does not cope with its elasticity, I use Sukerukun. I use the well-known waterproof clay Luna Clay in cases where I need, on the contrary, a rigid structure in decoration or compositions.
For flower arrangements I use Thai clays, or rather one - Modern Clay Blue. It is softer and more flexible than Modern Clay Green, which can be obtained from blue by “weathering”.
When I started sculpting, my arsenal was limited to Modena Clay. I want to honestly tell you that even now I can safely get by only with it. But here only curiosity and the desire to experiment, to learn something new come into play, and therefore now in my box with clay there is a whole heap of various packages “of all the colors of the rainbow.” I’m scared to even think how much money was spent on this...
So. Well, now the main question! Where to buy! It is already clear that cold porcelain can be welded yourself. Good on the Internet infinite number recipes The main thing here is not just to find a recipe, but also to see what comes out of it. Be careful and make sure that the photographs posted in the recipe were taken by the author from cold porcelain, cooked according to this particular recipe, and not collected from all over the Internet, which is more beautiful. For example, my tulips from Modern Clay Blue are now circulating on the Internet, showing the result of sculpting from cold porcelain without cooking. I very much doubt that something close to similar can happen there...
Self-hardening polymer clays can also be bought in the store. The most best place search is our native and unique Internet. Just enter the name of the brand of clay you are looking for and the word “buy”, and you will find many useful results. If you really try, you can search on Japanese and Thai sites. Clay is much cheaper there. But delivery will only pay off if you order a large batch. So, just a year in advance.
By the way, earlier in this article there was information about Fleur clay, which, as they say, is still the same Modern Clay. I still remain of the opinion that Fleur is inferior in quality to Modern Clay. And I don't plan to change it. At least until frozen or old clay with broken package seals stops appearing on the shelves. Of course, you can also find low-quality goods from other sellers, but Fleur is found here (at least in Moscow) more often than other polymer clays. Not to mention the fact that its price is twice as high as Modern Clay... In general, just be careful when buying clay, even in a tight package it should sag well under your fingers. And Modena is even more so - it completely flattens out at the corner. However, I am in no way saying that the “fresh” Fleur itself is bad material. It's just very difficult to find. Even if you buy directly from this company's store.
But regardless of the brand and the freshness of the clay, it must be stored in an airtight condition. Cling film allows air to pass through, so in addition to it, it is best to wrap the clay in plastic wrap. Then even the tinted pieces will last quite a long time.
Secondary materials and tools
The purpose of this subsection is not to list everything for you existing options tools and materials, but tell us what you will need at the very beginning, and what you can replace it with.
Paints
The most basic of the secondary materials, which is difficult to refuse, is paint. Paints are applied on top of the finished product; they are also added directly to the clay, giving it the desired color. Professionals use oil paints because, unlike acrylic paints, they do not contain water and do not dry as quickly, and therefore do not speed up the hardening process of the clay, and do not require as much fiddling with them as with pastels, after which everything around is covered. a thin layer of colored dust. Also, when tinting with oil paints, you can make beautiful and smooth transitions that cannot be achieved when working with acrylic.
Can be used like the cheapest oil art paints, and expensive. The only difference is that cheap paints can sometimes have unexpected effects on the clay. For example, many are faced with the fact, and I also experienced this, that the blue colors of Sonnet and Master Class, when added to a samovar cold porcelain, lead to the appearance of very unpleasant odor at the clay. This smell disappears after drying, but working with such material is unpleasant. Or, for example, a sonnet contains such a quantity linseed oil that it just pours out of the tube instead of paint. You have to constantly monitor the process, and this is not always possible. One of the recommended firms is Winsor & Newton. Oil from this company can be bought in almost any art store. These are the paints I use. My color palette is quite large, since I paint pictures with the same paints. To get started, you can buy an inexpensive, small set of oil paints from Sonet of 12 colors. It doesn’t cost much, and if you don’t like polymer floristry and don’t find another use for the oil, you won’t be so sorry for the money you spent.
I also use water-soluble oil from Winsor & Newton, but only for toning and texturing already dried products. This allows me to avoid using solvents and thinners, which then give me such a terrible headache. Adding such oil to clay reduces its elasticity time. Even in a sealed bag, the clay begins to lose it over time. But adding regular oil paints, on the contrary, increases elasticity. After you add a little color and mix the clay well until the shade is uniform, wrap it in film and let it sit for about five minutes. You can even warm it a little in your hands. Then stir the clay again and you will see how elastic it has become.
Please note that there are two types of white in oil paints. Zinc and titanium. In polymer floristry, zinc white is mainly used. They retain the porcelain quality of the clay and, in small portions, even transparency. Titanium white completely kills transparency, and also makes the clay look like plastic; in addition, such clay very quickly loses its elasticity during sculpting and often even begins to crumble. But sometimes you will still need titanium white.
Glue
Almost all flowers are made in parts, and these parts then need to be somehow connected. Usually, the most common PVA glue is used for these purposes. However, it is worth remembering that PVA glue perfectly connects raw material to raw or dried material, but two dried pieces of clay most likely will not be connected using PVA. And then you will need something more reliable. The simplest solution is super glue for a second or moment. They grip instantly and firmly. Especially fingers with clay... Usually both PVA and super glue are available in every home, and if they are not there, then purchasing them is not a problem.
Many florists use latex glue instead of PVA. Outwardly, it looks like PVA glue, when it dries it becomes transparent, and is specially designed for working with plastic. Although, like PVA, it is difficult to connect two dried parts made of cold porcelain or polymer clay. Personally, I don’t see much point in buying this glue in the early stages. If you decide to sell your work, then it’s worth looking for similar glue. I'm purchasing big bottle and pour myself a little. Since latex glue has a habit of drying out, becoming tighter or completely drying out. Because you always forget to close the glue jar while sculpting.
Wire
Most flowers are based on a wire frame. Depending on the size of the flower, the wire can be either very thin or as thick as a pencil lead. Perhaps this is a tool that is difficult to replace with something and which you will need sooner or later. And usually sooner rather than later. Therefore, if you are planning to get into polymer floristry, then you definitely need to probe the soil of your city to see where you can buy wire. You can buy it at construction markets and craft stores (I bought my first wire at a beading store)... I think you can find many more places if you try hard. In specialized floristry stores, the wire is sold in coils. Usually in green or white. To be honest, this winding is of no use to us. More inconvenience, most likely. But such wire looks more beautiful and is more pleasant to work with, although sometimes the winding has a habit of getting shaggy and untwisted at the ends, and it has to be glued, which, of course, is a little annoying. Personally, I prefer unwound wire. I really like the dyed wire that bead stores sell. Moreover, such wire is also cheaper.
Tape Tape
This tricky tape is not sold in every city. Several years ago it was difficult to find even in Moscow. Perhaps only in rare specialized floristry stores. Now things are simpler. In polymer floristry, tape is needed to connect parts to the frame if they are mounted on wire. Double-sided adhesive tape tightens all the wires very well, turning them into a neat stem, which can then, if desired, be rolled in clay. But even without running in, such stems already look pretty good. Without tape you will have a hard time. If you have no way to buy tape... well... then you'll have to improvise. You can try using construction paper tape. This, of course, is still a substitute, but it’s better with it than without anything at all. The main thing is, don’t forget to roll the stem afterwards, otherwise the flower won’t look very beautiful.
Tape happens different colors. We will need the green ribbon most of all, but you can also buy brown if you find it or any other if you don’t find the colors you need. Better with tape than without it!
Cling film and modeling mat
I believe that it is not worth explaining the necessity and essence of these two items. You can do without them, but the film will help preserve your clay for a long time, and the mat will organize your workspace and allow you to keep it clean while you work. If you're really at a loss, you can buy a paper cutting mat (they're usually green with centimeter dividers) and an airtight container for wrapped paper. cling film polymer clay. This will provide an additional guarantee against drying out and will organize the dozens of colorful pieces that will accumulate over time.
Scissors, wire cutters, side cutters, etc.
You will have a hard time working without small scissors. In the first couples, ordinary ones will suit you nail scissors, but in the future I strongly advise you to find and buy small scissors with straight and long, thin blades. The thinner and longer the steel, the better. I had to spend several weeks before I could find the scissors I needed at an affordable price in the next store.
You will also find it useful in the future:
- round nose pliers - if you are going to make jewelry using fittings
- tweezers - sometimes the parts are so small that your fingers begin to seem thick and clumsy, and you can also quickly make loops on a thin wire with tweezers
- side cutters - for cutting thick wire
- pliers - for straightening and bending thick wire
Most tools can be easily found in any home. And if you don’t have them, then, in my opinion, it’s time to get them!
Stacks
The last series of important tools are stacks. Unfortunately, most sculpting stacks won't work. Here you need your own specific stacks. But over time, perhaps you will buy something from ordinary sculptor stacks, depending on your desires and needs. Our two main stacks look like this:
Knitting needle
In the form of a stick with balls at the ends
If you have the opportunity, it is better to immediately buy such stacks. Various sizes and more! If you have a sane person in your head, it's best to first understand what stacks you'll need.
The first basic stack looks a lot like a thick knitting needle. On one side the diameter of the circle is 1.5-2 mm, and on the other 4-5 mm. Despite its size, I can even roll out miniature lilacs and forget-me-nots with this stack. A smaller stack that I bought later and looks like a thin knitting needle is used by me to create very small flowers, for example, heather or miniatures. In general, to summarize, I want to say that first you should try out some available materials, and only then, based on this knowledge, buy yourself a stack. Although there is not much variety among them. As a substitute, you can use a knitting needle, a stick from Japanese cuisine or even an awl. For example, I started with sewing.
The second stack of balls seems indispensable, but it is not. Just find a strong stick (brush, pencil, thick wire) and glue smooth beads of the size you need to it. For example, for a very long time I used a cold porcelain ball mounted on a wooden stick. Only much later did I buy myself a set of different-sized stacks and, in fact, I didn’t feel much of a difference. Well, besides the fact that iron tools are still better than light brushes and an equally light ball.
A useful tool, in my opinion, is a roller knife. I remember studying it in surprise, not knowing where to use it, but then it turned out that with such a knife it was very good to cut out the necessary shapes from a rolled out layer of clay or to make indentations in the clay for rolling a stem. However, you can do just fine without this tool, but if you buy it for yourself, it definitely won’t be superfluous. The main thing is to immediately buy steel, not plastic.
Molds and cutters
This is where you can pour your money endlessly. Molds and cutters make a florist's life much easier, but if you don't have a bottomless bag of gold, then you should think ten times before buying a mold or cutter.
A mold is a texture imprint from a petal or leaf of a living flower, which we use to give a realistic resemblance when sculpting. It will be difficult to do without molds, but many flowers can still be sculpted without them, so don’t rush to buy molds. Firstly, they are expensive, and secondly, you can make them yourself.
To do this you will need:
- plasticine.
- epoxy or the most common one silicone sealant.
- the leaf from which you want to make an impression.
First, roll out a piece of plasticine and attach a leaf to it. This way you will get a print. Around this print, stick more plasticine in the form of sides. Fill the resulting “container” with the prepared epoxy resin or silicone sealant (remember to carefully smooth the sealant so that it fills all the recesses). Let dry and remove the plasticine. That's the whole story. You can also order two-component silicone paste from the USA, which is suitable not only for creating various impressions, but also for making baking molds. So if you are also involved in decorating cakes, then you can safely create molds for yourself in this area. To create such a silicone mold, you need to mix two components and make an impression on the resulting mass, which is very similar to our polymer clay. After a few hours, the silicone will completely harden. And the mold can be used. Also, in summer and spring, you can simply use live foliage as molds, but closer to autumn, I still advise you to take care of the supply of necessary molds.
As for cutters - molds for flowers and foliage, I personally think that they kill the vibrancy of a flower, but sometimes you still can’t do without them. Identical, boring petals do not look very natural where nature allows disproportions. If you use cutters, do not forget to work on each leaf and petal after this, adding individuality to it, changing the shape a little. Cutters are very expensive, and many craftsmen make them by hand from tin cans, cutting them into strips and then shaping them into the desired shape. Some cutters are quite useful, but most can still be dispensed with or use cardboard patterns that can be applied to a rolled out piece of clay and then carefully cut out with scissors or a roller knife. You won't need cutters for the first few days, so you can safely forget about them.
Pasta machine
I won’t tell you which car is better to choose and how to use it. I can only say one thing - most pasta machines are simple cars for rolling out the most common dough of different thicknesses. You won't need a paste machine for quite some time, but if you want to speed up the process of sculpting flowers whose petals and leaves need to be cut out with cutters, then a paste machine will save you a lot of time. Not only that, it will roll out your layer of clay evenly and, no less important, it will not leave your fingerprints on it. Don't forget that unlike baked plastic, our polymer clay is very sticky and can get wrapped around the rollers of your pasta machine. Therefore, it is best to roll the clay in a special film or “file”. Both can be bought at any polymer floristry store along with a pasta machine.
Cream
At my master classes, I often come across the fact that always at the very beginning, when I talk about tools, the question arises ahead of time: “Why do you need a cream and what kind?” Firstly, there is a misconception that cream can restore clay. I must say that I myself am in this for a long time I believed until I realized in practice that the main meaning of the cream is completely different - it is used in cases where your clay sticks too much to your hands and tools. It also helps a little, just a little, to restore the elasticity of the clay, but not its ductility. These are slightly different concepts. To restore the clay itself, you need to mix into it what it lost when it became hard, namely water. Cream, as a more liquid substance than the clay itself, can partially restore elasticity by replacing water, but in large quantities cream leads to disruption of the clay structure. And great disappointment on the part of the creator.
Which cream is right for us? Yes, absolutely anything containing glycerin. I used Velvet Handles for a long time, and then I bought a pleasant-smelling Pond’s cream, which is available in large quantities in polymer floristry stores. Perhaps its main advantage is the wide neck of the jar.
Well then. That's probably all I wanted to say about the materials. As you can see, I spoke very briefly and little, but it seems to me that I said the most important thing:
- which clay is best to start with?
- what paints are best to buy?
— what tools may be useful in the beginning
You will find out the rest yourself, gradually learning techniques, tricks, and tricks.
In the next part I will tell you about.
In the meantime, you should stock up on the materials necessary for it:
- In the meantime, you should stock up on the materials necessary for it: Polymer clay (you can weld it yourself or buy Modena, Modern Clay, Thai Clay polymer clay)
- Set of oil paints “Sonnet” 12 colors small, brushes No. 1, 2, 4 (synthetic or kolinsky, preferably flat or oval), N8 (fluffy round brush made of very soft synthetic), thinner
- Wire No. 28x12 - 22 pcs (wire for beads of medium thickness is also suitable, it should withstand the weight of the flower and not bend in half from it)
- Wire No. 18x12 – 1 pc.
- PVA glue (or latex glue)
- Green or brown tape
- Nail scissors (preferably with straight tips)
- Basic stack (or something that can replace it, such as a spoke)
- Patience and good mood!
If you have any questions, please ask! If I know the answers to them, I will definitely share the information.
When copying a lesson to other resources, remember that you agree that the lesson should be posted as is. You are also required to indicate the original source - that is, establish a link to this resource.
vakharaThis hairpin, with delicate peony, lilac flowers and blackberries made from polymer clay, will become a trendy decoration for a summer hairstyle. The hairpin is quite light, despite its bulk appearance, so it won’t weigh down your hair noticeably - its comfortable wearing is guaranteed by a good foundation, and the decor itself definitely won’t hurt. In our master class, anyone can make such beautiful flowers from polymer clay, even a novice needlewoman, including those who have not yet worked with polymer.
To create flowers from polymer clay in this master class you will need:
polymer clay in peach, pink, green, light green, white, black, maroon, lilac, yellow;
acrylic paint green and brown;
art pastels in raspberry and orange colors;
wire 0.8mm;
wire 1mm;
green tape;
quick-drying glue;
metal clip-clip 12cm;
rolling pin for polymer clay;
breadboard knife;
thin knife for polymer clay;
pliers;
brush;
universal mold with petal texture;
mold with raspberry leaf texture;
mold with peony leaf texture;
Flowers made of polymer clay: detailed master class with photos
Peony flower made of polymer clay: master class
Knead peach-colored polymer clay and roll it into a layer 1 mm thick. Cut it into strips 2 cm wide. Cut narrow triangles along the edges of the strips so that deep notches form on the strip.
Take a wire 1 mm thick and cut a piece 5 cm long from it. Since we will have one peony and one closed bud, we will need two such pieces. Form balls with a diameter of 1.5 cm from the foil. Bend the ends of the wire pieces with pliers, grease them with glue and put the foil balls on them.
Stick fluffy peach-colored tufts to the bottom of a ball of foil on a wire, and lift the ends up so that the foil is not visible. Make several rows of these bunches in this way.
Now we sculpt the petals for the pink flower. To do this, roll out pink polymer clay into a layer 2 mm thick and use a breadboard knife to cut out peony petals with slightly wavy edges. The length of the petals is about 1.5-2cm. The number of petals depends on how lush the peony you want to get. I needed about 15 petals.
Take a petal and press it along the edges with your fingers to make it thinner. Moisten a mold with the texture of a peony or rose petal with water, place the petal on it and press down. Process all the petals in this way.
Place the peony petals on a sponge or a special mat and treat their center with a rounded dowel so that they become concave.
Stick the petals to the underside of the fluffy peony core in several rows.
And to make a peony bud from polymer clay, take a wire with a ball of foil and cover the ball itself with several petals.
Scrape the raspberry-colored pastel with a knife and apply it with a brush to the underside of the bud and peony. Notice how the open peony is positioned. It must be in an upright position. I placed a square of cardboard on the peony wire so that the cardboard would support the peony petals from below. And I clamped the wire with the peony with a wooden clothespin. In this position it can be baked later.
Lilacs made of polymer clay: master class
To make lilac flowers, form from clay lilac color droplets 1 cm long. Cut the wide end of the drop with a blade or thin knife crosswise into four parts.
Insert a narrow stack into the center of the cut and roll out each part on your finger using the stack to form a flower with four thin petals.
Cut the wire 0.8 mm thick into pieces 4 cm long. Use pliers to bend small loops at the ends of the pieces. The number of segments should be the same as the number of flowers you need. In this case there will be 13 of them. Roll out thin flagella 0.5 cm long from yellow polymer clay, and put them into bundles of 3 pieces. Attach one bundle to the loops at the ends of the wire pieces.
Take a lilac flower from polymer clay, use a toothpick to make a through hole in it and through the hole put the flower on a piece of wire with yellow stamens. When the stamens are in the center of the flower and the wire is not visible, lightly press the flower from below and roll it between your fingers so that it sticks to the wire. Similarly, place all the other flowers on the wire with stamens.
Blackberries (or raspberries) made from polymer clay
Now let's start sculpting the blackberries. To do this, prepare 5 more pieces of wire 5 cm long, bend loops at the ends. Place an egg-shaped lump of black polymer clay with a diameter of 0.7-0.5 cm on the loop of each piece.
Roll a lot of balls about 3mm in diameter from black and maroon polymer clay.
Now stick these balls around the lumps on the wire, use black and burgundy balls mixed to make the blackberries look more natural. When the berries are collected, use a plastic knife to make a small vertical groove on each bobblehead. Insert the wire bases of the berries into a hemisphere of crumpled foil and bake them along with the peony and bud in the oven for 10 minutes at the temperature indicated on the clay package.
Leaves for flowers made of polymer clay
For the leaves you need to prepare the stems. To do this, cut a 1 mm thick wire into 10-12 pieces 6-7 cm long. Place a ball of green clay on the piece and stretch it evenly along the wire so that half of it is covered with a layer of green clay. Prepare 4 more stems in the same way. Cover the remaining sections with light green clay.
Roll out the light green clay into a layer 2 mm thick and cut out 5-7 blackberry leaves from 2 to 3 cm long. Use a knife or other suitable tool to cut small notches along the edges of the leaves.
Using a mold with a raspberry leaf texture, print veins on the leaves.
Cut out peony leaves from green clay and also make veins on them with a suitable mold.
Take one peony leaf and attach the end of a wire covered with green clay to it; its end should reach approximately the middle of the vertical vein of the leaf. Now pinch the leaf from the bottom so that the leaf is fixed to the stem. In this way, stick all the peony leaves to the stems, and stick the blackberry leaves to the light green stems. Place the finished leaves on cotton wool rolls.
To make sepals for peonies, roll out green clay thinly and cut out the sepals suitable size with a knife. Apply orange pastel to the ends of the sepals.
Place the sepals on the sponge, tinted side down, and work them with dumbel.
For blackberry sepals, mix light green clay with a piece of white, roll out thinly and cut out a strip 1 cm wide. Using a knife, cut the strip into narrow triangles.
Cover the stems of the berries with the same clay from which the sepals were cut out for them. Then stick 5 triangles to the berries near the base of the stem, bend the ends of the triangles up. The stems in some places can be tinted with orange pastel.
Now insert the polymer clay blackberries into crumpled foil, stick the sepals to the pre-baked peonies and place the bud on the foil, and place the open peony on the cotton wool. Bake peony flowers, berries, lilac flowers and leaves according to the clay instructions.
After baking, cover the raspberry leaves with green or dark green acrylic paint, and when the paint dries a little, wipe it off with a damp cloth: this way the paint will remain only in the recesses of the veins.
Tint the ends of the raspberry leaves with brown paint.
Assembling hairpins from flowers and berries from polymer clay
Collect lilac flowers in bunches of several pieces and connect them together using tape.
Now you need to collect the bouquet. To do this, take a small raspberry leaf, wrap another leaf around it, then wrap a sprig of lilac and a couple of blackberries. And then wrap the leaves, berries and flowers with tape in the desired order to get the composition you like. Cut off the excess wire at the end of the composition with wire cutters and wrap the cut with tape. Secure the end of the tape with glue.
Prepare 2 pieces of 0.8 mm wire, 8 cm long. Attach your composition to the clip-pin and tie it with wire to the upper half of the clip in two places - at the beginning and end of the branch. Cut off the excess wire; Bend the ends inward, under the leaves. Then wrap the places where the composition is attached to the hairpin with a narrow strip of tape. And in the place where the composition comes into contact with the hairpin, drop a few drops of liquid quick-drying glue and wait for it to dry completely.
A hairpin with flowers made of polymer clay (peonies and lilacs) and blackberries is ready! Summer is coming - let's prepare for it in advance!
Ekaterina Starkova (Luna) specifically for the site
Looking at these artificial flowers, you never cease to be amazed - they are absolutely life-like! What's the secret? How can you create such beauty? It turns out that polymer clay is capable of such miracles. But material is not everything to achieve such a result.
If you want to sculpt beautiful flowers from polymer clay yourself, you need to consider the following points.
Which clay is best?
There are several types of polymer clay, and not all of them are suitable for creating flowers. That is, of course, you can sculpt them from any clay, but the effect and quality will be different. Not only flowers are made from polymer clay, but also dolls, decorative figurines, and jewelry. Each case has its own clay that is best suited.
Flowers made from polymer clay cannot be distinguished from real ones!
To create naturalistic flowers, light self-hardening clays are used (there is no need to bake them, they harden themselves in the air). In terms of their plastic properties, they resemble marshmallows: they stretch easily and roll out thinly. The most famous self-hardening clay for creating flowers is ClayCraft Deco made in Japan. It is especially recommended for beginners in sculpting. It contains cellulose, which is why flowers made from it are light, matte and thin, like paper. They cannot be washed - only clean with a dry brush.
Cold porcelain (one of the types of self-hardening polymer clay) has been developed specifically for making flowers. With its advent, such a direction of creativity as ceramic floristry was formed. Flowers made from this material are so naturalistic that in photographs they can hardly be distinguished from the real thing.
Ceramic floristry is a separate direction of creativity
You can buy ready-made cold porcelain - for example, brands Modena, Modern or Fluer. Or you can prepare clay for sculpting flowers yourself: it’s very simple. Here is one of the recipes.
We will need:
- corn or potato starch
- PVA glue
- baking soda
- petrolatum
Starch (two tablespoons) needs to be ground with a teaspoon of Vaseline (it’s most convenient to do this in a ceramic plate or shallow bowl). Add a good pinch of soda to the resulting mixture and mix. Now we begin to gradually introduce glue until the “dough” becomes elastic enough, but not too thick or tight. If you overdo it, dilute it with glue. Knead the lump by greasing your hands with Vaseline. Porcelain is ready for use. After sculpting from it, no additional processing is required - you just need to let it dry. Finished goods are covered acrylic paints.
Ready-made self-hardening clays are only available in white, gray or terracotta colors. But baked polymer clay (plastic) has a wide color scheme. In addition, it may include glitter, filler that imitates metal or stone, and be translucent or fluorescent colors. Figures made from it should be baked in the oven (but under no circumstances in the microwave!) or simply boiled like dumplings to give them hardness. The finished products are very durable, and thin parts are flexible, easily recoverable after deformation. original form. So, for example, a petal no thicker than a millimeter, bent almost in half, will not break, but will return to its original position. Valuable quality for polymer clay jewelry. But this result is obtained only when it is fired correctly.
Rules for baking plastic
If you have chosen baked polymer clay as your modeling material, you can only welcome your decision. Plastic products do not lose their shape, are not afraid of water and do not fade over time. They can be polished, varnished, or coated with acrylic paints. The plastic itself is very easy to use. It is as easy to sculpt from it as from plasticine; it can be rolled out, baked and cut out into parts and figures with scissors or a knife.
The only difficulty is the baking process. If you underexpose or overexpose it, all your work will be in vain. But if you strictly follow the instructions, this is not a problem.
Before going into the oven, the figures are placed on ceramic tiles, old earthenware dishes or metal baking tray covered with baking paper.
For better “baking”, flowers (or other products) need to be placed on toothpicks or pins and stuck into a wad of foil.
Strict compliance temperature regime– the main condition for successful “baking” of thermoplastics. You must adhere to exactly the level specified by the manufacturer. In one case it may be 110 degrees, in another – 130.
At a temperature lower than required, flowers and other crafts made from polymer clay turn out brittle and very fragile, and at a higher temperature they darken and become glossy. A significant increase in temperature leads to complete deformation of the product, it spreads and begins to release toxic gas.
It is important not only to sculpt it beautifully, but also to bake it correctly!
An oven thermometer will help you monitor the correct temperature.
It’s not scary if you keep the product in the oven a little longer than expected at the required temperature, but if you don’t keep it in the oven, it may begin to crumble over time. A timer will help you stick to the time frame exactly.
When firing clay, take precautions: remove children from the kitchen and open the window for ventilation, put all food in the refrigerator or under plastic wrap, do not “bake” clay with food. After firing, wash the oven thoroughly, wash your hands with soap, wipe off any clay stuck to your palms with a sponge soaped with dishwashing detergent (after this you need to throw it away). In its “raw” form, thermoplastic is not toxic, but when heated, everything changes.
How to sculpt flowers from polymer clay
In addition to the material, to make flowers from polymer clay you also need to have:
- Latex gloves or finger pads. It is not always convenient to work in them, but fingerprints will not remain on the products, spoiling their appearance. Gloves should be your size - they fit tighter to your fingers and interfere less with your work.
- Knives. To cut out petals and other parts of a flower, it is better to use a sharp stationery knife; a blade will also do. They allow you to avoid deformation of the product when cutting.
- Stacks. To draw veins on the petals and leaves of a flower, you will need toothpicks, knitting needles or special metal stacks, which can be found in Drawing supplies stores.
- Rolling pin. You can roll out clay glass bottle or a special glass rolling pin.
To sculpt beautiful flowers and floral arrangements, you don’t need to have any special artistic abilities, but perseverance, patience and skill will come in very handy.
You can start with the simplest thing - modeling a rose from clay for jewelry.
You will need: baked pink polymer clay and rubber gloves.
Do you want to learn how to sculpt flowers from polymer clay with your own hands - our master class will help you. Such beautiful, realistic flowers and sakura buds can be used for hairpins, brooches, and wedding decorations. We will also make stamens for flowers.
To work you will need:
- Polymer clay pink and white.
- Stationery knife.
- Toothpicks.
- The wire is thin.
First you need to prepare polymer clay with a color change, from white to pink. Take white and pink clay and cut it.
Fold and stretch a piece of plastic until you get a transition like this:
We sculpt and shape the flower petals. We stretch our clay and cut a piece into petals 1-2 mm thick. Then use your fingers to form drop-shaped petals.
Then use your fingers to form drop-shaped petals. For one flower you need from 8 to 12 petals. We assemble the product starting from the middle.
Add the sepals to the flower and bake. The flower can be made larger or smaller. Large buds are more suitable for hair decorations (clips and hairpins). Such products are fired on toothpicks.
Then we make a bud. All buds are molded the same way. In order to make a sakura bud, take a wire (a piece 12-15 cm long), make a loop at one end and glue this loop into a piece of plastic. We form a “droplet” on the wire.
We need to make sepals for flowers and buds. Sakura, rose, cherry, sepals consist of five petals. We need a drop of green plastic. Use a toothpick to make a sepal.
We string the finished green bowl onto a wire and press it to the bud.
We bake our product in the oven. See baking rules.
If you are interested in making artificial flowers from polymer clay, fabric or other materials, then you probably had to purchase ready-made artificial stamens in specialized stores. You can make more beautiful stamens for flowers yourself. There are many ways to do this. We will tell you how to make them using pata and how it is prepared.
The word pat in this case means a special mixture from which it is convenient to make stamens and other decorative elements V various fields creativity.
How to make a stalemate
To do this you will need:
- PVA glue.
- Starch.
- Small capacity.
- Spoon.
- Wire, fishing line or other material for the bases of the stamens.
- Gouache.
Pour a small amount of starch into the container and add PVA glue, mix everything thoroughly with a spoon. You should get a homogeneous mixture of the thickness you need. The more glue you add, the thinner it will be. To make a stamen, wrap a small piece of cotton wool soaked in PVA glue around the edge of a thin wire or fishing line, then dip it in the patty and wrap it around the wire, you should get a ball or droplet of the desired size.
Make the desired number of stamens in this way and leave them to dry.
When the stamens are dry, you can paint them with gouache and, if desired, open them with varnish. You can also add gouache directly to the patina during its preparation. This is how you can quickly and easily make beautiful stamens. And it is possible that they will turn out even more beautiful than store-bought ones.
