In the 30s of the last century, such wonderful craft material as polymer clay was invented. At first parts of the dolls were made from it, but the plasticity, the convenience of working with the material and the durability of the products quickly won the hearts of the masters, and they began to use clay to create souvenir figurines and jewelry. Polymer clay is especially popular in the manufacture of floral arrangements. Ceramic floristry has become an independent art form, and interior flowers created using this technique can argue for beauty with living plants. Refinement and durability have made them an integral attribute of wedding celebrations. After all, a bouquet of plastic will not fade and will delight you with beauty for many years, recalling the birthday of the family.
In this material we will tell you how to make peonies from polymer clay with your own hands, what type of clay is suitable for interior colors and jewelry and what tools will be needed for work. So, let's begin.
Types of clay
Polymer clay is a material for decorative creativity, from which dolls, jewelry, small sculptures, and interior flowers are created. There are 2 types of plastics:
- self-hardening;
- thermoplastics.
The first type of material, depending on the underlying components, is “heavy” and “light”. "Heavy" plastic is used to create dolls and their individual parts. In structure, it resembles natural clay. Products from the material are rough, they can be polished, painted with oil and acrylic paints, varnished. The disadvantage of ceramic is the high degree of shrinkage of the products after drying and the likelihood of cracks.
When creating dolls, professional craftsmen use a special "doll" clay, which allows you to adjust the product even after it dries: grind, trim the excess. Clay can even be soaked if necessary to change the composition. Its main advantage is less severe shrinkage.
“Light” plastics are used to create floral arrangements. The most popular clay made in Japan is cellulose-based. This is a very soft and plastic material that allows you to create thin translucent petals that are visually almost indistinguishable from natural ones. Ready-made flowers are matte and resemble paper. Such products do not tolerate moisture. A bouquet of polymer clay peonies will decorate the living room or bedroom and will never fade.
The origin of ceramic floristry as an art is associated with the advent of “cold porcelain”. It is based on a mixture of PVA glue and corn starch. On sale, the most common material is white, tinted with oil paint. Finished products can be painted with acrylic. Flowers from “cold porcelain” are flexible and realistic, they are not afraid of moisture. Polymer clay peonies are recommended by craftsmen to make precisely from this type of plastic. The special properties of the material allow you to use it to create exquisite jewelry, decorated with tiny, almost "living" flower arrangements. In the photos presented in the article, polymer peonies look so realistic that they are difficult to distinguish from real ones!
The second type of polymer clay, thermoplastics, is made on the basis of polyvinyl chloride and plasticizers, which evaporate when heated. Bake products at a temperature of 110-130 degrees Celsius in an oven or boil. Thermoplastic products are durable and resilient. This clay is great for creating jewelry, so if you decide to make a brooch with peonies from polymer clay, then choose it. The material can be liquid (in the form of a gel), ordinary (similar in structure to wax plasticine), translucent and with fillers (metallic powder, sparkles, etc.).
Tools and materials
Before you start creating a full-sized peony made of polymer clay, you need to prepare materials and tools for the job.
- "Cold porcelain". Beginning needlewomen are recommended to use cellulose-based plastic, but from “cold porcelain” more durable products are obtained and it can be tinted with oil paints in a “raw” state.
- Latex adhesive. Useful for connecting parts.
- Solvent and oil paints. White, red, green.
- Molds. These are special blanks imitating the texture of petals and leaves of natural flowers. They are made from acrylic, silicone, epoxy and other suitable materials. Molds can be purchased in specialized stores or made independently. If peony textures are not found at hand, you can use rose roses for the petals, and hydrangeas for the leaves.
- Thick and thin wire. The first is for the stem, the second is for the leaves.
- Round pliers.
- Clay rolling pin, stacks of different sizes, stacks with balls on the ends, roller knife, manicure scissors.
- Tape tape. It will be needed to fix the leaves to the stem.
- Glue and paint brushes.
Beginners are often interested in the question: how to mold a peony from polymer clay. This is nothing complicated, the main thing is to be patient, have time and quality materials for work.
Leaves
So, let's start with the manufacture of polymer clay peony leaves.
We cut a thin wire into pieces 7-8 cm long. It will take 6 bases.
Now you need to knead the clay. Knead a piece of plastic and add a little green oil paint to the middle, carefully, so as not to get dirty, knead the material until a uniform color is obtained. Next, we roll out a layer about 2 mm thick. Using a roller knife, cut 2 shamrocks and 4 leaves. Workpieces can be adjusted with scissors. The edges of the leaves are wrapped in a stack with a ball so that they become more subtle and realistic. Next, you need mold. We transfer the texture of the veins, gently pressing the plastic blanks to the mold, and then bend the leaves along the central vein and put the wire smeared with glue inside. Leave to dry.
Petals
First, we will make the core of the peony from polymer clay.
Using round-nose pliers at the end of a thick wire we make a loop. This is the future stem. We roll a ball with a diameter of about 1 cm from green plastic. We give it a drop-shaped shape. We cut the narrow tip of the workpiece with scissors into 5 parts. Try to keep them approximately the same. Spread the ends in different directions. The result was an asterisk. We lubricate the loop on the wire with glue and “put” on it the core of the future peony. We remove excess glue, level the plastic and smooth the joints. Using a roller knife we push five grooves along the core, simulating the vein relief. Leave the workpiece to dry.
To make peony petals from polymer clay, you need a large piece of plastic. We tint it with red oil paint. The peony has three varieties of petals: small narrow, medium and round large. To create the first type, you need a piece of clay with a diameter of 1 cm. We give it the shape of a drop in the height of the petal. Roll the workpiece in a stack, creating the desired shape. The edge is slightly torn so that the workpiece becomes as similar as possible to a real petal. With a stack, we draw longitudinal veins, slightly crush the workpiece and send it to dry. Small petals need to make 12-15 pieces.
The stub blank must be placed in a vase or bottle and bent for the convenience of fixing the petals. Next, glue the petals to the core of the flower. It is not recommended to turn over the workpiece during operation, as the flower may lose its shape. When the first batch of petals is fixed, set the work to dry and proceed to the manufacture of medium sized petals.
The technology of sculpting the middle petals does not differ from the above, however, plastic for each workpiece will need 2 times more. For the future peony, you need to blind 15-20 medium petals.
The last species is large petals. They need to be given a slightly cupped shape using a stack with a round head, and make the edge look like a “heart”. The relief is attached to the workpiece using mold. The petal is stamped on both sides. Such blanks will need 10-12 pieces. Ready dried petals are glued to the stem.
The flower bowl is ready. Now you need to let her dry. Until the glue and plastic have completely dried, the flower should not be turned over.
Sepal
While the flower dries, we will engage in modeling the sepals. They will need 10 pieces: 5 round convex and 5 small leaves. To make the first type, take a small piece of green clay, roll it out, give it a convex shape using a stack with a round head. Add the blank to the texture using the mold that was used to sculpt the petals. We make a small pinch with the edge, with this part we will glue the sepals to the flower.
We produce small leaves using a technology similar to large ones. We glue the dried up elements to the flower: the first row - round sepals, the second - narrow leaves, in a checkerboard pattern between round ones.
Stem
Now you can do the stem. We make a sausage 9-11 cm long from green clay. We straighten the wire of the stem and coat it with glue. Then we stick clay around the stem. We level the seams, make the stem uniform in thickness. Hard-to-reach spots (for example, next to the sepals) are smoothed out with a stack with a small round head.
Leaf painting
The leaves of this peony have slightly brownish veins and a whitish underside, so dried plastic blanks need to be painted to give them realism. You will need: red, green and white oil paint, brushes, solvent, paper towels.
We lay out a piece of polymer clay on a napkin, and paint it with a brush dipped in a solvent and then in white. Next, with a dry brush, blend the paint. Turn the leaf over. Using the same technology, paint the other side with green paint and blend it. To draw veins we mix green and red tones. Leave the workpiece to dry. We do the same operations with all the leaves and sepals.
Branch assembly
After the leaves have dried, you can begin to assemble the branches. First, it is necessary to partially cling to the wire with green plastic. About 2 cm from the base of the leaf. Now you can collect the five-leafed. Using tape tape we wind single leaves to the trefoil. We fix the ends with glue. Next, we stick around the junction and almost the entire wire, leaving a small area for fixing the branches to the stem. We level the seams. We collect the second five-leafed leaf.
At a distance of 10-12 cm from the bud, we attach the first branch to the stem with the help of a tape tape. A little lower we fix the second. We stick the stem and joints with green clay, level joints and seams.
Flower painting
The polymer clay peony is almost ready, it remains to slightly toned the petals. We start with the core of the flower. Gently bending the petals, with a semi-dry brush with red paint we tint the green center. Next, paint the edges of some of the petals.
An elegant interior flower is ready!
Thermoplastic jewelry
From plastic, it turns out amazing jewelry. Earrings with polymer clay peonies look elegant and delicate. The manufacturing technology of such accessories, on the one hand, is simpler, and on the other, more complicated than interior colors. It’s easier, because the products are made from baked clay, and it remains plastic for a long time in the air. And it’s more difficult because the elements of the composition are very small, and the finished product must be subjected to heat treatment.
The molding process is similar to that described above. Next, the flower is glued into the hole of the shvenza using liquid plastic. Now the product must be baked.
The average baking temperature is 110-130 degrees, however, you should carefully study the instructions of the clay manufacturer before work. Products are laid out on parchment paper and placed in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Be sure to open the windows, as evaporating plasticizers are very toxic. After work, the oven must be thoroughly washed with detergent.
Delicate earrings are ready! Other jewelry is made in the same way, including brooches with peonies made of polymer clay.
Conclusion
Plastic allows you to create amazingly beautiful interior compositions and accessories. Particularly noteworthy are the flowers from “cold porcelain”. Durability and high realism of products have won the hearts of craftsmen around the world. We hope that the detailed MK clay peony made of polymer clay, presented above, will help you create the perfect composition for interior decoration or celebration.