ROSES, Who wants to make ROSES?

WARNING: LOTS OF PICTURES IN THE POST!!!

As promised, I did get myself together today and got at least what I hope will be a way for those interested, to begin on their journey of make clay roses.

Before I begin though, I thought I'd be a little shameless here and show you just what I am talking about. What you are about to see is REAL...YES, and I made them all by myself (standing like a sweet 5 year old w/my hands behind my back, smiling up sweetly)... Inside these vintage Quilted Hankie/Glove boxes are Millions...well maybe a few hunderd roses and leaves that I have been making. I have a tendency to never doing anything small..but overdo things.

I do offer my roses for sale in my etsy shop. NOW I just decided to make a special offer for those viewing my sight today. If you wish to purchase any of my roses..let me know in your comments, for $10 I will send you 20 roses in differing sizes and the color of your choice w/leaves, of course.










Oh, I just couldn't resist...this is My sweet Chloe..who has made it her favorite spot to sit on my table top during the day. When I walk in the room she purrrrrs...and comes over for LOVE! Sweet aint' she?

Down to business now:

Making of Clay ROSES:

Supplies: Fimo or Sculpy Clay, I prefer Sculpy

(found at JoAnn's, Michael's or Hobby Lobby)
Sharp edge knife
Wax paper
Plate or tray you can put in oven, I use an old Correll Serving Tray

BAKING OF CLAY: 275 for 15-20 minutes

For the pink that I love, I use HOT Pink with white. Now to get the actual pink I use 3/4 white to 1/4 hot pink.
As you see, I have a paler pink you could use already in this paler shade and you don't have to mix it...its called Ballet Pink...
Once I have blended the 2 colors together, make approximately 7 pieces, which are about 1/2 inch in diameter. Take the first piece and flatten it, this will be your center.
Continue to work the piece and stretching it into a rectangular piece as I have done below.
Being to curl...
Keep going, (sorry bout the blurry pix..hard to take up close, ugh)

Awe....complete..now you have your center!
Okay, now you will flatten each piece for your outter petals. Keep a couple of things in mind... Work in odd numbers for petals, they should get a little bigger as you work on your rose. Also, I do try and flatten the edges by lightly pinching them to make a more delicate edge.
Your first petal sets how the rose will look. Gently wrap the first petal around, trying to keep the top edge of this petal at about even with the center piece. PETALS must slightly overlap as you layer to get the best affect.



As you add your petals, you may be able to pinch the edges and slight curl them. Keep in mind that roses out in nature are not perfect and move and show movement.
Keep flattening and then layering/overlaping them as you go.

See how I have continued to add, layer and gently bend the outter edges of the petal? It helps create a more realistic rose...dontcha think?

So now you have added all of the 6 other petals to your roses!
There should be a big piece underneath that you have been holding on to...so what to do with it?
This is where your straight edge knife comes into play...carefully cut around into, so you create a flat edge for your rose to lay flat on the surface.

This is how much I had left after I cut off the bottom. My rose lays flat.
Then place in a bakeable piece of glass. Bake at 275 for 15-20 minutes. Carefully pull out, let cool and gently take off...
Keep in mind I have made roses for over 20years. I have worked for the last year and become very inspired by another amazing rose artist that I have befriended. I am always tweeking and trying to make them more and more realistic. So if you are just starting, it make take more or less time to begin creating your own style of roses.

MAKING LEAVES:
I often use one color but may mix part with white, to create a lighter version of that same color. I enjoy using the 2 tones of color in my creations to give more depth.
So above you can see the GREEN LEAF in its original tones and then about 1/2 white and 1/2 green...see how much it lightens it?
Using the same pebble of about 1/2 inche...I begin to flatten it.
Then when its about flatten, it try to keep the shape more of an oval...then pink the top edge.
I then may place my leaf on my baking sheet, further press it into the shape of a leaf.
Then take your knife and begin by scoring (not going all the way through) down the center, and then angling downard till it looks life a leaf.

Again, I am so sorry about the burriness of my pictures. I have problems with close ups. But I am hoping you get at least the gist of it.
Did this help? Will you leave me comments and keep me posted if you try this? I'd love to know if I have inspired others to...CREATE!!!!
Blessings...Lorena