Wild Rose & Nest Brooch Tutorial....

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Hi, All!

 

I apologize for the delay on this post...

 

"Life" got in the way...;^) ~ but it was totally worth it!

 

College orientation for Jonathan, a quest for a new car for daughter Katie ~

 

(A super cute Salsa Red VW Beetle convertible...

 

named "Das Otto" after her Grandpa Pratt...)

 

She found him (her car, not Grandpa) in Saint Louis, and "Otto" is perfect ~

 

She'd been looking for him for a long time!



My girls name their cars...



Mandy's last one was "Dot", a blue convertible PT Cruiser;



  her newest one is "Fae"(the Ford)...



and Jonathan drives a silver "first-owned-by-Mandy" PT named Peg!

 

♥

 

This brooch was a fun one!

 

I'm calling them "Flora~Luna" pins/brooches...we had the sweetest book when



Jonathan was small..."Stella Luna" ~ about a little fruit bat.



That kept popping into my head!



So, anyway...here is the tutorial. If I've left anything out, please feel free to ask me!



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Here are all the "ingredients"...Premo Polymer Clay ~



 ( my main color here is Spanish Olive) ~



the other greens have a little gold or brown added ~ just experiment; as long as you



have the same base color, they'll all play nicely together!




I also have basic White and Burnt Umber; the pink was just a small



 amount of dark pink mixed with white.



Please disregard the light yellow clay and the beads...I changed my mind after I



set up this photo! :^) ...I also have Liquid Sculpey, various PearlEx Powders,



a heavy-duty pin back (from Fire Mountain), and of course, Grandma's biscuit cutter.



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First, I conditioned the Spanish Olive (a ball about the size of a hard-boiled egg yolk)



by running it through my pasta machine about a dozen times...you can do the same



thing by just kneading it, though. If it's well-conditioned ~ soft ~



it won't crack on the edges when you cut it out and smooth it.



I set my pasta machine to the widest setting,



or you can use a roller to make it about 1/8 of an inch thick.



I used the biscuit cutter to cut a circle, then moved the cutter over about an inch



from the circle's edge inside edge and cut again to make a crescent shape.




Run your fingers over the edge to smooth the "cut out" look.



I like for my moons to face "inward" when worn on the left lapel ~



this is just a personal preference, it doesn't really matter ~



so I flipped the crescent over ~ this will be the back ~ and placed the pin back



close to the top, inside edge. Press down on it to make an indention.



Set the pin-back aside for now.



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Leaves!



They are the "background" for all my floral pins...
and very easy.



Roll out little pea-sized balls of conditioned clay (some a little smaller, some a little larger) ~



Flatten them, making one end pointy. Make the edges thinner, and a bit wavy is good.



I used a needle tool (often used for ceramics; cheap and VERY useful) to make lines on the leaves.



Make several ~ it's more fun to add them here and there when they're already made!



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Here I've added some leaves to the ends of the crescent,



and I got the idea that instead of the line of pearls, I wanted to add a little bird's nest.



I know, the scale isn't right, considering the size of the rose ~



 so I'm saying that I'm employing Artistic License...



That, or it's a Fairy Bird's nest...either is good!



I didn't take photos of the entire process, but it was pretty simple...



I used a little Rhino Gray Premo, a ball about the size of a marble, conditioning it



really well. I used about half of that, rolling it into a ball again, then flattening it and



using a round-ended clay tool to indent the center. Then I added tiny little "snakes"



of clay randomly over the surface of the nest.



For the eggs, I added a tiny bit of turquoise and green to a small ball of white...



(if you use comparable tiny amounts of a color ~ say half-and-half ~ when experimenting



with color mixing, you can save yourself a lot of time and clay) ~



When you're happy with your bird-egg color, make tiny round balls first,



then roll them to elongate them just a little. Not too much!



Use the needle tool to place them in the nest...you'll be surprised at how well



the warmed, conditioned clay will stick to the "needle"!



Decide where you want to place the nest on your pin, then



add a dab of the Liquid Sculpey like glue, for a little added hold.



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Ta-Da!



I used a little Antique Bronze PearlEx powder on the nest,



and PearlEx Duo Blue-Green on the eggs.



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Making more leaves...(I'm working on an index card, by the way ~ it can go



right into the oven on my cookie sheet) ~



There's that handy needle-tool!



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Here is the whole shape covered with leaves, and a few tiny little "snakes" of



Burnt Umber ~ for branches ~ here and there...I also used some of the leftover egg-color



in between the leaves
~ I thought it would tie things together nicely ~but it ended up



being covered by flowers and buds and more leaves!



To start the rose, I used a pea-sized ball of metallic gold; first rolled into a ball



then elongated into a teardrop. I rolled seven pea-sized balls of the very lightest pink



(beginning with a marble-sized ball of white and adding minuscule amounts of dark



pink until I had just the barest pink tint) ~



"Smush" each petal between your fingertips, making them thinner on the edges...



irregular shapes are good!



Then, holding the gold center by its "tail", I placed the flattened petals



around the center, staggering them and curling the top edge back just a bit.



Very Wild-Rose-ish!



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I used one of my clay tools with a little rounded point to texture the center.



You could used a dull pencil to do the same thing ~



 (brush a little clear nail polish or some sort of sealer on the



tip first, so the graphite doesn't dirty your clay).



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By the time I had placed all the petals around the center, the little rose had quite



a "tail"! You can use a polymer blade to slice it off (making the back flat, which is good)



or just pinch it off.  Put a dab of Liquid Sculpey where you want the rose, and gently



press it on. If you've accidentally mashed any of the petals, you can fix them now.



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To make a bud, take another pea-sized ball of light pink clay and make a little roll...



it will have a "tail" as well, but don't pinch it off this time ~ use it to secure it to the brooch



around the rose, wherever you think a bud should be



 (just use a tool to press it into the background clay)...



I put one right by the rose, and one on each end of the crescent.



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Make some little "filler" leaves to hide the
tails on the buds, and to place here and there



around the nest, etc. They are fun and kind of addictive!



Roll out little rice-sized bits of very well-conditioned clay ~ knead it with your hands to



warm it first ~ then cut those in half and roll them out again so they are pointy



on the ends. (Of course, if you got them small enough in the first place, you could eliminate



this second step...but I always want them just a little more delicate!)



Now you can use the needle tool to pick them up (if they're soft and warm



they'll just stick to it) and you can then use it to place them, secure them, and press in



a center line all in one fell swoop!



♥



At this point I used a soft watercolor brush to brush in some darker pink (Flamingo Pink



PearlEx) around the base of the petals, and some Antique Bronze and Spring Green



on the leaves.



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I decided to use some pretty Chrysocolla beads to tuck in around the leaves;



I thought the color would compliment the little eggs!



First I wired them with some thin copper wire; thread the wire through



the bead and hold the ends with needle-nosed pliers, then twist the bead.



Leave a little tail ~ trim it and make a hook in the end of the wire;



  this will make the bead really secure when it's pushed into the clay.



Place the beads randomly around the leaves or blossoms



 and cover the wires (if they show) with some more of the little "filler" leaves.



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Now it's ready to bake!



I put mine in the oven at 275 degrees for 45 minutes.



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After it's baked and cooled, put a little bit of Liquid Sculpey into the indention

 

for the pin-back (it may not be quite as "indented" after you've worked on the

 

front, but that's okay) and put it in place.

 

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Then take a very thin rectangle of clay and place it over the pin...smooth it into the

 

already-baked clay. I textured it and used alphabet and number stamps on this pin,

 

but I think on future ones, I'll just use a stylus to sign and date it ~ :^)

 

Put it back in the oven for 45 minutes at 275 degrees.

 

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If you like the "matte" look, your "Flora Luna Brooch" is finished!

 

If you want a little shine, use a water-based sealer (I used Diamond Varathane) and

 

give it a little extra bake-time, 20 minutes at 200 degrees, to set the finish.

 

Now you can say "Ta-Da!!"

 

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Lastly, here is my little "Mini" Fairy House...finally finished!

 

It was such fun! (Lots and lots of texture!)

 

Thank you for your patience and for all your sweet comments!

 

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

 

Love,

 

 

Adding this post to Savvy Southern Style's "Wow-Us Wednesday",

The Dedicated House's Make it Pretty Monday

and

Beverly's Pink Saturday!