The Art of making....

The Technique: This art has been established for years. The school in Japan has expanded in size over the last 20 years and it has trained thousands of students who have become teachers. Making these clay flowers requires the use of appropriate skills & technique. You start from easy flowers/plants such as Strawberry,  Grapes and advance to flowers like Tulips, Roses and Sunflower after a period of time. With constant practice and patience, over time you will find that you are able to make the flowers more naturally and beautiful. It involves a number of tools: ( just to mention a few ...)     Tools are available for sale...email to enquire. - Roller  - to help you roll the clay out so that you are able to cut out some leaf/flower shapes. - Workstick - to enable you to make designs on the clay and shape accordingly - Scissors - a pair of tiny sharp scissors to help you cut into a ball of clay - Colours  - a wide array of oil colours to enable you to make the colour you fancy How long does it take to make one arrangement ? The shortest time possible is probably 4-5 days...as you will need to allow time to dry during the process of making and also drying the colours out. Usually on average, it will take approximately a week if you work on it say, 2-3 hours a day. It is a time-consuming art / hobby.  You will need to concentrate and focus on what you are trying to achieve. I would recommend that while you are working on the flower, it is good to either have a real flower infront of you or refer to a picture.  This will bring out the natural look of the flower!

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1:

Use Masko Flower Clay - open the pack and take out the required portions. The result may defer if you use other types of clay. It is not as light weight as Air Dry Clay, hence making it ideal for making flowers in particular.

Mix clay with oil colour to form the colour you would like to work with. As the clay hardens once exposed to air, you will need to quickly wrap it with " Glad Wrap" / plastic and keep it in an air tight container when not in use.

Step 2:

Step 3:

Cut each floral wire into 3 or 4 and make a small hook. Using floral tape, wrap each floral wire tightly to form the stem. Apply a bit of craft glue on the small hook, insert the shaped clay onto the wire. Allow it to dry.

Step 4:

Once the clay has hardened, you can use a brush to apply oil colours to it. This will give it a slight shine and also allow the object to look more realistic. Allow at least a day for the colour to set in and dry.

Now, you are ready to arrange the flowers into a branch, or objects into a basket. Using floral tape, you can tie various floral wires together to form the required look.  Once completed, you can arrange neatly in a vase or basket.

If you are interested to try, you can enquire about our Starter Kits, or if you have experience doing this craft and would like to learn new flowers, try other grade kits where instructions are provided.... go back to home page and click on " Starter Kits" section.

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Make your own strawberries... Project 1

Make Tulips... Project 2

Let me introduce you some of the tools needed for this craft. I use the Masko Floral Clay to make the flowers. This is of very good quality. I would recommend this to all clay flowers users.It is non-toxic and easy to work with. There are certainly other types of clay you can use, mostly resin based. Some are great for flowers, some are not. However, if you are just starting out and you would like to use a lower grade clay, you can try out other brands of floral clay e.g. " Grace " clay.  This clay is better suited for making fruits, vegetables etc. When making flowers out of this clay, it is hard to achieve the colour you want, and often the flowers tend to look less realistic, since it is harder to roll this clay fine and thin. It is not as elastic. There are several work sticks you will need. A sharp work stick and a blunt work stick to make the different patterns. The push stick is used for making petals curve etc...

For Oil colours, you can use different brands, the only different is the shade of each colour would be different. " Kusakabe" brand oil colours are pretty good if they are available in your country. Tip:  Though the name of the oil colour could be the same, the shade is often very different. Hence, it is best to match the colour when selecting the right oil colour.