Video #234: “Would love a tutorial on sculpted poinsettia flowers – three dimensional flowers, not a cane.” ~Cherie-H
Poinsettia’s have long been associated with the Christmas holiday season. According to teleflora.com, this beautiful plant is often referred to as a Christmas Star, symbolizing good cheer and success. “It’s said that this winter flower’s association with Christmas comes from a Mexican legend. The story goes that a child, with no means for a grander gift, gathered humble weeds from the side of the road to place at the church alter on Christmas Eve. As the congregation witnessed a Christmas miracle, the weeds turned into brilliant red and green flowers.”
Hi Cindy – Love all your videos. You have been such a great help to me. Would really love to see you do some poinsettia flowers for Christmas. Thank you for all you do. ~Billie-S
I’d love a tutorial too. I’ve been wanting to try the sculpted poinsettia flower for some time. I love molding flowers but I know Cindy, you will make it so simple! ~Cherie-H
Cindy these are really pretty and just in time for the holiday’s! I hope we’ll see a tutorial for these. I would love to use them as gift tags, and after they could hang them from their Christmas tree. ~Jeanne-C
Hi Cindy, these are simply beautiful and have to agree with Jeanne. I would love to see how you make these in a future tutorial. So many possibilities with what we could make them into, not to mention all of the Christmasy colors that we could play with. ~Patricia-Z
Absolutely beautiful! and I am very intrigued in how you did the backs of the earrings… I think I have an idea, but you always put a very creative and improved spin to all you make, Cindy. ~Maria-C
Seems we’re all still waiting on a Poinsettia Flower tutorial. ~Lisa-W
Well… since there were so many requests… coming up tomorrow (Fri, Dec 16, 2011) in the Vol-043-3 members video at the Polymer Clay Tutor Library, I’ll be teaching you how to make this realistic looking version of the poinsettia flower that can be used for charms, earrings, pendants, ornaments and all kinds of Christmas holiday polymer clay projects.
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Please Note: A general prerequisite for all of my weekly tutorials is that you have a good understanding of the polymer clay basics, including: conditioning clay, using a pasta machine, clay blade and other simple tools, making Skinner Blends or Teardrop Blends, baking clay, as well as sanding and finishing. If you need help in these areas, my Polymer Clay Beginners Course will get you up to speed quickly. There is also plenty of free information on this blog. Use the search box at the top of the page to find articles on specific topics.
Supplies & Tools: Video-043-3 Poinsettia Charms:
- 3 polymer clay colors (green, yellow and petal color of your choice). For the white version I used:
-5001 White Premo Sculpey
-5572 Cadmium Yellow Premo Sculpey
-5007 Spanish Olive Premo Sculpey
-If you use Kato Polyclay, here is a link to some Poinsettia Color Recipes that Sue-F shared last year.
- Wilton Gum Paste Flower Cutter Set
. Optional but recommended. You could use an Exacto knife to cut out the shapes by hand instead. I suggest you get the Wilton cutters though, because I have decided to use it for several upcoming polymer clay flower tutorials in the New Year. The set is meant for creating fondant or gum paste flowers for cake decorating. I found my set at Michaels in the Baking aisle. You can also find them on Amazon
- Wilton Flower Impression Set
. Optional but recommended. You could use a real leaf or leaf texture sheet that you have made yourself instead. You should know that this set is coordinated to work with the Flower Cutter Set above and will also be used in future tutorials, so you may want to put these two tool sets on your Christmas list *wink*. Th set can be found at Michaels or on Amazon
- Pasta Machine
.
- Clay Blade
.
- Water bowl.
- Small art brush (optional).
- Chalk Pastels
(optional).
- Pearl-Ex Powders
(optional).
- Sculpey Bake & Bond
(optional but recommended).
- 20g wire.
- Chain Nose Pliers (jewelry grade).
- Round Nose Pliers (jewelry grade).
- Flush Cutters (jewelry grade).
By the way, if you did not already know, those “shopping” links I provided above for the various tools and supplies, are “affiliate” links. That means companies like Amazon pay me a small commission or advertising fee if you click on the links and end up making a purchase at their site. It’s not a lot, but every bit helps in keeping the cost of my tutorials so low… at only $3.32 per month ;-)
The full version of the Vol-043-3 Poinsettia Charms video will be posted in the Polymer Clay Members Library on Friday December 16, 2011.
Here’s That “Link Below” Referred To at End of the Video
Polymer Clay Tutorials
The full version of the “Poinsettia Charms” preview video shown above, is now avail for purchase at the Polymer Clay Library in the Vol-043 Back Issue Pckg.
Customer Feedback About Membership Value:
Hi Cindy, I wanted to say thank you for helping me with my library account. I also want to thank you for your excellent tutorials. I have been a modelmaker for 18 years but somehow polymer clay flew under the radar (Kid stuff LOL). I have stopped a while ago but came upon an art piece which was made from polymer clay reigniting my model maker passion and since I needed a way of making some extra income I started to do research. Your site cut the time I need to get up and running and recently I sold my first batch of cute ear studs on my market stall. I’m fascinated by the sheer chameleon qualities of this stuff and since I’m easily bored that is a big bonus. Yesterday I build the mother of all buffing tools for my dremel thanks to your tutorial and am buffing the hundreds of beads that I have made over the last two months finally seeing the true beauty of them all and can’t wait to get into necklace making. Kind regards from New Zealand. ~Evelien-G
Cindy’s video’s are the best, nothing can replace them. ~Phaedrakat
Cindy, Your polymer clay fundamentals course was well worth the price. I got some good ideas… like the saran wrap for making beveled edges. This improved my polymer clay buttons immensely! I loved the bonus videos. And I also liked you’re info on mixing colors. Very interesting how different brands mix differently. I’m always trying to think of new ideas, no matter what materials. I found these really striking fabrics and I wanted a way to make them look different from other pillows. Here’s some photos of my work. Thanks. ~Joan-D
The following topics are included in this week’s Polymer Clay Tutor Library, Poinsettia Charms video tutorial:
- See examples of earrings, pendants, and charms done in several different poinsettia color combinations.
- Find out how simple it is to create these realistic looking flower charms, by just following along to the step by step instructional video.
- Learn the reasons why you may just want to look in the baking aisle next time you’re looking for polymer clay tools and supplies.
- Plus, with some creativity and ingenuity, there are many ways to come up with other unique designs of your own.
The full version of the “Poinsettia Charms” preview video shown above, is now avail for purchase at the Polymer Clay Library in the Vol-043 Back Issue Pckg.
Those are really pretty and would make great tree ornaments.
What I really like about them is, you don’t have to water them and make sure they get enough sun.
Looking forward to another wonderful tutorial.
These look fun and are in time for the season. Can’t wait as usual……:).
Ah, a trip to Michaels will be my reward for enduring the discomfort of the dentist appointment I must face today. Looking forward to another wonderful tutorial!
I hope the dentist was nice to you! This tute does look fun! I think tree ornaments in turquoise would be my first attempt!
Oooooh, can’t wait to see this one!!! They look so beautiful, so real. I saved the photo and sent it to my mother. She loves painting flowers and also molds them and makes sculpted paper flowers too.
Hi Cindy
loved this tut.
May not be able to get the same cutters you have,here ,but will think of something, as really want to make these, so pretty.
A big Merry Xmas to you and all,
and thank you for a lovely tutoring year.
Have a great Xmas and a good rest for a great start next year.
All my love and Best Wishes.
Elizabeth K. XXX
Love these flowers. Have my supplies ordered and these are going to be so much fun to make.
So pretty !
Just one question in the last screen shot of the video the little yellow balls seem to be floating in liquid clay or is it bake and bond?
Thank you Tantesherry! Actually on that last sample I had done the center a little differently. When I first was testing out this idea, I thought I would use one of the Dogwood Flower Center Mold (one of the molds in the green silicone set I showed in the video) for the poinsettia. I found it didn’t look quite right so opted to use the little balls instead. Hope that makes sense!
You know, I just thought that once you make the first star layer with the texture you could bake it and make a mold of it! This way, it might be a little faster to make the three layers. I like those green mold you use, too. I have been wondering if silk flowers would make a good mold for texture?
ah I see – thanks for the reply Cindy :)
Love the dimensional look with the mold thingy. Might have to get that too. Once again you make it easy peasy.
They look so REAL!!! It’s always about the details you add to what you are teaching us that makes the tutes so extraordinary. Beautiful! Thank you both as always.
I confess I have never been a “flower” gal… but Cindy, you’re making me “change my religion” with all these gorgeous blooms! I think I may have something like these molds in the baking pantry. (I’ll just pretend I’m cleaning out the cupboards for the holidays!)
Thanks for the reminder about Sue’s Poinsettia Palette; it just so happens I got Kato clay and concentrates with my order @ shadesofclay.com last month. Time to do some comparisons.
I’m so glad you made this into a tutorial!! I would also like to make napkin rings with them. I’m going to have to make a trip to Michaels. Thank you for a wonderful tut!
Napkin rings!!!! Yes! This would be perfect for that! Great idea!
Enjoyed the tutorial and as usual you made it so simple. Going to Michaels on Monday and I hope they have the cutters.
Thank you everyone!! I hope you are having fun getting ready for Christmas. Just last night I made a last minute Christmas card for someone and attached one of the red poinsettia flower samples to the front of it. It’s low profile worked beautifully on the card. I will have to keep them in mind for next year. Think they would look great on tags as well. Have a wonderful Holiday!!
those look really lovely. You guys are so lucky to be able to get alot of the tools for making these. Here in little old NZ it is really hard to find good stuff like that. I generally have to go to websites overseas to buy those things. and then with the exchange rate and postage it makes it quite expensive. In saying this though, the kids and hubby are asking what they can get me for christmas so on to my wish list this set goes.!! have a good day everyone.
Evelyn G where in NZ are you?
regards
Sandra
This is the first time I’ve been online since week before last. Didn’t even have time to view last week’s tute until tonight. Now I’m caught up, yay!
Cindy, I really enjoyed the tree cane. Has my mind spinning, thinking of all the other canes I can make in this style. I love making canes and this is such a neat way of doing it.
Possibly I’m in the minority but I’m not really into making flowers (unless it’s a cane). Or, rather, I wasn’t into making flowers. Now, after seeing this week’s tute I can tell I’m going to be making a lot of poinsettia’s this next year. I love poinsettia’s on a Christmas tree and I’m going to make a bunch for next year’s tree. Thank you so much for this tute :)
Cindy, thank you for answering my question about cracking (in a different thread). Also, thanks for letting us know about the affiliate links. I didn’t know about them and will try to use them in the future.
I hope everyone is enjoying the season as much as I am :)
Angela
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this, my grandmother had a set of earrings and a pin that were (I assume) were enameled on a brass color metal, these look just like them. She also had little daisy ones as well. Fantastic Cindy, once again!!!!!!
I was at Michaels at 8 AM this morning with my 50% off coupon clutched in my hot little hand and got the only one they had at the King George store for $20. They had a few impression kits so returned later with another 50% coupon and got one of those for $12. The book that comes with the Flower Cutter Set is filled with so many great ideas that I am sure we will pursue later.
Thanks for this tut Cindy as now I will have a few hostess gifts such as napkin rings, ornaments or brooches/pendants, making this a worthwhile investment.
This was another great tutorial. I ran to Michael’s yesterday after getting the 20% off the entire order coupon and scooped these two items up as fast as I could. I was shocked at all the great cutters in the box.
Cindy, thanks for this tutorial, I love poinsettias and I never would have thought to do it that way.
Have a wonderful Christmas and happy and healthy New Year to Cindy, Doug and family and all the great people on this site.
Cindy the poinsetta’s you made in the tutorial are gorgeous! I want to mix them with the Ivy Charms but have a question on the copper head pin wire. I have Artistic Copper wire 22 ga. and it balls up beautifully when I torch it. I want to use the 20 ga. because I like the weight better. The 20 ga. is from a different source and it will not ball up.It just gets red hot and black. What can I do to get the 20 ga. to ball up? Do you use pure copper wire? Do you torch 20 ga and if so what brand do you use. Please help, Dixie
Hi Dixie Ann, I am thinking you may be using too small of a torch for the heavier gauge wire and the heat is just not hot enough. I use a propane torch that the guys use for soldering rather than the smaller butane ones and have no problem with 20g copper wire. (I think if the wire says copper, that it is pretty much pure, so I don’t think that is the problem.)
If you go to the following link, you can read more about balling up the ends of copper wire: Making Headpins and Copper Findings
You may have to dig through the comments a bit to find what you need. Try using the Find feature on your browser to locate keywords quickly. In Firefox you use Ctrl+F to get the find box to pop up. Hope that helps!!
Thanks for the reply Cindy, I already had gone over that section, did some searches and did come up with a tip from some obscure site that suggested holding the wire at the very point of the the blue flame when torching 20 ga. copper with a butane as that was the hottest point. Gosh darn if it didn’t work and I just went crazy making head pins. I really didn’t want to have to buy a propane torch right now. The Ivy charms turned out “charming”. I also tried the new Golden Medium and some acrylic brown to make an antiqueing glaze. Again worked like a charm!
Thanks Cindy, you have such great ideas! Merry Christmas!
I went to Michael’s to get the set with my 50% off coupon and was so disappointed that they didn’t have any. Then went to JoAnn’s and they didn’t have any either. Don’t know if they will get some in or not.
Hi Freda, the folks at Michaels told me they would order a product if it wasn’t in stock and as long as I paid for it up front, they would call when it came in. I believe you could use your coupon when you paid for it. So if you still have a coupon you might want to do that. She said it takes less than a week to get something.
Freda, you can actually order items while you’re in the store–you don’t need to go online. I’m not sure if they’ll let you use the coupon, though.
Catalina, do you know?
Thanks Dixie. I went online and ordered it from JoAnn’s since Michael’s doesn’t do online ordering. JoAnn’s had a 50% coupon also which I used when I ordered.
Good for you. You will like it. I can’t believe how many cutters you get. Have fun!
How To Do Christmas: My husband and three of my boys marched into Michaels this afternoon each armed with a 50% coupon. They had explicit instructions and a printable list (flower cutters, impression plates, Golden Glazing Medium and Style and Detail Tools) and I got a thumbs up (REAL subtle!) as they headed to the register. Getting to this Michaels is a 6-hour round trip on snowy highways. It adds a little drama to the quest for craft supplies. Naturally I stocked up on clay!
If anyone has a BULK BARN franchise in their area, they carry many Wilton products as well. Good hunting and Happy Holidays to all! xoxo
I ordered the gum paste flower cutters from JoAnn’s yesterday and got them today. Wow! I love them and can see all kinds of possibilities. Bring ‘em on, Cindy!
My mom and I went to Michael’s Wen. w/ our 50 % off coupons :) But alas there was no ‘big’ set of the flower cutters—they only had “student kits” numbered one thru four :(
I was able to p/u the impression set at half off–yay
Also the sales person that helped us knew exactley who Cindy Leitz is –Loved that !!
We talked about Catalina (who she also knew of) and how she also works at a Michaels, mainly the help Catalina has given us in reguard to the Buy in Bulk deals. For the life of me I can not remember the sweet ladies name BUT that’s alright because she now knows my name and number and as soon as the next Clay Sale starts she’s promiced to call !! (incert BIG smile here)
I am SO ready for the New Year to start and be able to put all the (bad) drama of 2011 behind us. I’d like to at this time thank everyone for the prayers and words of encouragement during my mom’s battle with her aweful health scare – it seems the worst is behind her, Thank You All and may we all have an easier and productive 2012 — Sherry
Dear Cindy-yesterday I was messin a round on the net looking at polymer clay stuff…anyway wanted to say I’m sorry and I’m such a ding-Because I spelled your name wrong everytime-yep gotta remember “i before e…”
Love being here with all you poly people :)
Since I’m already OT ;)
put up a few more pics at our pct FB page
Looking ahead to 2012—oh my I’ll be 50 this year! Love having birthdays
(much better than the alternative, hehe)
Tantesherry: Congratulations on your upcoming milestone birthday! I also turned the big “5-0″ this past July and so far it has been FABULOUS! {Of course, it just so happens I finally got online, and discovered Cindy’s great website and this wonderful community.} Coincidence? I think not!
Good morning Monique
Love your time line and you are so right about this community
it has the most helpful and (important to me) nicest people I’ve had the privledge to read-
always ready to jump in with advice and tips (& a virtual hug now and then)
one of the things about polymer clay artist and crafters from way back in the begining has been their wonderful spirit of sharring what they have worked out on their own and then someone else builds on that idea …
also thanks for the Fab 50 vibe :)
YES!!! went to Micheal’s again this past Wen because they were having their Premo on sale 4/$5 and my MIL gave me cash for Christmas—something told me to go back over to the baking area and low and behold there was One Tattered Box of the gum paste cutters Cindy used– we think someone returned it after Christmas…YAY for me, can you guys tell I’m tickled!!
it’s the little joys that make life bearable
Sorry Sherry I hadn’t responded in this thread you started yet… still trying to catch up after the holiday. Love having you here and part of our sweet little family.
Also love all the new pieces you have been making and posting on FB. Your Snowy Tree Necklace for your Mom turned out fantastic! I liked the way you put the beads together on it. Had a bit of a pointillist look them too.
Glad to hear you got the cutters and impression set. Just might come in handy for next week’s tute. *wink, wink*.
That is so weird that your Michaels lady knew who I was. No one here at my Michaels knows me, and I go there every week. What Michaels do you go to? Now you have me curious.
Your Famous!!!!!
Time for a North American tour?!?
Ken – Yes I’m hoping this is the year we can start to do some touring. It would be so fun to pack up the family in an RV and head out on a road trip to meet up with some of you guys at a few different locations. Cost would obviously be a factor… but yes this is something that we are trying to figure out for 2012. Any input, suggestions, ideas, expressions of interest, etc, are welcome. As they say… “Where there’s a will, there’s a way :-)
Oh Yes
what a wonderful idea
too awesome :)
maybe you all could come to
Western NC in the fall :D
It’s in Arden,NC which is very close to Asheville in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountians—it is SO pretty here.
Way back in 1980 my family moved here from central Florida- I was 18 and and had no idea what 4 seasons were or how much I would grow to love them.
haha I think it’s weird that your M’s doesnt know you :)
thank you for the compliment on my mom’s gift – I have learned So much here with you guys
looking forward to using the cutters next week- I feel so lucky to have found them at M’s because that ment I could use their 50% off coupon
I know what you mean about the 4 seasons in your neck of the woods. Way back in our trout farming days, Doug and I had the opportunity of touring through the back country of Upstate New York and Pennsylvania in the Fall. The colors of the leaves turning, was absolutely spectacular!
OOOOOOOOOOH!!!!
Just let us know, I have a full compliment of Vacation days and an almost clean credit card, and I DO love to travel. I’ll have to check my passport to see if it’s still valid. Keeping fingers crossed.
Ken – The commenting system had a bit of a hiccup and your reply ended up down here at the bottom of thread. Actually it might be better down here anyway, since it is kind of a new topic.
@All – Further up in this thread, I had responded to Ken’s comment about hopefully doing some “touring” this year. Here is what I wrote…
“Ken – Yes I’m hoping this is the year we can start to do some touring. It would be so fun to pack up the family in an RV and head out on a road trip to meet up with some of you guys at a few different locations. Cost would obviously be a factor… but yes this is something that we are trying to figure out for 2012. Any input, suggestions, ideas, expressions of interest, etc, are welcome. As they say… “Where there’s a will, there’s a way :-) ~Cindy”
It’s ok, it doesn’t matter where it ended up, as long as you know that if it happens, I’ll try my best to be there.
Got my Wilton cutters and the ideas look great. I do need the Cindy twist to make them come to life though. Can’t wait for more of these flower tutes to appear……hint…hint.
I was in Walmart yesterday and just for the heck of it wandered over to their craft dept. Low and behold they had 3 boxes of the gum paste cutters for $20.00. They did not have the Impression plate but if you can’t wait to get them at Michaels for $15.00 with a coupon, well Walmart does have them for $20.00 and thats their everyday price. They had a surprisingly good selection of other stuff too. Also if you have a Hancock Fabrics in your area, they just got in a whole new craft dept. and a huge cake decorating selection. They have the cutters also but you will pay full retail $29.99. Just wanted to pass these little tidbits of info out to everyone who is salivating for the cutter set. Happy Christmas!
WOWEE a road trip what fun!! ( travelling to different places is written in my horoscope for later this year!. Spooky??)
My sister and nieces keep urging me to visit, so think I will suggest that they hire a RV for when I fly across the pond. You will have to give us clay devotees your itinery, so we will know where you plan to visit……….. Mmmm better buy a bigger piggy bank………….cheers x
Cindy – I am having fun making these poinsettia flower earrings, sweet peas, tulip beads, etc. Based on what you taught me during our recent PcT Roadtrip visit, I’m now working on making the flowers a little smaller for the earrings. Thank you for providing such great videos, I am understanding the size issue much better now.