My garden themed teapot

I thought that you would like to see how I went about decorating this teapot.

If you decide to try this yourself, remember to wash your hands and wipe down your tools between colour changes. Do ask if you need help with anything.

I started out with a plain white ceramic teapot.

I then made a Skinner Blend (explained under the butterflies) from blue to white, covered the pot and lid, then baked it.

Flowers

I then made my flower stems;

1) I cut strips of thin florist's wire.

2) Swarovski crystal beads in clear, yellow, orange, and amber. I have 40 here.

3) I thread the bead onto a bit of wire and move it to the middle.

4) I fold the wire down on each side of the bead.

5) I twist the wire together  (pliers help).

6) I wrap the twisted bit of wire in a bit of masking tape. The clay will stick to the tape, where it will slide against the smooth metal.

Now to turn them into flowers;

1) I wrap some conditioned green clay around the stems and roll smooth.

2) In the same colour, I make 2 Sepal leaves for each flower. They are the little ones at the base of the petals.

3) I roll out a small sausage of conditioned clay, in the petal colour and press it flat on a tile.

4) I then indent the clay, so it's 4 bumps.

5) I then lift it with a blade and wrap it around the bead. Then I put the Sepal leaves on.

Grass

This is a far less fiddly stage than the last.  I don't even think it is worth a numbered walk through.

I condition several shades of green, roll them into tapered sausages and flatten on a tile. Then mark a line through the middle.

I put the grass and flowers around the bottom of the pot,  making sure they are firmly pushed on.

I then roll out several balls of different sizes, in white conditioned clay and arrange these to make clouds. Then I bake it again.

Butterflies 

To make the wings, I am going to make a cane.

1) I make a faded Skinner Blend sheet of clay in my chosen colours. I am doing one cane in pinks and a second in purples.

I take a dark and light shade of my chosen colour and make a flat triangle of each and put them together to make a square or rectangle. I make sure that one color is on the left and one on the right .  then roll it flat, rolling up and down only.

I fold it in half (bottom to top) and roll it flat. I repeat that around 20 times. The fade will appear from left to right and not in the direction you are folding in.

2) I turn the sheet so that the fade is top to bottom and then I cut the sheet in half and put one half aside for later. Starting from the darkest side, I roll the second half up into a stick.

3) I then get the first half and starting with the lightest side, I fold in a widening concertina. This will leave me with a triangle shaped stick, with the lightest colour at the tip.

5) I roll out some black and wrap it around the outside of the triangle stick  (not the ends). I then put black around the outside of the round stick.

6) I put the round sick to one side and I cut the triangle stick in half.

7) One of the halfs, I cut in half length ways  (so I have 2 smaller triangles .  I then put a strip of black clay over the bare sides of each triangle.

8) Facing all the light tips in one direction, I samwich the large triangle between the 2 smaller ones.

9) I cut the circular stick into 6- 10 bits,  the same thickness as the triangles, then I put them in a line along the dark side of the triangle.

10) I roll out a round stick of white conditioned clay to the same thickness as the round stick I was just using.  I cut it into 10 -12 bits  (the same thickness as the rest of my project and put them in a line above the coloured round bits.

11) I make sure it is all firmly pressed together,  then leave it for an hour or two.

12) I reduce the cane by half its size,  by putting even pressure on the middle pressing towards the outside. The ends will look messy, but I cut them off.

13) I cut a third off this new stick and reduce that by half ish.

14) I cut a slice from the larger and smaller teardrops.  the big is the large top part of the wing and the small is the bottom bit.

15) I cut a slice off each for the 2nd wing and make a simple body from black conditioned clay. I then assemble the butterfly.

16) I then attach them to the teapot.

Sun and clouds on the lid 

Sun
For the sun, I use my swerly pattern  (I have a page devoted to showing how to make this on my blog) I use yellow, orange and gold.

Here is a quick run through;

1) I take thin sausages of conditioned clay (one of each colour).

2) I twist them together.

3) I fold it in half and twist the 2 ends together. I keep folding in half and twisting together until it's ball shaped.

4) I press the ball firmly, to stick it together and roll into a sausage.

5)  I then repeat steps 2 and 3.

6) I press the ball firmly together and roll the ball to smooth out the surface, I then press it into a cube.

7) I cut a thin layer off each surface, turn it around  (so that the inside design is facing outward) and press back onto the cube. I make sure I have done this, so none of the outside design is showing.

8) I roll it into a smooth ball and push it onto the lid's  handle. Make sure it is firmly secure.

Clouds

1) I condition some white clay and roll it into balls of various sizes.

2) I position the balls around the sun, to form a few clouds.

I then bake it all and then varnish it to finish.

Why I work free hand instead of using moulds

Polymer clay work is basically divided into two. Things made free hand and those who use silicone moulds. These clay models are made by pushing the clay into a mould. You can knock them out in seconds,  so you can charge pennys for them.

Some people make a model freehand and then create their own moulds,  so that they can then easily reproduce the original.

I am not saying that using moulds is not skillful,  legitimate clay work,  but I felt that I needed to make a hard line decision on this.

I decided that I would not use any moulds,  even if they are just to get the base shape and you then decorate it with the details freehand.  I  felt it would confuse people if I kind of used them.  Transparency on this is really important to me.

I do break this on 2 occasions;

1) Sutton slice

This is when you take a rubber stamp (that people usually use with ink) and fill the indented part with clay.  You use a blade to make sure that the raised bits are not covered by any clay.  You then stamp it where you want.

Both the white of the flowers on the first picture and the gold of the celtic design on the second picture where done using this.

My mum had a big collection of rubber stamps that she used for card making,  they where put in storage when she died a few years ago.  My father has promised to get them to me at some point  (hopefully in the next few years).

2) Moulded letters
I have a mould of each letter of the alphabet in capitals and I plan to get more in a few different fonts.  They are just far sharper and uniform than I can make freehand.

I will never use them on any model or on things that the models are on,  if it's made from Fimo. I do say if any of the elements of a piece are not made by me, these include ceramic teapots,  glass vases,  glass bud vases, glass jars, glass bottles and glass carafes so far.

If I am using a non Fimo element,  I  will try to make sure that they are very plain.  I  want them to add an element of practicality to my artwork, as I want everything to be of more use than them being pretty. The clay will always be the star of the show.  I  see the other materials like a painter would a canvas.  It facilitates the art.

I do also make purely decorative bits like my Christmas decorations and status,  but I wanted to be able to offer both.

I accept that it will take many years before I have the perfection that a mould offers. You can guarantee before you pick up your clay,  what the measurements will be exactly.  You can guarantee a exact reproduction every time.  But you don't develop.  It really narrows your creativity.

I have grown to love the imperfections of freehand work.  I  think it makes each piece far more valuable,  each piece has a bit of my heart and sole that I would never feel about moulded creations.  

Using other materials with Fimo /Polymer clay

As you know,  my primary material is Fimo professional  (polymer clay,  but I do mount them on other materials and use other things to decorate.

I think I should split them into 2 categories;

1) Bits I bake

If it can survive 110oc without catching fire or melting,  then you can use it with your raw clay and bake it all together. 

This includes obvious things like metal, glass, crystal, ceramic and stone. But there are things that you would not expect like polystyrene,  wood, some cloths and even some plastics.

I would first Google the meting temperature and ignition temperature of the item.  Failing that, it's time to experiment.

I  try a bit of the thing I want to add  (or the whole thing) in the oven at 110oc and keep an eye on it and a old wet cloth to put any fire out.  If it survives 40 minutes,  you can use it.

You would not believe the things that I have heard used. Sweet wrappers as armature space fillers,  even some bloke who made monster models,  who used his toenail clippings as teeth!  I  don't think he told his customers. Gross.

2) Attach afterwards

I will keep this brief as it's pretty obvious, but if it's not going to survive the oven then stick it on afterwards. So, let's talk glue.

Polymer clay is in the plastic family and anything acetone will simply melt the surface of the clay and fall off.  This is what happens when you use superglue,  don't use superglue.

My glue of choice is 2 part epoxy.  You have to make sure that the 2 liquids are mixed until it goes cloudy,  then you have around 20 seconds before it sets.  Only mix a small amount and make sure you have planned where the glue is going and exactly how you are attaching the 2 bits.  You do not have time to make any decisions once you get mixing.

If I want something that has a thicker consistency,  I  use No more nails.  It dries white,  but I bet you could add a colour in. 

I will let you know if I discover any new ones.