hydrangea

Revised Hydragea. . .by Dawn Naylor

I use Premo clay. It stays warm and flexible for a long time.

I use it at a medium setting. Except my accent colors (black and white) which I like to make a bit thinner than the main color.

I suggest you use a layer of trans first. The size of the rectangle you are using. Then you need to decide what color flower, feather or leaf you are making. Then pick colors that compliment or contrast it.

Use the wedges to the right here. . .you can vary them any way you want. . .this is merely a small sample Then wedge in your colors. I personally put in layers of trans to separate my wedge layers. . .but it is not necessary. You can use trans and another color for your two wedge colors or use two colors. If you use a skinner blend layer you might not need a wedge at all.

They need to fit together like puzzle pieces. Cutting them together helps. I would not layer the wedges and alternative layers any higher than 6 or 7. You can try more. . .but it may be a learning experience. Now that you have all your layer made and stacked. . .scrunch the edges/corners a little. This is to prevent it from splaying when you put it in your pasta machine at the largest setting. Turn it over and do the other end through too. Now you have a longer and fairly thin stack of wedges. . .not quite a flower yet! Now you need to chop it into equal parts. . .cut it in half. . .in half again. . .in half again. . .you may want to do thirds at some point. . .your goal is to get a lot of pieces all the same size. This next part is the hardest. . .you master this. . .you rule! Starting at the start of the line of squares (it is important

these are samples of the colors first cut and then assembled. . .as you can see you get two layers. . .you can make two flowers at once!

These are some samples of layers as you might use them in a cane. . .the blank ones can be. . .white or trans or pearl or gold or. . .:)

this is the stack lengthened. . .notice it is the first layer. . .the others are underneath of it.

to keep it in order) stack them in the same direction. . .keeping the same side on top edge and the same side facing up. Your finished stack (first stack) will look like the picture on the bottom left. Now push and push. . .But never the ‘picture side’. . .think of a tube of tooth paste and you are squeezing out the design. Until you get a long square log. Cut in half. This is where I can’t tell you what to do. . .sometimes it will look better one way and sometimes the other. . .think mirror images. Put the two halves together. Again reduce. . .toothpaste tube style again. Stop when it is a short fat square log. Now. . .does it look like a flower yet? No? Well that’s ‘cause this is just ONE petal. . .well one very square petal. It needs to be rounded off. Pinch the top corners of the log together and the bottom corners together. . .do this the whole length of the log. Round it up and put a VERY THIN layer of separation color. . .this can be black or white or gold. . .just different from the flower. ...this will show the edges of your petals. Again. . .your choice which is the top and the bottom. Okay now you want to reduce it enough to get 4,5,6 or ? Even pieces out of it. Start with 5. This is a good basic flower. Now you need a center. A very small spiral makes a great center. You should make your petal pieces a bit tear drop like to better fit together. . .this takes a little practice and a lot of patience. After the petal pieces are secure around the center ‘caulk’ it with trans. This helps it to stay a flower. Reduce and use. Have fun! Smile art isn’t supposed to be painful!

page created with Webpage Designer (NS)