Tree Wings Studio: More Poppies - Making the Red Poppies Vase

After making the poppy pendant necklace for my sister Bethanne, I decided to do a few more poppy designs for Lazy Daze - home decor of course. This post shows photos of my first poppy design in home decor - a fluted vase or pencil holder.

The Red Poppies Vase.

I begin with a fluted glass vase and my inspiration - Bethanne's necklace.

First I cover the vase.

Next I place the poppy stems. I work this design upside down so I can add texture to the base easily.

Feathering the leaves.

Sculpting the poppies. I start with three balls and flatten them. Then I score both sides and curl the top down just a bit.

Then I add ruffles by pressing the top edge down with the upholstery needle, lining them up with the grooves - it ruffles better if I do it this way. Next I pull the base to a point and give it a bit of contour by bending the point down while gently folding the upper part back. I form two more petals, repeating these steps for each one and it's time to put the poppy together.

Here I've put the three petals together and enlarged the opening with my "flower former".

Now I place the poppies on their stems.

Next I roll each stamen from a tiny ball of clay.

A poppy with stamens.

Time to add some texture. Bethanne calls the little balls with dents jam thumbprints - they do look a lot like them - only much, much smaller and without the jam. ;-)

So many little balls.

Jam thumbprints and pokey holes (the name my Auntie Linda gave these little dents I often put in the surface of my clay designs).

Just a few more.

And here it is baked and ready for paint.

Here I'm painting the poppies. I paint this vase only lightly, leaving bits of the brown clay showing - it adds to the style giving somewhat of a worn look.

After the paint on the poppies has dried, I add a wash of burnt umber to the entire surface. It runs into all the little crevices and highlights the shadows. Then I paint the jam thumbprints gold and paint them a second time with the wash - I know, there are no photos of this part - there were only 9 days until Lazy Daze, so unfortunately photos had to be cut for the sake of finished decor photos. ...But I think you get the idea - just paint those tiny things carefully - just enough to give them color, and be careful not to fill in that thumbprint! ;-)