Make a wedding extra-special with Ellen Kharade's floral polymer clay necklace

What you need...

• White pearls, 15mm x 8
  
• Pink pearls, 8mm x 5
  
• Swarovski 8mm crystals: Indian pink x 6; crystal AB x 6
  
• Fimo Soft polymer clay: white, raspberry, red
  
• Pink iridescent powder
  
• Head pins
  
• Jump rings, 5mm
  
• Toggle clasp
  
• Loose chain, 40cm
  
• Eye hooks
  
• TOOLS: pliers, round-nosed, flat-nosed, snipe-nosed; wire cutters; rolling pin; scalpel; ball tool; fine beading needle, 2cm; metal blossom cutters, 1.5cm, 2cm; metal calyx cutter, 2cm

instructions

1. Condition white and raspberry clay. Add a little raspberry clay to three separate strips of white to achieve light pink, mid pink and dark pink shades. Roll out a small sausage of dark pink clay and flatten it with a rolling pin. Hold one end and roll up to form a small coil. Make a ball of dark pink clay and flatten it between your thumb and finger to create a petal shape. Lift it off the work surface and thin out one edge with your fingers. Wrap the petal around the coil, facing the seam so that it is covered. Make at least another five petals in this way to build up a rose. Holding the flower at the base, insert a beading needle horizontally to make a hole. Trim away the excess clay at the base using a scalpel.

2. Repeat to form two dark pink, four mid pink and two light pink roses, making them slightly smaller in size as you do so. Bake in the oven to the manufacturer's instructions. Knead together white, raspberry and a little red clay to make a magenta shade and roll into a flat sheet about 5mm thick. Cut out seven pink flowers with a small blossom cutter and add a ball of white clay to the centre of each.

3. Roll white clay out into a 5mm thick sheet and cut out seven flowers using a larger blossom cutter. Use a ball tool to shape the petals and dust each one with a little pink iridescent powder. Add five magenta balls to the centre of each flower. Cut out seven calyx flowers from the white clay and add a magenta ball to the centre of each. Make a small pilot hole in the tops of all the blossom and calyx flowers and bake.

4. Using the pilot holes as a guide, screw eye hooks into the blossom and calyx flowers. Thread white and pink pearls and crystals onto individual head pins, trim the ends and form plain loops. Thread the roses onto head pins, trim and form plain loops and attach jump rings. Start in the centre of a 40cm chain and add a large dark pink rose, then mid pink roses either side, and light pink roses at the end.

5. Thread the pink and white blossom flowers onto jump rings and space evenly between the roses. Add jump rings to the pearl and crystal drops and space them evenly in between each of the flowers to create a cluster effect. Secure jump rings at either end of the chain and add a toggle clasp to finish.