How to make a bonsai tree of beads with your own hands, several master classes of creating bonsai in different color solutions, step-by-step photos and description

December 16, 2017 handmadebase

The art of Bonsai can without a doubt be called oneone of the oldest in the world. Translated from Japanese as wood on a platter. The very first tiny trees that grew in the natural environment were used by Buddhist monks to understand the harmony of nature and search for truth. They saw in plants the connection between heaven and earth, a point of harmony between the forces that exist in the world. The first images of tiny trees were found in Chinese scrolls dating from around the end of the 8th and beginning of the 9th centuries. They depict plants grown in nature and then transplanted into pots – penzai. Over time, the noble and wealthy segments of the population turned the cultivation of such plants into one of their entertainments. Since the 10th century, people have artificially recreated certain environmental conditions and grown tiny trees to restore the lost harmony with nature. Pebbles, sand and other natural elements are used for decoration and decoration. Compositions of several penzai appear. The first mention of bonsai in Japan dates back to the 12th century. During the period from the 1600s to the 1800s. A new round of bonsai popularity is coming, new types, styles and trends are being developed. There is an increasingly active use of various decorative details of natural origin: tree bark, moss, ferns, stones that imitate the living conditions of the plant. In Japan, the development of this art form was similar to Chinese history — At first, growing bonsai was a privilege and entertainment for the nobility, and then became widespread among other segments of the population. Growing bonsai is a rather labor-intensive and painstaking process. A person, by placing a small tree in a container, joins nature and gains greater responsibility. After all, he needs to find harmony between the requirements of the plant itself, which are necessary for its development, and very specific conditions of detention, which contradict natural conditions. For those who love nature and do not want to impose their will on plants, we offer a wonderful option – beaded bonsai. This surprisingly young and bright and at the same time such an ancient material is perfect for crafts, since it is as old a human invention as bonsai.The very first glass beads appeared in the AncientEgypt. Archaeologists found a bead with a diameter of 9 mm near the city of Thebes. Different peoples made it from other materials. It was carved from bone, pearls and shells, cast from gold and silver, and even porcelain beads existed in China. There are many amazing stories about the origin of beads. According to one of them, glass beads owe their appearance to Phoenician merchants. They carried a cargo of saltpeter across the Mediterranean Sea. When they settled down for the night and wanted to make a fire. On the deserted shore there were no large stones to surround the hearth, and the merchants used pieces of natural soda. In the morning, having stirred up the coals, the travelers found very hard and crystal clear pieces in the extinguished fire. This is how glass was born, and with it glass beads. For a long time, Venice had a monopolist in the production of tiny glass beads. The secrets of creating glass and beads were jealously guarded. The king even settled glassmakers on a separate island of Murano and gave the craftsmen great privileges. But with the development of navigation and the discovery of new lands, glass production began to expand. Instead of workshops, entire factories appeared, and beads became accessible and widespread. For those who are just starting to work with beads, it will be important to learn about such characteristics as sizing. The better the beads in one package are matched to size – are calibrated, the more accurate and beautiful the final product will be. So, combining two very ancient inventions, we will weave bonsai from beads. Bonsai in a classic styleYou will need:

Beads 11/0 green (you can take several similar shades, about 80 - 100 g in total);
Thin wire 0.3 – 0.5 mm for branches (you can use green or brown floral wire);
Thick wire for the trunk;
Brown thread;
Tape tape;
Glue;
Paint for trunk and stand (it is better to take acrylic);
Capacity for future stand;
Toothpick;
Lacquer;
Alabaster;
Tools for working with wire;
Polyethylene film (you can take an ordinary package);
Beads, beads and other items for the decor of the stand.

We weave twigs Green beads of different shadesmix. We will work with thin wire. We string 8 beads onto a piece approximately 50 cm long. We move them to the middle and make a loop by twisting the wire a couple of times.Back up a little and string 8 beads againand make a loop. We need 7 such loops – 9 pieces on one piece of wire. Now you need to twist the ends of the wire to make a tight bud (see photo). The length of the wire ends we will need is notmore than 10 cm. everything else can be cut off. You will need 150 or more such blanks. If you want to get a lush and beautiful tree, you will have to be patient. The next action will be to connect the three branches into one. We only got 50 blanks.Let's start creating branches.For the top of our tree, we need to fasten 3 blanks. We wrap them with thread about 2 cm down. You need to make two more of these wrapped branches. Now we take the first branch and wrap the second and third branches to it a little lower.This way we connect all the pieces.Now we take a thick wire for the stem.It must be very strong so as not to sag under the weight of the beads. Our tree will have three main branches. The photo shows how we arranged them. Be sure to curl the end of the thick wire into a ring. This will be needed when we attach the tree to the pot.Now, starting from the top, attach the branches using tape. You choose the order of branches as you like best, as your imagination dictates.When the last branch is attached and the entire stem is wrapped with tape, we begin to make a stand.We dilute alabaster with water, you can add gluePVA to the consistency of sour cream. We take the container that we have chosen and cover it with polyethylene. We put our tree there with a loop on the bottom and fill it with alabaster. It is necessary to cover the stem and branches with a thicker mixture. In order not to stain the beads, you can wrap them in plastic or foil. When the coating of the stem and branches has hardened a little, you can use a toothpick to draw grooves that imitate cracks in the bark. Now you need to leave it until it hardens completely. In order for our bonsai to turn out beautiful and stand as intended, it is necessary to provide support for the tree. After the alabaster has hardened, remove the stand from the container by pulling the polyethylene. Now the most interesting part remains – decoration. We paint the trunk, branches and stand.When everything is dry, you can decorate the stand with beautiful stones or other elements of your choice. At the end, you can coat it with transparent varnish, wait until it dries completely and our bonsai is ready.Pink blooming bonsaiYou will need:

Beads 12/0 (200 g of pink, 100 g of green color);
Thin wire 0.4 mm (one coil will suffice);
Wire 1.5 m for fastening;
Thick wire for the trunk;
Capacity for the stand;
Tools for working with wire;
Green thread;
Polyethylene film;
Alabaster;
Normal and hard brushes;
Lacquer;
Acrylic paint black, green, gray and red;
A lump of foil for the stone;
Decorative elements (pebbles, beads, etc.) if desired.

We will weave using the same loop technique asin the previous master class. For ease of work, you can immediately string the beads onto the wire without removing them from the spool. We will have three types of twigs. There are pink ones in the middle, pink green ones around them, and just green ones around the edges. First we weave with pink beads. There are 7 beads in each loop. For one “bud” you need to weave 6 loops. For the first order branches, we will need to twist together 3 of these “buds”. and attach them to a piece of wire 1.5 mm in diameter.We weave twigs of other flowers in the same way.We do not cut off the wire ends; we will use them to form second-order branches and roots. To do this, we bend them at different angles. You can use the photo as a guide or come up with your own form. All branches will be located approximately in the same plane. This original solution will help to play up the combination of pink and green.When all the branches have been collected, we tie a piece of thick wire to the stem to make the tree stable.We have prepared a wad of foil that will servestone. The roots of the tree will curl beautifully along it. Before further actions, it is worth trying to see if the roots are long enough or, on the contrary, the stone is too small, and adjust the values. Now take a container whose shape you like and cover it with polyethylene (you can use a baking sleeve). We dilute alabaster with water to the consistency of sour cream. Pour it into a container and place a stone and a tree on it (see photo). There shouldn't be a lot of alabaster. The stone and roots should be clearly visible.Until the alabaster hardens, the tree needs support.After complete drying, we take our future bonsai out of the container. Now you need to mix a little alabaster with water to the consistency of thick sour cream. We cover the stone, roots and branches of the tree with this mixture.When everything is completely dry, we proceed topainting. For the trunk and roots, mix black and red colors. When the coating dries, we take a porous sponge, moisten it with water and walk along the stem, creating a relief of the bark. We paint the stone gray. After the paint has dried, use a hard brush to apply strokes of black paint. We paint the stand green on top, imitating grass, and on the sides we use the same color as for the trunk. You can use a little bronze or gold paint and cover the curves of the stem and branches.We cover everything except the beads with varnish, wait until it dries and decorate the stand. We used green beads. Scarlet bonsaiWe will weave the next bonsai from bright red and scarlet beads. This craft will become a real decoration for your home. You will need:

Beads 11/0 or 12/0 (we ruby red and scarlet) 150 g;
Wire 0,4 mm (approximately 2 coils are needed);
The average wire for branches is 1.5 mm;
Thick wire (3 mm) for the trunk approximately 50 cm long;
Capacity for the stand;
Film or foil;
Threads for winding;
Brown paint;
Gold enamel;
Glue;
Alabaster or gypsum;
Lacquer;
Elements for decoration (coarse sand, pebbles, shells, etc.).

Advice for beginning needlewomen.In order to make beautiful play of shades of red (and any other color), try not to mix all the shades in one pile, but to make a smooth transition. We will work using the loop technique. We string the beads onto the wire without tearing it off the spool. We measure about 12 cm from the beginning of the coil and move the beads from it. We begin to weave loops from this point. There are 15 beads in each loop. Let's make a couple – three turns of the wire, retreat a couple of millimeters and make the next loop. For one workpiece we need 12 – 15 such loops. Again we measure 12 cm of wire, move the beads further and cut them off. Now our loops need to be folded into a “tube”, as in the photo. We twist the ends of the wire.Such twists (balls) for our bonsaiYou will need at least 100, and preferably 120 pieces. We form branches. We make them on pieces of wire 1.5 mm in diameter, about 20 cm long. We take our “balls” 4 – 7 pcs. and attach it to the wire with thread. The main thing here is that they are located in the same plane. Our branches will be fluffy only on one side. How many of these branches there should be, and you determine their number yourself, as your imagination dictates. Here is an approximate quantity.For the trunk you need a piece of 50 cm thick (3mm) wire. We start attaching the branches from the crown. It requires 3 blanks. For the middle of the tree you will need 3 branches out of 3 – 4 blanks. The lowest branches will consist of more than 4 blanks. Make a loop at one end of the thick wire. This will be a stable base for securing the tree to the stand. Bend the future trunk in accordance with creative thought. We attach our fluffy branches with strong threads. It is very important to wind it extremely tightly, since the beads are quite a heavy material, and your craft can be “led” by the wind. or warp.Now we take a container for a stand of some kindinteresting shape. Cover it with polyethylene to make it easier to remove the stand after it hardens. Dilute the alabaster with water to the consistency of sour cream, place the tree in a loop in a container and fill it with the solution. Wait until the alabaster hardens, remove it from the container. Cover the branches and trunk with a thicker mixture of alabaster, water and PVA glue. Apply several layers to the lower part of the trunk to thicken it. When the solution begins to harden a little, use a knife or toothpick to draw grooves imitating bark.After everything has dried, we cover the trunk andbranches with brown paint. Go over the top with a hard brush and acrylic paint of golden color. We also paint the stand in brown color. Coat the upper part of the stand with glue. We decorate it with stones or something else to your taste.Cover everything with transparent varnish on top. After drying, the bonsai is ready.

Comments

comments

Comments

Related posts: