My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Paste and cut Wooden Feathers

Paste and cut Wooden feathers.

I use the same basic technique to make the feathers than what I use to wire and bend foliage.

Place glue on a strip of Kyogi paper.

Place wood glue on a thin strip of Kyogi paper.

Place the wire on the wet glue.

Place the end of the wire on the wet glue. I use rather thick wire to make a prominent vane down the middle of the feather.

Fold the end of the Kyogi paper over the wire.

Fold the end of the Kyogi paper over the wire.

Fold the Kyogi paper over the wire and start to wrap tightly.

Fold the Kyogi paper over the wire and start to wrap tightly.

Wrap the Kyogi paper around the wire to create the hollow shaft.

Wrap the Kyogi paper around the wire to create the hollow shaft of the feather

Clamp the hollow shaft of the feather with butterfly hairclips until the glue dries.jpg

Clamp the hollow shaft of the feather with butterfly hair clips until the glue dries completely

Spread a bit of glue on the Kyogi paper.

Spread a bit of wood glue on the Kyogi paper. Then spread a bit more glue. It's the glue that makes the wood playable and keep it from breaking when cut.

Place the wire right down the middle of the wood. Overlap the bottom hollow shaft part and the vane part slightly.

While the glue is still wet smooth the Kyogi paper over the wire to create the vane .

Sandwich a second piece of Kyogi paper over the wire. While the wood glue is still wet smooth the Kyogi paper over the wire to create the vane. Press carefully at first so that the veneer won't rip.

Cut from the outside in to the wire.

Cut out the basic shape of the feather and then start to cut the barb from the outside in.

Cut the Barb by cutting into the grain of the wood.

Continue to cut the barb by cutting into the grain of the wood.

Carefully bend and curve the wooden feather.

Carefully bend and curve the wooden feather.

Curve the barb of the wooden feather in.

Curve the barb of the wooden feather in to give it a natural appearance.

Ruffle the after feather with your nail.

Ruffle the after feather with your nail. The bits close to the shaft should look like rather wild down.

Separate the barb with your nail.

Lastly, just to make the wooden feather a bit less perfect separate the barb with your nail.

Kyogi paper feather.

Kyogi paper or shaved wood feather.

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Tutorials

15 February 2012 Wire and bend foliage

Wire and bend foliage in any shape

10 March 2012 Kyogi paper wood veneer

I wanted to create extremely light weight wooden blocks for my design. The easiest way is to cover Styrofoam with a Kyogi paper veneer.

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