My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Rainbow Oasis rocks!

I wanted to test and explore the different kinds of floral foam to see how they look, feel and last when carved. Even though both the floral foam for dried or artificial flowers and the fresh floral foam was easy to work with I found the Rainbow Oasis to be the best.

Dry foam

Dry foam: usually used for dried or artificial flower arrangements

It is Carve-able but quite firm
Sometimes hit patches that feels as if you are cutting against the foam grain
Creates a beautiful gray shape.
Smooth surface by sanding with another piece of foam
The powder and off-cuts are very static and rather messy.

Wet foam

Wet foam: Usually soaked in water and used for fresh flower arrangements

Very easy to sculpt.
The cuts tend not to be economical because the knife glides smoothly through the soft foam.
Shapes are a healthy dark green
Sands down to a very smooth shape.
Even slight pressure dents the foam and sharp points will break off.

Rainbow Oasis

Decorative Rainbow Oasis

This was my favourite foam to carve.
Apart from the lovely colours available it also has a very usable texture. It is softer than the Dry foam but firmer than the Wet foam.
Sands down to a smooth surface very easily and can be carved into finer shapes than both the wet and the dry foam.

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Related Designs

25 February 2011 A Rock by any other Name...

It's not really what we call things that matter but what they are made of- in this design, it's made of all three types of Oasis and wool.