My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

A Floral Fable: Mood Design

This is the first design I did for my A Floral Fable Design demonstration at the Capilano Flower Arranging club .

The demonstration explores ways to add small floral details to tell your own floral fable or simply express yourself with floral art.

With every design I will demonstrate one concept, thought or idea and by just slightly changing a few of the floral ingredients the design flips over into its contrast.

The moral of our first fable is: You can change your mood as fast as you can change your mind.

We begin our design in a thoughtful...

...restrained...

and meditative mood.

And then...

it changes to exuberant...

and youthful...

and playful

In my thoughtful, restrained and meditative mood design I used tulips in tight bud, green papery Physalis pods (sepals) and grasshoppers woven from a palm leaf.

Then to change it into an exuberant and youthful and playful design I added a few open tulips, reflexed and replaced the green Physalis pods with orange pods. The grasshoppers got wings to become butterflies to fly into the happy design.

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Tutorials
Palm leaf Hopper-flies (grasshoppers and butterflies)
5 January 2011
Palm leaf Hopper-flies (grasshoppers and butterflies)

Weave grasshoppers or butterflies (or fireflies) from palm leaves
Reflex Tulip Petals
3 March 2011
Reflex Tulip Petals

Tulip petals can be opened or reflexed to create a fuller bloom
Glue a forest filigree twig wreath
7 December 2011
Glue a forest filigree twig wreath

This wreath is not woven but glued to create a see-through forest filigree
Where to cut Tulips to condition
21 March 2012
Where to cut Tulips to condition

Here is a trick to make sure your tulips will condition thoroughly
BoutStix Floral Magnets as stabilizing weight for light accessories
21 March 2012
BoutStix Floral Magnets as stabilizing weight for light accessories

Sometimes tiny accessories can be too light to neatly place in a design and needs a bit of weight to stabilize it.
Drying Physalis sepals
23 March 2012
Drying Physalis sepals

Every Autumn we see the beautiful Physalis pods everywhere but they are easy to dry and preserve to use year round.
Related Designs
A Floral Fable Design demonstration Floral Art Structures
15 March 2012
A Floral Fable Design demonstration Floral Art Structures

I did a Floral Art demonstration at The Capilano Flower Arranging club. Over the next few weeks I will show the designs in detail and add the design tutorials. This week I’ll look at the concept, the basic mechanics and the Floral Art structures, constructions and armatures used in the demonstration.
A Floral Fable Design demonstration Floral Art Structures
15 March 2012
A Floral Fable Design demonstration Floral Art Structures

I did a Floral Art demonstration at The Capilano Flower Arranging club. Over the next few weeks I will show the designs in detail and add the design tutorials. This week I’ll look at the concept, the basic mechanics and the Floral Art structures, constructions and armatures used in the demonstration.
Be My Twig-Heart
10 February 2016
Be My Twig-Heart

Glue an upright twig heart for a freestanding Valentine's display
Favourite Flowers
Tulipa
Tulipa

Plaited tulips in my I’ve got my head in the clouds design.
Physalis
Physalis

Spiral flowers from Chinese lantern sepals for my Thanksgiving Harvest design.