My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

I found it this way: Wasp nest design

This is the second design I did for my "I found it this way" Floral art demonstration at the Capilano Flower Arranging Club .

As the temperature starts to cool down here in Vancouver and we are heading into early autumn, we are all starting to spend more time indoors, we looked at nests crafted outdoors.

Wasps build paper nests made from wood

The wasp finds suitable support for the nest...

... and slowly builds it up

Over the winter months the nest naturally degrades

Only to be rebuild in spring

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Tutorials
Washi Wasp Nest
28 September 2016
Washi Wasp Nest

Washi Papier Maché armature
"I found it this way" demonstration Floral art Structures: Twig Tangles
21 September 2016
"I found it this way" demonstration Floral art Structures: Twig Tangles

For my "I found it this way" Floral Art demonstration at The Capilano Flower Arranging club, I began all four of my designs with basic armatures made of Twig Tangles and we discussed the importance of a stable structure as a foundation to a structural design. The twig tangles create a basic armature for the designs to be suspended from. Each design is crafted that it almost looks like a foraged or ‘found” natural object
Papier Mache
2 June 2011
Papier Mache

I save all the thin tissue paper or un-printed newsprint papers that are wrapped around the flowers that are delivered to me to make batches of Papier Mache with. These sheets make fantastic Papier Mache because it is designed to be super absorbent and colour fast.
Just Hatched Papier Mache Easter Eggs
7 April 2012
Just Hatched Papier Mache Easter Eggs

Glue newsprint paper to balloons to make large egg shaped containers to design in
Cut spiked flower stems and foliage into short sections
16 August 2011
Cut spiked flower stems and foliage into short sections

Orchids grow in long flower spikes. It is great to use the entire stem but sometimes you need shorter section. There is a trick to cutting the stems without leaving a visible blunt stem.
Placing orchids in test tubes
25 August 2011
Placing orchids in test tubes

Cut the Phalaenopsis orchid with a bit of green stem attached. This will make them last longer.
A Neighbor friendly way to deflate a balloon
7 April 2012
A Neighbor friendly way to deflate a balloon

Apart from avoiding the noise popping a balloon makes this is also a less violent way to deflate a balloon when you make Papier Mache items
Related Designs
I found it this way: Spiderweb design
21 September 2016
I found it this way: Spiderweb design

This was the first design I did in my "I found it this way" floral art demonstration