Marcescent

Craft a hanging twig and autumn leaf design

When you need to keep a tiny stem hydrated this is just what you need.

Break the sturdy twig on the scribe line.

Use all three methods to dry hydrangeas to get three very different textures to use in design work.

Weave twigs in parallel to create a twig blind with strong but natural horizontal lines.

By removing every other twig you open up space for larger flowers to nestle in

Create a panel for the flowers to hang on

Create a light and transparent collar-base for the large composite flower to nestle into.

Glue Popsicle sticks to create a double layered, upright armature

This design can easily scale up or down by using larger or smaller pieces of wood to create a larger wall panel or make a few of these panels to stack as tiles to create a more...

When you glue a structure with hot glue there are always a few stray strands of glue stuck all over the design. Blow it away with a hairdryer.

It's sometimes difficult to place a tiny crystal or bead exactly where you want it.

small sisal fibers create a mat like armature

A design inspired by traditional Jiyek braiding techniques

Knot stems into decorative swinging chains

Glue a few twigs into a rectangular shape to hang as a space or room devider

Create veil of wool and Spanish moss

Dancing lady

Craft a radiating design that suspends from the orchid stems

Instead of just placing a handful of twigs and two stems of sweet peas in a vase... why not...?

A perfectly imperfect wild willow wreath to display the first Autumn treasures of the year.

Soft minimal... this is exactly the kind of design I place in our apartment. Use a few fall treasures picked up on a walk and add a copper leaf to up the effort and love you add...

Hanging pumpkins and tiny vases to create a Autumn mobile floral design.

A almost impossibly delicate oncidium (dancing lady) orchid wreath.

A flat-lay to celebrate finally finding the perfect way to dry passion fruit flowers... and my book's first birthday but mostly the drying of passion fruit flowers thing.

Floral styling using mostly dried material that will last the entire Autumn.

Using that little something that is unusual about your flower to make the design stand out.

Exploring two soaking techniques for a subtle early autumn design

This design requires a bit of prep-time so it is perfect to make while waiting for the first autumn leaf to appear…

Getting the balance just so... so that you lean into the first sights of Autumn.

Design 2: Up-cycle drinking straws to make tiny test tubes to hold the orchids on my willow twig blind.

Tie twigs to shape a hanging armature

Lash a few bamboo pieces together to create a scaffold armature

Autumn leaf composite flower

Glue a fantasy forest from Popsicle sticks, grape vine tendrils and willow tips

A sisal mat armature for fall twigs flowers and leaves

Glue a few twigs into a disk armature

I have always been fascinated, as a designer, by the idea that there is a point when extremes or direct contrasts flip into its opposite.

Design One from my Inspiration Video: Use the same floral ingredients, willow twigs, Lichen, Spanish Moss, Kalanchoe and Gypsophila to make three distinctly different contemporary...

Braid a twig blind armature

Knot small stems into decorative chain garlands

Stack and glue a large twig rectangle to hang as room divider

A veil of green wool, Spanish moss and dried hydrangeas hang over white lilies

My contemporary floral art design demonstrated at the Canada Blooms flower show in Toronto.