Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Short Cut
- 19 April 2023
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Have you heard about my brand new floral adventure? I am writing a monthly article as part of the
Plant Something BC
initiative to promote the benefits of buying locally grown plants to aspiring and experienced gardeners of all ages.
My monthly flower arranging inspiration articles is a floral design companion for this initiative. This month I tell you about planting willow to coppice... perfect for filling your craft pantry with long weaving stems.
A short cut
for when you cut short
so that the vase life
is not well…
urhmmmm…
*shuffles feet *
wellll…
you know…
cut short.
This collaboration is supported by the BC Government’s Buy BC partnership program, delivered by the investment Agriculture Foundation of BC with funding from the Government of British Columbia to enable us to have an interdisciplinary relationship between BCLandscape and Nursery Association members and non-members from the floral designer, growers, the landscaper and garden centres.
Next month's Plant Something BC's article I will show you another design made from what I am growing and what is new in my balcony garden for this year.
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Tutorials
Tiny stems are often also delicate stems... place your cut flowers directly in a small glass of water. A perfect fit for this basket.
For my design I wanted the wreath to look wind blown so I added a few loosely woven twigs into the weave. I also wanted to emphasize the autumn colours so I added a twirling...
After the last petal drops cut the blossom twigs into snippets to craft a basket with.
Weave willow between the fork in a twig to create a paddle like armature
Give the stem a closer cut to detail for floral art
I build up the spheres by weaving willow wreaths and then use those to shape the ball
Strip the green bark from the stems to expose the smooth wood
It's sometimes difficult to place a tiny crystal or bead exactly where you want it.
Weave a tiny nest with a twig hook so that you can hang it in a design
Once you figure out how to do the corners weaving a diagonal shape is actually not that hard to do.
This is a great flat and open basket to take outside when “harvesting” your fall leaves, pods and flowers. Who knows, you might even find a ghost pumpkin or three…
Favourite Flowers
Curly Willow, Chinese Willow, Tortured Willow, Globe Willow, Dragon's Claw, Hankow Willow
Related Designs
A lush wreath that remains green so that you can design once... and cut and cut and place your violas to make sure you have flowers all season long.
Ah... yes summer time designing. Anyone else seeing more insects hiding between the petals this year?
Weave a web of jasmine vine to support orchid stems
Grow a willow birdcage... with a bit of a Spring flower support to get it started.
Gorgeous Aquilegia vulgaris spring flower... with it's own springy thing!
Autumn harvest willow for a double the pretty plaited flower support
My article and a floral parasol design featured in DIY Weddings Magazine
Barely there skeleton blossoms with Eucalyptus eyes for my Halloween design... Oh! and a Willow Paddle, which probably should have been the main Tutorial... but... well...
My article and Willow Crown design featured in DIY Weddings Magazine
Glue a fantasy forest from Popsicle sticks, grape vine tendrils and willow tips
Floral Craftsmanship Article in the Canadian Florist Magazine
Just like the weather is only hinting at spring, so is this design only hinting at being a basket
