On my online workbook this week: Floral Hurricane

Dear

This week's inspiration is a swirl that also twirls... but not sag or topple

Something wonderful about designing for shows or competitions is that you can use the "rules" against themselves. You can sacrifice balance, for instance, to create tension.

But here is my tip for this week: save yourself a whole lot of stress by limiting all tension to visual. Make sure your design is secure... and then add even more details to make sure it is even "poked by the onlooker" secure. You might want your design to look as if it will topple over but never should it actually be in any danger of doing so.

This design actually hooks over the side of the container (see the picture above) so that it is perfectly balanced and will stay in place even if the table is accidentally bumped or poked. The entire armature is secured in place right from the first stems woven into a swirl (see the picture below) and can be lifted out of the container if you need to adjust the flowers in the point inside the glass vase without any of the design details shifting.

A word of warning though... tension should always be used sparingly. There is always a risk that your attempt at creating tension is misunderstood and you create too much tension. For instance it is perfect for a show design but not so much for a dinner centerpiece or a event design. You do not want the onlookers to be sitting on the edge of their seats poised to save your design from splashing down. Remember they have no idea what a clever designer you are. Make sure your mechanics are stable (and look stable) if you want the viewers to relax and enjoy themselves around the design. But if you want them to be a little bit worried about that approaching hurricane... it's time to play with those rules. I show you how (and why it is important) to test the rules on page 267 of my book

Enjoy!

Every good wish,

Christine