On my online workbook this week: Have yourself a Merry Cellulose Fibre Christmas: Santa’s gift bag wreath

Dear

This week's inspiration is finding new inspiration in soothing traditions.

My tip for you this week is to create subtle wild and unpredictable volume to curve around the top of the wreath to balance out the solid gift basket section in the bottom. Of course the creamy ribbon helps to visually create balance but the secret is, as always, in the way we design with our plant material.

Have a careful look at the length of the side branches as you weave it around the wire. Yes, I did not wire the Noble Fir to the wire frame- instead I used no additional mechanics to secure the greens. The branches are woven in like I weave a twig wreath. You can find the Tutorial on how I usually weave a twig wreath below today’s post.

When the woven side branch tips are roughly to the same length allow the branch to stick out of the woven section and start weaving in the next side branch. This is in direct contrast to what you would do when weaving with twigs where you tuck the twig in to secure it but it creates lovely perfectly imperfect “just grown this way” look for the wreath that is hard to achieve when you are carefully wiring the stems in one direction to the wire frame as you would normally do when designing a traditional Christmas evergreen wreath.

I believe our eyes pick up on these little details. It is what sets our work apart. It’s not always glaringly obvious but… there’s… just… something…

Considering what technique we choose to craft our design is as important to the overall effect as is all the design elements we use. Especially when we are designing details that can be so overly familiar that we are a little bored… but not so bored that we want to abandon decorating! We crave the comfort of tradition this time of year but also crave a fresh look that sets the year apart from Christmasses past. A change in technique might just be the creative spark your design needs while still using all the traditional trimmings.

In my book I called it designing the new-familiar. You can read more about how I use tradition as a source of inspiration on page 325 of my book.

Enjoy!

Every good wish,

Christine

ps: I have a bonus cardboard inspired Tutorial for you to explore this week. It's a quick and easy way to make these copper stars. Have a look at the link below the design