On my online workbook this week: Plenty Glow to Harvest

Dear

This week's inspiration is the glow of autumn.

My tip(s) for you this week is all about traveling with a delicate design and keeping your stems from tipping out. Every turn and bump feels so much worse if you have a design in the back of the car, right?

Firstly make sure the design is really easy to maintain and that you can top up any water tubes the moment you reach your destination. Having a “back” to a design makes this easier. Turn the design to add the tubes so that you work from the back. It is a bit of extra effort but is really convenient when you need to stage or maintain the design. I could see my tubes at a glance (see the picture below in the snippets) to top up any water and mop up any spills in seconds.

My second tip is more specific. If you are using water tubes with lids, keep the lids open until just before you leave. This way you can top them up while you design and again just before you pack the design and close them at the last moment. Thread the stem through the lid and then insert the stem into the tube leaving the lid threaded on the stem. You can see a picture of this in the Tutorial.

But the fun tip is when you use tiny water tubes. It is tricky to keep flower stems in place even if you do not travel so transporting the design needs extra consideration. Really thin tubes that only hold a single stem (like the ones I used to make from thin drinking straws) kept the water even when tipped. Those thin straws are no longer available… so plan B: my tip is to add a tiny grid… in this case a tiny clover stem or something similar. You can even roll a tiny wire bauble (let me know if you want a link to my Tutorial on how to roll a small wire bauble) and place that in the opening of the water tube. Simply take a bamboo skewer and press the stem (or bauble) into the water tube (see the picture above) until it kicks against the sides, firmly into place. Now you can add your flower stem and it won’t topple out.

But if you want to double up… and add a bit of magic… use the glue strands to ever so lightly “strap” the flowers in place. One single carefully positioned glue strand across a flower will keep it exactly where you want it without distorting the petals.

Enjoy!

Every good wish,

Christine