And there you glow

A glowing autumn display of vases to scatter around every here and there.

Protect your “mercury” glass vases with a reusable lining when using wire as a mechanic

How to protect glass vases from scratching when using wire as a mechanic

As light as a super thankful pumpkin

Create a almost wreath floral display that is light and airy... looking like it was just harvested.

Making light of a heavy, heavy pumpkin in double low containers for a zero waste kitchen pumpkin display… a few days before Thanksgiving

A great way to show off your Thanksgiving pumpkin before cooking it… keeping the pumpkin well above and out of the water so that it will not rot and you can easily remove it from the design when you are ready.

Go on Autumn… glow!

Mixing permanent and fresh design ingredients to celebrate just how clever the glow of Autumn is.

Interweave a fairy light and grass glow vase

Wrap a fairy light grid around a fishbowl vase to interweave dried grass for an almost basket display.

Kinda Corny

Crafting with corn to make... well... corn, really.

Crafting a Corny Corn Husk Corn Armature

Four ears of corn, corn husk wire armature with a hidden water source for the fresh flowers.

Linked This Way

A fun way to elevate a few bud vases into a display.

Craft a wreath chain to link a few bud vases together

All you need is a few twigs to craft this design- it's a perfect floral meditation activity.

Do and Don'ts

One of my trusty tried and tested techniques. When the going gets hot... float your flowers!

Floral Raft in a Bottle

Float flowers in a bottle by giving each flower their own little bubble wrap raft-skirt.

Into a Puddle!

Heat proof floral design for summer.

Sparkling dew drop puddle to keep flowers hydrated even during a heatwave

Done in no time design... and it is rather refreshing to make.

In the little gap

Use the petals of your flower to cleverly keep all the other floral details of your design firmly in place.

A flower, flower frog to keep your design details perfectly put

Use the firm petals of a flower to keep your design details upright

Have yourself a Merry Cellulose Fibre Christmas: Lost and Found Snow Mittens

...ok not really that fancy- it’s made from paper pulp. A cardboard box snow mittens… really. In the spirit of 2020- I am inspired by the endless stream of cardboard boxes being delivered.

Let’s circle around to this one

Create a floral circlet to rest the little pumpkin on... but above the water line.

Floral wreath ring stem armature for a cute pumpkin patch in a stem vase design

Use a wreath to keep flower and a heavy little ghost pumpkin in place in a small vase.

This season all the stylish pumpkins will be wearing them!

A simple way to keep the plastic mesh the pumpkins are sold in from becoming trash: wrap it around the container as an armature for a quick Fall design. Replace the flowers as they fade and top up the water as needed.

Mesh bag net armature to keep your flowers in place

Instead of vegetable net bags becoming trash wrap it around your container for an instant armature. It even looks a bit like a spider web- perfect for a long lasting design as we count down to Halloween.

Dance lessons from the Autumn leaves

A fun and easy contemporary floral design to display foraged autumn leaves and just a touch of flowers that can easily be replaced.

Dancing fall leaves... on a stick

Spike fall leaves and water tubes to create a minimal radiating autumn display

Scary stuff!

My Halloween design... with some scary stuff hidden if you can read between the leaves!

Spider-mum

Craft a spider from twigs and a chrysanthemum

Peg and glue a floating Halloween design

A hovering Halloween design that seems to float.

But wait… there's more!

Tucked into the box with every advance copy of the book, the effortless floral craftsman is a packet of clips. This design and Tutorial is a bit of inspiration... what will you create with your clips?

In Summer!

A contemporary cascade of rosary vine and dried petals.

Tumbling sun-flakes

Craft radiating sun-flakes from dried petals.

Whipped up in the autumn breeze

Give a loosely woven wreath legs to stand on to hover lightly around a pumpkin

Display wreath that hover around a big shiny pumpkin

For this design I wanted my wreath to be light and airy so that it just whips around the solid pumpkin like a breeze.

Look at you!

Tie twigs to shape a hanging armature

Chain-link string and twig armature

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

Watch the leaves turn

Roll autumn leaves to create a wreath

Use the stem of an Autumn leaf to wrap, pin and secure it in a roll

A glue-less way of manipulating leaves

Rolled up Autumn leaf wreath

Create a textured wreath with Chrysanthemums and rolled up Autumn leaves

Fluffy

Fluff out Washi paper to create a delicate armature

Fluffy Washi Caterpillar Armature

Spring Dreaming

A bowl full of miniature Chrysanthemums

Meadow in a bowl

Inspired by a classic and traditional Ikebana technique used in a Rikka design called Komiwara. Designers would usually bundle straw to keep the flowers in place.

Pluviophile

Float grass snippets in water

Apricity

Turning a stand-by floral technique sticky side out

Turning the sellotape over the vase trick up-side-down for a sticky side out frog

Tape a grid over a vase to keep the floral details in place

Once, twice, thrice

Bend a few stir sticks to cover with wool to make a few floral bracelets

The power of reinvention

Retail florists and wholesalers are already designing, ordering and preparing their product range for prom. This is my article that I wrote for the Prom Design Issue of Canadian Florist Magazine

Flower Girl’s Butterfly Net and Ring Bearer Bug Box

Two fairy tale design details that will capture the imagination of even the youngest members of your wedding party. A tiny bug box to carry your rings in for the ring bearer and a small butterfly net filled with confetti petals for a small flower girl to scatter down the aisle. This DIY projects were fashioned for the DIY Weddings Magazine

Designing Body Blooms

Designing Contemporary Floral Accessories and Body Flowers Article in the Canadian Florist Magazine

Pompon Chrysanthemum, bud and eucalyptus pom-poms

Pompon Chrysanthemums make perfect floral pom-pom beads

Wire hairpin needle for threading flowers

Hairpin wire needle to pierce flowers.

In an Oriental Manner

I wanted my parasol design to be thoroughly me, and thoroughly contemporary yet respectful of the guiding rules and methods shared by the different schools of Ikebana.

Kitchen Garden

Kitchen Garden Design. South African Horticultural Society Show 2009

SHAPE

Chrysanthemum Hourglass

Ground Breaking

Water stream breaking through ground in an autumn forest.

Snowmums

Snowmums “take the centerpiece home” event favors.