Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Above and below water jasmine in a grass square
- 3 August 2022
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oh yes, it is the time of year when I crave water for my design work. Over the years I have shown you many other options for keeping flowers in water, on water and even slightly above water. In this design I show you something in between. The grass sinks slightly in the water and the flowers are kept in position slightly above.
Fold a blade of grass at a sharp angle...
So that the end piece of the grass fold into the grass square.
Knot the square with a piece of ripped grass.
You can absolutely use a granny knot to tie the grass. But Book Readers if you learn only one fancy knot turn to page 59. It looks so professional and rather impressive to do. you can tie bouquet stems with this knot, you can tie bunches with this knot... and yes, floating grass squares. And bonus! It looks harder to do than what it is. Try it and let me know what you think.
But to get you started I have included a Tutorial below on how to rip grass.
Slip a new blade of grass through the knot and thread it almost all the way through...
(see our email for an explanation)
And follow the square shape all the way around.
Thread the grass end through the knot to secure.
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Snip away the too long and dangling grass end.
Pour water into a shallow container to fill.
Place the square on the water.
Make sure the square is flat on the water. Adjust the shape if need be so that it does not dip into the water on one side or lift out on the other.
Slip a jasmine flower between the grass...
So that the stem end is below the water and the flower above.
All the way around the square... spacing them out as you slip them in...
... to create your floral design.
Slip in a few curled blades of grass.
I find using a tweezer worked best. As for curling the grass you can find a Tutorial below where I show you how to rip foliage. But for even more delicate curls try the How-To in my book on page 55.
Add in curls all the way around the square.
And finish the design by placing a few dew drop crystals on the grass with a pin
See the Tutorial below for detailed instructions on how I use a pin to place these delicate crystals.
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Tutorials
It's sometimes difficult to place a tiny crystal or bead exactly where you want it.
Flowers naturally float in water. They just don’t always naturally float on water. For that they sometimes need a bit of help.
If you know my work you have probably seen me do this: I float flowers using a tiny bubble wrap skirt... this time I am floating an entire design on it's own bubble wrap raft.
Fold and peg banana leaves into pockets so that they float freely on water. This is inspired by a traditional banana leaf craft used to cook rice in.
Plant material float about in water. To keep it in place it is best to wedge it slightly to touch the sides of the container.
Flowers tend to float in water. To keep them submerged you need to add a bit of weight
Float flowers in a bottle by giving each flower their own little bubble wrap raft-skirt.
Done in no time design... and it is rather refreshing to make.
Cut circles out of transparencies to make ripples in the water
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One of my trusty tried and tested techniques. When the going gets hot... float your flowers!
