Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Craft a padded wooden Dowel to position a leaf cone into the sharp teeth of a Kenzan
- 10 May 2023
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Position a Kenzan in a shallow container.
Fill the container with water to make sure the top of the weight (ideally most of the teeth as well) falls below the water line.
Roll a large leaf (I used a Monstera) into a cone. Secure the cone with a drop of floral glue or pin it with a sharp twig.
See the Tutorial below for more detailed instructions on how to secure a cone.
To make the padded stick fold a piece of fabric into a square. I used a paper towel. Rest a dowel in the middle of the folded paper towel.
Wrap the paper towel around the dowel...
And secure the paper towel with an elastic band.
Stamp the covered dowel on your working surface to make sure it is well padded.
Position the leaf cone on the Kenzan...
Press the leaf into the Kenzan with the padded dowel.
So that the stem part is skewered into the teeth but the leaf is undamaged......
Book readers turn to page 129 of my book where I show you ways to help hydrate your flowers... and keep them in position in your design.
For more information about my book:
The Effortless Floral Craftsman
Cut the stem shorter so that it nestles in the container under the water.
Place the grape hyacinth flowers so that it is skewered into position.
Add a few glittering dew drop crystals into your design.
These dew drop crystals are doing double duty. They are also a treasure map. I tell you more about leaving tiny hints in your designs in our email this week. If you are not yet receiving an email from me every Wednesday morning (Vancouver time) you can sign up below this post. The email is for us to connect. I share something about the design that I have discovered and you can reply to me with your comments, questions... or to say hi and tell me what is happening in your floral world. I love hearing from everyone... please do.
And finish the design with a dangling wire vine, gently secured between the Kenzan teeth so that it remains hydrated.
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Tutorials
A cool and minimal floral design for summer.
Snip, roll and glue a few blades of grass to create a design feature
It's sometimes difficult to place a tiny crystal or bead exactly where you want it.
A single lily flower design dressed up with a grass veil.
Temporarily adhere a traditional Ikebana Kenzan or pincushion to a shallow container.
Just look at that puddle! This design is all about the fresh eucalyptus... but in a cooling down for summer kind of way.
Flair open a leathery leaf to craft a frame a single bleeding heart flower on its long stem.
Weave a few cones and add orchids to make the floral ice cream cones
Create a tiny visual tunnel to focus attention.
A glue-less way of manipulating leaves
Fold and glue a Monstera deliciosa (delicious monster) leaf
Curl and pin a few leaves into a tube to create an armature for those "left over" freesiabuds.
Related Designs
A small design to display those last Spring snippets from your garden...
It's the little sun-washed coloured hints that makes you look again to see if you really saw what you thought you saw... yes! There really are signs of autumn everywhere!
Loop a grass veil over a lily stem to create a minimalist summer design.
Cut stems of Gladiolus to place in a radiating summer design.
A tiny budvase design that rearranges basic ingredients, such as a single leaf and an orchid to create a new design concept.
An enclosed design that invites the onlooker to lean in closer to explore the pretty orchid.
