My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Curve a feather

Just as you can adjust the curve of the twig you can do the same with a feather...

See the Tutorial below for more detailed instructions on how to curve twigs.

Buffer the feather with the pad of your finger from behind and carefully start to curve it with your finger nail.

Move along the feather and carefully curve it down the hollow shaft from the tip to the quill.

Creating an elegant just drifted down and fell this way curve in the feather.

The fluffy feather is really difficult to glue down without ruining the downy barbs with a blob of glue or adding to little glue so that the feather falls off or wobble awkwardly.

My tip for you is to add the glue to the thing you want to glue the feather to...

And then gently settle the feather in the exact position you want it to settle.

So that the glue is in between the twig and the bottom side of the feather.

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Tutorials
Paste and cut Wooden Feathers
7 April 2012
Paste and cut Wooden Feathers

Wood glue makes wood veneer or Kyogi paper soft and playable to make feathers with
Manipulating stems: Snapping at an angle, Bending, Spiraling, Curling and Straightening
19 February 2013
Manipulating stems: Snapping at an angle, Bending, Spiraling, Curling and Straightening

Most stems, twigs and even sturdier branches can be bend into shapes. It takes practice and more than a bit of patience. The main idea is to slowly manipulate the branch without breaking it.
Adding snow to twigs
28 December 2016
Adding snow to twigs

Glue artificial snow to twigs
Large wax snowflakes
4 December 2013
Large wax snowflakes

Artificial snow can be very "chemical" and flowers deteriorate quickly when exposed to it. It also dissolves in water. I use candle wax as "snow"
Bubble raft to float flowers
3 January 2012
Bubble raft to float flowers

Flowers naturally float in water. They just don’t always naturally float on water. For that they sometimes need a bit of help.
Where to cut Tulips to condition
21 March 2012
Where to cut Tulips to condition

Here is a trick to make sure your tulips will condition thoroughly
Braiding three Tulip stems
21 January 2015
Braiding three Tulip stems

Plait Tulip stems
Slow down tulip growth, after the stems have been severed from the bulbs
11 May 2011
Slow down tulip growth, after the stems have been severed from the bulbs

Tulips continue to grow after being cut. Sometimes when you make a very small design or for competition or bridal work you want to minimize growth. The best way to do this is to divert their energy.
Tap in a Twig Support
4 April 2018
Tap in a Twig Support

Wedge snipped twigs into a glass vase to act as a support for your flowers
Using your seriously cool hot glue skills to glue a wire support for a tulip stem
1 April 2020
Using your seriously cool hot glue skills to glue a wire support for a tulip stem

A clever almost concealed wire support to keep a single tulip flower upright in a minimal bud design.
Trapped Bubble Double Shallow Vase Design
20 January 2021
Trapped Bubble Double Shallow Vase Design

Trap air between two vases to create a third circle... and frame for a small feather hint to a hopeful Spring
Related Designs
Going Cold Twinkle Turkey
3 January 2012
Going Cold Twinkle Turkey

Is it better to go Cold Twinkle Turkey and embrace the minimalist living room or rather ease into it?
Gumusservi
1 March 2017
Gumusservi

To celebrate the 6th year anniversary of My Creative Workbook I am looking at the most popular Tutorial I have done to date:
Tiptoe through the Tulips
21 January 2015
Tiptoe through the Tulips

Braid Tulip stems to set in water
Well, I'll be
27 January 2016
Well, I'll be

Manipulate fresh willow stems to create a sprouting armature for long tulip stems
Perfect!
22 February 2017
Perfect!

Tulips are so perfect just as they are all that is needed is to simply drape their graceful leaves around the flowers
Grow on it
4 April 2018
Grow on it

Wedge twigs into a vase to create a grid.
Hang in there!
1 April 2020
Hang in there!

Keeping this tulip upright requires less magic and more hot glue skills... but it looks magical never the less.
Hope Bubble
20 January 2021
Hope Bubble

That good old double vase trick... but this time I deliberately added a bubble between the two layers to create a third circle in the design.
Favourite Flowers
Tulipa
Tulipa

Plaited tulips in my I’ve got my head in the clouds design.