Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Ivy and tendril blooms
- 4 September 2024
- click to send Christine a smile
Choose a pretty tendril and cut it from your vine...
Vines can be tricky at times. The tendrils on the part that you want to cut is usually straight... and the pretty curly part is usually so tightly coiled that it is difficult to remove it without breaking. This week in our email lesson I share with you my trick for always having supply of perfectly coiled tendrils in my design room. I send out an email every Wednesday morning (Vancouver time) to let you know the new design is ready. You will also find a bit of "insider" information so that you can learn even before you go look. The sign up is below this post for you to join in.
Place the tendril on an ivy leaf...
Fold the leaf over the tendril and secure it with a tiny drop of floral glue.
Wrap around two more leaves and secure it with floral glue.
Keep the tendril stem and the leaf stems long...
So that you can adjust the tendril to poke out of the ivy leaf flowers exactly how you want it.
And place the leaf flowers into the design with the stems in water to continue to hydrate.
Reposition the tendril to show in the design.
See the Tutorial below for the full instructions on how to make the bougainvillea disk.
Book readers turn to page 202 to see more petaling and leaf-work examples. For more information about my book: The Effortless Floral Craftsman
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Tutorials
Pink just before autumn, autumn design to celebrate the richness in colour.
Great way to use all the autumn leaves you collect on walks during the season. Slowly build up the leaf rosette and let the leaves dry before adding a few more.
Release the soothing effect of the aroma and vapors from the Eucalyptus leaves my slightly crushing it while making roses
You can use any type of paper to make flowers. I use tissue paper, Crêpe paper, cardboard, newsprint and coffee filters (new and used) to make sweet peas, carnations, paper...
The trick of this Tutorial is to create a flat top platform to display Spring blossom twigs- the way it would look on moss in a forest.
Pike a few (hundred!) autumn leaves to build up a hollow leaf armature
An armature to display a lovely surprise orchid that developed on the long spike just after the other flowers started to fade.
Carefully stack dried physalis berry husks to craft a long lasting pumpkin that you can refresh with fresh flowers and vines.
Craft an ethereal Christmas tree from Eucalyptus leaves, twigs and sparkling snow flake crystals.
Just look at that puddle! This design is all about the fresh eucalyptus... but in a cooling down for summer kind of way.
Long lasting berries, magnolia leaves and succulent (kalanchoe) flowers that can remain without any water or maintenance for... well... all the way to Christmas!
Threaded Heuchera (Coral Bells) rosette with curved stems to kick against the sides of your container to keep it suspended above water.
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.
Related Designs
A dried flower and foliage... flower... disk to help me pretend it is autumn
An early Spring design with a twist on using an old favourite: composite flowers.
Spike a few hundred fall leaves to create a cauldron for Halloween flowers
Fold and thread an autumn leaf armature for a thankful Thanksgiving design
This orchid developed at the very end of a long stem... right as the rest of the flowers started to die back so I made a special armature to display the cut stem.
A physalis husk pumpkin to celebrate the last bright rays of Autumn.
A little bit of effort... that will last for weeks design to roll us in to the Festive Season.
Beautiful Bletilla striata (Chinese Ground Orchid) deserves it's own elaborate frilly skirt display.
A mindful summer craft using banana leaves to create a floating arrangement.