Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Narrow twin leaf spacer for keeping a tiny stem bouquet upright
- 12 June 2024
- click to send Christine a smile
When you design with some support for your floral details you can fill a generous sized container with water to ensure that everything remains hydrated in the warmer summer days.
Use any large leaf to craft the support. I am using Arum lily foliage... but only because they have these gorgeous green-grey flecks that exactly fit the green-grey of my quaking grass seedheads that I grow in my balcony garden.
Overlap two leaves on one side and secure with glue.
Paint a tiny line of glue on the outside of the other side of the leaves...
Fold the other leaf over the glue strip to close the two leaves into a cup.
Design note: rest the leaves in your cupped hand for about ten seconds to make sure it is securely glued.
Set the two leaves into water to continue to hydrate while you design the floral grass bundle.
Book readers turn to page 256 for design inspiration of how to create something similar... this time using the grass to make the gap.
For more information about my book:
The Effortless Floral Craftsman
Groom the quaking grass stems by peeling back all the leaf blades and the leaf sheaths.
And bundle up a few blades of grass, a coral bell flower spike and some quaking grass.
Push the bundle through the gap between the leaves.
Do I have an easier way for you to do this without poking holes in the leaf? Yes, yes I do. This week in our email I show you a trick I use to thread bundles. If you are not yet sighed up, I send out one email a week, always on a Wednesday morning (Vancouver time) to let subscribers know that the new design is ready for them to view... before anyone else. I also include a bit of "inside inspiration" and handy tips that are good to know before looking at the design. This is also the perfect way for you to connect with me. So reply to the email if you have any questions, or a comment... or want to say hi. I would love to hear from you even though it might take me a few days I do respond to all the emails.
Set the design back into the water filled vase and adjust the height by adding in a few more grasses.
And a pretty clematis vine or two... the bundled grasses will be a tight enough fit for you to position any floral details exactly where you want it.
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Tutorials
It's sometimes difficult to place a tiny crystal or bead exactly where you want it.
Threaded Heuchera (Coral Bells) rosette with curved stems to kick against the sides of your container to keep it suspended above water.
Curl and pin a few leaves into a tube to create an armature for those "left over" freesiabuds.
Create a tiny visual tunnel to focus attention.
A small bundle of Spring floral treasures framed with lush monstera foliage.
Prevent a leaf from ripping or bruising when positioning it in your design.
Capture a bit of winter magic by placing delicate flower buds in the middle of two large leaves.
Carefully bubble out a tied bunch of grass to make a cavity to display gorgeous flowers.
Both pretty and pretty effective. Keep the flowers exactly where you want them by weaving a stopper for your bud vase.
Quick and easy design... perfect for something tiny to celebrate spring.... everywhere!
Create a shallow puddle in a larger container to keep your flowers in place.
Carefully break... but don't snap a reed to create a curved base for a fanned out grass armature.
Tulips continue to grow as they open. This means you not only have to be mindful of their proportions as they are now... but also as they will be once open.
Stack snippets of grass on a wire frame to make a floating pyramid armature
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