Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Over the edge flower, floral support
- 29 September 2021
- click to send Christine a smile
Choose a pretty vase... and with pretty I mean pretty functional. This is actually the most important step for this entire design. Everything hangs from it- no, really!
The vase should have a lip that will support the dainty flowers. So make sure it is upright and not too thick. The height of the vase is also important. So important that I thought I would chat a bit more about it in our email this week. Make sure to sign up to receive your once-a-week email from me with the design specific tip. The sign up is below this post.
Pay special attention to the stem end of the flower as you slip it over the edge. The flower should hang from the vase but also stand on the surface with the waterline just about in the middle.
Loosely fill the vase with flowers. Not too crowded and not too spare just filled to be level with the top of the vase so that they can offer support for the longer floral details.
Slip in blades of grass to dangle up, over and down the sides.
Add grasses to radiate around the vase.
Cut two taller calla lilies to adjust the height of the design and slip the lily between the flowers.
So that the flowers are supported by the flowers and grasses below.
Add an elegant, upright blade of grass to finish the design.
Book readers turn to page 258 for another, more dramatic version of this design. This time I spiraled the stems you see peeking out between the grasses.
For more information about my book:
The Effortless Floral Craftsman
Sign up for my weekly newsletter
Every week I add a new design with related tutorials. Be sure to subscribe to receive an email notification with design inspiration.
Tutorials
Create a barely there armature with sturdy end of season vines.
It is possible to curve or adjust a curve in plant material
Create a minimal design by placing a single flower on a platform
Open an arum lily up by rolling the funnel shaped spathe (petal) over
Most leaves and foliage can be slightly manipulated to curve or curl.
Favourite Flowers
Calla Lily, Arum Lily
Related Designs
Hang the arum lilies from the edge of a container to support all the other floral details.
Pull tab support for "canned" Calla lilies and bunny-tail grass.
Place a water tube at an angle in lumber so that the Zantedeschia float just above the base to show off the delicate grass snippets scattered up the stem
My article and wedding direction board design featured in DIY Weddings Magazine
Braiding and plaiting and knotting hair is a huge trend in hairdressing at the moment. Intricate little plaits are draped over long flowing hair to add complexity and quirk. ...
An easy going design of ripped grass and calla lilies. But look a bit closer. See if you can find Mr. Stalk relaxing somewhere between the blades of grass.
I have always been fascinated, as a designer, by the idea that there is a point when extremes or direct contrasts flip into its opposite.