Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Palm leaf Hopper-flies (grasshoppers and butterflies)
- 5 January 2011
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A new video to update: How to fold a grasshopper
Gerbera and Palm Butterfly
How to:
Split the leaf
Remove a leaf from a palm.
Using a pin split the leaf in three, separating the hard center vein from the leaf at both sides. Leave the last 2cm intact at the side that was connected to the palm.
Carefully run your nail along the vein to soften it so that it’s more pliable. Fold the vein back on itself and tuck under the leaf where it’s still connected. It might be easier for you to use a tiny bit of putty or Oasis fix to keep the vein in place while you practice doing this and later you will find it’s easy to hold in place while you weave the body.
Start weaving the body
Fold one side under and then over the vein. Pull tight. Do the same with the other side and pull tight.
Continue weaving the body two or three more times depending on the length of your palm leaf.
Butterfly Body
Create feelers (Antenna) by tucking the two sides of the leaf into the vein loop and pulling the vein snug. Separate the side strips and carefully run your nail through the length of each to curl as you would ribbon.
Tie and curl the Butterfly Feelers
Top of the Butterfly
Finish off the body by weaving the long center vein around itself and cut short. Cut the tail end if required.
Fly or Hop?
You can now add leaves for wings or cut the left-over vein in 2 for legs to tuck into the body.
Grasshoppers
Two Palm leaf Butterflies in my "1" Design- Floral Trends Design Group Opening Demonstration: 2010
Protea Composite flower with two Palm Butterflies
With tiny blue LED light bulbs to make Fireflies for "A New Age" Child Midnight Meander
I had a string of lights made up for my design because I needed special blue LED lights. Clear LED lights can only be seen from the front and opaque LED lights can be seen from the side. But Christmas fairy lights would also work, as long as the lights don’t get warm.
A Kaleidoscope of possibilities...
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