Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Reed Cradle Armature
- 29 June 2016
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Find the middle point of the wires
Bend the wire in half
Use this first wire as a template so that the other wires follow the same angle
Bend all the wires before assembling the armature
Match two of the bended wires and cover with brown florist tape to secure
Glue in bamboo sticks to separate the wire into levels.
Secure the bamboo sticks with brown florist tape
This creates the basic structure for the reed armature.
For my design I used a heavy brick foundation. See my Brick on a Stick Tutorial for detailed instructions
Place the wire armature on the wires attached to the brick.
Secure with brown florist tape
The basic wire armature is now ready to design with
Cut the reeds to the same length
Secure the reed to the armature with wire
And secure the other end at the bottom
Keep adding reeds to follow the shape of the wire armature
Only the first few reeds needs to be secured with wire, once the basic shape is covered it is easy to insert the reeds to be kept in plce by the rest of the reeds
Guide the reeds to follow the shape of the wire armature
Cut a bundle of shorter reeds and wire sections to add as horizontal design elements
Simply spear the reeds through the armature
Add another reed...
... and a few wires at random intervals.
Glue in test tubes for the orchids
See the Tutorial below for detailed instructions on how I make test tubes from drinking straws
Fill it with water
See the Tutorial below for detailed instructions on how to modify a syringe to create an easy way to fill test tubes in awkward places
Add the orchids
Spear in a few more reeds to complete the design.
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Tutorials
When you need to keep a tiny stem hydrated this is just what you need. If you can't find a suitable drinking straw... I also have an upgrade: tiny food grade pipe water tubes.
Easy way to fill test tubes and easiest way to remove water from a vase
I do not believe in arranging flowers without a water source of some kind. I want my flowers to remain as beautiful for as long as possible and I often get quite creative to...
This is a great way to use all those bits of twigs and sticks in your design room to make a floral armature
Creating a good quality armature makes it effortless for you to replace flowers, as they fade, with fresh blooms for an ever changing and long lasting floral design.
Favourite Flowers
Phalaenopsis, Moth orchid
Rosary vine, Chain of Hearts, Collar of hearts and String of hearts
Related Designs
The third design I did for my book launch demonstration looking at aspects that influences my effortless style of designing.
Bright and sunny cymbidium orchids and roses, lilies, lisianthus and pincushions
"What Twisted Tales We Weave" design 2010 Floral Trends Design Group, South Africa.
My bag was woven from re-purposed wire and recycled fishing line and tiny stems of growing sweet pea plants and orchids
My design entered for evaluation at the Floral Trends Design Group meeting in South Africa
As a floral artist I am inspired by the endurance of nature and my work is still re-creating the Sleeping Beauty Castle of my imagination.
Effortless is hard work! Effortless is difficult to achieve! Effortless takes years! The reward is exactly that; your work will be without effort. My article in the Canadian...
Retail florists and wholesalers are already designing, ordering and preparing their product range for Valentine's Day. This is my article that I wrote for the December 2012...
