Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Reed Cradle Armature
- 29 June 2016
- and more
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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