Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Rock steady for tiny floral details
- 26 June 2024
- click to send Christine a smile
Lean a large pebble or rock in a glass display container.
This week in our email I show you how to prevent your glass containers from getting scratched by rough or heavy mechanics like rocks or pebbles. If you are not yet signed up (the sign up is below this post) I send out an email every Wednesday morning to let you know that the new design is ready for you to have a look at.... with a tiny craftsmanship detail for you so that you can get even more value out of our weekly flower lesson. You are welcome to reply to the email if you have a question... or say hi. It is always nice to hear from you.
Prepare the poppies to make sure it stays beautiful in your design.
See the Tutorial below for more detailed instructions on how to condition poppies. You use a slightly different method when you design with the flowers in glass... but I show you both methods so that you can choose what suits you best.
Pour in some water to fill the container around the pebble.
Slip in the fresh floral details between the rock and the glass vase. I used buds, open flowers and seedheads in my design.
The tiny gap between the pebble and the glass keeps the flowers exactly where you want to place them without crushing or constricting the stems.
Slip in a few blades of lily grass.
Book readers turn to page 288 where I show you how to manipulate grasses. For more information about my book:
The Effortless Floral Craftsman
but to get you started you will also find a Tutorial for another method below this post. Both work great, the one in my book is a bit more advanced and gives you tighter curls.
Weave two grasshoppers from palm leaves.
The detailed Tutorial is below this post.
Curl the grasshopper antennae to match the grass.
Add the grasshoppers to the design.
Design tip: always give your accessories something interesting to look at... or to chat to. Nothing should ever look like they are desperately trying to get away.
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Tutorials
Conditioning poppies for floral arrangements.
Weave grasshoppers or butterflies (or fireflies) from palm leaves
It's sometimes difficult to place a tiny crystal or bead exactly where you want it.
Most leaves and foliage can be slightly manipulated to curve or curl.
Keep flowers in place by placing a lemon on the narrow rim of the container.
Lean a large pebble in a display container to keep your summer floral details exactly where you want them.
Using the design elements as mechanics to secure the design elements.
Wire and glue the driftwood at an angle to balance on a pebble
Create a contrasting base to lift the heavy flower-head to design in
It all started with my twig being just too small to wedge into the glass vase tight enough to keep my orchid stem in place...
Such a peaceful design with just enough float and "stay put" elements
Pebbles are a great way to weigh down or keep your floral material in place. Here's a way to dress them up a bit
Carefully manipulate and bend green willow stems to place in water to sprout as an armature for tulips to mature and open
Related Designs
Display tiny design details in a budvase by crafting a stopper-frog.
Weave a spherical support to place long stemmed flowers into a bud vase.
To commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee and the 20th Anniversary of Friends of Government House Gardens Society a Horticultural event was hosted in the gardens and...
All natural design using the design elements as mechanics.
A design so fine you can easily miss it... if it were not for the interwoven pebbles catching your eye.
Add design elements that serves a purpose for a minimal summer inspired floral design.
Manipulate fresh willow stems to create a sprouting armature for long tulip stems