Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Snowy Magnolia forest floor armature
- 25 January 2023
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Cover a round shape with plastic wrap... this is going to get messy!
Design note: I used a upturned bowl but you can even just draw a circle on the plastic, any round shape to guide the leaf placement will do.
Place a dried magnolia leaf on the shape.
Book readers turn to page 110 to read more about preserving plant material. There are a few ways to dry your foliage and flowers, each gives you a different result that will change the way you design with it. I wanted to let the leaf curl up slightly to reveal the gorgeous velvety underside of the Magnolia leaf. If I simply pressed the leaf it would have been too flat.
For more information about my book:
The Effortless Floral Craftsman
Use hot glue to secure a second leaf to overlap slightly.
Build up the circular shape. Position the leaves in a way that it creates pockets that will hold a lot of artificial snow.
Every now and again lift the leaves from the round shape to make sure it is not stuck to the plastic wrap. Also make sure the leaves are secure. The armature will support all the design details (including a lot of glue and snow) while being suspended over a vase.
Glue in leaves until you have a pretty circular shape.
Paint a puddle of wood glue into all the pockets.
Paint a thin line of glue around the edges of the leaves to make them stand out.
While painting the glue make sure the armature is still secure and add glue wherever you are concerned that it might not be strong enough.
Sprinkle on some artificial snow.
So that it gets soaked in the puddles of glue.
Set the armature aside so that the glue sets completely. This will take a while. Mine took about three days.
Once dry, tip out any artificial snow that is not secure.
Fill a vase with a wide opening with water.
And settle the Magnolia leaf armature on the container.
Groom the orchid spike with a sharp knife so that you have stem to insert into the armature.
Design note: This orchid was a lovely surprise that formed just as the other flowers on the spike was fading leaving me with a generous and elegant curved stem to design with!
Thread the orchid stem though the leaves so that the cut end rests in the water below.
Add in a few jasmine vines to curve around the stem...
And in and around the armature.
Those little tips are so delicate... be careful not to snap them! I show you my trick for threading delicate tips through an armature in our email this week. The sign up is below this post if you are not yet receiving your notification email on Wednesday mornings.
Make sure all the stem ends are below the water line in the vase below...
And finish the design with a few dew drop crystals.
One of my design rules that I set for myself for my website is not to use any tools and equipment that you don’t already have or can easily find but sometimes I discover something new that is too good to not share. You will find a link to the little turn table in this week's email. You can also read more about my design rules for all the designs I share here on the My Creative Workbook website in the email this week.
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Tutorials
Stack snippets of grass on a wire frame to make a floating pyramid armature
It's sometimes difficult to place a tiny crystal or bead exactly where you want it.
Turn the leaf so that the muted underside faces outward to create a more understated Autumn colour scheme .
Great way to use all the autumn leaves you collect on walks during the season. Slowly build up the leaf rosette and let the leaves dry before adding a few more.
The trick of this Tutorial is to create a flat top platform to display Spring blossom twigs- the way it would look on moss in a forest.
This armature is actually made of four times as many leaves as what it looks like to create a hinge to fan the entire leaf-tube open yet keep it's shape.
Carefully break... but don't snap a reed to create a curved base for a fanned out grass armature.
Craft two snippet half moons to connect... and... then add a second layer of grass snippets here and there to shade the flowers.
Glue bark to a Papier Maché and wire frame to create a pod shaped armature
Cover a Styrofoam shape with bark to create a bowl for a potted design
Carefully stack dried physalis berry husks to craft a long lasting pumpkin that you can refresh with fresh flowers and vines.
Favourite Flowers
Phalaenopsis, Moth orchid
Related Designs
This orchid developed at the very end of a long stem... right as the rest of the flowers started to die back so I made a special armature to display the cut stem.
My Spring/Easter design and the introduction article about my floral journey written by the editor, Nina Tucknott in the latest issue of Flora Magazine.
This was the third design I did in my "All things Autumn (by which I mean all things chocolate)" floral art demonstration
My Twig Bridal Basket design and Tutorial featured in the Extraordinary Wedding Flowers issue of the New Zealand Floral Design Magazine
For a softer autumn leaf pod turn the leaves so that the bright side faces in when making the pod.
An early Spring design with a twist on using an old favourite: composite flowers.
Fold and thread an autumn leaf armature for a thankful Thanksgiving design
Glue snippets of grass into a double layer sphere to create a sheltered floral globe.
Sometimes you find such a beautiful plant that you just can't bring yourself to cut it. This design explores using the entire plant, pot and all, in a design
A physalis husk pumpkin to celebrate the last bright rays of Autumn.