Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Suspended, suspended buds in a zig zag grass thread
- 31 August 2022
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Place a container that is long and shallow on your working surface.
Measure and cut wire to comfortably span across the container
Curl one end of the wire to act as a stopper to keep the design details in place.
Fold the grass into a curve (don't fold it flat it flat at an angle) and thread the wire through it.
Curve the grass back over the wire again and thread it through the wire...
And back again and thread it to secure.
Add the next blade by overlapping it in the direction of the previous blade.
Fold the blade of grass all the way to the tip and secure it with wire.
Work close to the sharp end and move the grass towards the end with the folded stopper as you fill the wire with grass folds.
Fill the wire with grass folds from sharp end to stopper.
Fold the sharp end of the wire into a stopper with your pliers.
Place the grass zig zag on the container.
Cut away the points of grass that sticks out... if you want to. It looked rather nice as is but would have been too distracting with the dramatic buds I am using. But maybe it is just the thing you need for your design?
Fill the container with water.
Collect the buds you want to design with...
Oh yes... dyed flowers. Love them? Hate them?
These arrived "by mistake" and I thought it might be a fun challenge for me, since it is not at all my effortless style.
My solution came to me by accident when I made the pictures on page 71 of my book to show how flowers take up water. I noticed something rather peculiar that happened to the buds. For a special hint on how to suspend flowers in this tight bud stage for your design see this week’s email. You can sign up below the post.
But for a more... well... almost more natural solution I have also included a Tutorial below to get you started.
For more information about my book:
The Effortless Floral Craftsman
Place the dendrobium buds to hook over the wire, alternating the direction they point to.
Leaving a gap towards one end for the opened pure white dendrobium orchids.
Hook the orchids over the wire so that they are standing in the water to hydrate.
Add a slightly open bud into the design to break the neat flower placement.
Fold a long blade of grass on one end...
Slip it below the grass zig zag...
To gently drape over the design.
Fold and slip in another blade of grass from the other side...
And drape it all the way to the open orchids.
If you are curious as to how I curl these blades of grass see the detailed instructions in the Tutorial below.
And add a few dew drop crystals to finish off the design.
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Tutorials
Most leaves and foliage can be slightly manipulated to curve or curl.
It's sometimes difficult to place a tiny crystal or bead exactly where you want it.
Stack green lily stems to create an upright mechanic to keep shorter stems in place.
Carefully break... but don't snap a reed to create a curved base for a fanned out grass armature.
Stack snippets of grass on a wire frame to make a floating pyramid armature
Easy to weave design that can hold your prettiest autumn design treasures.
Sometimes you want to keep flowers in tight bud for as long as possible to suit your design
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