My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Three tier dried autumn leaf armature

Cut a large cardboard circle to almost half. It should be just slightly bigger to create visual interest.

Cut a second smaller circle... this time just slightly less than half

Cut a third slightly smaller cardboard circle, in half.

Place the cardboard circles on a flat work surface. Play around to create an interesting pattern. Mine turned out to look a bit like a shield. Mark the position of the cardboard with pencil.

Pierce a cocktail stick through the cardboard to create a spacer between the layers.

Glue the ends of the cocktail sticks with a bit of hot glue to keep it secure

Cover the surfaces with autumn leaves following the shapes

If it is difficult to glue the leaves on the bottom section simply lift it off and replace it once covered. But the gap from the cocktail sticks should leave enough space to place all the leaves at once.

Lift the armature and make sure all the leaves are secure. I left a few gaps for my water tubes.

Craft legs for the armature by resting it on three sticks

For a more detailed information on how to craft three legged armatures see the Tutorial below.

Glue the twigs to the cardboard at the back

Add a few twigs to make sure the entire armature is strong and stable

I wanted my water tubes to be part of the cardboard armature so that it looks like the orchids grow out of the leaves. Cut holes in the cardboard with a sharp knife.

Sink the water tubes into the cardboard hole at an angle. The tubes should be pointing up so that the orchids can remain hydrated for as long as possible.

Set the armature aside so that the leaves shrivel and dry. This way you can cover any exposed cardboard gaps when you are ready to add the flowers.

Place the orchids in the water tubes...

Glue in a few small leaves to extend beyond the armature.

Glue in leaves to cover any gaps where the cardboard is visible

Roll bits of copper wire...

See the Tutorial below for more detailed information on how to roll wire baubles

And place the wire and sparkling crystals around the flowers to draw your attention to your focal point.

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Tutorials
Bite and snap a sturdy twig
22 May 2012
Bite and snap a sturdy twig

Break the sturdy twig on the scribe line.
The Three legged trick for Upright Constructions
7 September 2012
The Three legged trick for Upright Constructions

When in doubt, always give your armature three legs. Two legs are simply not enough and four legs will wobble if it is even slightly off balance.
Wire baubles
5 May 2011
Wire baubles

Make baubles from wire
Unravel wire from a copper pot scrubber
5 May 2011
Unravel wire from a copper pot scrubber

Up-cycle a pot scrubber to get a huge roll of very pretty copper wire
"I found it this way" demonstration Floral art Structures: Twig Tangles
21 September 2016
"I found it this way" demonstration Floral art Structures: Twig Tangles

For my "I found it this way" Floral Art demonstration at The Capilano Flower Arranging club, I began all four of my designs with basic armatures made of Twig Tangles and we discussed the importance of a stable structure as a foundation to a structural design. The twig tangles create a basic armature for the designs to be suspended from. Each design is crafted that it almost looks like a foraged or ‘found” natural object
Leaning Sunflowers to stay just so
27 July 2016
Leaning Sunflowers to stay just so

The trick to any freestanding design is to get your first three stems standing stable and secure in the water. Once you have that you can build the design around it.
Autumn leaf Composite Flower
6 September 2011
Autumn leaf Composite Flower

Glue a round Autumn leaf Composite Flower.
Autumn Leaf Rosette
11 November 2012
Autumn Leaf Rosette

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.
Salmon pink Fall leaf armature
13 November 2013
Salmon pink Fall leaf armature

Fashion a fall armature from leaves
Related Designs
Just So
25 February 2015
Just So

Twirl a few willow twigs to create a balanced armature to display orchids
Too Hot!
27 July 2016
Too Hot!

Leaning floral stems to stand on their own in a shallow container
When Autumn Fall
6 September 2011
When Autumn Fall

Autumn leaf composite flower
On The Street Where You Live
1 November 2011
On The Street Where You Live

A floral design snapshot of what it looks like when walking down the streets of Vancouver this week.
Winter formal
16 November 2011
Winter formal

The elongated heart shape Echeveria waist corsage is meant to be worn low around the hip as a trailing ribbon clasp.
Foraging
13 November 2013
Foraging

This week's design is part of a challenge issued by Sherry Donnelly of Gertie Mae’s Floral Studio and Flirty Fleurs, Alicia Schwede, owner of Bella Fiori and Chuck Graham, Floral designer at BLOOM by Anuschka to create a design with anything I can pick up close to my design room. And no flowers allowed...
Psithurism
8 November 2017
Psithurism

Craft a three tiered, dried autumn leaf armature
Favourite Flowers
Oncidium
Oncidium

Cherry twig cocoon with Oncidium orchids and dandelion seeds