Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Unfurl winter’s potential in a snow filled monstera leaf shelter
- 11 January 2023
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Pick out some florist tape to match the leaves as perfectly as possible.
Bind two Monstera leaves with a sliver of florist tape.
Cut the stems shorter so that the leaves rest on a water filled vase.
Fan the leaves open.
Cover wire with florist tape.
Cut the wire to fit halfway up each leaf and bend it into a u shape.
Add a thin layer of floral glue all the way down and up the wire.
Glue the wire to the leaves with floral glue fitting the middle to the opening between the leaves.
Reach under the leaves to loosely cup the stems in your hand and smooth the leaves into a curve that follows and adhere to the wire.
Gently roll the tip of the leaf into a tube...
To curl the leaf... More about this in our email.
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Work your way all around and inside to curl the leaves to look like they are still unfurling.
Slip the flower stems through the opening between the two leaves and the wire.
Design note: oh yes, lovely hellebore. If you struggle to condition your flowers I have a trick for you on page 94 of my book.
For more information about my book:
The Effortless Floral Craftsman
Add in a few jasmine vines...
Not to conceal the wire but rather to distract from it.
Add in a few dew drop crystals (see the Tutorial below for instructions on how I do that) and sprinkle in some artificial snow to finish the design.
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Tutorials
It's sometimes difficult to place a tiny crystal or bead exactly where you want it.
Add a leaf to a large-ish vase to create a small puddle of water for your short flower stem to rest in.
Glue short sections of rosary vine into the natural gaps in the Monstera deliciosa leaf
Create a shallow puddle in a larger container to keep your flowers in place.
Fold and glue a Monstera deliciosa (delicious monster) leaf
Take all the usual ingredients for a budvase design- a flower, a leafy green something and roll it into something unusual to display.
You don't have to design with a bud vase when you have a bud vase sized flower.
Quick and easy design... perfect for something tiny to celebrate spring.... everywhere!
Adding design details to create tiny gaps for more design details.
Curl and pin a few leaves into a tube to create an armature for those "left over" freesiabuds.
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Dutch floral designer Pim van den Akker, from Flower Factor invited me to participate in a FloraHolland initiative promoting the versatility of Freesias entitled ...
Criss-cross corset style connect the gaps in a Monstera deliciosa leaf
Gently curve a shallow area with a leaf to showcase a gorgeous flower with a short stem in a water filled vase
Position foliage to create a smaller, shallow pond for your floral details to shelter in.
A tiny budvase design that rearranges basic ingredients, such as a single leaf and an orchid to create a new design concept.
Give a minimal design a few grass "whiskers" to feel that Spring breeze.
