Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Weave a Ceropegia Woodii Vine grid to catch your flowers
- 3 February 2021
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If you enjoy this kind of all natural design solutions you will find quite a few ideas in my book. Book readers turn to page 371 for a rosehip version of this and page 12 for probably my favourite green grid design....
Place a rosary vine to stretch from one side of the opening of vase to the other.
Measure the vines so that you can secure it to the rim of the vase with the tiniest drop of floral glue behind a heart shaped leaf.
Design note: Measure the vine so that the cut end can comfortable reach into the container (to root the vine- it is a succulent and can be designed with without water if you prefer but I like to propagate my vines by placing it in water) and the new growth tip extending beyond the vase so that it can be visible.
Space out the vines and place them one next to the other to cover the opening of the vase
Space out the vines to create a neat grid.
Next step is to start weaving. Now if you know the Ceropegia Woodii vines you know that they are really fond of each other making it impossible to keep the vines apart. It is more difficult to weave than you think- especially without damaging the leaves. Head on over to your notification email... this week I share a tip for you on how to weave with vines. To make sure you receive advance notice of when the new design is up... and your exclusive, design specific tip join the conversation by signing up. The instructions are below this post.
Carefully weave in the first horizontal vine... be careful not to damage the plant. Again make sure the cut end is in the vase and the new growth extends beyond.
If you need more detailed instructions on how to weave see the Tutorial below.
Secure the vine to the vase. You have to be mindful of how you space out the vine. You need two anchor leaves at both ends. You need the cut end and new growth tip to be at the right spots and the leaves to be delicately catching on the vertical vines... where possible. And you need all this to stretch just enough to be able to carry the weight of the flowers. That is a lot to ask from such a delicate vine!
Design note: I have a tip for you in this week's newsletter on how to support the vine- just to give it some extra help.
Weave in vine after vine. Space it to match the vertical vines and cover the entire opening of the vase.
Create a natural looking edge by curving the new growth tips into the design and letting it drape elegantly over the edge and the grid.
Fill the vase with water by pouring it between the vines.
Arrange the flowers to rest on the grid.
And place the vine tips to lead your eyes to the flowers.
Finish the design with a few sparkling dew drop crystals. There is a Tutorial below for how I use a pin to set the crystals without damaging delicate plant material.
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Tutorials
For this tutorial I focus on a simple weave pattern that does not require you to soften or prepare the leaves to be more durable or flexible. This is the starting point in...
It's sometimes difficult to place a tiny crystal or bead exactly where you want it.
Glue short sections of rosary vine into the natural gaps in the Monstera deliciosa leaf
Connect twigs with puddles of artificial snow to craft a winter armature for your flowers.
Capture Spring for just a little bit longer by sticking blossoms down, in place.
Favourite Flowers
Rosary vine, Chain of Hearts, Collar of hearts and String of hearts
Pink, Carnation, Clove Pink, Chinese Pink
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