Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Muted Side Up Autumn Leaf Pod
- 18 October 2017
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For this design I made a papier mache pumpkin half. See the Tutorial below for more detailed instructions.
Look carefully at the autumn leaf. The front is vivid and brightly coloured...
... turn the leaf over so that the muted underside faces outward to create a more understated Autumn colour scheme.
I wanted my outside leaf pattern to have all the stems pointing down but not in a perfect roof tile effect so I started placing leaves at the stem end and moved out and upwards.
Glue the leaves around the stem of the paper pumpkin-pod
Add leaves down and around the paper shape.
Extend the leaves over the paper rim
Because the inside is more random I added a few leaves on the outside to break up the neat pattern so that the design look more natural than crafted, with just a touch of contrast between the two.
Set the shape aside to dry slightly. The leaves will shrink as it dries. Fill in any visible gaps by adding fresh leaves.
Flip the paper pod over to work on the inside
Place a line of floral glue on the leaf. This is the side that will be facing down.
Cup the leaf gently and glue just the line to the paper. It is important that both ends of the leaf should have no glue on it.
Place the second leaf just under the one end of the first leaf.
Place the next leaf so that it props up the first two
Continue adding leaves, tucking each leaf slightly under the one next to it so that it props it up.
Add leaves at a completely random pattern letting the stem ends extend
Glue the leaves tightly so that no paper will show when it shrinks as it dries
Fill the entire inside of the shape with leaves
Add a few leaves to look like the are resting lightly on the edge.
Place a few water tubes to nestle in the leaves and fill. Add a few twigs, tiny leaves...
... and just white roots to bring out the white of the orchids
See the Tutorial below for more detailed instructions on growing roots for your design
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Tutorials
I save all the thin tissue paper or un-printed newsprint papers that are wrapped around the flowers that are delivered to me to make batches of Papier Mache with. These sheets...
Glue thin tissue paper layers to a pumpkin to create a shape to design with
Cover a Styrofoam shape with bark to create a bowl for a potted design
Glue newsprint paper to balloons to make large egg shaped containers to design in
Glue bark to a Papier Maché and wire frame to create a pod shaped armature
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.
Cut the Phalaenopsis orchid with a bit of green stem attached. This will make them last longer.
Pike a few (hundred!) autumn leaves to build up a hollow leaf armature
Dry fall leaves to create a ball shape structure
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