Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Quarter fold and Thread an Autumn leaf tube armature
- 9 October 2019
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Twist the end of your wire with pliers into a loop. This loop will not only keep the leaves from slipping off but make it easy to secure at the end of the design.
Press the loop flat so that the leaves rest against it without slipping off the wire.
Fold the autumn leaf length-wise.
Fold the leaf again to quarter it.
Skewer the leaf with the wire.
Fold and thread in the next autumn leaf. Make sure that the main vein faces in and the edge of the leaves fave out.
This is the folding and threading pattern for the fall leaves. You are basically folding the leaf in half and re-assembling the quarters as you thread it into the wire...
Thread top, top... and then bottom bottom. Four leaves making up a level.
Building up a pretty fall leave garland with a fold in the middle.
Gently compact the autumn leaf garland.
Loop the leaf garland into a circle.
Secure the wire by hooking it through the first wire loop you made in the beginning.
Cut the left over wire away.
You now have a pretty fall leaf tube to design with.
Place the leaf tube in a glass container.
Fan out the top folded autumn leaves to fold back over the edge of the container.
The bottom half stays inside the container...
While you can position the top half at a cheeky angle.
Pour water into the container through the hole in the middle of the leaves
Design note: There's a tip about the water level in this week's newsletter for subscribers.
Position the orchids so that the stem end is in the water.
Add in a few leaf stalks...
And the tiniest bit of copper wire sparkle
If you are reading my book you will see that I like to make my own "decorative" wires. This for example is a copper pot scrubber that I unravel and curl. There's a lot more wire suggestions in my book but here is the Tutorial for up-cycling copper scrubber wire and how to curl it.
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Tutorials
Up-cycle a pot scrubber to get a huge roll of very pretty copper wire
Turn the leaf so that the muted underside faces outward to create a more understated Autumn colour scheme .
Pike a few (hundred!) autumn leaves to build up a hollow leaf armature
Rolled leaves offer support for floral stems
Cut the Phalaenopsis orchid with a bit of green stem attached. This will make them last longer.
Favourite Flowers
Phalaenopsis, Moth orchid
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