Cover test tubes with moss 29 March 2012 Be the first to vote

Gather a clump of moss around the green test tube.

Secure the moss by wrapping it with brown wire

Fill with water and insert the stem. Here are some of my designs where I used this tutorial:

Wax Design 2: Waxed fruit

Waxing lyrical The potential use for wax in Floral Art is limitless!

FUEL SEAL WAX MELT SCULPT SMOOTH REUSABLE CAST TRIM WAX COAT MOULD NON-TOXIC WAX LAYER IMPERMEABLE ECONOMICAL WAX ANTI-BACTERIAL LONG LASTING SUBSTANTIAL WAX CONSISTENT ADHESIVE COLOURFAST POLISHES DIP MATTING EFFECT RELEASE AGENT WAX STAIN RESISTANT READILY AVAILABLE WHITTLE ENGRAVE WAX DRAW WAX POUR FLOAT WAX PROTECT SOLIDIFY WAX STOPPER SHAPE FREEZE SPREAD FOAM WAX LINE SET WATERTIGHT

I also have a Tutorial on how to MELT and safely use wax specifically for Floral Art

See below for the design links

Dip fruit in hot wax to create an anti-bacterial layer around the fruit.

Hot Glue drops from your drip plate makes a nest to dress an Ansellia Africana (Tsavo) Orchid plant. The focal point of the design is the magnificent roots. It is placed to emulate how the epiphyte orchid grows in nature. Add a few tulips in test tubes

I did not want to over style the tulips nestled into the Ansellia Africana Orchid roots but rather create a natural "just grew that way" feel to contrast with the obviously "man made" quality of the hot glue nest and the waxed grapes. Of course, the tulips will continue to grow in the arrangement and the flower stems will bend and move towards the sun.

Cover fruit with wax 8 March 2011 Be the first to vote

The Ethylene gas that fruit and vegetables emits cause flowers to wilt quicker. Do not store fruit and vegetables close to flowers. Dipping fruit in a thin layer of wax can help prevent this. The thinner the layer of wax the less visible the layer will be.

Dipping red grapes in pale wax creates a cloudy layer that gives depth and instantly attracts attention. Make sure the wax is not so hot that it scorches the fruit (if it will burn your fingers it is too hot for a fruit or flower dip). Cut the fruit from the bunch keeping as much of its short stem in place- this not only makes it easier to hold onto the fruit when you dip but also keeps the juices from seeping out of the fruit.

Apples and Orchids 28 May 2011 Rating: 4.0 (1 vote) Please add your vote

This is a wired bridal bouquet.

Wired Apples and green Cymbidium Orchids As you can imagine it is a relatively weighty design and balance is incredibly important. Start by assembling the apples to create almost an armature for the orchids to nestle into.

Each apple is wired to craft stems that can bend and twist into place. Once the design feels comfortable to hold and the fruit is secure you can wire in the orchids.

I placed the orchids in small test tubes as a water supply and then I wire each test tube to have a stem to secure into the design Note: The Ethylene gas that fruit and vegetables emits cause flowers to wilt quicker. Do not store fruit and vegetables close to flowers. Dipping fruit in a thin layer of wax can help prevent this. It is also important to seal the wound made when attaching a wire to the fruit.

Melting Wax for Floral Art 19 March 2011 Be the first to vote

Read up on handling hot wax if you are unsure of how to do it safely. Research your materials to make sure you know the difference between its flash-point and melting point. For Floral Art the temperature of the wax rarely exceeds the minimum melting point.

Pour boiling water into a large pot or double boiler. Set a smaller pot into the water and add a small amount of wax. Set aside to give the wax time to soften, become pliable or melt. If you need a continues supply of liquid wax place the double boiler on a stove top and switch on the lowest setting. You want the wax to barely melt. Work in small batches to have control over the melting temperature. If you are colouring the wax decide how many batches you are planning to use and set aside equal amounts of colourant for each batch. If you alter the colour during testing add or subtract colourant for the other batches. I use wax crayons to colour my wax because it is easy to control the end result.

For most projects I use the stumps of Paraffin wax candles (left over from other designs) that I clean and melt down because it is so economical. Soy wax is an eco-friendly option or try natural (but pricey) beeswax.

Dont pour leftover wax down the drain. Scrape the wax into a small bag and keep for future use. The disk for my FLOAT design was made from the last bit of wax leftover in a pot.

Single strand pine needle chain-link garland 27 November 2012 Be the first to vote

I used to make these garlands every day after school while waiting for our school bus. It really is quite easy and fast to do.

Soak the pine needles in warm water

Separate the pine needle cluster

Pull the needle out of the bud scales.

Gently bend the pine needle

and slip the needle into the gap in the bud scale where tho other needle was

Loop the next needle around the previous pine needle and secure

Continue adding needles to create a long garland

Fluff cotton wool for snow 27 November 2012 Be the first to vote

Cotton balls can be unrolled and fluffed to create long garlands of "snow"

Gently unroll the cotton ball

Each ball is actually one long strip of cotton

If you look at the strip of cotton you will notice that it is made up of fibers laying in one direction.

Tear up the strip following this grain

Fluff the cotton wool gently until you have an even and thin layer

Fluffy cotton wool snow

Soften the twig lines with cotton wool fluff

Moss and Wire Baubles 4 December 2012 Be the first to vote

Gently pull apart a clump of moss and divide it into smaller pieces. Cut a length of wire to wrap around the moss

Press the end of the wire through the moss.

Wrap the wire loosely around the moss. Cup both hands over the moss and wire. Then loosely roll it into a ball.

The tighter you roll the sphere the denser and smaller the ball

Moss and Wire Baubles ready to design with.

'Tis the Season 4 December 2012 Rating: 5.0 (4 votes) Please add your vote

My article and do-it-yourself wedding design projects in the winter issue of DIY Weddings Magazine and Christmas Flower Trends 2012: A Contemporary Christmas inspired by Classic Christmas lyrics

Can't decide on a theme for your December wedding? That is understandable because December, more so than the other months, is filled with contrasts. We draw our inspiration from minimalist winterscapes that reminds you of "The Snow Queen's Castle," to tinsel filled trees in "Santa's Village." These contrasts can be overwhelming when you feel you have to choose the one, instead of the other. Black or white, hot or cold, sweet or sour. Enough such decisions can leave you feeling disappointed because you had to compromise. There is an alternative, and it lies in the study of contrasts.

There is a spectrum of possibilities along the line between direct contrasts. Don't choose between hot or cold. Opt for hot and cold. Scorching hot tea can cool by quite a few degrees before it flips over into its ice tea contrast. The secret is to experiment and find a balance where the decision is right, as opposed to a compromise.

In the study of design contrasts, you start at one end of the spectrum, and slowly make design changes until you reach the other end of the spectrum. Once done, you will immediately know where the balance is right for you.

Start with "Winter Wonderland" and its natural romance of a winter landscape, bare twigs, sparkling white snow, icy blue and minimal fuss.One step at a time, transition all the way to a "Traditional Christmas" a joyful celebration: red, green and gold, decorated Christmas trees, twinkling lights, stockings and maximum fuss. Let me explain with 6 Rustic-Twig, Light-Your-Way Lanterns:

Rustic Winter

Capture the romance of winter with frosted and toned down details. The warmth of a tiny candle glitters through the twig lantern, emphasizing the magic of glittering, snowy-white design details. Ring of hearts

Toned down and elegant, with just a hint of a wreath, without actually being a wreath design. Baby its cold outside

A romantic theme that is tactile and luxurious. Downy white feathers add perceived warmth and comforting winter texture to the winter-white design. Dashing through the snow

The addition of a tiny jingle silver bell keepsake creates a nostalgic, almost vintage design that reminds of winters past. Joy!

It is all about the magic of the Season. Something that makes you smile. The baubles are definitely Christmassy and the way they are placed in the design reminds of plump winter-berries, discovered on snow covered twigs. Candy cane lane

It is just plain quirky and has loads of personality. Informal, casual and all out Christmassy. Still with a romantic twist. Each time I added another suggestion of Christmas without being obvious. My designs gradually moved from the more formal Winter Wonderland to an all-out Whimsical Christmas. All you need to do is decide where on this line is your balance.

Title from "Deck the Halls" a classic Welsh New Years and winter carol (Nos Galan) dating back to the sixteenth century, with English Christmas lyrics written in 1866 by Thomas Oliphant

Natural stem hook to hang plant material from 26 April 2011 Be the first to vote

Side stems of branches can be used as hooks to hang floral material in a design. Cut the stem a few centimetres below a fork in the branch keeping one stem longer than the other. This method creates great movement but it is also very secure and best of all- natural. Here are some of my designs where I used this tutorial: Drinking straws become flower test tubes 'Tis the Season Favourite Flowers and Plants: Salix matsudana "Tortuosa"

Drinking straws become flower test tubes 25 April 2011

Used the Unusual to Use as Usual, again Up-cycling design 2

In January I touched on the subject of up-cycling in Floral Art- in fact you will notice that I often up-cycle or even down-cycle or just plain recycle items in my art. Let me explain the difference between down-cycling and up-cycling.

Down-cycling is what we understood traditionally as "recycling". Take the life-cycle of a beautiful sheet of paper. Recycled it would become a slightly off colour paper towel then compressed in a pulp mould to become a mushy cup holder and then a really ugly egg box or electronics packaging before its boiled pulp is so useless it can only be (burnable) waste.

Up-cycling is the process of converting waste materials into products that are more valuable, better quality or of a higher environmental importance. Beautiful paper, when up-cycled becomes wallpaper. Burned out candle stumps become floral vases. An old wool jersey becomes felt pebbles. A cardboard box becomes the base of my Floral Hourglass sculpture. Repurposed wire and fishing line found between the rocks on the beach becomes my In the bag Design.

Successful up-cycling in design always appear to be seamless and never forced.

Consider adding details only if it is the natural solution to a design problem. If you force "recycling" into a design it attracts too much attention and distract from the beauty of nature- which is still the point of Floral Art.

This design is all about the orchids I used Aranthera: James Storie orchids.

They look rather similar to the Mokara and Aranda orchids. As I understand it, Arandas and Aranthera orchids are similar in shape to Mokara orchids, but have longer and thinner petals. The Arandas are also slightly bigger than the Arantheras.

For an example of both the Aranthera and Aranda orchids in one design see my WAFA 10th International Flower Show in Boston USA: This Glorious Earth made for the WAFA Flower show in Boston.This design was the starting point of the idea for the Zipper design. You will clearly see the similarities.

Willow twig blind with tiny Aranthera: James Storie orchids I wanted to place these orchids on a twig blind. I could either hang the entire stem to naturally trail up (or down) the blind but this is quite a small design and the flowers would be spaced very far apart. To place the tiny florets in exactly the right spot I needed tiny test tubes.

Orchids are slow drinkers and ideal to design in tiny test tubes or even drinking straws test tubes See below for a drinking straw test tubes Tutorial

Next, I wired a fragile "cage" of willow twigs to emphasize the vertical placement of the orchids on the horizontal lines of the blind.

Willow hook to hang the design from.

Copper wire Spiral pot scrubber becomes a Tiara 29 April 2011 Be the first to vote

Used the Unusual to Use as Usual, again Up-cycling design 1

In January I touched on the subject of up-cycling in Floral Art- in fact you will notice that I often up-cycle or even down-cycle or just plain recycle items in my art. Let me explain the difference between down-cycling and up-cycling.

Down-cycling is what we understood traditionally as "recycling". Take the life-cycle of a beautiful sheet of paper. Recycled it would become a slightly off colour paper towel then compressed in a pulp mould to become a mushy cup holder and then a really ugly egg box or electronics packaging before its boiled pulp is so useless it can only be (burnable) waste.

Up-cycling is the process of converting waste materials into products that are more valuable, better quality or of a higher environmental importance. Beautiful paper, when up-cycled becomes wallpaper. Burned out candle stumps become floral vases. An old wool jersey becomes felt pebbles. A cardboard box becomes the base of my Floral Hourglass sculpture. Repurposed wire and fishing line found between the rocks on the beach becomes my In the bag Design.

Successful up-cycling in design always appear to be seamless and never forced.

Consider adding details only if it is the natural solution to a design problem. If you force "recycling" into a design it attracts too much attention and distract from the beauty of nature- which is still the point of Floral Art.

See below for a few more up-cycling designs links

"Her Fairy Godmother magically appeared and vowed to assist Cinderella in attending the ball. She turned a pumpkin into a coach, mice into horses, a rat into a coachman, and lizards into footman. She then turned Cinderella's rags into a beautiful gown, complete with a delicate pair of glass slippers."

And in my version of the fairy tale: the pot scrubber became her Tiara.

A real Cinderella design: one moment scrubbing pots and the next getting ready for the ball.

Up-cycle a copper pot scrubber into a huge roll of copper ribbon wire to make a luxurious tiara fit for a princess for less than $2.

And dress up the tiara with a few flowers

Growing Gratitude 8 October 2012 Rating: 4.7 (3 votes) Please add your vote

8 October is Thanksgiving Day here in Canada

Thank you,

For every kind and thoughtful word.

Thank you,

for looking in on, and sharing my floral journey,

and in turn for sharing your talents and work with me.

Thank you,

from the bottom of my very grateful heart.