Woodland Wreath - 20/10/11

This was created by using an Oasis plastic based ring, which was lightly mossed.

A collar of wool was made by wrapping it around card and fixing it to the plastic base using double sided tape and securing it with hot glue.

The edge of the card can be seen in the picture below.

Small Anthuriums, Crespedia and Swordfern were then place around the ring in the desired positions.

Bark squares were added as accents in to the design by twisting the end of a wire, flattening it then hot glueing it to the bark.

Once the wool is initially wrapped around the cardboard collar this design is easy and simple to create.  However, it can take a while to wrap the wool depending on its thickness!

Contemporary Funeral Heart - 13/10/11

Personally, so far this has to been one of my favorite pieces to construct.

In this design the use of polynet mesh was to be encorporated. 

This was done by pinning the mesh with mossing pins (german pins) in to the actual base of the foam (n.b  A Smithers Oasis heart foam frame was used), to enable full coverage.  Ensuring that the pins were hidden when the material was scrunched and tucked in to produce a nice even finish.







I also decided to encorporate some of the mesh material in through the design for added texture and movement.

For my design i decided to group the main focal flowers in twos or threes, these were the lime green carnation blooms

and the small white Akito roses.

The Gypsophilia 'Million Stars' and Crysthanthemum 'Delianne' I also grouped together to break up the design and give some texture.  Moss was then used to fill any spaces of oasis that i may have showing and to add another texture in to the heart, which is shown in the picture below.

Finally, ivy trails were incorporated to add fluidity and movement to the design.

This was an enjoyable piece to construct and I would have been very pleased to have receive this, not only at a time of sorrow, but feel that this design could easily be adapted with choice of flowers and colour, to be received at any time.



















Contemporary Wrist Corsage - 06/10/11

First of all, please let me apologise for the size of the orchids in this design.  This design was supposed to included a stem of Gloriosa and some Crispedia, but due to unforeseen circumstances I had to compensate with these orchids, which are very large.

The idea of this design was to introduce a new technique in to corsage work, in this case, coiling aluminium wire.

Working with the wire still on the main coil, leave a length of wire before starting the coils.  Using a pair of pliers curl the wire to start, then using your finger and thumb continue with the coiling to ensure a nice even and flat finish.  Next, leave a length and continue with the same technique, varying the size of the coils and their position.

Finally, cut the wire from the main coil leaving enough to start the technique from this end, to ensure a neat finish.

There is some flexibility in the design, so if you find that some coils need repositioning it is possible to do so.

This then needs to be attached to the corsage bracelet by simply threading the wires through the metal plate and securing to the aluminium coiled design. (see below)

I then wired my flowers, taped them using parafilm, wrapped them in two different coloured bullion wires to compliment the design and used the same coiling technique.

These were then secured on to the coils using wires.

I found this quite an easy technique to master it is just a shame about the choice of flowers.  The design was very stable and was secured appropriately to the corsage bracelet.  It is a modern alternative to the traditional all wired corsage and I think this would be more than appropriate for any prom or function.

Below are some more pictures from various angles which hopefully shows the different heights and positions within the design.