Any craftsman will beam with happiness when you compliment their tool bag. It's our pride and joy! It often takes as long to build up our tool bags as what it takes to acquire our skills.
I love asking my design neighbors at shows about their tool bags. There is always an interesting story attached and the bag itself says a lot about the designer. Some designers carry many boxes, others only a carpenter's belt. Some have a box that doubles as a chair or a stepladder while others have carts on wheels.
The contents are just as fascinating. Look past the commercially available items and you will find those trusted tools that were either made by the designer or modified in some way.
My own bag is tiny and filled with things that I either make to suit my design style or treasure. I am a disciplined packer. There is simply no space for rusty old or unused stuff. I even carry items in portion sizes and pack and repack some compartments depending on the project.
The real value of a great tool bag is not measured in money. The worth lies in whether it suits the individual designer. Invest time and energy in developing your own tool bag and pack only equipment that works for you and represents what you stand for, as a designer.
My biggest design inspiration is always music. It is what I reach for first. When I am on location I use Sennheiser (PX200-11) fold-able, closed headphones that block out outside noise and respect my fellow designers so that they do not have to listen to my music. It also helps me to focus and concentrate. I usually have a play-list that suit my design to help me keep track of time.
My knife is sharp, tough, rust proof, well balanced and a comfortable weight.
It's build to work hard and cut like a dream and is by far my favourite tool in my bag! I use it to cut flowers, whittle woody stems, pry things open with, remove bark, cut Oasis and even cut candle wax. In other words: Just perfect for Floral Art!
For examples see Bark covered Wreath, Large wax snowflakes and my Wind Spinner, Rainbow Oasis rocks!.
Every sharp knife needs a thick thumb guard!
I use the skewers as glue applicators. It can also help to remove floral adhesive.
Bamboo skewers are also great spacers.
No tool bag is complete without this glue! It dries quickly and the tube will be ruined if you do not close it immediately after use. Squirt a drop and close the glue.
Then dip a wooden pick in the glue pool and apply to the plant material.
I mostly cut flower material with my knife but this is just gorgeous. And it's sensational to cut with! Great for delicate work.
I use thick straws to support weaker stems or protect ribbon or wire from spoiling or rusting.
I also make test tubes from drinking straws. I prefer not to design flowers dry and include some sort of a water source even when I glue flowers into a fragile armature. I keep loads of these drinking straw "test tubes" in my bag. It's particularly suitable for slow drinking flowers. One tiny straw tube will keep an orchid hydrated for days.
Tutorial: Drinking straw "test tubes"
Fit a long thin plastic pipe over the nozzle of a syringe to create a flexible watering hose that can be used to fill or top up water tubes in even the most awkward spaces. It is also small and lightweight.
It's great to have a knife that folds and is protected. I use it to cut leather, foam and precision work.
Mops up spills and catches drops. Mine is from a hiking supply store and rolls up into a tiny pouch.
Brooms are always in demand when it comes to clean up time after a long day of designing. I carry this tiny dust pan and brush with me so that I don't have to wait in line and can clean up in no time.
Inches on the one side and centimeters on the other. No need to convert anything when you are at an International show.
Clip out the inside pins and you have the perfect little claws to keep stems in place while glue dries. Also ideal to hold orchid stems to a support wire. Of course it will also clip away that irritating strand of hair that keeps slipping into your eyes on a bad hair day.
I have sap green, natural green and brown clips that I use when I want to keep the clips in the design and be less visible.
And then I have these bright pink glittery clips for temporary use so that I don't forget to remove a clip by mistake.
Start with a few plasters and a few headache tablets. A good medical kit is probably the best way to make and keep friends at a show.
I also use the plasters to protect wire from getting pinched.
Great for binding bunches or holding objects temporarily when you are hanging upside down and need an extra hand.
I have also used Velcro to hang a wreath.
Great water source when you require a flexible "vase" for plant material in a design such as in a small gap in a log. Just ½ fill the bag with water; add the stem and zip closed around the stem. The bag will then fit any shape. Of course it also keep stuff dry and tiny items packed away neatly in your tool bag.
If you want to keep any left over Oasis floral foam for later use it is best not to let it dry out because it will not hydrate again so zip it up in a reusable bag to keep it moist.
The goal is to make our plant material look beautiful for as long as possible. There is quite a few "home remedies" that's recommended as additives but I believe in the commercial variety. Follow the instructions to make sure you do not over or under feed the flowers.
This is an ongoing frustration for me. I am bad at having scissors for each project so I end up cutting thin wire, paper, plastic, and putty with the same scissors and then complain wildly when it's too blunt to neatly snip my delicate ribbon.
Pliers are a must in every tool bag. Wrap both the tips of your pliers with the smallest size plasters- pad side in, to cushion the impact on soft wires. Plasters are also the first item needed for a medical kit so I keep a few extra in my bag.
Great to secure things fast. You can get cable ties in almost any colour. I have recently discovered cable ties that can be re-used. You can undo the tie and lock it again!
I keep my pins stuck in foam. This way it won't get stuck in me when I rummage through my bag to find something nor would it spill out of a box at the worst possible moment.
I use pins to keep things in place but it is also great for weaving.
If you pull out the pins slightly you can use the pin heads as a drying rack to place beads or tiny flowers on to keep them save while glue dries.
You never know when you will need a black mark. It's also great to mark your vases or supplies temporarily when you pool resources with other designers. Cut a small strip of masking tape, stick it on the item (somewhere it won't be seen) and write your name on it. It really cuts down on confusion when you are in a hurry to vacate a competition hall and have no time to figure out what goes where.
Masking tape is also a fantastic "placeholder". You can stick it on the floor or work area to make sure you are within the space you are allocated.
I prefer using test tubes as a water source for my fresh flowers and plant material. I carry a few of the small green tubes in my bag permanently. The glass tubes I add when I need them.
I absolutely adore these. They remind me of the body of a butterfly just ready for you to add the floral wings.
I use ornamental wire, bale wire and engineering wire. I keep a length of brown and a length of green bind wire in my bag. Then I add other wire as I need them.
I also make make my own decorative wires. It adds a custom made and hand crafted look to my work.
Great way to re-use old makeup brushes. Dust off pollen, clean glass and great to add fine dusting or sparkle to a design.
Stickier than Putty, water proof and best of all green so it disappears when used in a design. A little goes a long way and you would need about a stamp size block in your bag.
The gloves are great for finger painting and spreading glue. Its also nice to have when you are working with sap that makes you itch or moss.
I use the magnets to move, position and keep items under water, add weight to floral accessories and every now and again I even make corsages with them.
It's all in there... Packed and ready to design!
Large, clean and comfortable working surface.
When wet it is easy to see where you placed the glue but it dries clear and although it bonds permanently you can soak the glue in warm water to remove.
Every glue gun should be sold in kit form- gun, bowl of ice water and a dinner plate. The ice water is for an emergency to immediately cool down a burn and the plate is to rest under your gun to catch any stray drops.
You can also use the hot glue strands Tutorial:Spinning a Hot Glue Spider Web or silk for a Floral Cocoon includes a Tutorial on how to remove the hot glue strands.
A Kenzan is also known as a pin-holder or a needlepoint holder. It is a traditional mechanic used in Ikebana (Moribana). Used to support stems with its spiked metal teeth. Also used to comb or strip fibrous leaves into strips.
Traditionally used to hold rose stems but it is also great to transport test tubes upright.
Fresh clean water. Cold for bulb flowers and a bit warmer for all other flowers.
Use the sellotape to make an invisible grid over the top of a vase to keep flowers in place.
Use the double sided tape to glue leaves to the side of a vase.
Kyogi paper was historically used in Japan to wrap food - all natural, keeps the food from drying out, adds a subtle flavour and it can be composted to return to the crop-soil-cycle! It is pine (or cedar) wood that is shaved so thin it's almost transparent. It can be wrapped, rolled, cut, stained, torn and easily glued.
Large cane coils that are easy to paint or stain. Great to work with when you want to make sphere in no time.
Design Example: Spring Has Sprung!
Design example: Veiled Sunshine:50th Anniversary of the South African Orchid Society at the Cape Town Convention Centre.
I use it to make a soft bed to drill holes on, press pins into the foam to weave wire lace, blocks of Styrofoam can be used to make hot glue spider webs, press into paint to make a stamp. perfect to create a pin board, great as spacers and when I have used it so often that it falls apart I crumble it to make a floating snow. You can also use the crumbled polystyrene as stuffing (that is water repelling and floats) for shapes.
It is not easy to find a place that can recycle Polystyrene mostly because it is almost impossible to re-make it into high quality polystyrene. But it is really easy to find uses for the sheets you receive as packaging. Don't trash it. Re-purpose it!
I use large Catering trays to transport my cut flowers (when they are already placed in test tubes) in. Crumple tissue or newsprint paper inside to make a soft bed to rest the flowers on. The clear lid makes is easy to see what is inside the tray. Easy to stack and convenient to carry.
The bottom is also a great drip tray to catch glue.
It is also a great temporary Greenhouse to propagate plants in, grow moss or use as a terrarium.
Wire the pick to a test tube to give it a long and sharp stem to insert in a design. Gather ripped flax (or grass) and tie with the wire to create a single bundle on a stick. To stabilize a thick log or candle in a design wire 3 wood pick legs. Hammer or press the wood pick into fruit to stand, hang or press into foam. Weave the wire through pine cones or seed pods to create a stem.
Do not remove the elastic band from around the bundle when you receive your new pack of picks. Removing the elastic band makes the bundle fall apart leaving your wires in a terrible tangle! Just wiggle a wire loose and pull out a pick from the wire side up and out.
I buy small pots of water based paint from hobby and model aircraft shops. The colours are unbelievably realistic and natural looking. Because it is water based I can thin the paint to make a stain.
I use the wax as sealant, to create heavy structures, floating snow flakes and a anti-bacterial layer for fruit.
Great to work on to protect surfaces in your design room or on location. The plastic catches drips and plant material making it fast and easy to just gather and clean. Also use the plastic sheets to line containers.
Fold it into a cone and slip a tiny posy inside, fold it and secure with the glue for a quick and easy funnel, note cards, place cards, gift cards and place markers.
Scotch-Blue Painter's Tape is great to temporarily tape something to something else and remove it without ripping into the surface.
Industrial Tack gun, Electric drill and drill bits, Screwdriver, Wood saw, axe, hammer, nails and other very manly "garage" bits and pieces.
I always feel more than a bit offended when people ask me who made my stands. I think it's important to learn how to use the tools of your trade. I can weld- no, I would not pass any exam nor would I be able to use the right terms and my rods get stuck more often than not (making that awful sound), but I am not building a ship so for the purpose of floral art- I would say yes, I can weld.
Heavy cardboard is the ideal building material. It is easier to cut than wood and faster to glue than any other medium. When I am in need of a quick structure I often up-cycle cardboard into whatever I need. It is not a permanent solution and would never be as durable as wood, but with a big enough box, a hot glue gun, some wood glue and paint you can make an instant prop for almost any occasion.
I "process" boxes into workable shapes. I find that I can never have enough disks, but strips and tray size squares are also handy.