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Sustainability Statement

‘To created the structure I used Phormium, Midolino, Waxed Hemp String, and gummy bear glue and wool.

I was looking to find a way to hold the midolino reeds together at the center to then create the radius shape. I had made rice glue in the past but knew that it would not be strong enough to hold the reeds together. Upon further research I learned that melted gummy bears (with a tiny amount of water) can be used as a glue. To make sure everything is compostable I did some further research and found a document from the City of Calgary that, indeed, lists gummy bears as a compostable household item. As it turns out, the glue is much stronger than the rice recipe. The only draw back is that it has to be used very quickly before it starts to cool and harden.

Once the midolino reeds where in place I soaked additional reeds and formed a very small circle which I then wrapped with phormium. This gave strength to the midolino and worked perfectly for the frame.

To create "handles" for the frame I used the stripped and dried stems of the Asparaguss densiflorus. To attached them I wrapped a phormium leave around the frame circle and tucked the asparagus stem inside to enclose it. I then used strings of phormium to wrap the handle to secure them all the way down and tie them off.

Once the circles where established I filled in the structure with a weaving technique using phormium (braided, 1/2 blade width, stripped), wool, asparagus stem. Wherever needed I tied materials with the hemp string throughout.

At the end I attached pieces of phormium spine to the underside. They keep the entire structure from flopping or bending down.

Overall, I’m very pleased with the strength of the structure. Our pet tipped over the bouquet several times already and not a single flower fell out or moved. Especially the versatility of phormium is fantastic.’

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Materials List

Materials Structure:

Midolino
Gummy Bears
Wool
Waxed Hemp
Phormium (3 ways)
center spine (structural strength)
leave (spine removed) for enclosing structure handles stripped (with kenzan) for wrapping, brading and tying

Botanicals:

Tulip
Veronica
Ranunculus
Hypericum
Queen Ann’s Lace
Chrysanthemum
Dianthus spray
Amaranthus
Broom Grass