My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

A bit Special... four dimensional designing

11 August 2021
and more

When you create a design that evolves over time it is called four dimensional designing. Three dimensions (length, height and depth) plus one: time

limited

rare

scant

scanty

sparse

… and that

makes it

even more special!

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Gather what you'll need

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Dew-Drop Crystals

I created the Tutorial for how I add these crystals to my floral designs 11 years ago! Since then I have tried, tested and searched for the perfect crystals that would go from studio‑table picture perfect to show‑day‑dependable and I always come back to these. They remain the absolute best. They’re inexpensive yet have a refined, high‑quality crystal brilliance; they don’t tarnish and their adhesive backing stays reliably tacky even after they were exposed to water.

Tutorials

11 August 2021

Dried twig collar in a double vase display for gravity sensitive flowers

Putting the focus on the flowers with an ever changing design.

22 January 2014

That good old double vase trick

Create a dry layer by placing a smaller vase inside the larger vase

6 September 2011

Twig collar

Create a light and transparent collar-base for the large composite flower to nestle into.

22 May 2012

Bite and snap a sturdy twig

Break the sturdy twig on the scribe line.

24 January 2018

Stack two glass vases to keep a leaf upright in water

Slip a leaf into the gap between two glass containers to keep it upright... and add a plastic lining to support the flowers nestled into it.

20 February 2019

Stacked bowl floral display

Create a foam free stacked design by slipping flowers between stacked bowls.

23 September 2020

All dried Autumn hemisphere design that will outlast even the falling leaves outside

Preserve some floral material to design with when it is but not quite Autumn outside.

8 January 2014

Twig Tumbler

Wire and glue a stack of sticks into a cylindrical or tube shape

17 July 2019

Twig Dome Armature

Crafted from a hand full of twigs to give you a large design... even though you add only two stems of sweet peas.

24 July 2012

Blow away hot glue strands

When you glue a structure with hot glue there are always a few stray strands of glue stuck all over the design. Blow it away with a hairdryer.

29 July 2015

Disk Twig Armature

Glue a few wigs to follow the shape of a glass bowl to create a disk armature

19 February 2020

Twig snippet pillar armature

A great do-in-advance and reusable design solution for a winter, early spring floral display.

29 November 2017

Autumn Screen

Craft a hanging twig and autumn leaf design

24 July 2012

Stacked Twig Roundabout

This is a great way to use all those bits of twigs and sticks in your design room to make a floral armature

27 May 2026

Bundled together to create a naturalistic looseness that appears to be light as air

Level up your budvase designs by adding something that makes the onlooker lean in closer to try to figure out you exactly you did this.

28 January 2026

Stack miniature roses on to stacked grass snippets

Tea cup roses have the tiniest of stems and can easily be supported by grass snippets stacked into a armature.

29 January 2025

Straight up and down icicle, clematis vine and huckleberry twig double vase winter display

Give an old mechanic a contemporary twist for creating light and airy flower displays.

23 July 2024

Pinching vines in place with almost alike but perfectly unique double vases and twig peg

The tiniest twig peg keep the vines from spilling out of the minimal double vase display.

17 April 2024

Tendril support to anchor a floating vase (and its ginormous bubble) in place

Trap a bubble between two shallow containers to float clematis flowers for Spring.

14 June 2023

Fold a crab from grass

A fun coastal touch for your design... a woven crab.

18 January 2023

Snowy twig band armature for a ever changing winter display

A well made snow covered twig band armature will last all winter so that you can display even the most delicate winter treasures.

2 November 2022

A Reflex Rose Rose Hip… Rose

Making a rose even more roselike by enhancing its rosy-ness.

27 July 2022

Dendrobium orchid and grass snippet cone around a glass container

Craft a grass armature to suspend the orchids in deep water from around the outside of your container.

5 January 2022

Double vase Snow Glow Winter Centerpiece

Add warmth to a space with a softly glowing winter white arrangement

Related Designs

11 April 2018

Follow the line

Stack a few glass containers and fill each with water to a different level.

22 January 2014

How do you do?

Snow and twigs winter design

24 January 2018

How to make a stack of just enough:

Stack two vases to create a small gap at the side to keep a leaf upright

20 February 2019

Inna...

Stack bowls to keep your flower stems in place.

23 September 2020

Getting a head start on all that Fall-ing

Floral styling using mostly dried material that will last the entire Autumn.

8 January 2014

It's stick season!

Snap and stack an glue a few twigs to create a lace like armature

6 September 2011

When Autumn Fall

Autumn leaf composite flower

17 July 2019

… and... a bit more... effort… to make it special

Instead of just placing a handful of twigs and two stems of sweet peas in a vase... why not...?

29 July 2015

Beautiful Things

Glue a few twigs into a disk armature

19 February 2020

The Upside of being Inside

A creative design that has some height to it without blocking the view. This can easily be scaled up or down to match the environment you want to display it in.

29 November 2017

Marcescent

Glue a delicate autumn room devider

24 July 2012

A little bit of Art and Soul

A twig structure with roses

30 June 2021

Into a Puddle!

Heat proof floral design for summer.

20 January 2021

Hope Bubble

That good old double vase trick... but this time I deliberately added a bubble between the two layers to create a third circle in the design.

27 May 2026

Get it together

A bundle of grass and two vines becomes magical when you add a bit of creativity.

28 January 2026

On to something here

Stack snippets of grass to keep your miniature roses upright in a minimal display.

29 January 2025

Alrighty then

A fragrant spring display... but make it still look like winter

24 July 2024

Just... the Most

Perfect for summer designing with some space for the vines to continue to grow in your design.

17 April 2024

In The Time it Takes To Listen To Learn

Ideal design for those flowers that needs a deep soak to remain hydrated.

14 June 2023

Because I am beautiful!

It deserves a bowl all of it's own... right? I am (of course!) talking about these spectacular little sweet peas called King Tut. Not much else is needed. But add a cute little crab and you have a bowl filled with summer.