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Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

A leg to stand on

  • 13 August 2014

Shake a leg

Break a leg

First leg

on your last leg

A leg over

A leg up

Sea legs…

a leg to stand on

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Tutorials
Sunflower Disk Floret
13 August 2014
Sunflower Disk Floret

Gently pull the petals ( Ray floret) from the seeded part of the sunflower
Standing flowering stems in shallow puddles
13 August 2014
Standing flowering stems in shallow puddles

Making a truss out of sunflower stems for a free standing design
The Three legged trick for Upright Constructions
7 September 2012
The Three legged trick for Upright Constructions

When in doubt, always give your armature three legs. Two legs are simply not enough and four legs will wobble if it is even slightly off balance.
Slip-slit tapped in stems to keep vines upright in a muted autumn display
25 September 2024
Slip-slit tapped in stems to keep vines upright in a muted autumn display

A tiny adjustment in a stem wedged into a vase mechanic to give you even more control over the placement of design details.
Sturdy, blossoming armature in a shallow puddle
16 March 2022
Sturdy, blossoming armature in a shallow puddle

If you know just a bit more about the "why" we do the things we do it is easy to discover new "how's". This week I show you why it is possible to design with blossoming twigs in a shallow puddle.
Light as a kite wire spiked sunflower heart
14 July 2021
Light as a kite wire spiked sunflower heart

Using the disk floret of a sunflower to support your floral details.
Sunflower heart autumn display
21 October 2020
Sunflower heart autumn display

Pick away the ray floret so that the disk floret of a sunflower can be used as a flat surface to display your design on.
Adding folded grass "jitters" to a Sunflower
31 July 2019
Adding folded grass "jitters" to a Sunflower

Adding tension to a design with a grass frame and collar.
Balancing Sweet pea stems with an Ivy Leaf Stack
1 August 2018
Balancing Sweet pea stems with an Ivy Leaf Stack

This design is all about balance.
Leaning Sunflowers to stay just so
27 July 2016
Leaning Sunflowers to stay just so

The trick to any freestanding design is to get your first three stems standing stable and secure in the water. Once you have that you can build the design around it.
Related Designs
Toning down the summer up into the earliest autumn
25 September 2024
Toning down the summer up into the earliest autumn

Using summery floral details in a way that it gives you all the autumn feelings... when autumn details are not yet out.
Poised to Spring
16 March 2022
Poised to Spring

An "it's only 10 days to Spring" design to display some blossom buds.
Light as a Kite
14 July 2021
Light as a Kite

Spike a wire frame into a disk floret for a light summer design.
When it gets chilly
21 October 2020
When it gets chilly

Use the heart of a sunflower as a platform to place your autumn floral details on.
Jitters!
31 July 2019
Jitters!

Zig-zag grass details add a bit of tension to the design
Stay Cool!
1 August 2018
Stay Cool!

Craft a free standing Sweat pea design
Too Hot!
27 July 2016
Too Hot!

Leaning floral stems to stand on their own in a shallow container
Favourite Flowers
Passiflora
Passiflora

Passion fruit leaves with tendrils for my Floral Trends Design Group Glass design
Helianthus anuus
Helianthus anuus

Nature's Treasures, A Floral Art Exhibition at D'Ville Shopping Center Durbanville Floral Carpet with the members of the Durbanville Flower Club. For the mid section I used roses,...