My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

A snowball’s chance

We had our first dusting of snow on Grouse Mountain here in Vancouver. The snow did not stand much of a chance and it soon turned to rain. Most of it melted away. But we have had a taste of the beauty, winter promises to bring.

Gypsophila forest floor snowball posy

I designed my posy to be light and feathery but also earthly, like a fresh snowball gathered from a forest floor.

Forest floor snowball hand tied arrangement

All twigs and sticks but at the same time also incredibly soft and ethereal

Sparkling beads in a Gypsophila posy

As a focal point I grouped two rosary vine ( Ceropegia woodii ) hearts with two sparkling beads nestled softly in a bed of Gypsophila

Alstroemeria flowers nestled between the twigs

Alstroemeria (Peruvian Lily or Inca Lily) flowers curl softly around the design

Gypsophila stems tied together

A posy of Gypsophila (baby's breath) can be tricky to tie- it often looks rather flat. I puff the flowers out by using the dried twigs of a ball of hydrangeas, almost as a flower frog. See the tutorial below to follow what I mean.

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Tutorials

9 November 2011 Gypsophila snowball posy

A Posy made of Gypsophila flowers can look flat. I use a dried Hydrangea or Agapanthus flower head as a flower frog to puff it out

9 November 2011 Curve a flower around the design with a T-wire

Gently bend and secure the Alstroemeria flower head into the twig design

25 September 2013 Adding beads into a design

I wanted my beads to softly float above my snowball posy. If I glued the beads to some of the flowers it would just disappear in the mass of twigs and flowers.

Favourite Flowers

Hydrangea

Hydrangea, when cultivated as a cut flower rather as a plant it is often revered to as Hortensia

Ceropegia woodii

Rosary vine, Chain of Hearts, Collar of hearts and String of hearts

Gypsophila

Baby’s breath, soap wort, Gyp, Gypsophila

Agapanthus

African Lilies, African blue lily and Lilies-of-the-Nile

Related Designs

25 November 2015 So white

A dried Baby's breath and fresh orchid wreath

7 August 2024 Bring in some of the magic of summer rain

Design drops of grass to dangle down a hydrangea flower for an effortless summer floral display.