My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

A spongy home for this octopus orchid

Soak up floral art design

Bathed

Clamshell orchid

immersed

The cockleshell orchid

to soak

Prosthechea cochleata in a sponge mechanic

and steep,

The black orchid in a spongy water source

submerged,

Octopus Orchid in a unique water source

and dunked… “perfect!” said the pretty octopus... orchid

Every week I add a new design with related tutorials. Be sure to subscribe to receive an email notification with design inspiration.

Tutorials

19 April 2017 Sponge mechanic for a tiny flower stem

Soak a small sponge to create a water source for a small focal flower.

25 August 2011 Placing orchids in test tubes

Cut the Phalaenopsis orchid with a bit of green stem attached. This will make them last longer.

19 February 2011 Pebbles

Cut and smooth pebbles out of Rainbow Oasis

19 April 2012 Floral Fridge magnet in a nutshell

Tuck one half of a corsage magnet in a nutshell before designing to create a floral fridge magnet

8 May 2012 Nestled grass pebble

Weave a grass pebble for flowers to nestle in

19 June 2012 Up-cycle Styrofoam packaging to create a low pave design

Polystyrene or Styrofoam makers ideal shapes to pin or glue plant material to.

13 January 2016 Stacked Grass Pyramid Armature

Stack snippets of grass on a wire frame to make a floating pyramid armature

16 September 2015 Fold a Grass Disk

Fold and wrap blades of grass around a disk to create a natural armature

Favourite Flowers

Prosthechea cochleata

Octopus orchid, Clam shell or Cockle Shell orchid, it is the national flower of Belize in Central America, where it is called the ‘Black Orchid’.

Related Designs

25 February 2011 A Rock by any other Name...

It's not really what we call things that matter but what they are made of- in this design, it's made of all three types of Oasis and wool.

24 August 2011 Touchstone

A Touchstone is something or even someone that you can rely on to evaluate the strength or worth of an idea or concept.

3 April 2011 One Singular Sensation

Three Lilies plaited to create a sensational, singular flower "growing" out of a Equisetum dome filled with Rainbow Oasis pebbles.

16 November 2011 Winter formal

The elongated heart shape Echeveria waist corsage is meant to be worn low around the hip as a trailing ribbon clasp.

1 January 2012 All in the same boat

19 April 2012 In a nutshell

Sunday April 22 is Earth day and a tiny floral fridge magnet is a wonderful reminder of just how beautiful our planet is.

8 May 2012 Skipping stone

Weave a grass pebble for the orchid to nestle in.

19 June 2012 Designing a Feeling

The emotions your designs inspire give real meaning to your work. My article in the Canadian Florist Magazine

13 January 2016 Once Upon A Time

Stack and glue a Grass Pyramid Armature

16 September 2015 Pointing In

wrap and glue a ring armature to create a decorative wreath