My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Add up!

… up,

… and up,

and up...

… and soon

you have a stack big enough

to keep everything up!

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Tutorials
Stack a Stack of Stems to create a sturdy grid Armature... with some height
5 June 2019
Stack a Stack of Stems to create a sturdy grid Armature... with some height

Stack green lily stems to create an upright mechanic to keep shorter stems in place.
Stretching leaves and foliage into a ringlet curl
15 April 2015
Stretching leaves and foliage into a ringlet curl

Most leaves and foliage can be slightly manipulated to curve or curl.
Using a pin to place tiny dew drop crystals
8 July 2015
Using a pin to place tiny dew drop crystals

It's sometimes difficult to place a tiny crystal or bead exactly where you want it.
Stacked Grass Pyramid Armature
13 January 2016
Stacked Grass Pyramid Armature

Stack snippets of grass on a wire frame to make a floating pyramid armature
Skewered Eucalyptus leaf line-up armature
10 May 2017
Skewered Eucalyptus leaf line-up armature

Thread leaves through wire
Bamboo frog for a shallow container design
10 August 2016
Bamboo frog for a shallow container design

Cut short bamboo lengths to keep your flower material upright in a shallow and narrow container
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.
Bite and snap a sturdy twig
22 May 2012
Bite and snap a sturdy twig

Break the sturdy twig on the scribe line.
Tap in a Twig Support
4 April 2018
Tap in a Twig Support

Wedge snipped twigs into a glass vase to act as a support for your flowers
Contained rose twig stack
6 September 2017
Contained rose twig stack

Glue the twigs in a container to easily follow the round shape
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.
Frond Support for short stemmed flowers
12 July 2023
Frond Support for short stemmed flowers

Create an all natural fern grid to arrange your flowers for a summer display.
Suspended, suspended buds in a zig zag grass thread
31 August 2022
Suspended, suspended buds in a zig zag grass thread

Suspend flowers in tight bud to slip over a folded and threaded grass grid
Loop and Twist a Wire and Twig Tangle Grid
25 August 2021
Loop and Twist a Wire and Twig Tangle Grid

Wire twigs and wire around a shallow container to keep your floral details suspended in water in a shallow container.
Related Designs
Once Upon A Time
13 January 2016
Once Upon A Time

Stack and glue a Grass Pyramid Armature
About a line
10 May 2017
About a line

Skewer and line up leaves to create an armature
Saved up
10 August 2016
Saved up

Cut lengths of bamboo to place in a shallow container as a flower frog
Too Hot!
27 July 2016
Too Hot!

Leaning floral stems to stand on their own in a shallow container
Chain of Thought
23 July 2014
Chain of Thought

Knot small stems into decorative chain garlands
Grow on it
4 April 2018
Grow on it

Wedge twigs into a vase to create a grid.
One of those difficult questions
6 September 2017
One of those difficult questions

Glue a bunch of twigs inside a container to create a round stack
Hi-Lo
6 June 2018
Hi-Lo

Perfect stems, perfect flowers. Needs nothing more.
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.
Standing in frond
12 July 2023
Standing in frond

Standing your delicate flower stems in a fern frond.
Bud… bud… bud… they were feeling so… very blue
31 August 2022
Bud… bud… bud… they were feeling so… very blue

When life hands you dyed flowers you make... well creatively speaking it turned out to be not such a bad thing after all!
Doing a loop tangle twist
25 August 2021
Doing a loop tangle twist

oh yes, a light an airy design showing off those very first autumn leaves.
Favourite Flowers
Lilium
Lilium

A Rock by any other name, lily design