Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
… and... a bit more... effort… to make it special
- 17 July 2019
- click to send Christine a smile
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Knuckle down
Peg away
Try harder
Give best shot
Persevere
Make that effort…
Over the last few weeks I have received requests from readers about when my book will be available at their local bookstores and be translated into other languages.
The short answer- it is not. The Effortless floral Craftsman book was not created for the mass market. It is a beautiful book filled with my best ideas, aimed at the type of designer who values craftsmanship… and effort.
My book is a low volume, print on demand publication. The special “Craftsmanship” edition is partially handcrafted in small batches by a specialized binder just for us and is ONLY available from my web shop. Every time I take an extra stack of these books with me to book signings I sell out! If I could, I would only have brought out this edition. They are everything a book on craftsmanship should be and you can feel it when you pick one up. But that is not realistic because even though they are absolutely gorgeous books they are rather time consuming to stitch and bind in the “old fashioned way” and that can only mean... expensive. They are also expensive to mail because they are of such high quality. And honestly, it is impossible to supply a partially handmade book at a sustainable pace indefinitely without unfairly overwhelming the resources of the skilled craftsmen creating them. You can order your copy here:
The Effortless Floral Craftsman, a floral crafter's guide to crafting with nature
Which lead me to bringing out the more modern second “Design Room” edition book. This edition is printed and distributed by IngramSpark through their amazing worldwide network of online retailers. Of course online retailers charge a commission to distribute a book but I am able to offer you the book at a slightly reduced price because it is “machine made” rather than “hand made” and in addition, in some cases the retailers offer you free shipping- so I thought it was a worthwhile compromise. You can order your copy here:
Amazon Canada
Amazon.com
Amazon UK
They are also the absolute best quality IngramSpark offers, low volume and exclusive books -filled with the type of practical tips and techniques and original designs and creative processes you know I love to share. Order the Kindle edition here:
Amazon Canada
Amazon.com
Amazon UK
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Tutorials
Crafted from a hand full of twigs to give you a large design... even though you add only two stems of sweet peas.
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.
Craft a suspended armature to create a clear winter design.
Glue a few wigs to follow the shape of a glass bowl to create a disk armature
Create a light and transparent collar-base for the large composite flower to nestle into.
This is a great way to use all those bits of twigs and sticks in your design room to make a floral armature
Favourite Flowers
Sweet pea
Related Designs
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.
Floral styling using mostly dried material that will last the entire Autumn.
Soft minimal Fall armature making it easy to replace the flowers as the season progress.
Using that little something that is unusual about your flower to make the design stand out.
Exploring two soaking techniques for a subtle early autumn design
The dry wheat stems are suspended from the outside of the container so that they remain dry and the flower stems can gently rest inside to remain hydrated.
A glued snipped to create a cooling cone for dangling orchids
A glowing cranberry ball for frosty evening decorating.
Glue a band of snow dusted twigs to create a delicate armature for winter treasures.
Tangle jasmine vines outside a vase for a transparent screen to display floral details on and around a sea horse vase to display floral details in.
A delicate winter twig armature to show off the delicate beauty of these early spring coloured tulips.
Stand tulips upright in a shallow container with a suspended twig armature.
A Merry Christmas Twig Snowflake
