My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

… and... a bit more... effort… to make it special

… and... a bit more... effort… to make it special floral art design.

Knuckle down

Twig dome for a summer floral design

Peg away

Contemporary Sweet pea flower arrangement

Try harder

Contemporary floral design mechanics

Give best shot

Floral design inspiration and tutorials

Persevere

Making an effort to make hard work appear effortless Christine de Beer

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

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

Tutorials

17 July 2019 Twig Dome Armature

Crafted from a hand full of twigs to give you a large design... even though you add only two stems of sweet peas.

22 May 2012 Bite and snap a sturdy twig

Break the sturdy twig on the scribe line.

24 July 2012 Blow away hot glue strands

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.

6 February 2019 Winter White Twig Screen

Glue twigs to screen delicate flowers for a wintry design.

16 January 2019 Delicate Twig Hammock Armature to keep tulips upright in a shallow container

Craft a suspended armature to create a clear winter design.

25 December 2018 Twig Snowflake

Glue twigs into a snowflake twig armature for Christmas trimmings.

11 February 2015 Stripping foliage from weaving stems

Remove foliage from stems to weave with

29 July 2015 Disk Twig Armature

Glue a few wigs to follow the shape of a glass bowl to create a disk armature

29 November 2017 Autumn Screen

Craft a hanging twig and autumn leaf design

6 September 2011 Twig collar

Create a light and transparent collar-base for the large composite flower to nestle into.

24 July 2012 Stacked Twig Roundabout

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

Lathyrus

Sweet pea

Related Designs

19 February 2020 The Upside of being Inside

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.

17 June 2020 Lei-way

Allow for a bit of variation by crafting a sturdy armature.

23 September 2020 Getting a head start on all that Fall-ing

Floral styling using mostly dried material that will last the entire Autumn.

14 October 2020 Stick it out… the creative spirit version

Soft minimal Fall armature making it easy to replace the flowers as the season progress.

28 April 2021 Here comes the sun...

A minimal design celebrating the new growth on twigs

11 August 2021 A bit Special... four dimensional designing

Using that little something that is unusual about your flower to make the design stand out.

8 September 2021 A good September Soaking

Exploring two soaking techniques for a subtle early autumn design

27 October 2021 Ship Shape

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.

27 July 2022 Wrong on the right, for a right

A glued snipped to create a cooling cone for dangling orchids

4 January 2023 Around and about the new year

A glowing cranberry ball for frosty evening decorating.

18 January 2023 Getting the Band Back Together Again

Glue a band of snow dusted twigs to create a delicate armature for winter treasures.

10 April 2024 (if only) I can see you

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.

16 October 2024 And there you glow

A glowing autumn display of vases to scatter around every here and there.

6 February 2019 Tread softly on winter

A delicate winter twig armature to show off the delicate beauty of these early spring coloured tulips.

16 January 2019 Every. Single. Week.

Stand tulips upright in a shallow container with a suspended twig armature.

29 July 2015 Beautiful Things

Glue a few twigs into a disk armature

29 November 2017 Marcescent

Glue a delicate autumn room devider

6 September 2011 When Autumn Fall

Autumn leaf composite flower

24 July 2012 A little bit of Art and Soul

A twig structure with roses