Celebrate!

Manipulating stems: Snapping at an angle, Bending, Spiraling, Curling and Straightening

Most stems, twigs and even sturdier branches can be bend into shapes. It takes practice and more than a bit of patience. The main idea is to slowly manipulate the branch without breaking it.

Beaded wire

Thread thin wire with tiny beads

Spin a Single Strand Spanish Moss Spider Web

Weave a barely there all natural spider web.

Syringe with tube

Easy way to fill test tubes and easiest way to remove water from a vase

Wire Tendrils

Curl the wire at irregular intervals to create a natural wire tendril similar to that of a passion fruit plant

Fast way to fill a lot of test tubes in awkward places

I do not believe in arranging flowers without a water source of some kind. I want my flowers to remain as beautiful for as long as possible and I often get quite creative to ensure a water source for even finer stems and blossoms.

Removing Oasis Floral Adhesive glue spills

The finish of every design should be flawless. Make sure there are no bits of glue visible in your design by carefully removing all traces of spills.

Macramé inspired hanging test tubes

When I hang these delicate glass bubbles I want to make sure they are really secure. By slipping them into Macramé inspired knots they are not only hanging securely but the fishing line knots at the sides also protect them against bumps

Butterfly feeler hooks for swinging test tubes

I don't always want to wire my test tubes into the design. I like to create a bit of movement by simply hooking the tubes to gently swing.

Stringing wool and Spanish moss

Create veil of wool and Spanish moss

Macramé hanging vases

Knot wool to create a catch to hang tiny bud vases from

Make a Phalaenopsis Orchid from autumn leaves

Fall leaf craft

Stripping foliage from weaving stems

Remove foliage from stems to weave with

Christmas twig wreath, cinnamon bundles, clove garlands and roses of orange peel candle holder

Take the whole waste free design concept a whole lot further by displaying all your Christmas simmer pot ingredients... ready to be harvested as needed.

Add light filled snowy fluff inside a display container

A fun way to make a winter design glow.

Cinnamon Bundles

Pretty wire bundles to add fragrance to any design

Clove Copper Garland

Twist and wire a gorgeously sparkly clove copper wire string.

Orange peel spiral roses

A fragrant way to add an uplifting dried detail to your winter design.

Balanced branch with dangling macrame vases

Create a display branch for ever changing fresh flowers and foliage... or vines.

Cross stem spacer

Use the off-cut stems to create a spacer to keep the flowers in place.

Threaded stem and wire spacer wire garland

Thread stems into a wire to create dangling garlands

Baby’s Breath Wave Cascade

Easy and quick arrangement to do for summer in a vase... with just enough complexity to make you feel real good about yourself.

Sea glass counter weights to keep leaning top heavy stems from tipping

An easy fix for preventing flowers from falling out of a container

Bamboo cross-hatch spacers

A small design detail for contemporary floral arrangements.

Hanging bamboo from a wired hook

This design can be hanged from anywhere... a case filled with twigs or a branch.

Floating Filigree Pumpkin Patch

String up pumpkins and glass seahorse vases to craft an autumn mobile design.

Cover a butchers hook with a ribbon

A quick and easy way to make a butchers hook look less harsh in a delicate design.

Grass Spiral Wind Spinner

Thread grass into flexi grass to create a spinner that gently turns in the wind.

Twig cloud mobile

Wire a sturdy cloud shaped armature to hang a heavier water source for thirsty Wisteria flowers.

Clips to hang flowers vertically

I designed and printed these clips on a 3D printer as a fast, secure and convenient way to hang water tubes vertically down fishing line.

A Dandelion Seed Puff that stays just so

Use a thin wire to puff out dandelion seeds to look like it spilled from a basket

Three Tier Wire Ring Chandelier

Bend and weave three wire wreaths to string up as an air plant chandelier

Floral Monogram Seating Plan

Wrap Spanish moss around a monogram wire frame to create a creative seating plan

Frightfully Pretty

Weave a single strand Spanish Moss spider web

Stringing in the rain

A veil of green wool, Spanish moss and dried hydrangeas hang over white lilies

Inspired by Nature

Flax leaves are ripped with a kenzan and wrapped with copper wire and small blue beads to create a rope to weave into a delicate spider web.

Harnessing the Wind

WAFA 10th International Flower Show in Boston USA: This Glorious Earth

I wove my Zipper from just over 300 short, dried rose twigs with tiny thorns on them. The delicate "fabric" at the back of the design is woven rose bush roots. Aranthera and Aranda orchids in tiny test tubes covered with rose stem bark are placed in the Zipper design.

Direct Contrasts

I have always been fascinated, as a designer, by the idea that there is a point when extremes or direct contrasts flip into its opposite.

Diamond Jubilee Waterfall

To commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee and the 20th Anniversary of Friends of Government House Gardens Society a Horticultural event was hosted in the gardens and Great Hall of Government House in Victoria, Canada entitled British Columbia Blooms.

Hanging Space

Suspend small bud vases with Macramé-like knotted wool. This design is featured on The Fusion Flowers Magazine... Fusion Links page.

Their work well done

String Autumn leaves to fall down in a design

Chain of Thought

Knot small stems into decorative chain garlands

Pretty Spicy!

Hang fruity wire garlands to display Gerbera daisies

A Very Merry Dried Orange and these from My Greenhouse to yours Trendy Christmas Cheer

And of course I would add the environmentally friendly-estest floral design option to top all the rest. Reusable and upcycled... and smells wonderful.

Floral Hurricane

My Floral Hurricane design entry for the BC Floral Art Society mini show competition

Branch Manager

Managed to find an utterly gorgeous branch... perfect contrast to the minimal orchids.

Space holder

Creating a bit of space in a summer design to allow for the plant material to naturally fall as it wants.

Making Waves

A quick and easy to do cascade design for summer.

But of course.

Repurpose an apothecary vase lid for a floating Spring design.

Aerial Odyssey

A closer look at my design at Canada Blooms and The Toronto Flower Show last week. The show was cancelled right after we staged the designs due to COVID-19 concerns.

Spacer

Armatures are great (budget friendly) spacers for creating large floral designs without using an enormous amount of your resources.

As pumpkins do this time of year

Hanging pumpkins and tiny vases to create a Autumn mobile floral design.

Taking a Breather

A relaxing summer design that spins gently in the wind

Just Like Wisteria Rain

Craft a ethereal design from twigs and wisteria flowers

But wait… there's more!

Tucked into the box with every advance copy of the book, the effortless floral craftsman is a packet of clips. This design and Tutorial is a bit of inspiration... what will you create with your clips?

Let's hang out

Skewer some Eucalyptus to suspend between the orchids

A Twirl

Suspend a wire chandelier design to twirl

Gumusservi

To celebrate the 6th year anniversary of My Creative Workbook I am looking at the most popular Tutorial I have done to date:

Step Along

Create twig steps to display the orchids

The oh no factor

My article and Floral Monogram Seating Plan designs featured in DIY Weddings Magazine

It keeps me going and I love it.

Hang a veil of Tillandsia Usneoides to create an armature

Phalaenopsis

Phalaenopsis orchid detail from my Harnessing the Wind design

Tillandsia Usneoides

Detail of my Stringing in the Rain design with Spanish moss, wool, hydrangeas and lilies.

Salix matsudana "Tortuosa"

I wove three willow spheres for my Floral Art design Three Drops of floral chocolate.