My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Forever… incomplete

6 May 2020
and more

“Ever unfolding

Ever expanding

Ever adventurous

and torturous

… but never done”

Lyrics from Incomplete by Alanis Morissette

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

Gather what you'll need

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Dew-Drop Crystals

I created the Tutorial for how I add these crystals to my floral designs 11 years ago! Since then I have tried, tested and searched for the perfect crystals that would go from studio‑table picture perfect to show‑day‑dependable and I always come back to these. They remain the absolute best. They’re inexpensive yet have a refined, high‑quality crystal brilliance; they don’t tarnish and their adhesive backing stays reliably tacky even after they were exposed to water.

Tutorials

6 May 2020

a Just-Replace-The-Flowers-When-They-Wilt freestanding bark armature

Part of sustainable designing is designing with the entire life-cycle of your work in mind. Designing armatures is a lasting and ever changing design solution.

3 January 2011

Syringe with tube

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

4 January 2011

Drinking straw "test tubes"

When you need to keep a tiny stem hydrated this is just what you need.

7 September 2012

The Three legged trick for Upright Constructions

When in doubt, always give your armature three legs. Two legs are simply not enough and four legs will wobble if it is even slightly off balance.

22 May 2012

Bite and snap a sturdy twig

Break the sturdy twig on the scribe line.

19 February 2020

Twig snippet pillar armature

A great do-in-advance and reusable design solution for a winter, early spring floral display.

21 February 2018

Stem line-up

Line up stems to create a base for the heavy Hanging Heliconia stems

18 June 2014

Sticking a stick curve to create a hollowed out crescent armature

An easy way to create a neat curve in a very short time

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.

20 April 2016

Free standing Willow twig armature with a hidden water source

Cut a few willow twigs to split to create legs for the armature

28 February 2018

Marching winter frosted twig and freesia stack

Frost a few twigs to craft a delicate armature for fragrant freesias

12 July 2017

Twig sparkler

Glue twigs to radiate out from a central point

17 May 2023

Light Layer float Wisteria flowers

Craft the softest layer of wisteria flowers that neatly float on water.

11 May 2022

A new twist on the cellophane in a submerged design trick to make space for a stem

Create an invisible "stay under water" for blooms that still leaves space for longer stems in a vase.

16 March 2022

Sturdy, blossoming armature in a shallow puddle

If you know just a bit more about the "why" we do the things we do it is easy to discover new "how's". This week I show you why it is possible to design with blossoming twigs in a shallow puddle.

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.