My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Frightfully Pretty

OooOOOoooH! Make this Halloween...

AwfUlly deLigHtfUL

HoRribLy beAutiFul,

TErRibly eNchAnting,

DrEadfUllY lOvely,

UnSpeAkaBly chArmInG,

TeRrifyInGly aPPealiNg,

... and FriGhtFUlly PrEtTy

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Tutorials
Spin a Single Strand Spanish Moss Spider Web
29 October 2014
Spin a Single Strand Spanish Moss Spider Web

Weave a barely there all natural spider web.
Butterfly feeler hooks for swinging test tubes
18 January 2012
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.
Cut spiked flower stems and foliage into short sections
16 August 2011
Cut spiked flower stems and foliage into short sections

Orchids grow in long flower spikes. It is great to use the entire stem but sometimes you need shorter section. There is a trick to cutting the stems without leaving a visible blunt stem.
Drinking straw "test tubes"
4 January 2011
Drinking straw "test tubes"

When you need to keep a tiny stem hydrated this is just what you need.
Placing orchids in test tubes
25 August 2011
Placing orchids in test tubes

Cut the Phalaenopsis orchid with a bit of green stem attached. This will make them last longer.
Wrap a vine around a tiny vase to suspend it from a balanced twig
2 September 2020
Wrap a vine around a tiny vase to suspend it from a balanced twig

Using the design elements as mechanics to secure the design elements.
Bamboo cross-hatch spacers
22 January 2020
Bamboo cross-hatch spacers

A small design detail for contemporary floral arrangements.
Hanging bamboo from a wired hook
22 January 2020
Hanging bamboo from a wired hook

This design can be hanged from anywhere... a case filled with twigs or a branch.
Levitating Halloween tree with roots
30 October 2019
Levitating Halloween tree with roots

Cut a slit in the branches, at the root side to suspend it over the vases rather than in the vases.
Trailing Ceropegia woodii vines from a Heliconia flower
23 May 2018
Trailing Ceropegia woodii vines from a Heliconia flower

Set the rosary vines into the natural cavity of the flower head.
Tumbling sun-flakes
23 May 2018
Tumbling sun-flakes

Craft radiating sun-flakes from dried petals.
"I found it this way" demonstration Floral art Structures: Twig Tangles
21 September 2016
"I found it this way" demonstration Floral art Structures: Twig Tangles

For my "I found it this way" Floral Art demonstration at The Capilano Flower Arranging club, I began all four of my designs with basic armatures made of Twig Tangles and we discussed the importance of a stable structure as a foundation to a structural design. The twig tangles create a basic armature for the designs to be suspended from. Each design is crafted that it almost looks like a foraged or ‘found” natural object
Acrylic Spiderweb
21 September 2016
Acrylic Spiderweb

For this design I made the inside connection bit on a 3D printer with the spikes made of acrylic tubes.
Related Designs
Last full Moon of summer
2 September 2020
Last full Moon of summer

All natural design using the design elements as mechanics.
Spacer
22 January 2020
Spacer

Armatures are great (budget friendly) spacers for creating large floral designs without using an enormous amount of your resources.
There once was a bat called Tequila, a Halloween story
30 October 2019
There once was a bat called Tequila, a Halloween story

An all plant zero waste, levitating, twig (with just a splatter of autumn leaves, a breath of spiderweb and float of roots) Halloween decoration with an eerie bat skeleton made from twigs lurking just over there.
In Summer!
23 May 2018
In Summer!

A contemporary cascade of rosary vine and dried petals.
How do squirrels Cache a tree?
22 November 2017
How do squirrels Cache a tree?

Hoard a few acorns in the fork of a twig to show off a single oncidium orchid.
I found it this way: Spiderweb design
21 September 2016
I found it this way: Spiderweb design

This was the first design I did in my "I found it this way" floral art demonstration
Celebrate!
23 March 2016
Celebrate!

A closer look at my design at the 20th anniversary of Canada Blooms and The Toronto Flower Show
Favourite Flowers
Brassia
Brassia

Spider orchids flowering on a Spanish moss web
Tillandsia Usneoides
Tillandsia Usneoides

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

Spiral flowers from Chinese lantern sepals for my Thanksgiving Harvest design.