My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Marcescent

Marcescent floral art design.

A leaf...

Japanese maple and oncidium

... withering

Autumn leaves

but

Oncidium orchids

not

Snow flake crystals.

falling

Fall room divider

off

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

Tutorials

29 November 2017 Autumn Screen

Craft a hanging twig and autumn leaf design

4 January 2011 Drinking straw "test tubes"

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

22 May 2012 Bite and snap a sturdy twig

Break the sturdy twig on the scribe line.

30 May 2012 Drying Hydrangeas: Fast, Flat or Natural

Use all three methods to dry hydrangeas to get three very different textures to use in design work.

26 April 2011 Weave a willow twig blind

Weave twigs in parallel to create a twig blind with strong but natural horizontal lines.

18 January 2017 Chain-link string and twig armature

By removing every other twig you open up space for larger flowers to nestle in

28 May 2014 Bamboo panel

Create a panel for the flowers to hang on

6 September 2011 Twig collar

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

8 June 2016 Popsicle Stick Square Armature

Glue Popsicle sticks to create a double layered, upright armature

9 December 2015 Scalable twig and Phalaenopsis orchid winterscape panel

This design can easily scale up or down by using larger or smaller pieces of wood to create a larger wall panel or make a few of these panels to stack as tiles to create a more...

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.

8 July 2015 Using a pin to place tiny dew drop crystals

It's sometimes difficult to place a tiny crystal or bead exactly where you want it.

9 September 2015 Layered sisal and twig armature

small sisal fibers create a mat like armature

25 March 2015 Jiyek Braiding a Pussy Willow Twig Blind

A design inspired by traditional Jiyek braiding techniques

23 July 2014 Twig Chain Garlands

Knot stems into decorative swinging chains

14 August 2013 Haphazard twig Rectangle

Glue a few twigs into a rectangular shape to hang as a space or room devider

8 August 2012 Stringing wool and Spanish moss

Create veil of wool and Spanish moss

Favourite Flowers

Oncidium

Dancing lady

Related Designs

2 May 2018 Over the rainbow

Craft a radiating design that suspends from the orchid stems

17 July 2019 … and... a bit more... effort… to make it special

Instead of just placing a handful of twigs and two stems of sweet peas in a vase... why not...?

18 September 2019 It’s a sugar rush!

A perfectly imperfect wild willow wreath to display the first Autumn treasures of the year.

25 September 2019 It’s one and a half to two times... but to the side

Soft minimal... this is exactly the kind of design I place in our apartment. Use a few fall treasures picked up on a walk and add a copper leaf to up the effort and love you add...

23 October 2019 As pumpkins do this time of year

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

11 March 2020 On-Spring-dium

A almost impossibly delicate oncidium (dancing lady) orchid wreath.

25 March 2020 How to lay a little bit low

A flat-lay to celebrate finally finding the perfect way to dry passion fruit flowers... and my book's first birthday but mostly the drying of passion fruit flowers thing.

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

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

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

7 September 2022 Of the shades to come

This design requires a bit of prep-time so it is perfect to make while waiting for the first autumn leaf to appear…

21 September 2022 Balanced Attitude

Getting the balance just so... so that you lean into the first sights of Autumn.

18 October 2023 Drops do that!

Collecting drops of autumn that makes me smile back.

25 April 2011 Drinking straws become flower test tubes

Design 2: Up-cycle drinking straws to make tiny test tubes to hold the orchids on my willow twig blind.

18 January 2017 Look at you!

Tie twigs to shape a hanging armature

28 May 2014 Be Silent And Listen

Lash a few bamboo pieces together to create a scaffold armature

6 September 2011 When Autumn Fall

Autumn leaf composite flower

8 June 2016 When the wind whisper

Glue a fantasy forest from Popsicle sticks, grape vine tendrils and willow tips

9 September 2015 Fall Treasures

A sisal mat armature for fall twigs flowers and leaves

29 July 2015 Beautiful Things

Glue a few twigs into a disk armature

13 October 2011 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.

30 April 2015 Layer

Design One from my Inspiration Video: Use the same floral ingredients, willow twigs, Lichen, Spanish Moss, Kalanchoe and Gypsophila to make three distinctly different contemporary...

25 March 2015 Pulling some Strings

Braid a twig blind armature

23 July 2014 Chain of Thought

Knot small stems into decorative chain garlands

14 August 2013 Something Like This

Stack and glue a large twig rectangle to hang as room divider

8 August 2012 Stringing in the rain

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

30 March 2016 A Point of Support

My contemporary floral art design demonstrated at the Canada Blooms flower show in Toronto.