My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Put aside

Urgh… my glass cake stand broke leaving me with a still beautiful, but now mismatched and extremely inspirational lid...

… to save

be careful with

to find or have enough...

And to keep.

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Tutorials
Balance a cake stand lid on it’s side to create a leaning design
24 April 2019
Balance a cake stand lid on it’s side to create a leaning design

Suspend a flower for an unusual but minimalist design over a leaning container lid.
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.
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.
Hana-kubari Bamboo
1 April 2015
Hana-kubari Bamboo

Hana-Kubari is an Ikebana flower mechanic. Only natural materials such as pebbles, sticks and branches can be seen to support the flowers. Traditionally no twine or wire, nails, or screws or any other man made materials are used
Phormium bubble frame
7 March 2018
Phormium bubble frame

Curl and secure a few blades of flax into a bubble to frame your flowers
Stretching leaves and foliage into a ringlet curl
15 April 2015
Stretching leaves and foliage into a ringlet curl

Most leaves and foliage can be slightly manipulated to curve or curl.
Using a pin to place tiny dew drop crystals
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.
Stack two glass vases to keep a leaf upright in water
24 January 2018
Stack two glass vases to keep a leaf upright in water

Slip a leaf into the gap between two glass containers to keep it upright... and add a plastic lining to support the flowers nestled into it.
Clip a neat design strip right through 38.46 g (or a thousand!) sprouting wheatgrass for a ethereal Spring display
12 March 2025
Clip a neat design strip right through 38.46 g (or a thousand!) sprouting wheatgrass for a ethereal Spring display

Mow a gap through growing wheatgrass to display Spring treasures.
Frosted Glass Chip Edge for a glass container
31 January 2024
Frosted Glass Chip Edge for a glass container

Glue glass chips into a half moon to help keep the floral details in place.
Peg the heavy details in place with a wedged stem support
7 June 2023
Peg the heavy details in place with a wedged stem support

Create a support for your floral details by wedging the cut flower stem across the opening of the vase.
Suspend a tiny flower over a large water filled container in a sandwich knot support
13 July 2022
Suspend a tiny flower over a large water filled container in a sandwich knot support

You don't have to design with a bud vase when you have a bud vase sized flower.
Wreath-Rim a Vase with sparkling foxtail and twigs
17 November 2021
Wreath-Rim a Vase with sparkling foxtail and twigs

Add a collar around a vase to hint at a wreath for an early Christmas floral design.
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.
Create a tighter fit with pebbles so that you can wedge a twig securely into a vase
26 August 2020
Create a tighter fit with pebbles so that you can wedge a twig securely into a vase

It all started with my twig being just too small to wedge into the glass vase tight enough to keep my orchid stem in place...
Upside down and on it’s side glass display that plays with natural balance
12 August 2020
Upside down and on it’s side glass display that plays with natural balance

Utilizing those not so obvious characteristics of your design details to make a minimal clear glass summer floral design.
Balancing a fishbowl vase on its side for a floating design
4 March 2020
Balancing a fishbowl vase on its side for a floating design

Give new life to an old vase by turning and balancing it on it's side. It's actually easier than it looks... and it looks super impressive!
Leaf-puddle for a short stem in a big vase
8 January 2020
Leaf-puddle for a short stem in a big vase

Add a leaf to a large-ish vase to create a small puddle of water for your short flower stem to rest in.
Related Designs
From A... for Acer to Z… for Zantedeschia
10 October 2018
From A... for Acer to Z… for Zantedeschia

This week we look at the design featured in the Flower Guide Chapter at the very end of my book
The Space Between
1 April 2015
The Space Between

Traditional Hana-Kubari flower mechanic
See you around
30 July 2014
See you around

Weave a few spheres to create a simple design
If
30 August 2017
If

Place a water tube at an angle in lumber so that the Zantedeschia float just above the base to show off the delicate grass snippets scattered up the stem
Twist of its own
7 March 2018
Twist of its own

... a quick an easy design. Curl a few flax leaves to frame orchids
The last Vine Wreath
20 January 2011
The last Vine Wreath

Every designer knows how to stretch their supplies. We use and re-use our dried plant material until our fellow designers feel like hiding it from us. I formed such an attachment to my vine wreaths. This post features four designs using the same wreaths.
Spoiler alert: It is one thousand… that’s how many!
12 March 2025
Spoiler alert: It is one thousand… that’s how many!

Growing 1000 wheatgrass seeds to celebrate adding my 1000th Tutorials to my website... Yay!!!
Surround and Sound
31 January 2024
Surround and Sound

Half moon frosted glass chip edge for a winter themed design.
Be excited
7 June 2023
Be excited

Oh my! Picked from my balcony garden... after I thought I completely missed it blooming.
Blue…
13 July 2022
Blue…

The tiniest flower adds some much needed coolness to a summer floral design.
Ringing in A Very Merry Traditional Christmas… Tradition
17 November 2021
Ringing in A Very Merry Traditional Christmas… Tradition

A more than just a hint of Christmas tradition design... in a pre-Christmas design.
Last full Moon of summer
2 September 2020
Last full Moon of summer

All natural design using the design elements as mechanics.
It starts with WHY
26 August 2020
It starts with WHY

Add design elements that serves a purpose for a minimal summer inspired floral design.
A lesson in letting be
12 August 2020
A lesson in letting be

Deceptively simple. A design that relies on you working with not against what is already there.
All Aboard!
4 March 2020
All Aboard!

Ooooh! Am I excited to show you this design. It is an ordinary fishbowl vase... balanced on it's side.
Rest a bit here
8 January 2020
Rest a bit here

Gently curve a shallow area with a leaf to showcase a gorgeous flower with a short stem in a water filled vase
Favourite Flowers
Cymbidium
Cymbidium

Cymbidium orchids for my Designing your way to profits article that was featured in the Canadian Florist Magazine