My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Scary stuff!


Now I ask you… what could be more scary for an introvert than talking about themselves? Not much, I tell you!

So… here it is: a snippet of the interview I did as part of my book launch review package. More particularly the part where I tell you the story behind the story that I tell you in my book: the effortless floral craftsman, a floral crafter's guide to crafting with nature

Oh and… Happy Halloween! Hope it is scary… but also in the “it’s-scary-to-challenge-myself-in-this-way-but-I-am-always-glad-I-did” kind of way.

Scary stuff floral art design

WHAT IS THE EFFORTLESS FLORAL CRAFTSMAN, A FLORAL CRAFTER'S GUIDE TO CRAFTING WITH NATURE ABOUT?
C: It is a guidebook to crafting with nature. Our medium... nature, the nature of our floral design craft and, of course, our own creative nature, our effortless style.

Halloween floral design

HOW DID THE BOOK COME ABOUT?
C: Like any life lesson worth learning, the hard way.

In 2011 we relocated to Vancouver, Canada, I just received an innovation award for my work, won a silver medal at the W.A.F.A World Show, (Boston, USA) the My Creative Workbook website was gaining popularity and I was writing for two magazines discussing floral craftsmanship. So many dreams were coming true at once.

But life happens. I felt something was "not right".

By the end of that year life became complicated. I started to suffer from often debilitating pain and discomfort in my face. Specialist after specialist had absolutely no idea what was wrong. I had to cancel design demonstrations and competitions.

Make a spider from plant material

My floral art became a lifeline.
It's when things get really ugly that we most need to create pretty things.
I had to. I couldn't imagine not to.

But I had to make hard decisions. There was no way I was going to compromise on the quality of my work. So I invested what creative energy I had into crafting even greater quality by focusing on craftsmanship.

Conditioning is how we show empathy to our plant material. It is how we create the best possible environmental conditions for our plant material to last as long as possible. Conditioning is also the heart of our techniques. When you truly observe how plant material respond to the trauma of being cut and being conditioned in a compassionate way they show you what techniques are most suitable for them to flourish in. They show you their unique creative potential.

Pumpkin and oncidium orchid Halloween flower arrangement.

In the same way I needed to figure out what are the best environmental conditions for my own creative talent to flourish in.

Simply put: I had no energy to try too hard. I had to show up in my design room as me. I had to develop and rely on my own style. I discovered that when I design in the way that comes natural to me... it feels effortless.

I thought I was crafting my floral art as a form of self expression and as I adjusted and healed I realized that it was also a form of self discovery and ultimately self creation.

Oncidium orchid

I started to study the creative process behind finding and developing my own effortless style and how it can be applied to overcome other things we might consider a challenge or limitation.

I also noticed the more I showed up as me- the more of myself I added to my work the more people responded to it. The emotions I was weaving into the work were felt by the people who saw it.

Hovering floral art design

Floral design is just partly craft- the rest is story telling. Flowers are feelings made visible.
If conditioning is the heart of our techniques then adding a bit of ourselves is how we add heart to our work. It is how we make our work meaningful and remarkable.

Floating Halloween flower arrangement

Floral designers develop empathy because we are required to grieve and celebrate through the heart of another person.

Suspend your floral design pumpkin for Halloween

The entire process of writing was life changing. The book unfurled itself as I was designing and typing... and as I faced all those empty pages The Effortless Floral Craftsman happened.

If you want to create extraordinary work- the kind of extraordinary that only you can, add heart to your work, truly master your floral craft, invest in yourself and create work that is a contribution to our creative community- this book is for you.


ps: This is the last week to order your advance copy of the book from my online shop and be one of the first to read the book ... and receive your gift packet of 20 clips!
Next week we will be celebrating the launch of the craftsmanship edition of the book and you can (finally!) download your ebook and free reader from Amazon if you prefer not to have to wait (or pay extra) for your copy to be delivered.
And I have a surprise for you… but more about that next week.

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

Tutorials

31 October 2018 Spider-mum

Craft a spider from twigs and a chrysanthemum

31 October 2018 Peg and glue a floating Halloween design

A hovering Halloween design that seems to float.

4 January 2011 Drinking straw "test tubes"

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

8 October 2011 Pumpkin legs

I wanted my pumpkin to lift its head slightly so that it is easy to see the beautiful sepals inside. Making tiny legs also prevent the pumpkin from rolling.

3 January 2011 Syringe with tube

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

13 August 2014 Sunflower Disk Floret

Gently pull the petals ( Ray floret) from the seeded part of the sunflower

17 July 2013 Chrysanthemum sepals and receptacle

I love using bits of flowers to add interest and texture

19 February 2013 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...

22 April 2011 Test tube on a stick

Include a single floret (such as an orchid) or bundle a few weaker stems (such as lily of the valley) into an arrangement or hand tie by wiring a test tube to a stick.

1 February 2012 Love Bug

Heart shaped rosery vine and pine love bug

2 October 2013 Spiny Twig Porcupine Armature

Glue a few twigs to display Autumn flowers and foliage on

8 January 2014 Twig Tumbler

Wire and glue a stack of sticks into a cylindrical or tube shape

28 February 2018 Marching winter frosted twig and freesia stack

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

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.

Favourite Flowers

Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemum or "mums"

Oncidium

Dancing lady

Related Designs

20 November 2019 Not just a pretty face!

Design 2 of my three week pre-Christmas designing series looking at How to style with artificial plants and branches using quality faux plants and stems. This week: wired branches

30 September 2020 This season all the stylish pumpkins will be wearing them!

A simple way to keep the plastic mesh the pumpkins are sold in from becoming trash: wrap it around the container as an armature for a quick Fall design. Replace the flowers as...

21 October 2020 When it gets chilly

Use the heart of a sunflower as a platform to place your autumn floral details on.

1 September 2021 It’s butter… nuts!

An it's not too early to decorate for Autumn, Autumn design

13 October 2021 Gratitude

A minimal Thanks Giving design that is a modern take on a wreath

20 September 2023 Did you see that!?!

Take a handful of grass... but then add just enough design to make it interesting.

14 August 2024 everything in one

Connect a unit of leaves... and a pretty floppy stem with thorns.

11 September 2024 More! More!! More!!!

Adding more to an autumn design... but leaving everything out that you don't need.

9 October 2024 As light as a super thankful pumpkin

Create a almost wreath floral display that is light and airy... looking like it was just harvested.

6 November 2012 Mr. Stalk, the Seriously Terrifying Scarecrow, on his Day Off

An easy going design of ripped grass and calla lilies. But look a bit closer. See if you can find Mr. Stalk relaxing somewhere between the blades of grass.

31 October 2017 Mr Twig-or-cheat

An extra Almost-a-Design for Halloween this year

11 November 2012 Leaves by Hundreds came

A rosette of fall leaves to celebrate the beauty of autumn

2 October 2013 Prickly

Build a twig porcupine armature for fall flowers

8 January 2014 It's stick season!

Snap and stack an glue a few twigs to create a lace like armature

28 February 2018 March Days

Line up a few frosted twigs to march across a shallow container