My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Seriously, though where do they all go?

28 May 2025
and more

This is a special Wish You Were Here, The Weather Is Great For Floral Arranging post to all...

the floristry snips that were...

“just right here” and then… poof! … gone.

I like to think

they vanished through some sort of a rose shaped portal of tuberous roots (like this one)

opening from here into over there

to spread the joy of happy floral snipping to a budding flower enthusiast

… maybe?

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Tutorials

28 May 2025

Rose shaped tuberous root spiral floral frog

While repotting your foxtail fern why not save a few of the roots... for an armature.

15 May 2019

Glue a grapevine armature shaped like the petals of an open rose

Cut a wreath into sections to glue back together into a beautiful rose petal shape

7 February 2018

Bend Wired Equisetum into a Hollow Wreath

Craft a wreath with a hollow cavity inside to use as an armature for your flowers

28 April 2021

A contained design for watching those pretty twigs get their leaves

Careful manipulation of twigs in a shallow container. With a special note on how to use new growth.

11 November 2012

Autumn Leaf Rosette

Great way to use all the autumn leaves you collect on walks during the season. Slowly build up the leaf rosette and let the leaves dry before adding a few more.

28 February 2011

Paper flowers

You can use any type of paper to make flowers. I use tissue paper, Crêpe paper, cardboard, newsprint and coffee filters (new and used) to make sweet peas, carnations, paper roses, blossoms, lilies, poppies and orchids.

6 September 2011

Autumn leaf Composite Flower

Glue a round Autumn leaf Composite Flower.

30 December 2015

Eucalyptus rose

Release the soothing effect of the aroma and vapors from the Eucalyptus leaves my slightly crushing it while making roses

6 September 2011

Autumn leaf Roses

I used to make baskets full of these when I was a little girl. We had a big Acasia thorn tree and I used to spear my “roses” onto the tree pretending I was the fairy responsible for bringing blossoms.

9 March 2016

Spiral Washi Rose armature

Fold and paste a paper flower as an armature

11 September 2013

Longer lasting Gladiolus Composite Flower

Split (but don't cut) a few gladiolus flowers to spiral in a vase

4 September 2024

Dried Bougainvillaea and pink Pepper berry Disk

Pink just before autumn, autumn design to celebrate the richness in colour.

28 August 2024

A summer treat inspired tweak to a leaf-roll technique to display the last cut flowers (or left-overs) picked from your warm weather garden

Give a summer look to a leaf roll by lifting the middle slightly out like an ice cream.

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.

6 November 2024

Design a buildable corsage that can be taken apart and added back together again to give you more styling options without damaging your design.

Easy assemble… and disassemble design details using a Wristix™ corsage magnet from BoutStix™

8 July 2015

Overgrown Willow web inspired by a traditional Dream-catcher

I wanted my willow armature to hint of a web-like dreamcatcher that grows in the wild rather than being a precise replica of the traditional craft technique. But I did weave it in a similar way.

Related Designs

28 April 2021

Here comes the sun...

A minimal design celebrating the new growth on twigs

7 February 2018

Up around the bend

Bend Equisetum into curves to wire into an open wreath shape

11 November 2012

Leaves by Hundreds came

A rosette of fall leaves to celebrate the beauty of autumn

30 December 2015

Achoo! Season

Fold and roll a rose from Eucalyptus leaves

29 July 2015

Beautiful Things

Glue a few twigs into a disk armature

9 March 2016

Take your time

My article and Japanese paper flower armature design featured in the March issue of The Academy Leader- Academy of Floral Design, published by the The Floral Art Society of New Zealand

11 September 2013

Making it last

Split and spiral a few gladiolus flowers in a way that the stems remain intact, to spiral in a water filled filled vase for a long lasting composite flower

4 September 2024

A shade around there, probably… maybe

A dried flower and foliage... flower... disk to help me pretend it is autumn

28 August 2024

Soft Serve Swirl

A nod to a summer filled with flowers... and the quite possibly the last of the season flowers still there to be picked.

6 November 2024

Some Handmade Meaning

I am a huge (HUGE!) fan of the original BoutStix magnets and I love the newest wrist corsage magnets as well. And not just for making corsages. I use them for everything. It is a staple in my design bag and it is ideal for putting up Seasonal decorations. They open up so many creative design possibilities and now with the addition of a strap and Velcro… the possibilities are endless!

8 July 2015

How To Catch A Dream

Take inspiration from a traditional Dream-catcher design to create a floral armature

15 May 2019

Heard it through the grapevine?

Have you heard? I have wonderful news this week. Oh! and I also have this pretty grapevine armature shaped like the petals of an open rose to show you. But... Have you heard my wonderful news???

Favourite Flowers

Ceropegia woodii

Pompon Chrysanthemum pom-poms and strands of Rosary vine for my floral lariat necklace in the Canadian Florist Magazine