My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Take a load off

14 January 2015
click to send Christine a smile

Relax a bit

Kick off your shoes...

Put your feet up...

Take it easy

Catch your breath

Take a load off and

… make yourself at home...

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

Tutorials

14 January 2015

Weaving Slippers from Foliage

Weave slip on shoes from palm leaves

30 August 2011

Removing Oasis Floral Adhesive glue spills

The finish of every design should be flawless. Make sure there are no bits of glue visible in your design by carefully removing all traces of spills.

8 June 2011

Foliage Weaving

For this tutorial I focus on a simple weave pattern that does not require you to soften or prepare the leaves to be more durable or flexible. This is the starting point in weaving techniques. You can build on this technique to make floral handbags, gift boxes, and baskets, sew it into a curve or wrap it around a vase or cover a test tube.

4 January 2011

Drinking straw "test tubes"

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

1 May 2024

Gap basket weave for a Spring flower container

Fiasco inspired vase cover for a small Spring design

19 October 2022

A witch... or wizard... hat that you can shape any which way you like

Take your time to weave a pointy hat from what you find in nature.

9 September 2020

Weave a daffodil corona inspired sweater for a lily

Knit a corona (as in that inside skirt like part of a daffodil) by weaving a Ceropegia woodii vine around the stamen filament of a lily.

22 July 2020

Adding flowers to those pretty hand coiled flip flops I made for my book

Step up the flip-flop design by decorating it with some long lasting succulent flowers. It might look delicate... but these flowers are robust and long lasting.

22 April 2020

Weave a trendy oversized clutch purse with a hidden magnetic closure

A three in one Tutorial to show you how to weave a clutch purse, how to add a magnetic closure AND how to incorporate a ribbon into a weaved design.

29 January 2020

Weave a long lasting (without using floral foam) in a vase floral design basket

Give your woven grass a water source by designing the basket in a vase rather than placing the vase in a basket

25 June 2019

Stacking grass covered pebbles

Pebbles are a great way to weigh down or keep your floral material in place. Here's a way to dress them up a bit

29 May 2019

Weaving and Interweaving for contrast

My block design is shaped around a Styrofoam block. It is bulky but lightweight and a great way to reuse packaging.

29 May 2019

Taking a break when weaving with grass

When weaving a more labour intensive design you might want to/have to break for a few hours. This is the best way to keep the project from dying out too quickly.

29 August 2018

Coil slip on sandals

Braid ripped flax and coil it into shaped slip on sandals.

15 August 2018

Tuck a loosely woven grass grid into a square container

Grass-grid armature.

9 August 2017

Weave a flat top to tip at an angle with flower stems

Craft a platform to highlight small flowers

5 April 2017

Weaving a Pillbox hat from grass

Use the "over and under" weaving pattern to weave a round, upright hat with a flat top and no brim.

13 July 2016

Woven lily grass parachute armature

Weave a canopy or parachute shaped armature in a way that you can place the stems in two vases to keep it hydrated.

22 June 2016

Lily grass spiral in a vase

Twist lily grass slightly to create a spiral for the orchids to nestle in

Related Designs

1 May 2024

Favourite Take-Away

Basket weave container for some Spring floral treasures.

19 October 2022

Point Witch (or Wizard) Way

A wire framed witch or wizard hat that can be reshaped.

9 September 2020

Daffodillily

Weave around the stamens of a lily to create a daffodil like inside.

22 July 2020

Step It Up

Dress up a pair of hand coiled flip-flops with succulents.

22 April 2020

Yes… but what would she put in it?

Some floral fashion inspiration: weave a pretty clutch purse

18 March 2020

Aerial Odyssey

A closer look at my design at Canada Blooms and The Toronto Flower Show last week. The show was cancelled right after we staged the designs due to COVID-19 concerns.

29 January 2020

Peekaboo

A light and airy (no floral foam but still long lasting) floral design for those days that you are really, really looking for signs of Spring.

26 June 2019

“Ok wow”

A design so fine you can easily miss it... if it were not for the interwoven pebbles catching your eye.

29 May 2019

Creative Competition

This week I am so excited to share my article and design that was published in the recent issue of the Floral Art Society of New Zealand's Academy Magazine for NZ qualified teachers, judges and demonstrators. It's all about good competition.

29 August 2018

It’s not that it is inexpensive… it’s priceless!

Yes, this Coil slip on sandals design is in my book: the effortless floral craftsman, a floral crafter’s guide to crafting with nature ... it is also the first design from the book featured in a magazine: Thank you DIY Wedding Magazine , I am so happy to share finally the this with you: