My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

The Space Between

Ma

Ma is a Japanese word which can be roughly translated as "gap", "space", "pause" or "the space between two structural parts"

The Space Between Floral Art Design.

Thirty spokes meet in the hub,

Hana-Kubari Technique

though…

Hana-Kubari Flower Mechanic.

the space between them is the essence of the wheel.

Hana-Kubari Bamboo

Pots are formed from clay,

Hana-Kubari Ikebana floral art technique

though…

Gloriosa lily

the space inside them is the essence of the pot.

Gloriosa and bamboo design

Walls with windows and doors form the house,

Flame lily

though…

Glory lily and bamboo design

the space within them is the essence of the house.

Traditional Japanese poem

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

Tutorials

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,...

1 April 2015 Keeping pollen tidy

Most of the time I would gently tug the pollen covered stamens away the moment it becomes yellow and messy. But the Gloriosa looks rather pretty with the stamens on, so I fix it...

2 January 2011 Lilies

How to keep Lilies in bud for longer. Removing the pollen. Stringing a Lily Garland.

Favourite Flowers

Gloriosa

Glory or Flame lilies, Fire lily, Superb lily, Climbing lily, and Creeping lily

Related Designs

2 September 2015 Happy Dance

Split a few bamboo sections to create a happy water source for miniature orchids

20 April 2016 That Will Be

Freestanding willow twig armature design

10 August 2016 Saved up

Cut lengths of bamboo to place in a shallow container as a flower frog

18 January 2017 Look at you!

Tie twigs to shape a hanging armature

26 April 2017 In no time at all

Hana-Kubari twig armature

28 June 2017 Somewhere in the Middle

Skewer Dracaena leaves into a roll that supports a tiny water source for the Oncidium orchids

5 July 2017 Just A Bit

Glue a bit of grass snippets to suspend over the design

3 January 2018 Happy Coincidence!

Some designs really do just make themselves. I received this tiny vase for Christmas from Marius (thank you, Marius!) and while cleaning out my design room I found this little...

28 March 2018 Walking on eggshells

Fill eggshells with moss to create an upright container... with a surprising balancing trick.

9 May 2018 What is the meaning of this?

Create a minimal design with a few leaves to keep is all upright.

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

16 January 2019 Every. Single. Week.

Stand tulips upright in a shallow container with a suspended twig armature.

24 April 2019 Put aside

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

1 April 2020 Hang in there!

Keeping this tulip upright requires less magic and more hot glue skills... but it looks magical never the less.

7 June 2023 Be excited

Oh my! Picked from my balcony garden... after I thought I completely missed it blooming.

5 July 2023 The Wiggle Is Part Of The Plan

A easy going summer design that makes full use of the imperfections you harvest from your cut garden.