My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Too Hot!

Sometime

too hot

the eye

of heaven

shines

From Sonnet 18, or Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? By William Shakespeare

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Tutorials
Leaning Sunflowers to stay just so
27 July 2016
Leaning Sunflowers to stay just so

The trick to any freestanding design is to get your first three stems standing stable and secure in the water. Once you have that you can build the design around it.
The Three legged trick for Upright Constructions
7 September 2012
The Three legged trick for Upright Constructions

When in doubt, always give your armature three legs. Two legs are simply not enough and four legs will wobble if it is even slightly off balance.
Standing flowering stems in shallow puddles
13 August 2014
Standing flowering stems in shallow puddles

Making a truss out of sunflower stems for a free standing design
Sunflower Disk Floret
13 August 2014
Sunflower Disk Floret

Gently pull the petals ( Ray floret) from the seeded part of the sunflower
Balancing a Twirled Willow Armature
25 February 2015
Balancing a Twirled Willow Armature

Twirl twigs to create a balanced nest to display the beautiful orchids on
Free standing Willow twig armature with a hidden water source
20 April 2016
Free standing Willow twig armature with a hidden water source

Cut a few willow twigs to split to create legs for the armature
Hana-Kubari chopsticks
19 October 2011
Hana-Kubari chopsticks

Splitting the chopsticks or a wooden branch, such as a willow twig creates a natural (and glue-less!) clamp.
Palm twirl with a hidden double knot grid support that hold even heavier flowers in place
11 September 2024
Palm twirl with a hidden double knot grid support that hold even heavier flowers in place

Knot horizontal palm fronts in place to create a support for heavy flowers.
Light as a kite wire spiked sunflower heart
14 July 2021
Light as a kite wire spiked sunflower heart

Using the disk floret of a sunflower to support your floral details.
Levitating Halloween tree with roots
30 October 2019
Levitating Halloween tree with roots

Cut a slit in the branches, at the root side to suspend it over the vases rather than in the vases.
Adding folded grass "jitters" to a Sunflower
31 July 2019
Adding folded grass "jitters" to a Sunflower

Adding tension to a design with a grass frame and collar.
Stack a Stack of Stems to create a sturdy grid Armature... with some height
5 June 2019
Stack a Stack of Stems to create a sturdy grid Armature... with some height

Stack green lily stems to create an upright mechanic to keep shorter stems in place.
Balancing Sweet pea stems with an Ivy Leaf Stack
1 August 2018
Balancing Sweet pea stems with an Ivy Leaf Stack

This design is all about balance.
Marching winter frosted twig and freesia stack
28 February 2018
Marching winter frosted twig and freesia stack

Frost a few twigs to craft a delicate armature for fragrant freesias
Creating contrasts in shallow containers with pebbles and water
17 January 2018
Creating contrasts in shallow containers with pebbles and water

Such a peaceful design with just enough float and "stay put" elements
Using a fork in a twig to “peg” a stem in place
3 January 2018
Using a fork in a twig to “peg” a stem in place

A easy to use Hana Kubari technique
Three tier dried autumn leaf armature
8 November 2017
Three tier dried autumn leaf armature

Dry autumn leaves on cardboard disks to create an upright fall armature
Related Designs
When Autumn Fall
6 September 2011
When Autumn Fall

Autumn leaf composite flower
Pick-Up Sticks
29 September 2011
Pick-Up Sticks

A twig and stick design with sweet dumpling pumpkins and rosary vine (Ceropegia woodii). I also made a cherry twig and skeleton leaf Stick Insect
Just Right! Floral Art demonstration: Own It!
7 September 2012
Just Right! Floral Art demonstration: Own It!

My fourth design in my demonstration at the BC Floral Art Society meeting
A leg to stand on
13 August 2014
A leg to stand on

Create a upright design by supporting the flowering stems
Just So
25 February 2015
Just So

Twirl a few willow twigs to create a balanced armature to display orchids
Gotcha!
10 June 2015
Gotcha!

Hana Kubari lily stems
That Will Be
20 April 2016
That Will Be

Freestanding willow twig armature design
More! More!! More!!!
11 September 2024
More! More!! More!!!

Adding more to an autumn design... but leaving everything out that you don't need.
Light as a Kite
14 July 2021
Light as a Kite

Spike a wire frame into a disk floret for a light summer design.
There once was a bat called Tequila, a Halloween story
30 October 2019
There once was a bat called Tequila, a Halloween story

An all plant zero waste, levitating, twig (with just a splatter of autumn leaves, a breath of spiderweb and float of roots) Halloween decoration with an eerie bat skeleton made from twigs lurking just over there.
Jitters!
31 July 2019
Jitters!

Zig-zag grass details add a bit of tension to the design
Add up!
5 June 2019
Add up!

Stacking green stems to create an armature for short stemmed flowers.
Stay Cool!
1 August 2018
Stay Cool!

Craft a free standing Sweat pea design
March Days
28 February 2018
March Days

Line up a few frosted twigs to march across a shallow container
Flowering Between a Rock and a Hard place
17 January 2018
Flowering Between a Rock and a Hard place

Create a subtle contrast by floating or anchoring some of your design elements.
Happy Coincidence!
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 twig with a fork in it. Add a ranunculus with a ridiculously gorgeous curve in it's stem... done.
Psithurism
8 November 2017
Psithurism

Craft a three tiered, dried autumn leaf armature
Favourite Flowers
Helianthus anuus
Helianthus anuus

Nature's Treasures, A Floral Art Exhibition at D'Ville Shopping Center Durbanville Floral Carpet with the members of the Durbanville Flower Club. For the mid section I used roses,...