My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Watch the leaves turn

21 October 2015
click to send Christine a smile
and more

Everyone

must

take time

to sit

and

watch

the leaves turn…

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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

21 October 2015

Rolled up Autumn leaf wreath

Create a textured wreath with Chrysanthemums and rolled up Autumn leaves

21 October 2015

Use the stem of an Autumn leaf to wrap, pin and secure it in a roll

A glue-less way of manipulating leaves

2 June 2011

Papier Mache

I save all the thin tissue paper or un-printed newsprint papers that are wrapped around the flowers that are delivered to me to make batches of Papier Mache with. These sheets make fantastic Papier Mache because it is designed to be super absorbent and colour fast.

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.

24 July 2012

Stacked Twig Roundabout

This is a great way to use all those bits of twigs and sticks in your design room to make a floral armature

4 January 2011

Drinking straw "test tubes"

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

1 November 2011

Weaving a twig wreath

For my design I wanted the wreath to look wind blown so I added a few loosely woven twigs into the weave. I also wanted to emphasize the autumn colours so I added a twirling copper wire into the weave

12 August 2012

Twist your own Wire Wreath frame

Make a wire wreath frame with wire and cover it with growth mesium or moss to design on

9 October 2024

Making light of a heavy, heavy pumpkin in double low containers for a zero waste kitchen pumpkin display… a few days before Thanksgiving

A great way to show off your Thanksgiving pumpkin before cooking it… keeping the pumpkin well above and out of the water so that it will not rot and you can easily remove it from the design when you are ready.

6 January 2021

Rolled leaf shelter for a lean-in-closer tiny bud vase design

Create a tiny visual tunnel to focus attention.

7 October 2020

Floral wreath ring stem armature for a cute pumpkin patch in a stem vase design

Use a wreath to keep flower and a heavy little ghost pumpkin in place in a small vase.

1 November 2017

Pierce and stack fall leaves to rest on the edge of a container

Use one leaf to keep the next in place

4 October 2017

Display wreath that hover around a big shiny pumpkin

For this design I wanted my wreath to be light and airy so that it just whips around the solid pumpkin like a breeze.

4 May 2016

Loosened Wreath Armature

Snip a dried twig wreath to undo the spirals to hang around a glass container

Related Designs

24 July 2012

A little bit of Art and Soul

A twig structure with roses

20 January 2011

The last Vine Wreath

Every designer knows how to stretch their supplies. We use and re-use our dried plant material until our fellow designers feel like hiding it from us. I formed such an attachment to my vine wreaths. This post features four designs using the same wreaths.