My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

You Just Like You

24 April 2024
and more

“I’ve never

met

anyone

like you

in my

entire life”

Quote by Fred Rogers, played by Tom Hanks in A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

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Gather what you'll need

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Dew-Drop Crystals

I created the Tutorial for how I add these crystals to my floral designs 11 years ago! Since then I have tried, tested and searched for the perfect crystals that would go from studio‑table picture perfect to show‑day‑dependable and I always come back to these. They remain the absolute best. They’re inexpensive yet have a refined, high‑quality crystal brilliance; they don’t tarnish and their adhesive backing stays reliably tacky even after they were exposed to water.

Tutorials

24 April 2024

Slot together Monstera Twin Leaves to create a design gap

A small bundle of Spring floral treasures framed with lush monstera foliage.

19 February 2013

Manipulating stems: Snapping at an angle, Bending, Spiraling, Curling and Straightening

Most stems, twigs and even sturdier branches can be bend into shapes. It takes practice and more than a bit of patience. The main idea is to slowly manipulate the branch without breaking it.

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.

16 August 2017

Criss-cross Monstera lace-up

Glue short sections of rosary vine into the natural gaps in the Monstera deliciosa leaf

4 February 2015

Fold over a tropical leaf cocoon

Fold and glue a Monstera deliciosa (delicious monster) leaf

27 June 2018

Foliage tube armature for long stemmed freesia buds

Curl and pin a few leaves into a tube to create an armature for those "left over" freesiabuds.

8 January 2020

Leaf-puddle for a short stem in a big vase

Add a leaf to a large-ish vase to create a small puddle of water for your short flower stem to rest in.

10 May 2023

Craft a padded wooden Dowel to position a leaf cone into the sharp teeth of a Kenzan

Prevent a leaf from ripping or bruising when positioning it in your design.

6 April 2022

Create a design gap with two leaves to create shivering whiskers for your Spring design

Adding design details to create tiny gaps for more design details.

30 March 2022

Double water source to keep Carnations hydrated in foliage cones

Quick and easy design... perfect for something tiny to celebrate spring.... everywhere!

2 June 2021

Two leaf lining your container to shelter your orchids

Create a shallow puddle in a larger container to keep your flowers in place.

6 January 2021

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

Create a tiny visual tunnel to focus attention.

13 January 2016

Stacked Grass Pyramid Armature

Stack snippets of grass on a wire frame to make a floating pyramid armature

22 August 2018

Vein Veil For Freesias

Cut a slight veil to frame your flowers with

24 June 2026

A roll-and-tuck to stay hydrated leaf armature that gives those tendrils time to grow into the design

Roll foliage into tubes to tuck in as a floral mechanic.

7 January 2026

Just sparkly enough (for January) frosted twig frog to balance your anthurium stems just so

A winter twig that looks like it is barely hanging on in the blizzard to recreate the sparkle of winter.

3 July 2024

Creating a perfectly flat leafy surface... with a few gaps to fit some flowers

Shady leaf fenestration raft for easy summer designing

19 June 2024

Stand bark on pointe to display the sweetest sweet peas

Create a natural armature for a summer display

12 June 2024

Narrow twin leaf spacer for keeping a tiny stem bouquet upright

A pretty way of taming wonderfully wild thin stemmed floral details... without loosing the light and airy feel.

8 May 2024

Use a glue stick to position a Kenzan… just so… so that you can place the blackest of flowers to be framed by gaps of light

Play up contrasts to allow near black flowers to shine.

Related Designs

22 August 2018

FreestyleFreesia

Dutch floral designer Pim van den Akker, from Flower Factor invited me to participate in a FloraHolland initiative promoting the versatility of Freesias entitled #FreestyleFreesia Here is the extended version of my video.