My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

A design solution for showcasing the tiniest flowers... in a big way

22 May 2024
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Flowers naturally float in water. They just don’t always naturally float on water. For that they sometimes need a bit of help.

Fill the display container with water to float your floral details.

You can either fill it all the way to the top and let the flowers show above the water line or fill to below the top to frame the flowers within the container.

Gently place the largest floral details to create a foundation.

This week in our email I tell you about four dimension designing. And my tip is about making sure your design develops in a way that it remains beautiful. If you are not yet signed up, I send out a notification email every Wednesday morning the moment the design is ready for us to view... and discuss. I include a tip every week for you to read before viewing the design so that you can get most out of the weekly inspiration. This is also a convenient way for us to connect. Simply reply to the email if you have a comment or question... or say hi. I would love to hear from you. The sign up is below this post.

The large nasturtium foliage creates a raft for you to style the more delicate floral details on.

Place the delicate flowers so that it is suspended by the floating foliage. Make sure the cut stems are below the water to keep the flowers hydrated.

Drip a few water drops on the nasturtium leaves... simply dip your finger in the water and let it drip... pretty, right?

Add in a few vines to drape over the floating foliage and flowers.

A few this way and a few draping that way... still low over the floating design but just enough to add some height and vibrancy. Make sure to place the vines so that they look healthy and growing... pointing up.

Book readers turn to page 74 for a special tip for adding fresh growing plant material to your design.

For more information about my book: The Effortless Floral Craftsman

but to get you started you can also find a Tutorial for adding new growth below this post.

.. and as always I finished my design with a few dew drop crystals... for sparkle.

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Tutorials

11 April 2018

Pick up any bits of plant material floating in the water

Use a wet brush to lift any tiny bits of plant material floating on and in the water to keep your container clear.

4 September 2019

Stack banana leaf rice pockets to float as rosettes

Fold and peg banana leaves into pockets so that they float freely on water. This is inspired by a traditional banana leaf craft used to cook rice in.

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.

3 January 2012

Bubble raft to float flowers

Flowers naturally float in water. They just don’t always naturally float on water. For that they sometimes need a bit of help.

13 April 2012

A secret trick to conditioning new growth

Conditioning new growth and sprouts are difficult because the little sprouts have not had time to fully develop its cellular structure to survive being cut and taking up water on its own. The cells will collapse within hours from severing and the beautiful new growth will wilt looking limp in your design. But new growth looks so fantastic and it is always tempting to try to include it.

30 June 2021

Sparkling dew drop puddle to keep flowers hydrated even during a heatwave

Done in no time design... and it is rather refreshing to make.

22 September 2012

Stir-stick Sunburst

Glue a radiating armature from stir-sticks.

15 July 2015

Floating transparent ripples to support delicate floral material

Cut circles out of transparencies to make ripples in the water

7 July 2021

Floral Raft in a Bottle

Float flowers in a bottle by giving each flower their own little bubble wrap raft-skirt.

20 May 2020

A floral float… that floats

If you know my work you have probably seen me do this: I float flowers using a tiny bubble wrap skirt... this time I am floating an entire design on it's own bubble wrap raft.

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