My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Cut a vine wreath into sections to create a cup shaped armature

Place a dried vine wreath on a flat working surface. Cut it into curved sections.

Cross the first two curves at both sides to create the basic shape and secure with bind wire

Bind wire is a paper covered wire. See the Tutorial below for detailed instructions on how to make your own bind wire

This creates a cradle shape for your cup

Add another vine curve and secure it at every cross point with wire

... add another vine curve

To blend in with the vine tendrils curl the wire ends

See the Tutorial below for more detailed instructions on how to create wire tendrils

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Tutorials
Paper covered Wire
1 March 2011
Paper covered Wire

Cover the wire with the raffia
Manipulating stems: Snapping at an angle, Bending, Spiraling, Curling and Straightening
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.
"I found it this way" demonstration Floral art Structures: Twig Tangles
21 September 2016
"I found it this way" demonstration Floral art Structures: Twig Tangles

For my "I found it this way" Floral Art demonstration at The Capilano Flower Arranging club, I began all four of my designs with basic armatures made of Twig Tangles and we discussed the importance of a stable structure as a foundation to a structural design. The twig tangles create a basic armature for the designs to be suspended from. Each design is crafted that it almost looks like a foraged or ‘found” natural object
Wire Tendrils
26 July 2011
Wire Tendrils

Curl the wire at irregular intervals to create a natural wire tendril similar to that of a passion fruit plant
Weaving a twig wreath
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
Midelino Cane Coil Globe Cup
14 January 2013
Midelino Cane Coil Globe Cup

Weave a loose, round floral art armature
A quick and easy way to Craft a Twig Basket Using Wire Tendrils
6 October 2021
A quick and easy way to Craft a Twig Basket Using Wire Tendrils

The hardest part of this is actually making the tendrils. From there it's a few twists... and we are done!
Wire wrap for a shallow container to keep a twig arch armature neatly in place
15 September 2021
Wire wrap for a shallow container to keep a twig arch armature neatly in place

Wrap a wire around both ends of a shallow container to keep the twigs in place.
Tendril vine Wreath Pumpkin
27 September 2017
Tendril vine Wreath Pumpkin

Reshape a vine wreath into smaller wreaths to combine as a pumpkin
Wrap lily grass around bits of vine
8 March 2017
Wrap lily grass around bits of vine

Create visual interest by loosely wrapping lily grass around an armature
Related Designs
All things Autumn (by which I mean all things chocolate): Loosen Up
9 November 2016
All things Autumn (by which I mean all things chocolate): Loosen Up

This was the first design I did in my "All things Autumn (by which I mean all things chocolate)" floral art demonstration
Ground Breaking
29 January 2011
Ground Breaking

Water stream breaking through ground in an autumn forest.
Large Open Weave Twig Basket
8 April 2011
Large Open Weave Twig Basket

Easter Basket used in the Durbanville Flower Club Easter Parade Demonstration
The last Vine Wreath
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.
Feeling Funky
10 April 2011
Feeling Funky

I wove vine wreaths to form a pyramid, one just slightly larger than the next. In the natural cavities between the wreaths I placed the roses and lisianthus in plastic covered Oasis
Veiled Sunshine:50th Anniversary of the South African Orchid Society at the Cape Town Convention Centre.
11 April 2011
Veiled Sunshine:50th Anniversary of the South African Orchid Society at the Cape Town Convention Centre.

Bright and sunny cymbidium orchids and roses, lilies, lisianthus and pincushions
It's High Time for Tea: from craft to art, taking a delicious floral journey with weaving techniques
14 January 2013
It's High Time for Tea: from craft to art, taking a delicious floral journey with weaving techniques

This was the first two designs for my Floral Art and craft demonstration at The Capilano Flower Arranging club
Beginning
2 March 2016
Beginning

Glue a Midelino Cane Coil Globe Cup to display beautiful Gloriosa lilies
Unthinkably good things
10 April 2013
Unthinkably good things

Oncidium orchids hiding in a woven grass cup. This Design Tutorial is featured on The Conna Flower and Garden Club (Ireland) website. It is part of their Floral Art Lessons program that demonstrates new techniques, ideas and principles of Flower Arranging by International Designers.
A good measure of Autumn
6 October 2021
A good measure of Autumn

A wire and twig permanent display basket with tiny water sources for a few fresh flowers that can be replaced as needed.
Blowing this way and that
15 September 2021
Blowing this way and that

Craft an arch armature to display those early autumn treasures.
As tendrils tend to do
27 September 2017
As tendrils tend to do

Curl a wreath with tendrils to create a twig-pumpkin
Piece of the forest
8 March 2017
Piece of the forest

Standing roses upright in a shallow container
All things Autumn (by which I mean all things chocolate): Snipped into Sections
16 November 2016
All things Autumn (by which I mean all things chocolate): Snipped into Sections

This was the second design I did in my "All things Autumn (by which I mean all things chocolate)" floral art demonstration