My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Tutorials

16 November 2011 Making the waist corsage using the BoutStix Floral Magnets

The BoutStix Floral Magnets “stick” is the backbone of the design, strengthening the narrow heart shape and adding support and balance.

9 November 2011 Curve a flower around the design with a T-wire

Gently bend and secure the Alstroemeria flower head into the twig design

9 November 2011 Gypsophila snowball posy

A Posy made of Gypsophila flowers can look flat. I use a dried Hydrangea or Agapanthus flower head as a flower frog to puff it out

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...

26 October 2011 Suspend flowers and candy on an acetate and wire garland

Drape an acetate garland around the pumpkin, on the wires, to create a halo

26 October 2011 Acetate Garland

Acetate is the clear plastic mostly used for packaging design. It is thicker than cellophane and holds its shape much better.

19 October 2011 Making a parasol

I glued wooden slats into a frame and then wove flax string to create the floral parasol

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.

13 October 2011 Prevent teeth marks on soft wire when you bend it with pliers

Even long nose pliers without grooves still damage soft aluminum wire. Pad the pliers with a plaster.

13 October 2011 Spiral Wire Cages

The cage spirals to form a basket that wrap around the plump ripe berries (or you can slip in a flower) to hang as connections between the twigs.

8 October 2011 Pumpkin lid

Create an off-centre, slightly away from the pumpkin, lid with the stem section.

8 October 2011 Remove the berry from a Physalis pod without ripping the sepal

Cut the sepal from the fruit