My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Tutorials

19 June 2011 Making wire roots for the "fabric" at the back of the design

I wanted a delicate, yet rough "fabric" to back my edgy Zipper. Something that will stand up to the thorns and rose twigs but not over power them. It definitely had to...

8 June 2011 Foliage Weaving

For this tutorial I focus on a simple weave pattern that does not require you to soften or prepare the leaves to be more durable or flexible. This is the starting point in...

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...

1 June 2011 Lining containers to make them waterproof

If you use Papier Mache, terracotta or clay or any precious container that might scratch, rust, or discolour or disintegrate when it's in prolonged contact with water it is best...

20 May 2011 Wire apples and seal the insertion point

Adding whole apples to a hand-tied or wired design is easier if each apple is wired to craft stems that can bend and twist into place. For an arrangement I would recommend using...

11 May 2011 Slow down tulip growth, after the stems have been severed from the bulbs

Tulips continue to grow after being cut. Sometimes when you make a very small design or for competition or bridal work you want to minimize growth. The best way to do this is to...

5 May 2011 Unravel wire from a copper pot scrubber

Up-cycle a pot scrubber to get a huge roll of very pretty copper wire

5 May 2011 Wire Tiara

Bend and wrap the Tiara out of wire.

5 May 2011 Wire baubles

Make baubles from wire

5 May 2011 Wire curls

curl wire to add to designs

5 May 2011 Add flowers to the Copper wire Tiara

Decorate the wire tiara with florets, curls and baubles

26 April 2011 Weave a willow twig blind

Weave twigs in parallel to create a twig blind with strong but natural horizontal lines.