My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Shelter grass veil for a round container

16 June 2021
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Secure a Kenzan to the bottom of a display container

If you are unsure of using a Kenzan (they are amazing!) turn to page 160 of my book- you will find loads of information. To get you started I have included a detailed Tutorial on how to secure a Kenzan below this post.

For more information about my book: The Effortless Floral Craftsman

Place a beautiful lily flower into the Kenzan teeth

Place sea glass pebbles over the Kenzan to conceal it.

Design note: urgh! we all want flowers to look absolutely flawless in our design. But what a waste to completely discard such a beautiful flower just because it has a few bruises. Here is a clever way of concealing imperfections...

Weave your sturdiest blade of grass over the container...

For me this will always be in a slightly off center position so that the veil falls slightly to one side. But you can adjust this to suit your own style.

Weave your next stem to cross over the first.

This week in our email I tell you about a memory of mine from the Chelsea flower show and discuss the habit-tip that absolutely saved my design.

Weave in the next blade of grass and if you need to, secure it like I mention in the email.

Once you have a stable veil add a few strategic blades of grass that cross over the flower and hides any imperfections from view.

Add in a row of dew drop crystals. I use a corsage pin to add my crystals. It is such a delicate way to place these crystals without ever disturbing the design (see our email) or bruising even the most delicate petals. You can read more about this in my book but I also have a Tutorial for you on my how... and why below this post.

Add in the last few blades of grass to finish the design.

... and now...

newsletter subscribers... we give the design a...? to test the design to make sure it is stable.

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Every week I add a new design with related tutorials. Be sure to subscribe to receive an email notification with design inspiration.

Tutorials

7 January 2015

Securing a kenzan

Temporarily adhere a traditional Ikebana Kenzan or pincushion to a shallow container.

14 August 2019

Long lasting Lily and lily grass ball

Keep all the fresh flower material hydrated in water by weaving the stems from one side of the vase to the other.

12 June 2019

Loop-over grass veil for a cool summer design

A cool and minimal floral design for summer.

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 weaving techniques. You can build on this technique to make floral handbags, gift boxes, and baskets, sew it into a curve or wrap it around a vase or cover a test tube.

15 August 2018

Tuck a loosely woven grass grid into a square container

Grass-grid armature.

3 April 2013

Twin Leaf Weave

Weave two palm leaves together to create a floral grid

13 July 2016

Woven lily grass parachute armature

Weave a canopy or parachute shaped armature in a way that you can place the stems in two vases to keep it hydrated.

1 October 2012

Weaving a ball shaped Dew-drop Catcher from grass

Weave a sphere from grass

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.

26 February 2020

Weave a grass Platform for an opening Tulip bud

Tulips continue to grow as they open. This means you not only have to be mindful of their proportions as they are now... but also as they will be once open.

7 February 2018

Bend Wired Equisetum into a Hollow Wreath

Craft a wreath with a hollow cavity inside to use as an armature for your flowers

2 January 2011

Lilies

How to keep Lilies in bud for longer. Removing the pollen. Stringing a Lily Garland.

12 March 2014

Grass tunnel that stays just so

Snip, roll and glue a few blades of grass to create a design feature

19 March 2025

Suspend flowers above water on two wires covered with ringlet "happy birthday streamers" made from grass

Create a wire platform to rest the fresh flowers on so that they are hydrated but not submerged in the water below the grass dome.

31 July 2024

A cluster bunch of just enough floral ingredients to spike into a Kenzan for a larger display

A larger summer display in a Kenzan

6 September 2023

Peg Sunflowers and Quaking Grass in a Kenzan

An old trick... but still a great one to support thin stems in the needles of a Kenzan.

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.

15 June 2022

Swing ripped foliage over a mop-head of hydrangeas to follow the natural curve

Gently curve ripped foliage over flowers to add a cooling movement to a minimal summer design.

25 May 2022

Give a single upright bleeding heart flower a view through a leafy hole

Flair open a leathery leaf to craft a frame a single bleeding heart flower on its long stem.

2 February 2022

Connect bud vases with a fresh foliage open weave

Craft two woven panels to place front and back of a couple of bud vases to create a unit.

Related Designs

14 August 2019

For a longer lasting Summer

A creative way to keep foliage hydrated for a cool, water filled summer design.

12 June 2019

Almost... all over!

Loop a grass veil over a lily stem to create a minimalist summer design.

3 April 2011

One Singular Sensation

Three Lilies plaited to create a sensational, singular flower "growing" out of a Equisetum dome filled with Rainbow Oasis pebbles.

25 February 2011

A Rock by any other Name...

It's not really what we call things that matter but what they are made of- in this design, it's made of all three types of Oasis and wool.

15 August 2018

Bursting with excitement

Loosely weave grass to create a decorative grid keeping flowers in place over a square container.

3 April 2013

April showers bring May flowers

After a long winter it is always fun to use the first spring bulb flowers!

13 July 2016

Woven

Weave a canopy or parachute shaped armature for orchids to perch on

1 October 2012

How to catch a dew drop:

Weave a sphere from grass to catch a precious and exquisite and perfect glistening early autumn dew drop

26 February 2020

To top it all off

This is a great "space-keeper" design. The tulip will continue to grow into the vase height as they open... but until then the grass platform part of the design diverts your attention to fix any issues you might experience with the proportions right now.

7 February 2018

Up around the bend

Bend Equisetum into curves to wire into an open wreath shape

12 March 2014

Petrichor

A minimalist design in a shallow tray

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

19 March 2025

Let’s

... take a moment of reflection as we celebrate 5 years! Happy 5th birthday to my book: The Effortless Floral Craftsman

31 July 2024

Have a floral adventure, really

Creating a larger sustainable floral design by clustering the floral details into bunches.

6 September 2023

Mother Nature’s little magic to let us know Autumn is near

It's the little sun-washed coloured hints that makes you look again to see if you really saw what you thought you saw... yes! There really are signs of autumn everywhere!