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Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Snap (don’t break) then support the snap with a snap (squeezed open) to craft a straight grass shimmer line

  • 10 June 2026

For my composite design I am using a display tray...

To help me turn two bud vases (one to the front and one to the back) into a move-able unit

Place two snapdragon spikes into the vases at an angle.

Lines are incredibly important for this design and we are going to go through great trouble to create strong lines with the grasses. However the snapdragons are at an angle... and snapdragons are, of course geotropic. Make sure the tips do not bend upward to find a vertical orientation and spoil the line.

Book readers turn to page 299 where I talk about creating floral illusions and using nature to help you manipulate flowers. For more information about my book: The Effortless Floral Craftsman

Next we are manipulating a few grasses to craft our lines...

Every Wednesday morning (Vancouver time), I send out a design note as an early glimpse at the newest Design and a few notes that I picked up creating the Tutorial that might be useful to you. This week I tell you a bit more about the two grasses I am using in this design (one fresh and folded to create this sharp angle) and one dry (and how to dry it to keep the dried grass green)

If you’re new here, you can sign up below this post. And if you’ve been receiving these notes for some time, I hope they feel like a welcome break in your busy week.

To get you started I also have a Tutorial for you linked below this post.

Slip the grass into the budvase from one snapdragon over to the other side...

Remember how you used to make the snapdragon "talk" when you were playing with flowers as a child...? Well... gently pinch the sides of the floret, to allow the hinged lip-like petal to gape open.

Insert the grass from one end to the other to position it, release to allow the floret to snap shut.

Adjust the grass on the cut stem end to create the lines across the design at the height you require them. Simply snip it shorter to be inline with a snapdragon floret to snap it in place.

Build up the design and cross hatch the grasses to connect one vase with the other.

Dangle the quaking grass freely. Use a paint brush to make sure the grass is not stuck anywhere.

If it is stuck somewhere it creates the impression of being trapped and unhappy in the design. You want all your design details to look like they are having a great time and LOVE being in your design. Nothing should ever look like it is desperately trying to escape.

And to add extra sparkle I am adding dew drop crystals to the cross hatched grasses. See the Tutorial below for more detailed instructions.

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

Tutorials
Related Designs