My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Growth Medium

I have been having fun. So much fun that I have outgrown My Creative Workbook and we are turning the page with a fresh look

My Creative Workbook started as a place for me to capture floral art techniques and designs and it has grown into a design resource used by flower enthusiast from all over the world looking for inspiration or searching for design tutorials.

For just over 4 years I have captured 332 designs and more than 423 Tutorials. I will continue to do so, only now the new Creative Workbook is responsive and will be much easier to navigate from mobile devices and tablets. I have also included a few new features such as a look into my Meanwhile... photo album, a new format to celebrate our 200th Newsletter and soon we will have a Search function to make it even easier to look around. I am also working on some really exciting projects, but more about that later…

Flowers Across Melbourne recently announced their list of Todays most influential Floral Designers and I am so honoured to be included on this list. Every week I am amazed by the photos you share with me of your design work and I am so proud to also be a contributing member of our flower industry. Thanks again for joining me and scrolling through the growing pages of My Creative Workbook .

Happy flowering!

Growth Medium floral art design

Sprouting

Bark pod

Unfurling

Oyster Mushrooms in bark and moss

Spreading

Oyster Mushrooms

Growth spurt

Bark pod for an Oyster mashroom mini garden

Mushrooming

Oyster Mushroom Mini Garden Pod

Breaking out

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

Tutorials

19 August 2015 Bark pod for growing a Pearl Oyster mushroom mini farm

Glue bark to a Papier Maché and wire frame to create a pod shaped armature

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...

10 July 2012 Bark covered heart

Cover cardboard with bark to create a heart shaped log

13 April 2012 Drying Mushrooms for Floral Art

I use edible mushrooms in my designs. To preserve them I press a tiny stake into the base and let them air-dry.

Favourite Flowers

Lathyrus

Sweet pea

Salix matsudana "Tortuosa"

Curly Willow, Chinese Willow, Tortured Willow, Globe Willow, Dragon's Claw, Hankow Willow

Related Designs

3 August 2016 Practice

Weave a willow bird nest

14 December 2016 A Candy(cane) Cotton Christmas

A floral cotton candy cane

28 December 2016 A Jingle Cotton Christmas

Cover a wreath frame with bark and cotton for a textured Christmas wreath design

11 January 2017 As special as an almost never find

Sometimes you find such a beautiful plant that you just can't bring yourself to cut it. This design explores using the entire plant, pot and all, in a design

15 March 2017 Wedding Welcome

My article and wedding direction board design featured in DIY Weddings Magazine

18 October 2017 On the inside

For a softer autumn leaf pod turn the leaves so that the bright side faces in when making the pod.

15 July 2020 Pass it on

A cascade of orchids growing over a slice of wood. Easy to design... and even easier to maintain!

18 November 2020 Have yourself a Merry Cellulose Fibre Christmas: Yule log

...ok not really that fancy- it’s made from paper pulp. A cardboard box Yule log… really. In the spirit of 2020- I am inspired by the endless stream of cardboard boxes being...

22 September 2021 Kinda Corny

Crafting with corn to make... well... corn, really.

10 November 2021 … any day now

Using dried floral material is so trendy right now. But the longer lasting the design elements the more effort you have to put in to stop it from looking lifeless.

9 November 2022 All Pumpkind Out

A physalis husk pumpkin to celebrate the last bright rays of Autumn.

25 January 2023 Even More

This orchid developed at the very end of a long stem... right as the rest of the flowers started to die back so I made a special armature to display the cut stem.

11 October 2023 Plenty Glow to Harvest

Glow and sparkle bark armature to celebrate the first signs of Autumn

29 November 2023 Fall into Christmas

Want to make your Christmas greenery last... this is perfect!

10 January 2024 Snow Glitters and Mossy Glimmers

A glimmer is the opposite of a trigger... a little uplift. For this design I am lifting up my happiness by starting a tiny mossarium... but enjoying it as a design while it is in...

17 January 2024 Wave Wrap

Roll birch bark into a double spiral to cradle some perfect flowers to admire all winter.

13 March 2024 In All Ways

A birch bark basket... perfect for some new Spring floral details.

3 April 2011 Bark Wreath

I needed the wreath to be as light as possible to make sure it would "dance in the rain" on the flexible metal stand.