My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Cut a vine wreath into sections to create a cup shaped armature

Place a dried vine wreath on a flat working surface

Place a dried vine wreath on a flat working surface. Cut it into curved sections.

Cross the first two curves at both sides to create the basic shape

Cross the first two curves at both sides to create the basic shape and secure with bind wire

Bind wire is a paper covered wire. See the Tutorial below for detailed instructions on how to make your own bind wire

This creates a cradle shape for your cup

This creates a cradle shape for your cup

Add another vine curve and secure it at every cross point with wire

Add another vine curve and secure it at every cross point with wire

add another vine curve

... add another vine curve

To blend in with the vine tendrils curl the wire ends

To blend in with the vine tendrils curl the wire ends

See the Tutorial below for more detailed instructions on how to create wire tendrils

See the Tutorial below for more detailed instructions on how to create wire tendrils

The vine cup is now ready to design with

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

Tutorials

1 March 2011 Paper covered Wire

Cover the wire with the raffia

19 February 2013 Manipulating stems: Snapping at an angle, Bending, Spiraling, Curling and Straightening

Most stems, twigs and even sturdier branches can be bend into shapes. It takes practice and more than a bit of patience. The main idea is to slowly manipulate the branch without...

21 September 2016 "I found it this way" demonstration Floral art Structures: Twig Tangles

For my "I found it this way" Floral Art demonstration at The Capilano Flower Arranging club, I began all four of my designs with basic armatures made of Twig Tangles and we...

26 July 2011 Wire Tendrils

Curl the wire at irregular intervals to create a natural wire tendril similar to that of a passion fruit plant

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...

14 January 2013 Midelino Cane Coil Globe Cup

Weave a loose, round floral art armature

Related Designs

16 November 2016 All things Autumn (by which I mean all things chocolate): Snipped into Sections

This was the second design I did in my "All things Autumn (by which I mean all things chocolate)" floral art demonstration

8 March 2017 Piece of the forest

Standing roses upright in a shallow container

27 September 2017 As tendrils tend to do

Curl a wreath with tendrils to create a twig-pumpkin

15 September 2021 Blowing this way and that

Craft an arch armature to display those early autumn treasures.

6 October 2021 A good measure of Autumn

A wire and twig permanent display basket with tiny water sources for a few fresh flowers that can be replaced as needed.

9 November 2016 All things Autumn (by which I mean all things chocolate) floral art demonstration at the BC Floral Art Society

A design demonstration looking at preparing for competition designs: thinking bigger

9 November 2016 All things Autumn (by which I mean all things chocolate): Loosen Up

This was the first design I did in my "All things Autumn (by which I mean all things chocolate)" floral art demonstration

29 January 2011 Ground Breaking

Water stream breaking through ground in an autumn forest.

8 April 2011 Large Open Weave Twig Basket

Easter Basket used in the Durbanville Flower Club Easter Parade Demonstration

20 January 2011 The last Vine Wreath

Every designer knows how to stretch their supplies. We use and re-use our dried plant material until our fellow designers feel like hiding it from us. I formed such an...

10 April 2011 Feeling Funky

I wove vine wreaths to form a pyramid, one just slightly larger than the next. In the natural cavities between the wreaths I placed the roses and lisianthus in plastic covered...

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

14 January 2013 It's High Time for Tea: from craft to art, taking a delicious floral journey with weaving techniques

This was the first two designs for my Floral Art and craft demonstration at The Capilano Flower Arranging club

2 March 2016 Beginning

Glue a Midelino Cane Coil Globe Cup to display beautiful Gloriosa lilies

10 April 2013 Unthinkably good things

Oncidium orchids hiding in a woven grass cup. This Design Tutorial is featured on The Conna Flower and Garden Club (Ireland) website. It is part of their Floral Art Lessons...