My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Placing orchids in test tubes

Cutting the orchid from the stem

When you cut the orchid from the plant...

make sure you cut the plant stem and not just the flower stem.

... make sure you cut the plant stem and not just the flower stem.

See the Tutorial below on more detailed instructions on cutting spiked flower stems and foliage into short sections

Orchid in a test tube ready to design with

The orchids are slow drinkers but they take up water better through the green stem and will last considerably longer.

Place the stem in water

Making it possible to design with the tiniest little tubes

See the Tutorial below on detailed instructions on how I make test tube water sources from drinking straws

If it is a tight fit cut a small slit in the plastic lid.

Make sure the hole in the lid is not too tight for the stem. This will be like a tourniquet that squeeze the stem so tight that it can't take up water. Rather cut a small slit in the plastic lid to make sure the stem slips through the hole without being constricted or compressed.

Fit the plastic lid that seals the test tube

First remove the plastic lid from the test tube. Fit the lid over the Cymbidium orchid stem. This way it is easier to control how deep the orchid will be in the water and how high the lid will be on the stem. Measure the stem and cut to fit the test tube.

Make sure the stem is as deep as possible.

Fit the water filled tube. Make sure the stem is as deep as possible without being squished at the bottom.

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

Tutorials

16 August 2011 Cut spiked flower stems and foliage into short sections

Orchids grow in long flower spikes. It is great to use the entire stem but sometimes you need shorter section. There is a trick to cutting the stems without leaving a visible...

4 January 2011 Drinking straw "test tubes"

When you need to keep a tiny stem hydrated this is just what you need.

Favourite Flowers

Cymbidium

Cymbidium, Boat Orchid

Phalaenopsis

Phalaenopsis, Moth orchid

Related Designs

24 August 2011 Touchstone

A Touchstone is something or even someone that you can rely on to evaluate the strength or worth of an idea or concept.

14 April 2011 In the Bag

My bag was woven from re-purposed wire and recycled fishing line and tiny stems of growing sweet pea plants and orchids

23 March 2012 A Floral Fable: Colour Design

This is a detailed look at my second Floral Fable demonstration design

8 May 2012 Skipping stone

Weave a grass pebble for the orchid to nestle in.

26 June 2012 Diamond Jubilee Waterfall

To commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee and the 20th Anniversary of Friends of Government House Gardens Society a Horticultural event was hosted in the gardens and...

11 November 2012 Leaves by Hundreds came

A rosette of fall leaves to celebrate the beauty of autumn

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

22 May 2013 Avoiding Decision Fatigue

This is my article that I wrote for the Bridal Design Issue of Canadian Florist Magazine

28 August 2013 Losing some of that Muchness

A barely there sisal Mad Hatter's floral hat

6 November 2013 This is the Fragrance of November

Weave a wreath to thread a dome for an Autumn leaf design

29 January 2014 Glued to stay just so

Wire and glue a twig armature

23 April 2014 Bound to Keep

Weave and tie a decorative catcher to suspend flowers

28 May 2014 Be Silent And Listen

Lash a few bamboo pieces together to create a scaffold armature

4 June 2014 All white, just not quite

My article and woven ring basket design featured in the summer issue of DIY Weddings Magazine

11 June 2014 To

Make a quick and easy twig disk armature

25 June 2014 Fine Tune

Thread cane through sticks to make a music inspired armature

29 October 2014 Frightfully Pretty

Weave a single strand Spanish Moss spider web

12 November 2014 The Thing Is

Use a glue mixture to shape skeleton leaves into a lacy bowl

17 December 2014 Star of Wonder

Glue pine needles into star shapes

31 December 2014 The sound of a kiss

Stack and glue twigs into a table top heart

25 March 2015 Pulling some Strings

Braid a twig blind armature

15 April 2015 Bowled Over

Weave a sphere armature to complement delicate oncidium orchiods

20 May 2015 Up on

Tie a bundle of grass as a floral mechanic

24 June 2015 Staying connected

My article and a floral cell phone re-charge station design featured in DIY Weddings Magazine

4 November 2015 Delicate

Bleached Gypsophila wreath with delicate autumn touches

11 November 2015 Balancing Act

Bend dried fall leaves to balance on the edge of a glass container

13 January 2016 Once Upon A Time

Stack and glue a Grass Pyramid Armature

18 May 2016 Because I think I am making Progress

Create a floral ceiling

22 June 2016 Perfection

Spiral grass to create a nest for the lady slipper orchids

13 July 2016 Woven

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

14 September 2016 Hang on!

Macrame inspired handing seahorse vases

28 September 2016 I found it this way: Wasp nest design

This was the second design I did in my "I found it this way" floral art demonstration

26 October 2016 Harvest Moon

Fold a fine twig wreath in half to create a moon shaped armature

1 March 2017 Gumusservi

To celebrate the 6th year anniversary of My Creative Workbook I am looking at the most popular Tutorial I have done to date:

29 March 2017 A Twirl

Suspend a wire chandelier design to twirl

19 April 2017 A spongy home for this octopus orchid

An unusual mechanic for a tiny orchid design

7 June 2017 Dream, Job

Create a grid to rest some plant material so that it floats and some with their stems to rest in the water below

9 August 2017 Hat tip

Tip a mortarboard inspired top at an angle for a glass design

13 September 2017 Around again

Tape a grid at the edge of a container

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.

20 December 2017 A Very Merry Christmas Star

A wire Christmas star with a secret plan to hide the twinkle

17 January 2018 Flowering Between a Rock and a Hard place

Create a subtle contrast by floating or anchoring some of your design elements.

24 January 2018 How to make a stack of just enough:

Stack two vases to create a small gap at the side to keep a leaf upright

10 October 2018 From A... for Acer to Z… for Zantedeschia

This week we look at the design featured in the Flower Guide Chapter at the very end of my book

3 April 2019 Blossoming like a Caterpillar

Crafting caterpillars from blossoms

24 April 2019 Put aside

Urgh… my glass cake stand broke leaving me with a still beautiful, but now mismatched and extremely inspirational lid...

3 July 2019 Taking a Breather

A relaxing summer design that spins gently in the wind

18 September 2019 It’s a sugar rush!

A perfectly imperfect wild willow wreath to display the first Autumn treasures of the year.

9 October 2019 With a thankful twist in the middle

Fold and thread an autumn leaf armature for a thankful Thanksgiving design

1 January 2020 How to freeze a wow moment

Create a long lasting winter inspired floral design that looks like it is frozen in time.

8 January 2020 Rest a bit here

Gently curve a shallow area with a leaf to showcase a gorgeous flower with a short stem in a water filled vase

22 January 2020 Spacer

Armatures are great (budget friendly) spacers for creating large floral designs without using an enormous amount of your resources.

4 March 2020 All Aboard!

Ooooh! Am I excited to show you this design. It is an ordinary fishbowl vase... balanced on it's side.

29 April 2020 Seeing a Diamond in the Stuff

A fun design to create a spinning diamond frame using minimal plant material for maximum effect.

18 March 2020 Aerial Odyssey

A closer look at my design at Canada Blooms and The Toronto Flower Show last week. The show was cancelled right after we staged the designs due to COVID-19 concerns.

29 July 2020 Tail end of the story

Craft a bark platform to design on in a foxtail fern frond.

12 August 2020 A lesson in letting be

Deceptively simple. A design that relies on you working with not against what is already there.

26 August 2020 It starts with WHY

Add design elements that serves a purpose for a minimal summer inspired floral design.

2 September 2020 Last full Moon of summer

All natural design using the design elements as mechanics.

17 February 2021 From here in out

An all natural, zero waste design using only plant material.

17 March 2021 A scoop of pretty

A tiny budvase design that rearranges basic ingredients, such as a single leaf and an orchid to create a new design concept.

31 March 2021 Criss-crossed

Hide an egg inside a interwoven nest for a dainty Easter decoration design.

7 April 2021 First we learn HOW to design… and then we learn how only WE design.

Whipped up to be light in the Spring breeze wreath design.

2 June 2021 Like an open book

Position foliage to create a smaller, shallow pond for your floral details to shelter in.

25 August 2021 Doing a loop tangle twist

oh yes, a light an airy design showing off those very first autumn leaves.

17 November 2021 Ringing in A Very Merry Traditional Christmas… Tradition

A more than just a hint of Christmas tradition design... in a pre-Christmas design.

17 August 2022 Branch Manager

Managed to find an utterly gorgeous branch... perfect contrast to the minimal orchids.

31 August 2022 Bud… bud… bud… they were feeling so… very blue

When life hands you dyed flowers you make... well creatively speaking it turned out to be not such a bad thing after all!