My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Around Here

Around Here floral art design.

Around and around and around…

Spiral lily foliage design

And around and around and around...

Lily leaf Floral art design

And around and around and around...

Spiral flower arrangement

And around and around and around...

Crafting with nature

And around and around and around...

A floral design using everything except flowers

And…. around and around aaand… done!

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

Tutorials

30 January 2019 A round, around a round foliage… spiral in a vase

Stack foliage to create a rose spiral in a container.

2 August 2017 Two vase, two level Phormium snippets

Design in two levels by using two vases, the smaller slipped into a bigger one.

22 May 2012 Filling a vase with water without disturbing the design details

Break the water flow when you fill a vase with details in that can move with the stream of water

22 June 2016 Lily grass spiral in a vase

Twist lily grass slightly to create a spiral for the orchids to nestle in

27 April 2016 Hiding a secret water source in a twig frog

New growth is really difficult to design with and definitely needs to be conditioned and placed in a water source

18 March 2015 Meadow in a bowl

Inspired by a classic and traditional Ikebana technique used in a Rikka design called Komiwara. Designers would usually bundle straw to keep the flowers in place.

22 October 2014 Roll a folded leaf coil

Fold and then stitch a long fall leaf garland to roll into a coil

7 May 2014 Rethinking the traditional Komiwara technique

Komiwara is a classic and traditional Ikebana technique used in a Rikka design. Designers would usually bundle straw to keep the flowers in place.

22 May 2012 Spiral twig frog

Multiple tiny twigs create a flower frog to keep the delicate buds and leaves in the exact spot you want.

11 September 2013 Longer lasting Gladiolus Composite Flower

Split (but don't cut) a few gladiolus flowers to spiral in a vase

Favourite Flowers

Lilium

Lily

Related Designs

19 May 2021 In the little gap

Use the petals of your flower to cleverly keep all the other floral details of your design firmly in place.

2 June 2021 Like an open book

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

21 February 2024 I'll Go First

My Spring/Easter design and the introduction article about my floral journey written by the editor, Nina Tucknott in the latest issue of Flora Magazine.

2 August 2017 Grace

Use snips and snippets and leftovers to create a design of it's own

22 June 2016 Perfection

Spiral grass to create a nest for the lady slipper orchids

27 April 2016 Sprout

A sneaky way to condition new growth to add into your Spring design

18 March 2015 Spring Dreaming

A bowl full of miniature Chrysanthemums

21 February 2018 Impossible things

A cut stem flower frog for the heavy Hanging Heliconia flowers

22 October 2014 Stand Around

Fold and roll leaves to create an Autumn swirl

7 May 2014 Serendipity

Be inspired by traditional Ikebana techniques

22 May 2012 Lean

Place short twigs, leaning to one side to create a flower frog

11 September 2013 Making it last

Split and spiral a few gladiolus flowers in a way that the stems remain intact, to spiral in a water filled filled vase for a long lasting composite flower