My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Skewered Eucalyptus leaf line-up armature

Press wire into styrofoam

Press two lengths of wire into a block of styrofoam

Skewer Eucalyptus leaves through both of the wires

Skewer Eucalyptus leaves through both of the wires

Continue to skewer leaves

Continue to skewer leaves

Create a stack of skewered leaves.

Create a stack of skewered leaves. The amount will depend on how long the container is

Gently remove the leaves

Gently remove the leaves from the Styrofoam

Place the stack of leaves on a glass container

Place the stack of leaves on a glass container and bend the wire to secure the leaves

This keeps the Eucalyptus leaves frojm slipping from the wire

This keeps the Eucalyptus leaves frojm slipping from the wire

Move the first leaf to the opposite end and bend the wires to secure the leaves on that side

Move the first leaf to the opposite end and bend the wires to secure the leaves on that side

Letting the wire rest above the container

Letting the wire rest above the container.

Move the leaves down the wire

Move the leaves down the wire

Position the leaves using a tweezer

Position the leaves using a tweezer

Place a small drop of floral glue on the wire ends and glue a leave to hide

Place a small drop of floral glue on the wire ends and glue a leave to hide the wire

Set the armature aside for the leaves to dry

Once dry it will keep it's shape even with flowers resting on the leaves

Once dry it will keep it's shape even with flowers resting on the leaves

Snip the Eucomis flowers

Snip the Eucomis flowers from the stem and make sure the stems are just longer than the thickness of the Eucalyptus leaves, this way the stems are in water but not the dried leaves

Fill the container with water

Fill the container with water

To just below the leaf line

To just below the leaf line

Design note:

Tomato stems

I placed tomato stems on the leaves and bend blades of grass to shadow the design

See the Tutorials below for more details on how to add crystal beads to delicate designs and how to bend the grass

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

Tutorials

30 August 2011 Removing Oasis Floral Adhesive glue spills

The finish of every design should be flawless. Make sure there are no bits of glue visible in your design by carefully removing all traces of spills.

10 August 2011 Foliage Pleat Garland

Folding a garland from strips of a Aspidistra leaf

10 August 2011 Free standing basket

I tied the strong inside veins of the 5 Aspidistra leaves (that I used to make the garland with) to make my basket armature.

30 October 2013 Spiked Autumn leaf cauldron

Pike a few (hundred!) autumn leaves to build up a hollow leaf armature

30 March 2016 Construction Lumber and Dowel Spike Armature

Drill holes in a piece of lumber and insert dowel sticks to create an armature

29 June 2011 Twig Zipper

I wanted my Zipper to be "edgy" rather than "peaceful", so using bamboo or reeds or willow would not be appropriate.

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...

Favourite Flowers

Eucomis

Pineapple flowers or pineapple lilies, the Afrikaans names for the flowers are Wildepynappel or Krulkoppie and the Zulu name is Umathunga

Related Designs

10 May 2017 About a line

Skewer and line up leaves to create an armature

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

4 April 2018 Grow on it

Wedge twigs into a vase to create a grid.

24 October 2018 It all stacks up

Quick and easy: Stack autumn leaves onto a wire for a... tiny table top Christmas tree.

19 December 2018 Oh Florist-tree

Craft an Eucalyptus Christmas tree

5 June 2019 Add up!

Stacking green stems to create an armature for short stemmed flowers.

9 October 2019 With a thankful twist in the middle

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

27 May 2020 Take a Stab at it

Skewer a few leaves to turn a single carnation in a bud vase... into an occasion... all by itself!

25 August 2021 Doing a loop tangle twist

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

18 May 2022 Because Why

Adding the smallest details to absolutely make the design.

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!

3 May 2023 Spring Row

Viola and chives cleverly dancing upright in a row.

12 July 2023 Standing in frond

Standing your delicate flower stems in a fern frond.

9 August 2023 Look at me… doing math!

Adding our own "bit" to our floral design work.

10 August 2011 Pleated Pleasure

Pleats are accordion like folds of equal width in alternating opposite directions in any kind of fabric. I absolutely love the tight buds of Allium and they represent the...

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.

3 April 2012 Designing Body Blooms

Designing Contemporary Floral Accessories and Body Flowers Article in the Canadian Florist Magazine

19 June 2012 Designing a Feeling

The emotions your designs inspire give real meaning to your work. My article in the Canadian Florist Magazine

30 October 2013 As the leaves melt away

Spike a few hundred fall leaves to create a cauldron for Halloween flowers

30 March 2016 A Point of Support

My contemporary floral art design demonstrated at the Canada Blooms flower show in Toronto.

21 June 2011 WAFA 10th International Flower Show in Boston USA: This Glorious Earth

I wove my Zipper from just over 300 short, dried rose twigs with tiny thorns on them. The delicate "fabric" at the back of the design is woven rose bush roots. Aranthera and...

29 June 2016 Make the design

Weave a reed cradle to suspend orchids from