How Do I Make Pressed Flowers?…
Pressed flowers still seem to be quite a popular item as they appear to be used more and more for all kinds of purposes. In more recent years people have found varying ways of pressing flowers and leaves.
Don’t even think about using flowers, if any part of them is on the wane for pressing, as they will not come up any better once pressed. Choose carefully what you want to press, whether it is leaves, stems, flowers, grasses etc. and choose the cream of the crop!
It will be very important that your choices are really dry, so, whatever you do, look for your flowers etc., when it is a dry or sunny day. When you have your flowers, take off any leaves etc., or thin down any thick parts of flowers, before you start to press.
This takes me back to my childhood and Summers in Warwickshire, when I used to search the hedgerows for flowers to press. At home we had a very thick leather bound language book I used to put them in, amongst others, and occasionally I still come across some still in the original books!
It does not bear thinking about how old this method of pressing flowers actually is! Only a few years ago I came upon a drawing book with flowers of my mother’s, done when she was a child. Not surprising really, being a farmers daughter. In reality though, you need to press in thick books.
When choosing books to use, do not go for ones that have glossy pages, as the flowers might bleed. So, you will realise it is a better choice to use something like an old family bible, that has absorbent pages to insert your dry flowers in.
Place them carefully in a thick book. You will then need to add weight on top of this. In the past I have used books with heavy full bottles on top, or anything that will press weight on to the book.
Now you need to leave them and forget about them for a while. Probably for around six weeks. This is the original method. Years ago these flowers used to be put into drawing books, named and dated.
It is possible now to buy a press, specifically for pressing flowers. You can try a craft supplier for this. These you put your flowers inside like pockets of thick card, or corrugated paper. You can slip your own paper in too, so that they are really wedged in. At either end you have wood and screws and you just tighten the screws.
These flowers are often used with candles, for paperweights and many other items. So, I want to make a card, how would I go about it? You will need paper glue, tweezers, flowers, soft brush and paper for your card.
Firstly, if you have chosen what you want for your card, just ascertain that your items will fit well into your card. You could apply some lace to your card as a background, or even a piece of different coloured card to your paper, as a base on your folded card.
Next step, using great care, pick up your flower with tweezers and put some glue on the back. Now place it and press it down very carefully. You then need to put it in a heavy book with a weight added on to this and leave it alone for a bit.
At some time then in the future, you can obtain a paper matt adhesive. All you do is brush a very thin layer over your work and then leave it until this is dry.
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