How You Can Use And 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.
Once you have made the decision to press flowers, you need to only use the very best available, at the time. It is only common sense really, if parts of the flowers are fading at the start, they will not look too good after being pressed. They will certainly not improve with the pressing.
Do not go looking for these on a rainy day, as you want your specimens to be nice and dry. Remove any surplus leaves, or thick parts of flowers, after all, you do want these to lie flat when pressed.
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!
This is a very old form of craft. I probably got the idea originally from my mother, as about six years ago I came across a book she had done in her childhood. All I would say though, you will get better pressings if you put them in thicker books, as they have more weight behind them.
Big, old, family bibles are good for this. If the book has shiny pages it is a no no, as the pages used need to be an absorbent paper. Like I said before, only use dry flowers, with everything cut off that you do not want to use.
Put them in the book between different pages, very carefully. Once this is done, you really need something to put on top for a while. Whatever you use, let it be heavy!
Leave them be for around six weeks. This is the old fashioned way of doing this craft and even today people still save them in books, with the names of the flowers and the date.
In present times there are other methods, one of them being the flower press. These are often sold in gift idea shops, as well as craft stores. These have wood either end, with four screws which you tighten and it has paper sections in between. But you can still use your own pieces of paper in this.
So what are pressed flowers used for? Many things, but just to give you a very few ideas, candles, present tags, paperweights, even bookmarks. What would I need to make cards? Very little I would say. A small soft brush, paper for your card, paper glue, tweezers and flowers or grasses.
Fold your paper in half to make the card. You might like a background. If this is the case, you could make like a platform for your flowers, by sticking either a different paper or piece of thin material to your card. Just remember your flowers have to fit on to this space though!
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.
When a few weeks have passed by, if you want to, you could apply a paper matt adhesive in a thin layer across your flowers and then let it dry.
If you enjoyed this article then you can find a lot more at the writers website. Anna Meenaghan is an artist that uses a great many subjects to bring her art to life. Ranging from realism [http://annameenaghanart.com/index.php?p=1_13_realism] all the way to art posters [http://annameenaghanart.com/index.php?p=1_22_Art-Posters-Art-Prints]. Why not visit her online, interactive art community?
Once you have made the decision to press flowers, you need to only use the very best available, at the time. It is only common sense really, if parts of the flowers are fading at the start, they will not look too good after being pressed. They will certainly not improve with the pressing.
Do not go looking for these on a rainy day, as you want your specimens to be nice and dry. Remove any surplus leaves, or thick parts of flowers, after all, you do want these to lie flat when pressed.
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!
This is a very old form of craft. I probably got the idea originally from my mother, as about six years ago I came across a book she had done in her childhood. All I would say though, you will get better pressings if you put them in thicker books, as they have more weight behind them.
Big, old, family bibles are good for this. If the book has shiny pages it is a no no, as the pages used need to be an absorbent paper. Like I said before, only use dry flowers, with everything cut off that you do not want to use.
Put them in the book between different pages, very carefully. Once this is done, you really need something to put on top for a while. Whatever you use, let it be heavy!
Leave them be for around six weeks. This is the old fashioned way of doing this craft and even today people still save them in books, with the names of the flowers and the date.
In present times there are other methods, one of them being the flower press. These are often sold in gift idea shops, as well as craft stores. These have wood either end, with four screws which you tighten and it has paper sections in between. But you can still use your own pieces of paper in this.
So what are pressed flowers used for? Many things, but just to give you a very few ideas, candles, present tags, paperweights, even bookmarks. What would I need to make cards? Very little I would say. A small soft brush, paper for your card, paper glue, tweezers and flowers or grasses.
Fold your paper in half to make the card. You might like a background. If this is the case, you could make like a platform for your flowers, by sticking either a different paper or piece of thin material to your card. Just remember your flowers have to fit on to this space though!
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.
When a few weeks have passed by, if you want to, you could apply a paper matt adhesive in a thin layer across your flowers and then let it dry.
If you enjoyed this article then you can find a lot more at the writers website. Anna Meenaghan is an artist that uses a great many subjects to bring her art to life. Ranging from realism [http://annameenaghanart.com/index.php?p=1_13_realism] all the way to art posters [http://annameenaghanart.com/index.php?p=1_22_Art-Posters-Art-Prints]. Why not visit her online, interactive art community?
