Pressed Flowers. By Cathy Bussi. Introduction. Equipment and Materials required. Collecting and Pressing

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1 Pressed Flowers By Cathy Bussi Introduction Creating pressed flower designs is a delightful way of making beautiful cards, bookmarks and calendars, and they are certain to give great pleasure to the recipient. You will also find unexpected rewards and pleasure in all aspects of this craft, starting with a walk in the garden or countryside to collect flowers and leaves, then planning your design, choosing the right flowers and card, then finally seeing your finished card. Equipment and Materials required First and foremost you will need a flower press. It is very simple and inexpensive to make one for yourself. You will need four pieces of corrugated cardboard (the sides of a grocery carton do very well for this); several sheets of blotting paper cut to A4 size: a few A4 sheets of thin card and some ordinary household elastic. To make the covers cut four pieces of corrugated cardboard 23 x 17cm. and glue two together for the top and two together for the base. If you wish to give your press an attractive finish you can cover these top and bottom sections with a pretty floral giftwrap. Next cut each sheet of card in half across its length and fold each piece of blotting paper in half. When you come to press your flowers slip a piece of plain card between every four or five blotting paper folders. Two pieces of household elastic tied lengthwise and crosswise around the press will keep it secure. To make sure your flowers receive the maximum amount of pressure place your press under a large pile of heavy books. PVA Craft Adhesive. Craft knife. Two fine paintbrushes. Pencil. Rubber. Thermaseal or Photoseal. Small pair of sharp scissors. Collecting and Pressing Two golden rules apply when collecting plant material. Firstly, always choose young and fresh specimens, as older flowers will fade badly. And, secondly, never pick any that are damp as they will discolour when pressed. Flowers that are Spring Meadow Design suitable for pressing can generally be divided into two categories. There are the single flowers with only one layer of petals such as forget-menots, primroses and verbenas. Hydrangeas also fall into this category as each floret can be pressed as a single flower. The second type are flowers with several layers of petals such as roses or carnations. To press the single type of flower, snip off each bloom as close to its base as possible, using a small pair of sharp scissors, and place the flower flat on the blotting paper. For the multi-petalled flowers you will need to carefully separate the petals and press each one individually. To create natural pictures you will, of course, also need a selection of leaves, ferns and grasses. Generally speaking leaves are pressed in the same way as the flowers, removing them from their stalks and laying each one flat on the blotting paper. An exception to this is when you press young fronds of new leaves as the stem is still soft and thin. It is very hard to give a list of leaves that press well as the choice is so great. 12

2 The only leaves that you should really avoid are those which are thick and fleshy or else rather leathery. When making pressed flower pictures you will find that you need leaves in a wide variety of shapes, colours and sizes, so do take advantage of the different foliage which appears as the seasons change. Grasses are an important addition to your collection and can be found almost everywhere! It is best to press the more delicate and dainty type and to avoid the ones with thick seed heads. Grasses are best pressed in an old telephone directory, otherwise they take up a great deal of space in your flower press. Most plant material needs to be left undisturbed in the press for at least six weeks before it is ready to use. This may seem like a long time, but in the meantime, you can be planning your designs and deciding which greetings cards and bookmarks you want to use. When your flowers are ready, remove them from the press, label each folder and file them away - a box file makes a very good container. This leaves your press ready for new material. Blue Garland Design Designing and Making your cards To start with you may find it easiest to copy existing designs but as you gain experience you will start developing new ideas of your own. Quite often the flowers and leaves that you have chosen will be an inspiration for a design in themselves. The colour of the card you wish to use will also influence your picture. Before starting on your design collect together the equipment you will be needing. A pencil, rubber, two fine paint brushes, glue and a craft knife. (P.V.A. Craft Adhesive is the best glue to use). Next select the card and the plant material that 13 Pink Bookmark Design Blue Bookmark Design you plan to use. Fold the card into its closed position and very lightly pencil around the inside of the aperture. Then open it out and lay it flat on your work table. Slip the blade of the craft knife carefully under each flower and leaf that you want to use and transfer it to your card. Use the tip of a paintbrush to move them around on the card until you are happy with the design. Don t breathe a sigh of relief or sneeze as, at this stage, your design will fly off in all directions! Next squeeze a tiny amount of glue onto a spare piece of paper. Gently lift each flower or leaf with the knife, place a tiny dab of

3 down gently, and then follow the instructions for sealing the film with an iron. Finally fold the card into shape, glueing the picture section behind the aperture. If you plan to sell your cards at a craft fair it is a good idea to place each card in a clear bag - this not only protects them but gives a very professional finish. Approximate location of the glue on the flowers. glue on the back with a paintbrush and lightly press it back into place on the card. When everything is glued into place leave the picture for a while so that the glue can dry completely. Then carefully rub out the pencil line around the aperture. The next step is to cover the design with either Photoseal, which is a clear, self-adhesive covering or Thermaseal, which is an iron-on covering. The latter gives a more professional finish and is remarkably easy to work with. Full instructions for its use are given with the Thermaseal when it is purchased. Start by cutting a piece of film slightly larger all around than the aperture. Check that there are no specks of dust on the card before peeling off the backing. Lay the film carefully on the picture, smoothing it Floral Diamond Design 14 Designs The flowers and leaves used in these designs are all fairly commonly found in our gardens or in the countryside. You may not have exactly the same flowers - but you can simply substitute them with those that you have in your press. You can also alter the size of the design to fit different sized cards by using either larger or smaller plant material. Blue Garland Floral Print Designs For this design it is a good idea to draw a light pencil circle with a compass to act as a guide for placing the flowers. The blue flowers are forget-me-nots, verbenas and borage, and in

4 between these are small heads of cow-parsley. To give a soft outline add tiny pieces of fern-type leaves. A design like this, using yellow flowers, would make a lovely card for a golden wedding anniversary, or you could use pink for a ruby anniversary. Blue Bookmark Hydrangea flowers are wonderful to press as there are so many variations of colour even in one flower head. This design has blue hydrangeas as the centre-point, with blue lobelias above and below them. The tiny deeper blue flowers are from a lavender bush. Pink Bookmark Four pink verbenas and four creamy spirea flowers are all that are needed for this design, and a few soft fern-like leaves. These again are simply little wild leaves found along the edge of a country lane. Spring Meadow The flowers used in this attractive design are blue cornflowers, verbena and forget-me-nots, salmon-pink scarlet pimpernel, creamy white spirea and cow-parsley. These, together with some grasses, are growing out of a base of small fern-like leaves all of which were picked along a country lane. Floral Print Almost any small floral print material or giftwrap can be used as a basis for this type of design. In this card there are forget-me-nots, dark blue verbena, spirea, pink verbena petals and tiny cream florets from cow-parsley. The leaves are tiny pieces of fern-type leaves. Tiny Floral Card Tiny Heart Card Design These small pink verbenas were picked near the end of their season and changed to this pinkish-mauve shade when they were pressed. Here they are used with pink cornflower florets and little dark green leaves. Cornflowers are very useful for pressing as they not only keep their colour well, but from one flower you will get a great many separate florets. Floral Diamond For a design like this you will need to lightly pencil in the centre point along each side of the aperture to make sure that the design is evenly balanced. Any small flowers could be used, those here are hydrangeas, verbena, cornflowers, forget-me-nots, spirea and cow-parsley. To fill in the outline and the centre use tiny leaves and buds. Tiny Heart Card Tiny Floral Card Design A tiny design like this requires a lot of patience, but the result is well worth it. You may find it best to start by lightly drawing the heart shape - to guide you for placing the flowers.you will need really small flowers - these are forgetme-nots and single florets from cow-parsley, with really small pieces of leaves between them. 15

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