PaperCrafter pin of the week

From A Touch of Grace blog

You may or might not be able to tell from the photo, but the flowers on the card are in fact dried roses!

With Mother’s day approaching, I’ve been searching my mind for something special to give my flower-mad mum. For me, Mothering Sunday is a wonderful chance to let my mother know how much I appreciate her. I think we’ve all been guilty at one stage or another of taking somebody that we love for granted, even if we don’t mean to.

That’s one reason why I love making and sending cards, so that person always has a little reminder that you care for them; whether it’s sitting on their windowsill or displayed on the wall, just catching sight of it during the day will remind that person you are there.

DIY pressed flower pictures, Ginger Lilly Tea

Dried flower crafts

They say that flowers wilt, but I’ve always thought that you can preserve some of their original beauty through pressing them. It’s an especially lovely technique too because you don’t really need a posh flower press — not if you’re me, anyway!

One of my naughtiest habits is on holiday; if I see a particularly beautiful flower then it might fall victim to the hardback that I’ve currently got my nose buried in — a definite perk to sticking with the faithful book over the latest technology.

Pressed flower crafts have long been practised, and they are often mounted onto handmade or Japanese paper. Dried petals can also be used to create a wonderful decoupage effect, which I can’t wait to try myself. Well, my flat-packed furniture is crying out for a revamp anyway!

I love card-making with dried flowers myself. They add a pretty touch and are a fantastic keepsake too

Pressed Flower Cards, Mom in Madison

Try it yourself…

If you’ve not tried it before and want to give it a whirl, then dig out your biggest book. If you’ve got a telephone directory then that’s absolutely perfect because the dry pages are absorbent, which is ideal.

After making sure your flowers are clean and dry, take your flowers and position them inbetween some type of absorbent blotting paper, so as not to damage the book or let the colours run.
 
Now, slip the flowers and their protective covering inbetween the pages of your book. Close it and place a few more heavy books on top of it.
 
Ideally, the flowers would be left to dry for around a month. Oh, and don’t forget to make a note of when you put them in or what page they’re hiding in either… I speak from experience!
 
Now the waiting’s over it’s the fun part. Take them out carefully and make something special.