I’ve seen candles with pressed flowers, and have always wondered how I could cheat making them. By that, I mean, not having to dip candles and make them from scratch myself. Yes, I know I could (and I should actually try to DIY right?), but I wanted an easy way out. Here’s the quick “cheat” method!
At the last 10A Alabama Crafts Fair, I finally debuted my new Pressed Flower pieces. And as if everything were planned, it was the first event that Mom got to help me with this bazaar season. She is the whole reason I got into the craft or artform anyways. Most the flowers I used for the pieces were pressed by her over a decade ago. It felt like everything coming full circle.
This past weekend wasn’t quite the one I had planned. I had to sit out a couple crafts fairs because a stomach bug kept me in bed for 72 hours. I was getting a bit of that cabin fever on the third day, so I forced myself out of bed to work on some pressed flowers pieces.
My mom sent a few more phonebooks filled with pressed flowers and leaves from Alaska. The phonebooks have been sitting in a corner of the room, and I didn’t get a chance to really go through the contents.
I’ve said this many times on my instagram account, autumn is my favorite season of the year. Imagine my surprise when I saw these beautifully pressed and preserved maple leaves! It smelled so sweet too, imagine that!
For a change, I wanted to make something other than the basic wreath and and landscape type pieces. I quickly doodled a sailboat on a scrap piece of paper.
I placed my doodle over heavy-duty cardstock paper. With a bone folder (I Try DIY Shop), I drew over the doodle to leave score marks on the cardstock.
Then, I picked leaves, buds and blooms to fill the space. I tried my best not to snip or cut petals. I have a thing about keeping them as is, however they end up being pressed. Once I was satisfied with how everything was, I started gluing each piece in place.
I’m totally in love with this piece. I love how it really looks like a boat from afar. It’s only when you take a closer look that you realize it’s made of small beautiful flowers. ♥
Want to learn all about the Art of Pressed Flowers?
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Don’t these pressed phlox blooms look watercolored? I thought I’d use a few of them with some elementary watercolor work. They’re real though, I swear!
I was digging through some old photos I had. I found several photos I took with my lomo cameras, and thought they would look really nice as a canvas for my pressed flowers. This was a shot I took of my brother, @sleepymilo, outside the Brooklyn Museum back in 2008.
Last month, we held another workshop for my latest favorite craft. I spent an afternoon with a few newbie and seasoned crafters, learning the ins and outs of pressed flowers or botanical pressing.
This past Sunday was spent crafting with a bunch of other crafters, newbies and experts alike. I shared my inherited pressed flowers expertise with them.
