Pressed Wildflower Bookmark Tutorial

I have had lot's of questions about this technique I use for my bookmarks, and also asked if I have a tutorial, well now I do.
I decided to put it all in one post for you and keep a link under "tutorials" on my side bar.

First let me say, this is a tutorial on " how I make my bookmarks", I do not claim in any way at all the wax paper and tissue technique as my own. As I have said in a previous post I found this technique in an article by Susan Hannen in the Spring 2008 issue of Somerset Life magazine. It really is a beautiful issue, I look at it over and over and never get tired of it.

Susan had found this technique in a 1950's Boy Scout handbook and then went on to fiddle with the recipe until she got it right. I have done the same thing, you may need to fiddle, or experiment with amounts of glue and water used to achieve the look you prefer.

Here are the products I use, 3 ply tissue, Aleene's tacky glue, and Reynolds wax paper which I purchase at the $1 , I hope you can find it at your dollar store too, I use wax paper all the time for working on when I am making a mess, and as a paint pallet, it's great stuff :)

The glue I have used just happened to be the brand I had at home when I first tried this, I am sure you can use any regular glue, but you will have to play with it and see how your brand works for you.

In the second stage of the bookmark I use these products, or gloss gel medium, depends what I feel like. Bits of fiber, and the ink for edging.

So let's get started. Combine a mixture of approx' 60% glue to 40% water. To be honest I just guess. You don't want it too watery and you don't want it too gluey either.
Mix it really well with an old brush. This is the one I use below just some old thing but the bristles are still soft.

For my bookmarks I use a piece of wax paper from the roll wide enough to make several at a time. Then position my pressed/dried flowers the way I want them.
You can add some fiber at this point too so it is under the glue mixture, or add it later with gel medium. I do it both ways.
I use the shinier or top side of the wax paper to lay my arrangement.
(Val has asked if freezer paper would work, but to be honest I have no idea. I have a feeling there would not be the waxiness in it, but let me know if you try it please :)

Grab a tissue from the box and separate it into 3 ply's, you are only going to use 1 ply. This part I find important because I tried using a 2 ply and I really didn't like the look, it wasn't as transparent.

Make sure you are not in a breezy room to do this, or have a fan blowing :)

Take your tissue and gently place over your arrangement. I hold a section of it lightly with a finger tip as I apply the solution to the tissue.
Dab it gently and not too much, don't over do it or the tissue with split open on you. I first do the section where the flowers are and they don't seem to move once that is done.
Then I work around the arrangement as shown below. I need enough to use as a bookmark so I cover a good area and then I will trim it later. I usually do a row of these so I can use up all the glue/water mixture.

Now you have to be patient and let it dry all day or overnight. Then it will look like this ....

Next step: If you are making a bookmark, cut out two pieces of white "watercolor paper" in the size you would like your bookmark. I am using 140lb cold press which is a heavy weight paper, and sturdy enough for bookmarks.

Using a metallic gold thread I now take it to the sewing machine and with one piece of the white watercolor paper I stitch the wax flower paper to it, around the edges.

Tidy up your threads and bring it back to your glue table :)

Turn over the piece you have stitched on and place some ribbon as shown below. Glue this to the paper and then glue your second piece of watercolor paper over top of this.

(Another option is to punch a hole in the bookmark when it is finished, then add ribbon. I do it both ways.)

Now I edge the back with the green ink and sign it if I remember. When that has dried which isn't long, turn it over the front again.

Now you can edge the front with the green ink too.
Don't forget these are just my steps, you can do whatever your little heart desires, use any ink, any thread etc etc, just do your thing :)

If you didn't add any fibers under the tissue, you can still do it now. Take a very teeny tiny amount and lay it where you like the look of it. I stick my little finger in the gel medium and rub it right on top of the bookmark. Make sure to let it dry well.
This is usually when I add "words" if I am going to, do it at the same time.




Now you have a pretty bookmark, which would make a lovely gift with a book or for a garden/nature lover, for anyone really, wouldn't you love one?

Here are two that I finished and put in plastic sleeves. I try to make them skinny enough to do this so it protects the bookmark, that way you can actually use it and not worry about it getting dirty, but sometimes the flowers I use are too wide for these plastic sleeves :)

I use a microwave flower press to dry my flowers and this is my wildflower series, but you can use whatever dries nicely for you, or has been in a flower press long enough to be dry.

Here are the links to my other posts featuring dried flower art....

Flower Art Continues
Flower Art and gifts from friends
Cut dried pressed and preserved
What are wildflowers anyway?
Microwave Flower Press

Hope you enjoyed my tutorial, and will show me what you have done with it :)
Lynn x

Flower art continues

I think I like this version of my flower art the best. It is simple, on a white background, gold thread stitching with a touch of pesto around the edges.
Thank you Linda for the little pieces of eco art board, this is one of them :)


I am trying to be more creative with my photos, so here goes, they are looking a lot different on the computer than in person, much prettier in person.
I added some fiber "under" the tissue on some of these rather than on top, and it turned out not bad.

The lovely purple flowers are from my garden last year but I am really loving how the wildflowers look, especially clover and the wild chamomile. Don't think I will make any tea with it though, you never know what is on it with all the animals around here.

I forget what flower this is now, here is a close up. I believe it was an annual.

Look how pretty the pink clover is with the Queen Anne's lace.....



This is for you Patty, I found purple clover, only two, did you see it? Maybe it's not actually clover, but it looks like it to me. It didn't have the three leaf clover leaves like they usually do.




I think these are my favorite bookmarks so far, I added some goldish colored ribbon to them. The back of everything is plain white water color paper edged with the pesto ink pad too.

I found this card in my stash with an oval window in it, so I used some flower art and lace on this one.
I have been spending whatever free time I have working on these. First you have to glue the tissue and wax paper, then it has to dry for about 12 hours. I don't iron over them anymore, I havn't found any difference when I do that step, and I also use less glue than I did with the first ones I made. You just have to experiment to get the look you want.

It takes me ages too because even with a paper cutter I can never seem to get a straight line, can't seem to sew a straight line either and that metallic gold thread is a bit tricky to use on the machine, but I do like how it looks.

What are Wildflowers anyway?

A wild or uncultivated flowering plant.
Some may even call them weeds, such as the clover I have here, but even weeds have beauty in them.
These beautiful specimens are the only thing blooming in the back yard of the new house, and I think I would like to keep them when we do get around to doing any planting. Our new yard is very long and quite wide too, I forget the exact measurements but there is a lot of room in the back for an entire garden of wildflowers, so that is my first design plan :)

After my blog post this morning I went outside and picked some, look how pretty they are. I put them in water so they wouldn't wilt before I squashed them in my microwave flower press, and they were so tiny I grabbed the smallest little jug I have. I thought they were pretty enough to take a photograph :)
I also wanted to ask you something. Does anyone know what the purple flowers are? I am wondering if they are an ornamental pepper plant of some kind. I have searched images on google, but not found these yet. Not sure what the skinny things in the back are either but I like them.

Here is a little project I finished and I have more on the go, just waiting to dry. This is an ATC , but I decided to give it a hanger.
I stitched the dragonfly on there, it is really tiny, and I did some cross stitches but you can't see them. Then I stitched twice around the edges. I used chalk inks to colorize it , a tiny piece of fiber and specks of gold leaf (thank you Linda for that).
Click on the photo for a closer look.

The flower projects I am working on now will be very simple on white backgrounds, hope to show you those soon. I love to hear your comments and any opinions or suggestions are greatly appreciated too on my latest obsession.

Thank you,
Lynn


Update, update, read all about it....

Thank you Pam for warning me about the purple flower, I think I will just leave them alone when I see them, they really don't look as beautiful when they are dried anyway.

The purple plant is Deadly Nightshade or Atropa Belladonna, and it is toxic if ingested.

Flower art and gifts from friends

I have been playing with my dried, pressed flowers again and I thought they would make for a lovely bookmark. I had fun with this one, stitching over the edges and adding bits of fiber. The close up gives you a better idea.

I then stitched one to a tea dyed piece of muslin and glued it to a mini notebook, this one has a more vintage feel to it.
I am off to glue some more today for new projects, I am still getting used to working in a different room and that room is so hot in the mornings I have to wait until later when the sun moves. Yes, we have the air conditioning on but it is still hot in there, I don't remember a summer this hot in a very long time.

I wanted to share with you some beautiful gifts bestowed upon me this past week for my birthday.
From my gorgeous girlfriend Linda (Blue Eyed Girl), I received the most spectacular ATC. You must click on photo to see the delicious detail, a specialty of the very talented Linda. She also sent me a beautiful mixed media tag and one of her tiny Lotus Books. Thank you Linda, I can't stop looking at your wonderful creations.

I also received this precious little fabric art from my sweet, and very talented friend Terri (Pringle Hill Studio). She is known for her bright colors, and very detailed collage art, and is now branching out and trying fiber art, so I feel blessed to have this, it is so me :)
Just look how sweet this heart is, so much detail again in such a small piece. It is now hanging in my studio where I can see it all the time, thank you so much Terri :)

My friend Terry (Terry's Treasures) has been sewing up some lovely tote bags lately, she is into quilting and stitching , and has made some amazing quilts. This sweet bag already holds some of my knitting. (Yes, I knit once in a while, but with the hot flashes and the humidity here, not much lately , I am sure some of you know how it is :)

Love this fabric and how it is white inside, thank you so much Terry :)


Don't forget to enter my giveaway in the post below :)
Off to go upstairs now and play.........
Lynn

Cut, Dried, Pressed and Preserved

I was just heading upstairs to start packing up my studio, and remembered I had not posted this. I recently discovered a beautiful way to use my dried, pressed flowers. Take a lookie...
This is an altered mini notebook.

And this is a gift tag I created over some dictionary paper and card.
To see the details you really must click on the photos and view the close ups, they look so much better.

I was flipping through some older Somerset magazines and came across this method of preserving dried flowers. The lady in the article had found the instructions in an old boy scout book. Darned if I can find this magazine, maybe I packed it up already, but I am so excited to share with you the process. It sounded so easy, so I thought ok....... try it, if you ruin a few flowers you can dry more this year.

Look at this pretty close up. It is almost transparent so they look so different depending on the background you place them on, this was taken on my patio table which is a dark brownish color.

If you want to give it a try, this is what you will need:
Wax paper, tissues (kleenex), and a mixture of glue and water.
The article said 60% glue to 40% water.

Lay out your waxed paper and make a design or collage with your flowers. Take a tissue and use only one ply , then lay gently on top of your design. Very carefully apply the glue and water over the tissue.
Now you have to leave it for about 12 hours or overnight, then using a cloth over it, take your iron and press firmly.
Ta da... now you can use this to create something beautiful :)

I want to try sewing over the tag using fabric behind it, but my sewing machine is broken. I think it would make a really nice effect.

I used a microwave flower press which I found last year to dry these flowers and they have been squished up in my dry flower press all winter. If you would like to dry flowers quickly check out my post on the Flower Press here.
I have found that the mum's I dried turned out really well, and the leaves above are from my Virginia Creeper last fall. I know when I get moved I will be doing more of this :)

Happy weekend,
Now I suppose I should go pack some supplies .