The pressed rambling rose has lain in my bible since the mid-1970s - my boyfriend at the time picked them for me.
The picture with a border is a rose from my dad's funeral bouquet.
I've tried pressing flowers several times but more often than not, have ended up with a mouldy mass of gunge but NOW I think I've got it sussed!
Roan sent me a bouquet up from Newquay on Mother's Day and one of the rose heads dropped off in transit, so I had the idea of instead of pressing the whole flower, just peel several petals off and press them individually. The science behind it being that the moisture is driven out at a faster rate than what the mould grows! I put the petals between A4 paper and piled half a dozen heavy photo albums on them. I checked them just over a week ago and the paper was damp so I change it. I've just checked them again and snapped this photo! They're doing really well and have maintained their colour beautifully! Changed the paper again and will look at them again next week.
Once they're completely dry they can be mounted in a frame or something,
It's a lovely way to make a keepsake to pass down the generations, isn't it?
Update: I've been advised to use blotting paper and a few layers of newspaper - apparently, these will adsorb moisture better than the glossy A4 sheets. I've ordered a batch of 140gsm from ebay!
No comments:
Post a Comment