Scrapbooking Flowers - Scrapbooking with OrganicsScrapbooking flowers - something more than flowers just pressed between pages like when you made it home from the Mid-Winter Ball or the Prom. As a part of a line of organics,these natural embellishments have found their way from earth's gardens to the scrapbook page. Discover a new meaning in environment-friendly. These florals, as an embellishment in scrapbooking are usually thought of in material such as how to make a paper or fabric bloom for your ensemble. Addressed as part of organics, this article will cover florals as the real thing. Floral bouquets, leaves, grasses, shells and seeds became a part of organics in scrapbooking, following hemp, jute, and string as the forerunners. Rose petals can brighten up or soften a page. The lumpy nature of organic embellishments, including our floral variety, concerned some scrapbookers. However, as scrapbooks became more 3D (for instance, shadow boxes), and what I call having a textured look and feel, these products became less of a problem for including flowers in a scrapbooking project. Drying and Pressing Flowers for Your Scrapbook Speaking of pressed flowers, knowing a little bit about drying and pressing your scrapbooking flowers is still valuable for your projects. To press flowers and leaves for your scrapbook you can buy a ready-made flower press, Microwave Flower Press Is Fast And Easy To Use! Gather your flowers on a dry day and put them in your press as soon as possible. Put them in a plastic bag if you can't have them pressed immediately. As you consider what you will use for scrapbooking flowers in the organic world, you will need to choose ones that will not be crushed and distorted in the press, and stay clear of those with thick stems and leaves. For larger flowers, consider thinning some of the petals or drying the petals one by one. Place the flowers and leaves between two sheets of thick paper and place the sheets in the flower press. Each layer should have a thick piece of cardboard between it and the next layer of sheets. After about two weeks (10 days), check to see if your scrapbooking flowers are dried. The drying time for your flowers will vary depending on their types and how many are being dried. If you are drying a few small flowers, they can be placed between the pages of a heavy book, between two pages of heavy paper to avoid staining the pages. If you need your pressed flowers right away, place them in an old book that is at least two inches thick with no metal edges or gilded pages. Put your flowers between the pages and stretch an elastic band around the book. Heat the book on medium for 2 or 3 minutes. Finally, don't let your dried flowers touch your photographs and be aware that they may yellow the page they are attached to.
Attaching florals can be challenging because they can easily flake, crack, and tear. Here are some scrapbooking tips to keep your organic scrapbooking flowers looking as good as the day they were picked: Step One: Flip the flower over so its veins are facing up. Step Two: Just barely, place liquid adhesive sparingly to the veins and heavier portions of the petals. Step Three: Press gently onto the background, using a scrap of paper to blot away excessive adhesive. You can also apply a light coat of spray adhesive or adhesive dots. A good spray adhesive is Krylon Spray Adhesive-All-Purpose. It is strong, acid-free, smooth, non-wrinkling adhesion, even spray pattern with no bleed through. If you are using dots, remove them from the roll before applying them to your floral arrangement. Applying the dots directly may tear the petals or crack the leaves. Of course, if you are working with a shadow box, as apposed to a scrapbook page, feel free to use the hot glue gun. Just wait till the glue has hardened between the object and the cardboard you are working against before your next step. For more about how to use dried flowers and other organics in your scrapbooking flowers projects, consider reading... The Complete Book of Herbs: A Practical Guide to Growing and Using Herbs I received this book years ago when I was into everything herbal. One of the sections of the book I believe would be an interesting project and fit well into the scrapbooking flowers and other organics is on herbal papers, starting on page 200 under Herbs for the Household. At any rate, projects I have used dried organics in I still have today and they look great. In addition, if you would like more information on archival scrapbooking, see my page at Archival Scrapbooking. Return from Scrapbooking Flowers to Beginner Scrapbooking Embellishments Return from Scrapbooking Flowers to Homepage New! CommentsHave your say about what you just read! Leave me a comment in the box below. |
from a hobby shop, or you can make your own using two sheets of heavy-duty plywood (about 8 1/2 x 11"). Use C-clamps large enough to press the two boards together with several sheets of paper between them.
