I keep finding myself drawn to beautiful pressed ferns, leaves and flowers. Isn't it amazing how long people have been preserving these amazing works of art?
What about incorporating them into your collage work? Some of you may have already done this but I think it's something I'd like to try ~ below are a few prints for you but I would like to collage the actual plant itself into a piece of artwork ~ Using the matte gel medium, do you think it would stay preserved? I guess I need to see :)
Wishing you a wonderful Wednesday dear friends,
xxoo, Dawn
ps. 2 1/2 weeks 'til Emily's due date!
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11 comments:
Hi Dawn, I can't wait to see what you're going to do with this! In the 1960s...way back in the dark ages, a friend told me about making greeting cards. I gathered pretty fern, herbs, tiny flowers...anything that could be pressed flat. Once it was dried, I sandwiched it between 2 layers of wax paper and with a pressing cloth over and under...pressed it until the papers had melded into one. I could then trim & attach that to a card and it was counted special at that time. With all the wonderful mediums and tools at our fingertips today...I know you'll come up with something wonderful. I always enjoy your blog.
Blessings, Susie
Dawn,
I have had great success with using dried botanicals in collage work. I have used gel medium to adhere and coat them and I have also stuck and sealed them using natural bees wax, which give a muted vintage effect if you use the yellow wax. The white wax works well for a brighter look. I am sure yours will turn out beautifully.
I saw the Apron*ology magazine featured on a show today and the bright cover filled up the whole screen. I only caught a glimpse of it as I was flicking channels, but I wanted to shout out, "That's Dawn's apron on front!" Such a thrill to see your success!
I'll put Emily and baby on my prayer list as her time is drawing near. I know you are a bundle of excitement!
Hi Dawn
Thank you for the prints, I am going to use one in a project I am currently working on. I have collected most of the elements but haven't managed to get it put together yet , sometimes it pays to be slow! I think you could use a gel medium with great success, I have use it on a variety of materials and was pleased to with the results.
All the best wishes for the new Grandchild.
Regards,
Diane
Dawn, I believe it will stay for a long time if you use Krylon Matte Finish (I think they still make it). I sprayed some roses about nine years ago and they are still maleable and on their original stems. Krylon now has a paper spray for ink jet copies called Preserve It! It works well.
P.S. Press it first until ALMOST dry (maybe three days), spray it on both sides with Krylon, let the Krylon dry, and then attach it to your piece with gel medium. You won't have to cover it with the gel unless you want to. That should work.
With Clara on her way so soon, I am wondering if remember how fairies were born?
"When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies." ~James Matthew Barrie (author of Peter Pan)
I've always loved botanicals, too. Thanks for these selections...
if YOU remember... ;)
hi, dawn:-)
these prints are beautiful and i can't wait to see what you do with the real thing!:-)...sometimes it seems the single, simple flower, leaf or fern is the most striking!:-)
thanks for inspiring me today!:-)...off to do a botanical!:-)
rebekah:-)
Lookie at these! http://www.remarc.com/craig/?cat=55
I'm off to scan roses now....
Thank you for the pretty pictures. I have always been drawn to these type of photos. I'll have to think of something to do with them
Peggy
I pressed some ferns I got from the florist in between sheets of waxed paper in oversized art books- and put them over music and also over some great hand printed paper I had and I put them in glass frames and sold them last weekend at Kane County Flea Market.
You can see them at: iowajunkgypsies.blogspot.com in front of the stacked stools by the planters...
Now I am going to put the large ones (Like the 4th picture you have)in old window frames- I just sprayed them with clear coat polyurethane in matte...
They just seem so springy to me...
Anita
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