Custom Pressed Flower Order

A customer purchased my ballerina picture at a recent show as a gift for her granddaughter who danced.  She contacted me later to see if I could make a singer and a gymnast with pressed flowers for her other grandchildren.  The following was the end result. 

Village Country Store, Waterloo, NY

B's Garden Treasures now offers some of its products at the Village Country Store at 11 West Main Street, Waterloo, NY 13165.  Sixteen artists offer their arts and crafts at this co-op owned by Tina Poorman.  Store hours are Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  If you are in the area, please stop by.

Updated Show Schedule

Show Schedule

2013-Oct-5-6	Hunt Country Vineyards Harvest Festival, 4021 Italy Hill Rd., Branchport, NY 14418
2013-Oct-12-13	LaFayette Apple Festival, Lafayette, NY 13084
2013-Nov-9	Cornell/Experiment Station Show, Jordan Hall, Geneva, NY 14456
2013-Nov 23-24	Open House, Home of Artist @ 1917 State Route 14, Geneva, NY,  Sat. 12 noon-6 pm, Sun., 12 noon-4 pm

#177 - Autumn Brilliance

This landscape captures the brillant colors of Fall in all its glory.  I especially love the contrast of the orange, yellow and red leaves with the river and waterfall.  The birch trees are made with real birch bark. The foreground is decorated with goldenrod and purple loosetrife which are in bloom this time of year.

Botanicals: Poplar, burning bush, smoke bush, asiatic lily, poplar, and miscellaneous Fall leaves; birch bark, banana skin, cotton, fern, garlic skin, purple loosestrife, goldenrod, and beehive.

This 11" x 14" framed original was sold at the Hunt Country Vineyards Harvest Festival (Oct 2013).

#173 - Bridal invitation

 

This bridal invitation was created with larkspur, asters and lobelia.

#172 - A birds Eye View

This pressed flower landscape features a pair of chickadees made primarily from leaves overseeing a beautiful summer garden.  They are singing their song of happiness for the world to hear.

Botanicals include:  Delphinium, larkspur, salvia, speedwell, astilbe, cardinal, daisy, coreopsis, lobelia, scabiosa, thryallis, deutzia, hollyhock, alyssum, Queen Anne’s lace, maidenhair fern along with white poplar, lily of the valley, ningma, burning bush and miscellaneous leaves,  

This 11x14" framed piece sold at the Beaver Lake Harvest Festival before the show officially opened.  What a great start of a two-day show!

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#171 - Butterfly Bouquet

Although I haven't posted anything recently, I have  been extremely busy.  This colorful piece features a beautiful peony which is adorned with lavender roses, larkspur, coral bell, salvia and fern.  These fragrant flowers are so fresh that their nectar is being feasted by a dozen butterflies.  This piece was sold at the Experiment Station Show in November 2013.

169-To The Sky

Who doesn't love clematis?  No matter how high the fence or trellis, it always wants to climb higher. These beautiful clematis blossoms came from my daughter's beautiful garden.  It is adorned with another climbing flower - coral vine, which I received from Kate Chu. The background is handmade rice paper.  This original piece was sold  at the Cortland Art Festival in August 2013.

167-Mother of the Groom Pressed Flower Art

This 8" x 10" framed piece was designed for the Mother of the groom.  Botanicals included white and pink sweetheart roses, astilbe and baby's breath.

166-Bridal Bouquet

I just finished this 16" x 20" bridal bouquet which featured long stem and sweetheart roses, calla lily and astilbe.  The long stems were wrapped in ribbon and adorned with a bow.  This bridal bouquet preservation was received from a referral from Don's Own Flower Shop in Geneva, NY.

165-Winter Wonderland

This challenging design of a picture within a leaf was the result of a class I took through the World Wide Pressed Flower Guild from an award winning pressed flower artist from Taiwan.  The design concept for the class originated from a Christmas card featuring a winter scene. In order to meet the size requirements, both the small and large holly leaves in the design were created using pieces of multiple botanicals.  Various colored skeleton leaves were used to enhance the lighting and to accent the design.  

Botanicals included:  Poplar, holly, chameleon, lily, poinsettia and miscellaneous leaves; rose petals, straw, hydrangea, cabbage, onion skin and skeleton leaves. This original pressed flower art has been sold.

Next Show - Cortland Art Festival

Please look for B's Garden Treasures at the Cortland.Cortland Arts and Wine Festival 64 Main Street, Cortland, NY on Saturday, August 3, 2013.  For more information go to:  www.cortlandartsandwine.org

I hope to see you there!

164 - Peony and Dogwood

Peonies are one of my favorite flowers.  I especially love the dark pink versions as they have wonderful color retention.  The peony blossoms used in this picture were from my Dad’s garden, where they have faithfully blossomed for over 40 years! The background was handmade paper made with real mango leaves.  Botanicals include:  Peony and dogwood.

This original pressed flower original has been sold. 

163 - Hummingbird Heaven

This design has been on my mind for some time just waiting for the right time to make it happen.  Using tiny flowers for my art was a deviation from my normal style, and it required much more attention to detail than one would have thought.  The hummingbirds, which are made from crown vetch, became the focus.  Botanicals include:  Bridal veil, forget me nots, rock foil, maiden hair fern, Queen Anne’s lace and crown vetch.

If you are interested, this 8x10" original can be purchased for $55.00 plus shipping.

Sorting & Storing Flowers

I love this time of year when new blossoms seem to appear every day in the garden.  I enjoy gathering flowers, leaves and stems from the garden to press each day.  I don't mind changing the desiccant paper every 1-2 days during the pressing process to ensure fast moisture removal and bright colored results.  The part I do NOT like is organizing and storing my bounty.

Since we have received considerable rain over the last two days, I decided to bite the bullet.  I took my stack of pressed flowers still encased in Viva paper towels and one by one removed roses, potentilla, pansy, delpinium, coral bells, coreopsis, larkspur, verbena, scabiosa, tiny daisies, lobelia, peony assorted leaves and stems and sorted them onto computer paper.  My kitchen counters were covered with flowers.

Then I placed each batch of flowers on cardstock cut to fit the size of the storage bag.  Then I placed a piece of tracing paper over the top of the flowers and folded it over the bottom of the cardstock to prevent damage while inserting and removing the flowers from the package.

Finally, I carefully inserted my bounty into freezer bags, labeled them and placed them in storage.  I store most of my flowers alphabetically by name but they could be stored by color.  The key is to develop a system which ensures you can find what you need when you need it.
 

Flower PressingTips

I found these lovely tiny, daisy-like flowers while walking at Seneca Lake Park.  Of course, I had to pick some to press.

Daisies are best to press when they haven't been open too long.  One way to tell if the flowers are too old to press is by checking the center.  If it is raised like the one shown below, don't bother pressing it.

I decided to use my desiccant paper to press these daisies.  Desiccant paper is made with silica gel and is very absorbent.  I placed one sheet of desiccant paper on an old piece of paneling to protect it.  Then I placed a sheet of Viva paper towel.  I use Viva because it does not have a raised pattern which might transfer to the flowers.  Then I added my flowers as shown below.

Most of the flowers were pressed with their stems attached but I also pressed a few flower heads without stems.  Once the flowers are placed on the Viva, I cover the flowers with another piece of Viva paper towel and then a second sheet of desiccant paper. If needed, I could add multiple layers of flowers sandwiched between the Viva and desiccant paper.  When I am done, I place a second piece of paneling on top.  Now I place the filled press in a warm area protected from rain and moisture and cover it with a patio brick as shown below.

I checked my press the following day, and the tiny daisies were dried and ready to use.  I removed them from the press and used some of the flowers to make the following cards.

Now I'm ready to move on to the next pressing project.  Aren't these blue Salvia lovely?  I will use the same technique as above to press these flowers.  Don't forget to press leaves along with the blossoms.

156 - Memorial Flowers For My Sister in Law

The attached was created to honor my sister-in-law who passed away a few weeks ago.  It will be presented to my husband's brother in her memory.

 

2013 Tentative Show Schedule

Date	Show
2013-May 4-5	Great Swamp Conservancy, 8375 N. Main St., Canastota, NY
2013-Jun 8-9	Keuka Arts Festival, Penn Yan, NY 14527
2013-Jul 6-7	Cazenovia Area Ambulance Corps. Arts & Craft Show, 106 Nelson St., Cazenovia, NY
2013-Aug 3	Cortland Arts & Wine Festival, 64 Main St., Cortland, NY
2013-Sep 7-8	Beaver Lake Nature Center Golden Harvest Festival, 8477 E. Mud Lake Rd., Baldwinsville, NY 13027
2013-Oct-5-6	Hunt Country Vineyards Harvest Festival, 4021 Italy Hill Rd., Branchport, NY 14418
2013-Oct-12-13	LaFayette Apple Festival, Lafayette, NY 13084
2013-Nov 23-24	Open House, Home of Artist @ 1917 State Route 14, Geneva, NY,  Sat. 12 noon-6 pm, Sun., 12 noon-4 pm

#153 - Roses, Roses & More Roses Bridal Bouquet

I was recently commissioned to preserve a bridal bouquet consisting of lots and lots of full stem and sweetheart roses.  She selected a beautiful gold frame.  The bride was very happy with the results!



16" x 20" Bridal Bouquet with Vows Provided by the Bride

Frameless Pressed Flower Art

I have had fun creating new frameless pressed flower art with garden quotes and Mother's Day verses.  The quotes were printed on decorative paper and each picture was adorned with garden flowers.  For strength, three layers of heavy cardstock paper was added.  Both the front and back are covered with laminate for protection.  Each has a ribbon for hanging.  I'm looking forward to displaying them at my next show and plan to take some to Keuka Creations in Penn Yan later this week. 


Mother's Day Verses




Garden Verses

Garden Verses

#152 - Valentine's Day Card Contest

One great benefit of membership with the World Wide Pressed Flower Guild (WWPFG) is that they offer fun contests.  I created the following Valentine's Card in order to submit it in the "Share the Love Contest" offered in February.  Not only do members earn great prizes, but in this case all entries were donated to a local VA Hospital. Although I placed third in this contest and won a great prize, the greatest winners were our veterans! 

Materials used included red rose petals, baby's breath, Queen Anne's Lace, gerbera daisy, ginko, clematis and pompas grass blossoms.

#151 - A Winter Landscape

I recently completed this 11" x 14" pressed flower arrangement which will be matted to fit a 16" x 20" frame.  Botanical materials included poplar, blackberry, day lilly, lilly of the valley and assorted Fall leaves; corn husks, fern, hydrangea stems, onion skins, cotton and birch bark.  The sky was colored with pastels before being covered with corn husks. A layer of Japanese sanwa paper was used to create depth. 

The original has been sold, but this design is currently available as a digital print ($20.00) and as a trivet ($18.00)

#150 - Summer Birch Trees

This mixed media landscape will be framed to fit an 11" x 14" frame.  The birch trees were created using real birch bark, blackberry leaves and a black leaf.  The background features miscellaneous green and brown leaves, fern, Cora bells, Queen Annes Lace, Forget Me Nots, Yarrow leaves, red onion skin and other botanicals.  The birds were made from banana skin. The original has been sold, but this design is currently available as a digital print ($20.00) and as a trivet ($18.00)

#149 - Golden Sunset

Happy New Year!  I just finished this golden sunset picture which is made almost exclusively from Fall leaves. Other materials include ornamental cabbage, poplar leaf, fern, skeleton leaf, black tea and beehive.  I learned the techniques for this project from award-winning pressed flower artist, Inna Danchenko, from Nikolaev, Ukraine through my membership with the World Wide Pressed Flower Guild. I hope you like it!