Pressed Flowers

I wish I could stand to stay squated on the ground long enough to press hundreds of flowers, because they can make the most beautiful gifts and cards.
I have found that medium to dark colors of azaleas, small blooms, press well and keep their color.  My mother's Spiderwort presses extremely well and keeps that marvelous blue color.  Violets didn't do as well as I expected, but miriads of wild flowers with tiny blooms, and ferocious availability, do extremely well.  I am using a small press I have owned for years with the same blotting paper it always had in it.  It is important to not over lap blooms or leaves and stems.  They will meld together, then break when trying to lift them from the paper.  It is equally as important to put a piece of blotting paper underneath and on top of each layer, and divide the layers with cardboard. The tiniest things will add to a design. I press the layers by screwing down the nuts on the bolts to slightly tight on the flowers at first. Next day, I tighten them a little more. Overtightening the bolts will cause the flowers to stick to the paper so much that they can't be removed without tearing. Pull the paper away from the flowers, rather than the flowers away from the paper to avoid damage.  Flowers are usually dry in 3 days.
Remove them to paper or styrofoam plates to dry just a day more, then store them between layers of tissue in a box.  For longest life, they should not be exposed to sun or bright light. Over time, they will fade in a frame but are worth taking the effort to enjoy them for a year or two.  Scanning them, often doesn't produce  true color, due to the lack of sufficient light. But with some adjustments to light, a digital camera will capture them to be used forever.  I did have to crop the picture, rotate it slightly, and adjust the contrast and color levels to get it to a more natural color.  But the end result was something I can use over and over.
I didn't like the way clover blossoms dried, because they browned too much, but I love how the leaves and blooms that were just beginning to open dried.

Note: dogwood blossoms dry very well for textural crafting. They don't press well usually, but will dry to a beautiful smaller curly version of themselves in the oven for about an hour on 200.  Spread them on a cookie sheet. And leave them in the center of the oven until they can be lifted without bending.  They should not be soft, but papery sounding. It is a great idea to place flowers in the oven after you finish cooking, and have turned the oven off. You can leave them all night, but don't forget and heat your oven for biscuits in the morning with flowers still in the oven. lol  I love the way white dogwoods look over the pink.  I will show a project I can use them on at a later date.