On our last couple of trips to Colorado in the summer, we’ve gathered a few wildflowers along the way and on other occasions we’ve picked up a few here and there. They’ve been stuffed into notebooks, books, guidebooks, wherever. Often not surviving in great shape. So in preparation for our trip back to CO in a few weeks I decided to make a compact flower press so we could better preserve our little favorites.

So, here’s a quick look at what I’ve put together!

I painted the exterior with some simple watercolor washes and then sketched up a little monogram for us then drew that on the front and our address on the back.

I took out one of our first CO flowers and collaged it into our little monogram.

Once the gel holding the flowers was dry, I brushed the entire front with a matte UV varnish. There are layers of hot press 100% cotton watercolor paper and some recent flowers in there sandwiched with 3/8” bolts and large wingnuts to hold everything together. We can’t wait to load it up in a few weeks…