I have been making greeting cards for years! I was using Perfect Paper Adhesive but here in Hawaii, unbenounced to me, there are little tiny almost invisible to the eye, BUGS! And, they ”continue to eat the flowers once sealed with PPA!“ I have found my best bet and failure free ”Mod Podge” is the BEST sealant! I use the matte, not the glossy and I must say my cards turn out beautiful and best of all, they last a lifetime! I have done a lot of experimenting with varios glues, adhesives and I always return to Mod Podge! As far as pressing flowers, try to use those that have the same thickness. This allows for even drying. The larger flowers with big, bulky centers, i.e,. cosmos cosmos, I take the centers out, press the petals and save the seeds to grow more cosmo’s. I am also a huge fan of placing the flowers beteen 2 pieces of Bounty paper towel. This is the only paper towel I can find that doesn’t have a design with depth to it. I am also a die-hard put my flowers in a big heavy book followed by several other heavy books then and I wait 4-5 days to check on them. I think the biggest thrill for me to this day is peeking under the paper towel to see how they’ve dried! Seriously, my heart flutters with joy when I first set look at them! I get giggly just before opening the book! As an added note, I seem to always use too much Mod Podge which nearly always makes me press the finished card back into the large book and stacking several more heavy books on top of them! This pressed flower card making has saved my life!! I have been suffering from debilitating fibromyalgia for over 15 years now and this is one thing that gets my mind off of the pain I feel every day! And, if I might be so bold, I have gotten better and better as the years go by! I hope any of the information I have shared will help or inspire anyone to make flowers which are already beautiful into a life-lasting treasure by turning them into something someone you love can have as a memory for life! Aloha * Liz

Maybe you're thinking of laminate? You can get this at any office supply store.

Our local craft store carries a variety of paper; different textures, thicknesses and colors. They sell it by the sheet. I just pick out whatever suits my fancy. Usually it is something between typing paper and greeting card paper. I cut the paper down to the size an shape I want, glue on my flowers then take them all down to the small local newpaper office. They laminated them for me for a couple of dollars. It is a large laminating machine so we could get many bookmarks on a single sheet. It worked really well. I also made a few refridgerator magnets the same way...just glued peices of flexable magnetic tape on the back of them. Kay.

Flora, I've never pressed Gerbera, but I'd wait at least 2 weeks with something I'd never tried before just to be absolutely sure they are fully dried. Or maybe have a "test" sample...leaving most undisturbed. For thick petals, you might try changing your blotter paper after a few days, but be careful as oftentimes petals may be stuck to paper. Sometimes you can bend paper slightly to free the petals, or tap lightly on the opposite side of paper, or even better wait another day or two. Then place on fresh blotter paper, cover with another sheet, and place back in your press (or under weight of some kind). Most of us press far more than we think we might need as some do shatter or not turn out well, but once dried they will retain color for years if stored in dark (I just leave mine in old phonebook with rubberbands around it to keep tightly closed). It's hard to describe exactly how you'll know when the material is fully dried...I just try to "curb my enthusiasm" and work on some other project for a few weeks. Good luck...josh