Flower Pressing and Nature Journaling

Have you combined flower pressing and nature journaling yet? If not you are in for a super fun surprise! Pressing flowers and nature journaling can be a liberating, crafty, botanical way to get more creative in your art journal, junk journal, or nature journal.

Five Reasons You Should Try Flower Pressing and Nature Journaling

1. First, this can unlock your creative potential. Sometimes people get a creative block with nature journaling. In fact this can be paralyzing. A fear of drawing accurate plants and animals is often the source. Pressed plants and flowers allows you to easily incorporate true-to-nature visual elements onto your pages. It is more of a collage now. This is actually very liberating.
2. Second, it gets you outside. Obviously, pressing flowers will require you to go outside. You can’t press flowers from photos on Instagram or Pinterest. Unlike drawing you really have to go outside. You have to interact directly with nature. Bye-bye computer screens.
3. Thirdly, this practice makes your pages look cool!! Whether you are junk journaling, art journaling, or nature journaling this element will add dimension to your pages. It also helps you practice your composition, a skill that will carry over to your other art.
4. Next, it is super fun! Something about pressing flowers and plants and then gluing them into your nature journal is super fun and addictive. It unlocks that feeling we want to have with our art projects.
5. Lastly, but importantly is that pressing flowers can be super accessible! You don’t actually need fancy supplies or drawing skills. You don’t even need special plants. In fact, urban dandelions and even salad greens can be pressed!

Supplies for Flower Pressing and Nature Journaling

You don’t need much to get started here. In fact, if you just add a roll of packing tape to your kit you are ready to go. Several top nature journalers use this technique. JP Panter is the self-described queen of packing tape. However, several other people have come out that use this technique to incorporate plants and flowers in their journals. Sue Slotterback who I interviewed about junk journaling uses the tape technique to great effect.

Nevertheless, I know some of you want some more advanced art supplies for this crafty project. I present you with my list of materials. (these are affiliate links so I get a small commission at no extra cost to you.)

Sketchbook/ Journal: It is important to get  a size that you like and works well with your press! I use this 9″x12″ Stillman and Birn sketchbook and my press is just a little smaller.

Plant Press: I don’t actually have a press that I have tested that I can recommend. Some people like these MicroFleur ones you can use in the microwave to get fast results and good color retention. However, I have not tried them.  Alternatively, you could easily make your own with some thin flat boards and these awesome clamps. These are the clamps that I use for mine. (Update from two months later. I broke one of my clamps after overfilling my press and clamping it down too hard. Due to this I will be investigating some type of strap system. Stay tuned for updates.)

Japanese garden scissors: These are great for harvesting flowers, cutting paper shapes, and other garden and craft tasks. Great scissors overall.

Adhesives for Inserting Pressed Flowers

Tombow Glue Pen: Next, you are going to need glue or adhesive. There are several options here. The Tombow Glue Pen will be good if you want something simple and multipurpose that is easy to carry and not very messy (Update from 2 months later: I really wanted to like this tool. However, it did not perform as well as it should have. In fact, it was not much better than a glue stick or Elmer’s glue considering the price difference).

If you want something that can be an adhesive and be used to seal in and protect the pressed flowers in your nature journal then try Mod Podge Starter Kit. This is the classic, affordable, adaptable material that people have been using in their scrapbooks, art journals, and junk journals for ages. Despite being scared and disgusted by it at first I currently love it! In fact, I  used up my first bottle super fast. Here is a starter kit will all you need to test it out. Click on the image below.

Other Supplies I Used in the Video

I got a bunch of this Arches brand Oil paper for cheap one time and have never used it. I recommend using cheap paper but not too thing for pressing plants. Ripping it is labor intensive but gives nice deckled edges. Arches Oil Paper:

Sometimes it is really nice to mount your pressed botanical specimens on black paper. This paper is great for pastel or gouache but I love it for pressed plants and as an accent in my art journal and junk journal. Mi-Teintes Black Paper.
I used some acrylic goauche for accents on my pages around the pressed flowers. You can get a basic Holbein Acrylic Gouache basic set here.
This is a decadent art supply but can be fun!!! Japanese Gold Watercolor!
I highly recommend having hot chocolate when doing art! My favorite hot chocolate.

Whether you are pressing flowers or doing a landscape painting my favorite folding chair is always a good option.

Need more tips? If so, check out this post. It will walk you through how to nature journal in 10 steps.

Need help choosing nature journaling supplies? Check Nature Journaling Supplies: What You Need and What You Do Not

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