Flowers and Presses

[Reenie]

I just can't seem to get it so time to ask for advice. When making flowers and then shaping them with a press....how do you keep the flowers from losing their shape? I tried something new tonite...made a lentil shape..pressed it...added decorations and then pressed again to retain the shape and then decorations distorted. Any tips for success?
Thanks
Irene

[Rose]

It's trial and error. What may work one time, you will want to do different the next. I do it the way you said, pressing first. But I also put my flowers on and then press. It gives a different look. What will also affect it is if you have a base of opaque or trans. I think with the trans. your flower will spread more.

Rose

[alexm]

There are two ways to do it.

You can press and then add the flowers, then press again. This gives you perfect positioning and little smearing.

You can also decorate, then press. This will give you a wrap-around design.

Either way you need to keep these points in mind:

1. Make sure that you don't have excess glass, this will cause distortion.

2. Before you press, let the bead cool a little bit so it's not so soft. I often count slowly to 7 or 8 before I press GENTLY. This will also help with distortion.

3. Be aware of what colors you are using. Reactive colors will cause distortion no matter how careful you may be.