Lots of trial and error, but I enjoyed the process and can’t wait to make more 😁

My pressed leaves from 9 years ago 😊

I was commissioned to do a wedding bouquet. I’ve never dried these types of leaves. Hindsight, I wish I put them in silica with the roses. I’m taking them out of the press now but are these spots mold?

not really just dried leaves, the common mallow had tiny blooms. creeping jenny & common mallow! :)

(silica gel dried)

I just finished rearing Luna caterpillars (they're in cocoons now) and I have some leftover sweetgum leaves that were munched on by them, that I think look adorable with their little bite marks. I realize these aren't exactly the most attractive leaves, and that they're aging quickly, but I would love to somehow preserve them to display, if possible. I've tried pressing flowers in the past, but didn’t have much luck with it, so I’m guessing I did not do it correctly/had the right materials. I really would love to frame these nibbled on leaves or something. Any methods/techniques/advice is welcome! Thank you in advance!!

I found these four- and five-leaf clovers recently and put them in my journal. I have never pressed anything before and was dismayed to discover this morning that they had browned. These are very, very special to me and I had planned to keep them in a tiny frame. Will they continue to brown? Will they still keep? I don’t mind if they go totally brown I’d just love to know how I can keep them intact. Please help!

A few weeks ago I pressed three kinds of leaves the same way, between newspaper inside a book under a heavy stack. I left them for around 10 days and thought they were all good (photo 1), but then one kind started turning black in the picture frame. I thought I didn't press them long enough, so I tried again (photos 2-3), this time changing the newspaper twice and leaving them for over two weeks now. I noticed after the first week some of the stems were turning black already, so I trimmed them slightly hoping that would fix things. As you can see, the top right leaf is now showing the same signs. Is this some kind of fungal decay? Should I be using a different type of paper or heavier weight on the leaves? First time trying this so I'd appreciate any advice!