The Art and Craft of Pounding Flowers: No Ink, No Paint, Just a Hammer [Hardcover]

Laura Martin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2001

The Art and Craft of Pounding Flowers

No ink, no paint--just a hammer!

Who would imagine that flowers and leaves from your garden, from a houseplant, or even from a store, could be used--without the fuss of ink or paint--to make beautiful, lasting images? This remarkable new book shows you how to transfer pigment directly from a flower or leaf onto fabric or paper for an exquisite imprint--with just a hammer!

Complete instructions on choosing the best plants, selecting fabrics and paper, hammering flowers, and preserving your botanical impressions

More than 50 projects, including greeting cards, wrapping paper and ribbon, journals, place mats, napkins, throw pillows, wall hangings, curtains, T-shirts, scarves, baby gifts, Christmas ornaments, and much more--all with easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions

Gorgeous color photographs and illustrations throughout

Craft and gardening enthusiasts alike will enjoy this beautiful book that combines two of the most popular and rewarding hobbies in America. Parents, teachers, and children will love it, too!

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Garden writer Laura C. Martin introduces The Art and Craft of Pounding Flowers, an activity using the pigments of plants for decoration. This craft is so easy one can "simply pick a flower, place it on paper or fabric and hammer away," Martin explains. She easily guides the beginner through preparation, listing the tools needed in addition to the hammer, suggesting choices for plants darker pigments usually yield better impressions; paper and fabric with natural fibers absorb better; pretreating helps the color to take and last longer. More than 150 color photos and illus.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Martin is well known as the author of many books on gardening and nature crafts. Although pounding flowers and leaves with a hammer seems an unlikely way to decorate paper or fabric, it produces a delicately colored image that can be used as is or embellished with ink or stitching. In addition to basic techniques and step-by-step projects for decorated household items, there is a guide to plants suitable for pounding. This is an excellent choice for libraries looking for something new to add to their gardening and crafts collections.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Q V C Publishing; 1St Edition edition (June 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1928998410
• ISBN-13: 978-1928998419
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,001,538 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Flower Pounding is Awesome, June 21, 2001

By 

Michele Mazzei (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Art and Craft of Pounding Flowers: No Ink, No Paint, Just a Hammer (Hardcover)

The Art and Craft of Flower Pounding is awesome. This arts and crafts book is well written with easy to understand directions. The photographs of the projects presented in this book is a motivator in itself. The ideas are endless. Flower pounding is easy enough to do for a child's summer project as well as for an adult. My family is really enjoying this new craft so much that we had to go out and purchase a few more hammers! I highly recommend this book - especially if you are looking for a new, easy and unusual craft - this is it!!!!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderfully stress-relieving craft using flowers & leaves!, March 17, 2004

By 

Debra Jacobs (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Art and Craft of Pounding Flowers (Paperback)

I found Laura Martin's book over a year ago, and following the very easy to understand steps, have learned to pound flowers, leaves, and stems onto treated material (she gives the receipe)and also on paper. I have been able to spend many stress-relieving moments with my board and hammer in my little flower garden on cool mornings capturing and preserving the lovely blossoms which I have used to make very special cards, gifts, and treasures that will last a lifetime. I am now teaching this art to a few good friends and some young girls in our homeschool group, encouraging them to buy this book! My 9 year old daughter and I love to make "Flower Fairies" and "Flower Ballarinas" to put on cards, in frames, and on material for pillows and handmade journal covers, etc. The ideas shared have endless possibilities! If you have had a stressful day, go outside in a shaded area, sit on a blanket with your supplies, pick a few wildflowers, or blooms from your garden, or even some from the flowers you find in the floral market of your grocery store, and pound to your hearts content! I especially appreciate Laura Martin's knowledge of flowers shared in her "Plant Guide" in the back of the book. It has inspired me to plant more flowers, spend more time at the floral market and public gardens. I have even purchased seeds from a Wildflower Company online to grow this spring on our 1/2 acre of land that is usually overgrown with weeds! When I visit our kids in Oregon next month, we plan to find some ferns on our hikes that we will pound while taking a rest from our hiking. We will have these beautiful plants preservered as a wonderful reminder of our visit! As a homeschool family, we are using this art to teach our daughter about botany, keeping a visual record of the plants & wildflowers in a notebook, and then looking up the names in books at the library. And we are learning how to cultivate the flowers and are keeping a diary of that process! Highly recommend this book and craft for Garden Clubs, Girl Scouts, and the boys like it, too!

5.0 out of 5 stars The Art and Craft of Pounding Flowers, May 21, 2009

By 

Lucretia Ficht "desert crafter" (Jemez Pueblo, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Art and Craft of Pounding Flowers (Paperback)

Had heard about this craft and saw a copy of the book my sister checked out from the Oregon City Library. I ordered it the next week. I love this book! It has everything that I need. Hope to order other books by same author that were on your list.