Customer Reviews

Souvenirs de Fleurs: A Pressed Flower Keepsake Book

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a delightful book. As you read you come to realize even more how beautiful each & every flower is in your garden and how beautiful they can be preserved. I enjoyed Souvenirs De Fleurs so much I purchased three more and have given them to my daughter, my daughter-in-law and a good friend. It was a perfect way for me to say I love you and you are in my thoughts!

If you are looking for a book with lots of photographs of pressed flower projects, and lots of "how to" information, this is NOT the book for you. The book begins like a novel (it's a narrative by the author about her enjoyment and experiences collecting and pressing flowers) and the ends as a journal.

Review of SOUVENIRS DE FLEURS

The writer, Louise Kollenbaum, takes the reader by the hand and guides one into the garden, the meadow, down the little path to the woods, and as she leasurely walks , she gathers her flowers like her chapters, points out the beauty of a petal, the shape of a leaf, makes you notice, pauses while you gaze at one of her amazing compositions, tells you what is easy, what is hard at first, explains in simple, patient words how you do it, and reveals the secrets of the craft. While you marvel at the endless creative possibilities, wondering how your guide found the way, she tells her own story of gathering and pressing flowers in an artist's way, and shares her discoveries, failures, adventures with humour and humble wisdom. In the same leasurely pace she walks you into the history of flower pressing with its high bloom in the Victorian age and its romantic mysteries of flower symbolism which allowed lovers to exchange secret messages without words. In the writer's inviting language, it all sounds easy and enchanting at the same time, like an irresistable pleasure. In the end she hands you her book and says, "Now it's your turn." You find much more in SOUVENIRS DE FLEURS than chapters on the technique (the equipment, the gathering, pressing, storing, and the mounting of flowers) and on "Flower Projects" or creative ideas for making use of your collection. In addition, you find delicate sleeves of translucent paper to store your own pressed flowers and leaves, and you suddenly notice that the whole book comes in the shape of an album, allowing to billow with your own findings and creations. You also find a glossary of botanical terms, a list of flowers with their ancient symbolical meanings, empty pages for drawing and sketching on your botanical outings, and finally beautifully lined pages for your gathering diary, interspersed with quotes from famous gardeners like Vita Sackville-West or writers like Oscar Wilde.

This extraordinary book/journal is a great gift for artists and everyone who loves nature. With accessible text and beautiful images, the first half of the book guides the reader through the pressing process. A journal follows with pages for writings and drawings;throughout the book are translucent sleeves for readers to include their own pressings.This is a wonderful holiday gift.

I purchased a copy at full price and went home and enjoyed it over some hot jasmine tea. I'm so excited about the pursuit of this new hobby and am looking forward to acquiring my first flower press. I'm ordering several more from Amazon to give as gifts to my gardening friends. Thank you Louise Kollenbaum for this wonderful and enticingly creative way of introducing me to this wonderful art!

I just finished Souvenirs De Fleurs and think it is a perfect steppingstone to get anyone started on the path of keeping memories alive through pressing flowers. It is put together so beautifully and thoughtfully. I just loved it.

With Souvenirs de Fleurs, Louise Kollenbaum has opened windows and doors. No one is too busy, too clumsy, or too "unartistic" to indulge in the simple, gratifying act of gathering and appreciating flowers. Souvenirs provides the inspiration, the know-how, and even these waxpaper sleeves within which one might deposit a few found treasures of their own. The book is elegantly designed and even more beautifully written, its author neither a braggart nor a show-off ... but rather a fellow traveler who clearly hopes that we'll learn to love flowers as much as she does.