-=Quoting Gail Church to Sara Goldstein=-
 > Thanks so much for the reciepe for the drying powder! I haven't really
 > done it this way as the silca sand at the stores has been a bit pricy
 > and I'm reluctant to spend that many dollars on a craft I'm not sure I
 > really like.
The Silica sand sold in the stores keeps forever.  When the little blue 
crystals loose their colour, just put it in the oven and heat per 
instructions that should be on the can.
If I remember, the oven is on low heat, leave the sand in the oven until the 
silica crystals turn bright blue again.
I have some that I've had about 20 years, and it's probably been that long 
since I used it.
 > What types of flowers have you dried this way? I was thinking that my
 > day lillies, asters, iris, colombine, cone flowers, and holly hock would
 > be nice to do this way. The more delicate ones like lillies and iris are
 > impossible to air dry.
This info taken from The Complete Book of Flower Preservation by Geneal 
Condon.
Aster: face up; two weeks in sand.  Must be uncovered very carefully to 
prevent shattering.  Must be thoroughly glued (with diluted glue) from bottom 
and top before handling or cleaning.
Columbine:  face up; two weeks in sand.  Do not process flowers that are too 
old; they tend to shatter.  Baby talcum powder dusted inside each spur with a 
fine brush before processing makes cleaning easier.  If segments of flower 
fall when dry, glue back on with undiluted glue.
Cone flower - not listed
Day lilies: face up; three weeks in sand.  Yellows are particularly 
successful.  Both types of dye work well on fresh flower.  Spray for 
midity.
Hollyhock:  face up; two weeks in sand.  Excellent results.  Try some of the 
powder puffs.  To paint calyx and thin green stem properly, use extra amount 
of turpentine in green paint.  Touch calyx with brush and let the thin paint 
flow over surface.
Iris:  face up;  three weeks in sand.  Dutch iris very good, but the German 
iris become transparent when dried.
There are about 5 pages of information on the sand method and preparing the 
sand.
This book was published in 1971 - 2nd printing.
Have since gone to air drying or pressing as that is less trouble.
ttyl
Donna
--- FMail 0.98
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