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It's been a long time between posts but this week we finally finished our website so I thought it was the perfect time to get back to another of my great loves - writing stuff !
When last we met, we were introducing a new product to our collection (you can read about it here). Our Wally and Eva Flower Presses.
As happens when life and other ideas get in the way it's taken us a while to revisit this but we came back to it a few months ago with some fresh ideas and new techniques.
One of the biggest changes was the material we were using. We didn't like the ply prototypes we had made.
We wanted something sustainable and eco friendly that would look lovely as a finished product.
Enter our friend and eco guru Jamie who runs Resource Recovery Facility in Quorrobolong who had some sheets of bamboo that were the perfect thickness for what we needed.
Don't worry - we didn't waste the plywood test pieces. They have become our go to boards for carrying things, sorting things, chocking things, separating out materials for designing and assembly, workshop coasters - their uses are seemingly endless.
So on a very hot summery day, we got busy making and bringing the new design to life.
We started as we do for all messy maker days by donning some seriously sexy kit (safety first people !)
Mike knows to 'measure twice, cut once'. He doesn't always do it but he does know it...
Mike's happy place is creating as much "man glitter" (aka sawdust) as possible so he's in his element with drills, saws and other stuff that creates mess. I call them the scary tools and leave him to it.
My job at this point in any project is to be his assistant, make sure all the pure sawdust is collected and put into our composter as a 'dry' ingredient and vacuum up after him.
My turn is yet to come...
Once we had our blank flower presses completed I whipped out my cutting mat, knife and recycled Australian paper and cardboard and got busy preparing the inside parts so that you can actually use them.
Fast forward a couple of weeks and we had completed our gorgeous new flower presses and we had a proud maker moment over a celebratory wine (or two) - we do live in the Hunter Valley after all so it's only right.
The next phase for any new product is to test it and make sure it does what is says on the label so I grabbed some of the wonderful bounty of flowers we had in our garden and popped them into my test press and then waited (I'm usually pretty impatient but I managed to wait the full 4 weeks) and today I took out the lovely pressed flowers, petals, and leaves. Now I get to create some new crazy ideas for how to use them - eeeeeee !
Our finished product is made from sustainable bamboo, finished with solid brass screws, washers and antique style wing nuts instead of the usual steel to add that extra special touch. The brass is quite a bit more expensive to source but we think the effect and feel is well worth it.
These little beauties are now ready to wing or drive their way to their new homes (not on their own of course - they will require someone to fly the plane/ drive the truck). But however they get to their final destination we know whoever gets one of these is gonna love it !
We'd love to see your photos of the wonderful c reations that you've made using the Wally and Eva Flower press or hear the ideas you've had.
If you want to be hear from us you can join our mailing list and you'll get 10% off your first order.
Lou & Mike x