Time to Make the Paper

I mentioned some time ago that I would show you how I create some of my handmade papers, and this is the week for it. First, I need to prepare the pulp. How do I do that? I take shredded paper, add water, place it all in a blender, and blend for about 30 seconds. Voilà! Pulp du jour. This is all it takes to produce beautiful, thick, textured paper that is quite costly to buy. You can create even more stunning papers by incorporating dyes, seeds, dried flowers, pieces of fabric and ribbon, mica powders, glitter, threads, grasses, leaves, and dryer lint. Wait, what was that last one? Dryer lint? Yes! It’s actually a perfect addition to the pulp. Before discovering this, I even bought a product called specialty pulp that was green. Yes! I essentially purchased green dryer lint.

So, there is a process, and I will walk you through it below.

This is way more than what I will need for this session, but here's my stash of paper shreds.

This is a very inexpensive blender that I bought to use for this purpose only. Fully plastic! 😉

Here is all the equipment that is used, sans all of the fun ingredients to make the papers fun. Oh, wait, there are 2 packets of wildflower seeds up front.

Here's the sink where the forms with the pulp will be lowered into.

This is how much shredded paper I use to make a single sheet.

After adding water, I get my pulp.

After pouring the pulp into the mold, I swish it around with my hands and then press out as much water as possible. Then I remove the sheet and place it on a drying sheet to get out even more water.

This is my plain sheet of paper with no frills, after it had dried, and I ironed it. Notice how much lighter in color it is when it has dried.

Here's my set of mica powders that I will be using on a sheet of paper. So many wonderful colors!

Just a packet of seeds, but get this! Even after adding these seeds to the pulp and processing, you can still put the paper in the ground, and the seeds will eventually bloom. How kewl is this, huh?

These are pieces of ribbon that were clipped from other projects. I told you I save everything... I am going to clip these into even smaller pieces.

Here's that dryer lint I was telling you about. Meh, live and learn... 🤪

On this sheet of paper, I added shreds to the pulp AFTER it was mixed in the blender, so that they would show. Warning! I once did this, and my social security number showed up, so be careful and look over your sheet if using this technique. LOL!

Here's the back side of a paper that I added mica, seeds, and cut-up ribbon into.

Here's the front side of the paper above. I love how it's always a surprise as to how the paper will come out.

A close-up of the sheet showing the texture, the seeds, and the ribbons - all of the fun stuff!!!

Another sheet with just a mishmash of stuff and the addition of the green SPECIALTY pulp! 😁

A parade of handmade papers. 😍

Now I have these 4 sheets of paper, which took me a total of 3 hours to create, including the setup, organizing the supplies, processing the paper, and ironing each sheet. So, what am I going to do with them?

Well, I used 1/4 of the sheet with the ribbon bits to use as a background paper to make a pretty note card. Wouldn't this make a unique and lovely Mother's Day card?

Here's a sheet of handmade paper that I made during another paper-making session and turned into an envelope.

There are numerous possibilities for using handmade papers. I've only demonstrated a few. Consider personalized bookmarks, scrapbooking papers, mixed-media projects, and paper beads, among others. I've begun working on this year's Christmas cards, but I have an exciting idea for next year's cards, incorporating handmade papers. I'm already excited!

This Week’s Tea Spilling

Last week, I hadn't made a final decision on whether to continue my blog here or not. After careful consideration and gathering further information, I have decided that next week will be my last blog posting. However, this website will remain and will be accessible. In the meantime, I will be revamping everything, so on May 7th, you will see a fresh new look. I will no longer be sending out any email notifications, so be sure to bookmark this website or add it to your favorites. I will still post here, but it won't be a blog. Stay tuned, and thank you for being so loyal and supportive. It is truly something that has made this journey so well worth it, and I appreciate it so very, very much. 😍

I’ll be back next Wednesday to show you what I’ve been working on. Hope you’ll stop by again for a last blogging visit.

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