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How to Make Delightful Hand Made
Paper
by Gail Miller
Although some are daunted at the thought of making hand-made paper, it
is actually very easy to do and creates the most delightful effects.
Most of the items you will need to create your own paper can be found in
the kitchen, and the finished product can be used for card making, wall
hangings or decoupage. In sheets, it can be used to cover boxes or books
and every time you make a piece of your own paper, it is completely
unique! When you get into this craft and see the beautiful and unusual
effects that can be achieved, you will be completely hooked.
So, what do we use to produce our own paper? Well, torn or shredded
photocopying paper is the most common material to pulp, although ANY
paper can be used actually. Sometimes I experiment with other types of
paper, such as toilet roll, tissue paper or colored paper. If you live
near an office, perhaps you could ask them if you could recycle their
shredded paper. If not, then appropriate paper can always be found
around the house. To follow are the basic instructions for making your
own paper.
Supplies
8 to 10 sheets of A4 paper
Large mixing bowl (or if you are making large amounts, a bucket)
Washing up bowl
Blender or hand blender
Fine gauge wire mesh
J cloths
A small sponge
2 thick towels
Instructions
Tear the paper into small pieces, or if you are using shredded paper use
it as it is. Place in a large bowl and pour over boiling water. Make
sure there is plenty of water covering the paper and leave to soak for a
few hours, until the water has cooled down. It is not strictly necessary
to do this, but it easier for the blender to pulp the paper if you leave
it to soak for a while. Blend to a fine pulp with a hand blender, or if
you have a tower type blender pour both paper and water into it a bit at
a time and blend.
Fold your towels and place on a work surface and place a J cloth on top.
This is where you will form your sheets of paper.
Fill a washing up bowl about a third full of water. Add a few handfuls
of the pulp and swish it around. Immerse the wire mesh and pull up out
of the water picking up the pulp in the mesh. Let it drain slightly till
all the water has run through.
Turn the mesh over (pulp side down) on to the J cloth. Using the sponge,
soak up the excess water on the wrong back of the mesh by dabbing fairly
firmly on the back of the mesh. Then slowly and carefully lift the mesh;
the paper should stay on the cloth. You can leave your paper as it is,
or you can carry on adding as many layers as needed to make the
thickness of paper required. Leave to dry in a warm room.
If you are making a pile of sheets, you can lay another J cloth over the
paper and layer your paper up like this. When you have about 6-8 layers,
you can then place the whole 'sandwich' between some heavy books to
press.
Adding color and texture with natural materials.
If you would like to color or even texture your paper, without resorting
to the artificial color produced by using tinted paper for your pulp,
you can color it using natural materials. When you have decided what you
are going to use to color and/or texture the paper, you add the
material(s) to the water and swirl around just before you immerse your
mesh. Obviously the color will depend on the material used - and the
amount, but there are many ways you can add color or texture:
Tea leaves - depending on how many you use, will determine the finished
look and feel of your paper.
Onion skins - which can either be crumbled up and added to your paper
pulp, or boiled to give you colored 'juice' which can be added to your
pulp.
Berries - blackberries or other berries can be sieved and the resulting
liquid added to the water.
Beetroot - can give your paper a reddish pink tinge, although quite a
lot of the color will be lost upon evaporation.
You can also make exquisite papers by trapping things like petals,
leaves, doilies etc. between layers of paper. Make a very fine layer by
only adding a small amount of pulp to the water. Place your natural
materials on the paper and add further layers, entrapping the materials.
Another method for adding texture is to trap pieces of string between
layers in swirls or lines. Or leave the ends of string showing at the
edges of the paper and when it is dry, pull up the string, tearing only
the top layer of paper.
Are you itching to start making your own exquisite paper yet? If so,
then here are the instructions for making some cards to start you off.
Obviously card making is one of the more basic things you can do, but
once you get into making your own paper you will carry on to make your
own unique projects.
These greetings cards use sheets of your own hand made paper folded in
half down the center. You have to make this base paper quite thick to
enable it to stand up and take the weight of the decoration.
Then separate shapes are made by actually cutting the mesh into shapes
and casting the paper straight into shapes on the J cloth.
Make the color or texture of pulp required and cut your aluminum mesh
into different shapes. Try hearts, wiggly lines or long thin pieces.
Alternatively you can make squares to stick on the front of the cards
with a flower head or some other decoration. Make the shapes and leave
to dry as already instructed. When all your paper is dry, stick the
required shapes into place on the front of the card, and what I am fond
of doing is lighting a candle and (carefully) scorching round the edges.
About the author
Gail Miller is a writer and artist. Her websites include Gail's Gallery:
http://home.freeuk.net/gails-gallery
Stage Your Home to Sell:
http://homestager.web1000.com
Cash for Crafts:
http://home.freeuk.net/cashforcrafts
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