Record the flower name (if you know it!), where you found it, and what month it bloomed (for instance, mid-July). Then, if you find something you really like, you can look for it again next year.
Leaves and garden foliage are as striking in handmade paper as they were in lawn and garden.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What are the best flowers to use for papermaking?
A: Actually, any flowers can be used, but some petals bleed color. Roses are an example. Many flowers fade over time. Consider parts that are sufficiently small or formed in such a way that they can be successfully embedded. Ferns are quite dependable. Flowers likely to retain color are coral bells, pink and blue larkspur, bachelor buttons, red or purple bee balm (monarda), marigolds, sunflowers, angel wings (from potpourri), and most any color of statice.
Botanical Difficulties
Botanicals frequently float to the top and thus evade becoming tied down to the sheet’s surface. While pulp is draining, carefully push the botanical beneath the surface of undrained pulp. Be careful not to push so hard that fibers already on the screen are disturbed, which could seriously or fatally flaw the sheet.
Some botanicals leach out plant elements during sheet drying, creating a corona of stainlike color in the dried sheet. This can be attractive or unattractive. It sometimes seems the less time the botanical is wet, the less the corona. For such foliage, drying with an iron would be best. With some foliage, soaking ahead of time seems to help. Some foliage seems to leach hardly at all. Consequently, it’s difficult to generalize. Making test sheets can be helpful. Dry one sheet slowly under pressure and a second sheet with an iron. Soak some of the same foliage in advance to see whether presoaking helps. Again, personal experience and observation are your best teachers. May nature be kind to all of us.
The Tissue Issue
Let’s admit it, tissue as an “in use” product just isn’t all that glamorous. It doesn’t appear in majestic frames hanging on the walls of upscale classic art museums. All in all, it’s just sort of a ho-hum item, like “Pass me a tissue, I’ve got to sneeze.” But, in hand papermaking, tissue paper is an exciting way to add bright colors. I thought I had exhausted the possibilities with napkins, but working with tissue has really set my creative juices buzzing. Use tissue in the same way as for napkinization (see page 65), and let the fun begin!
Earth Day Project: Street Sheet
The point of Earth Day is to do good to, and for, the environment. One part of this is to limit stuffing junk into the Earth through landfills. As a symbol of limiting landfills, and to honor your Earth, make a “street sheet.”
A street sheet gathers up odds and ends that would normally be discarded and keeps them out of the Earth by putting them into a sheet of paper. What might be found in a street sheet? Some of mine show ribbons, gum/candy wrappers, threads, window screen bits, grass clippings, flower stems, and what looks like an old shoestring.
Making a street sheet is just like embedding botanicals in paper (see page 66), but instead of adding botanicals to pulp in the deckle or vat, you add street items. This year, observe Earth Day by making a street sheet, or at least recycle some landfill-bound paper into a beautiful new handmade sheet.
On Earth Day, what you find on the street goes into your sheet.
Internal Embedment
A sheet of paper is made up of little individual fibers. A variety of things can be mixed with the fibers and made a part of the sheet. These nonfiber additions, like colorful threads, can make the sheet beautiful and distinctive. But do not add too much nonfiber material, or the papermaking fiber’s ability to keep the sheet together will be destroyed.
Materials can be added to the fibers in the blender when paper is being recycled into pulp. If you want to maintain the shape of something, such as leaves, keep them out of the blender or they will shred into small bits and pieces. It’s best not to add string or threads in the blender. They tend to wrap around the blender blades. Experience will show the best time to add specific materials.
When you make this sheet, add materials for embedment after the source paper has been run in a blender.
Step 1. Run paper in a blender to make pulp.
Step 2. Pour the pulp into containers and add many short and longer pieces of different-colored threads to each container. (Threads show up nicely; fabric will work as long as the pieces aren’t too big or thick.) Stir the threads into the pulp.
Step 3. Form a new sheet of paper using your papermaking method of choice (see chapter 3). With the pour method, as you pour the pulp into the mold, threads and other materials tend to migrate toward the sides. Watch for this and use something like a plastic kitchen scraper to move the threads into the body of the paper.
More Experiments
For different batches, try some of the following options:
Place one or two dried leaves of trees or flowers into the blender with the paper to be recycled. If you have tree leaves, use the stems also. Green leaves can be used, but often this results in a greenish tinge around the foliage pieces in the final sheet. But you might like that effect!
To combine threads, ribbon lengths, leaves, and grass in a sheet, first put leaves and grass into the blender with paper to be recycled. Then add the threads and ribbons to the pulp when it is in containers just before pouring. Ribbon and thread tend to float; they might need to be pushed down below the surface of the draining water in order to be made secure in the new sheet.
Try glitter. Add it either in the blender and/or in the containers just before pouring (for more about glitter, see page 76).
The Confetti Sheet
There is something about the word “confetti” that excites the mind. Can you put confetti, with all of its innate fun-and-frolic connotation, on the surface of your handmade paper? Yes, but keep in mind a prime personality trait of confetti; bits tend to fly away when the dried sheet is handled. In most instances, though, this tendency is not so serious as to cause one to totally ignore all the fun a confetti sheet can provide.
So give it a try. Add the confetti bits to the pulp after blending. For best results, rock the hand mold as the pulp is draining to encourage the pulp to wash over the confetti bits and hold them to the paper.
Chapter 5 Pulp Magic
Once you’ve mastered the basics of papermaking, then the fun really begins! This chapter covers a variety of ways you can work with pulp, including ways to add color and glitter, and how to layer it and paint with it. As you practice these techniques, you will walk through the worldwide wonderland of waste paper!
You will find amazing colors — pastels and hues of a thousand shades residing in dyed fibers. On these papers, you will find expensive and exotic inks. The entire world of waste paper is as mixable as the colors on an artist’s palette. You can find gleam and glisten in paper/foil combinations and in the heavy metallic inks that shatter into a thousand points of light in the blender. Take the walk.
Getting Color: Dyeing vs. Recycling
People often ask me how to dye paper, and my initial reaction is, “If you want to make decorative and artistic papers, why spend your time on dyeing?” All the colors, hues, and pastels of dyed fibers you can ever imagine are in your wastebasket, for free. And remember: Wastepaper does not mean waste fiber. These fibers have been professionally dyed with high technology and expert supervision at pulp or paper mills. You are not likely to match their quality at home for some time, if ever.
Also, color for handmade paper is readily available by recycling papers printed with colored ink. Take time to notice subdued or brilliant inks on papers. Then put those colors to use by adding them to your handmade papers.
However, if you want to try your hand at dyeing, or if you absolutely must have what some natural dye offers, just keep in mind that the in depth world of dyeing is complex, made up of pots, pans, multi-hour soaks, hot and cold water, acidity and alkalinity, plant and berry squishing and squashing, straining, lots of time, some expense, and m
ore.
If all of this interests you, check other papermaking books for specific recipes (see Resources, page 196). Other sources of information are arboretums, botanical gardens, and paper mills. Watch for any area papermaking dye workshops.
Glitter and Glisten
Many people respond to glitter in paper. Soft or brilliant reflections from a paper surface, as it is turned at different angles to the light, can surprise, please, and delight. You don’t need to buy glitter, although you can if you like. Glittery effects can be achieved by using a number of recycled materials. Simply stated, foil is where you find it, attached to or separate from paper. If you see it, try it.
A problem can arise when using foils: The shiny bits can be pounded into small, dense wads by the blender. Sometimes, this doesn’t matter, especially if drying is done without heat and under considerable pressure. When foil wads do become a problem, it can help to reduce the amount of time the foil part of the paper is in the blender. Total flatness of foil pieces can best be achieved by cutting the foil to desired sizes with scissors and adding them to the pulp in the deckle, after the pulp has been blended (see Surface Embedment, page 64).
Glitter also comes in near-powder form in bottles, available at your local craft store or online. This small-size flake or near-powder glitter can be added in either the blender or the deckle. The blender affects some types, but not others.
Fine glitter, available at craft stores and online, is retained when mixed in with liquid pulp (above).
Glitter from foil in a recycled envelope stays put in the finished sheet (right).
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why doesn’t glitter stay in my paper?
A: It is just resting on the surface rather than actually a part of the sheet. In the pulp in the deckle, glitter tends to float. To tie glitter down, there must be fibers over at least part of each glitter particle. Putting glitter in the blender can help, as does vigorously rocking the mold in all directions as the water drains. Try putting very few fibers in the deckle with glitter and literally forming a very thin sheet of fibers and glitter. Then pulp layer (see page 78) the thin sheet onto the surface of your regular sheet. Tying glitter securely into a sheet takes attention. Tying down 100 percent of the glitter may never happen.
Pulp Layering
Just as single fibers bond to single fibers in the presence of water, batches of fibers bond to other batches of fiber if enough water is present. This means you can make a sheet, remove no water from it, make a second sheet of a different color, shape, or size, remove no water from it either, and put it down as a layer on the surface of the first sheet. If the two layers are then handled as a single sheet for dewatering, pressing, and drying, the layers will in fact become a single sheet by the end of the process.
There can be as many layers as the papermaker can handle, but water must always be present. Remove no water until all layers are in place. Pulp layering opens broad horizons of art and decorative expression, especially in association with recycling, which provides endless types and colors of pulp, free and instantly.
For this technique, you will make two separate sheets. One will be regular-sized, and the second will be smaller, which requires a second, smaller mold. This can be a small tin can, cookie cutters with high sides, or any number of found items. You also can custom-cut a template (see Handmade Molds and Templates, page 80). You will be making the second sheet before the first sheet is taken off the papermaking screen, so have an appropriate size square of window screen ready for the second sheet.
Step 1. Make a sheet of paper with your technique of choice, using a single pulp color.
Step 2. Lift the new sheet and the papermaking screen straight up off the support screen and place them down on a surface that will catch any draining water. Do not press any water from the new sheet. Set up a second papermaking screen for the second sheet.
Step 3. Blend pulp of a different color in your blender. Because the second sheet is much smaller, you will need much less pulp.
Step 4. Make the second sheet of paper in the smaller mold (see Second Sheet Option, on the next page).
Step 5. Begin to “layer” this second new sheet onto the surface of the first new sheet by lifting the papermaking screen and new sheet off the support screen.
Step 6. Hold the second new sheet on its screen in mid-air and turn them over (so the papermaking screen is on top and the new sheet is on the bottom). The new sheet will not fall off unless it is very thick. Lower the smaller new sheet carefully down onto the surface of the first, larger sheet. (You can place the smaller sheet wherever you wish on the larger sheet’s surface.)
Step 7. Press a sponge down firmly on the top papermaking screen. Wring water from the sponge and repeat, pressing over the entire surface.
Step 8. Lift the top papermaking screen carefully. The smaller sheet should separate from the papermaking screen and stay bonded to the surface of the larger sheet.
Note: If the smaller sheet tends to rise with the screen, lay the screen back down and apply pressure again with the sponge. Some pulps tend to stick to the papermaking screen. If separation still fails to occur after more pressure has been applied, either try to peel the new sheet off, or simply wash the sheet off the screen and make a new sheet with new pulp from a different type of paper.
Step 9. Continue with the regular papermaking process (see page 55) just as though the two-layer sheet were a single sheet.
Any time you make a separate layer of pulp, remember that the layer will be flipped over and reversed on the paper background. This is especially important when making letters. Plastic letter templates (see Resources) can make the job even easier. These letters are from a Jello-cutting alphabet found in a second-hand store.
Second Sheet Option
You might want to set up a second screen for your second pulp layer. Lay a support screen or a piece of fine hardware cloth over a bucket, large bowl, or cookie sheet with sides. This provides an open surface on which to work with one or more mold shapes, allowing plenty of room for a flat template (see page 80) or other options. You can use the same arrangement for pulp painting.
Handmade Molds and Templates
Molds. As noted previously, the size and shape of your paper depends on the size and shape of the mold you use — and the possibilities are endless! In addition to tin cans and other recycled containers, you can use cookie cutters and aspic cutters for creative shaping of both papers and pulp layers. To fully customize your own unique shapes, see the instructions on the next page.
Templates. Templates are an efficient way to make paper in a shape you want. A template has the same outer measurement as the deckle, and it slides between the deckle and papermaking screen (see page 59). Templates for standard size envelopes are available for purchase, but you can make your own from foam core, wood, or other materials with sufficient rigidity and thickness. My favorite recycled approach is to trace a shape onto food board (the Styrofoam-like material under meats and pastries from the grocery store) and cut it out with a battery-operated hot wire foam cutter, readily available at craft stores. You can use a utility knife instead, but hot wire makes a cleaner cut. See Resources for a few template options.
To make paper with a template, slide the template into place and form a sheet in the usual way. Carefully lift the template off the papermaking screen before the first step of water removal. Nudge any fibers clinging to the template onto the newly formed paper with a finger or toothpick. Press and dry in the usual way.
Custom Brass Form
Sometimes, it’s impossible to find just the right cookie cutter shape for an inspired project. You can make your own metal form with brass strips from the hardware store. Brass strips are bendable and corrosion-resistant. And, they’re recyclable!
Instructions
1. Draw or trace a shape on a piece of paper.
2. Place the vertical edge of the brass strip along the outline. Work the strips into shape, using your hands where possib
le. Tight angles and curves require the use of the pliers. Note: Do not begin at a corner. Start on a gentle curve or straight area of the design where it is easier to glue strips together. Plan for a 1″ overlap at the ends, or any time you need to attach two strips together to make a larger mold.
3. Mix epoxy and spread it on overlapping ends of the strips. Hold glued section together with a small clamp, as advised by epoxy package directions. If the area is too small to clamp, wrap masking tape around the glued section to secure it. You can continue making bends once the glue has set.
Materials
Paper and pencil
Shape template (optional)
Brass strips: several 12″ long, ½″ wide, 0.016 thickness
Large needle nose or flat nose pliers
Epoxy
Small clamp
Masking tape
An Option to Brass
You can also cut strips from a disposable aluminum pie tin and shape them as desired. These pie tin strips make good molds because they are very sturdy, but still flexible enough to bend into interesting shapes.
Wall Art
When it comes to pulp layering (see page 78), anything goes, from simple to complex. The white bird was made with handmade pie-tin molds and dabs of black pulp. Once the two layers were pressed together and dried, holes were punched on both sides of the top, with yarn added for hanging.
Arnold E. Grummer Page 6