Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Making Valentines



 I spent the weeks leading up to Valentine's Day making paper to use in my handmade cards. The part of this process I love the most is mixing the pulp.  It's kind of like playing in the mud, only the results are a lot prettier.  I'm never sure how the colors are going to turn out until the sheets are dried.  That's part of the magic of the experience for me.



Here's what the pulp looks like as it is being prepared in the blender.  What a vivid color!  Would you call that cerulean blue?

This is the end result of this month's papermaking adventure.  I have a special deckle so that I can make a single sheet of paper that is shaped like a heart.  I tied a piece of vellum to the back in order to achieve a legible writing surface and garnished the front with a bow and a  tiny decorative flower.
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3 comments:

  1. laurieFebruary 15, 2011 at 6:44 PM

    these are beautiful! and what a picturesque place to hang them to dry.

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  2. carol l mckennaMarch 31, 2011 at 12:20 PM

    I tried making handmade paper but never got the consistency right ~ had too much water usually ~ what proportions do you use? Over from Blog Frog and love your blog ~ hope to read more as time goes by ~ ^)^

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  3. Veta Grace NebelApril 11, 2011 at 2:57 PM

    The more watery your pulp is, the thinner your paper will be. I don't have a recipe for the proportion of pulp to liquid, I just adjust the proportions using observation and trial and error. If I had to guess, I would say that two quarts of pulp would be about right for every three gallons of liquid. I use a small mold and deckle, so my biggest sheet of paper is 8 1/2 x 5 1/2. If I used a larger size, I think that I would have more difficulty creating a whole sheet of paper with an even surface...perhaps you will have better luck if you make paper sheets in smaller sizes.

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