I have one more large deep freezer to take everything out and defrost-put back in. I think I will do that after our 2 pm meal.
Last night when I had a baseball game on I thought I would see if my florescent ceiling light would turn on-it doesn't most hot summer days. It did-happy dancing-so I ended up listening to the game and setting up my April journal page til 1 am in the morning. Felt good-of course this morning the light won't come on again.
Next time we make it to the big city we will pick up a different ceiling light set up.
I got the cotton rag and kona pulps from Grummer yesterday so I can now proceed with my hemp-cotton paper project.
Some sites I have read says this needs a very long cooking time in the soda ash or washing soda-up to 4 hours, some say a couple hours. I am thinking perhaps since I am using hemp roving-ready for spinning perhaps the cooking time will be less- This is all a new paper making adventure for me. The purpose is to use this paper to eco dye plant materials on to it.
I decided to cut across the roving in small cuts and then fluff that apart. My hemp is in 8 ounce balls so I was trying to eyeball about half or less.
This is an interesting fiber-at first it feels a little stiff scratchy like jute or sisal is but then no it is actually very very soft-like that eco dyed paper I shared with you.
There were a few stiffer plant materials that would fall out during spinning, but since I like character and textures in my papers I decided to leave these in-I just cut them up smaller as this will not break down in the cooking process with the soda ash
Fluffed up I just used my fingers to seperate the cut fibers
In this last photo you can see some of those stiffer plant fibers
Instead of measuring by weight of fiber for the soda ash-which I think in paper making is too strong of a solution, I am using one tablespoon per quart of water that I add to the pot.
I am going to start cooking this after our meal, and multi task with cleaning out the deep freezer-sounds like a plan ha ha
stay tuned
So glad you had a fun evening listening to the game and getting crafty (grin!). It's so interesting to see how you are making this paper and it sounds like you are having fun too, always great to multi-task ...lol 😉. I'm looking forward to see how it turns out, have a great day! J 😊 x
ReplyDeletethanks so much Jo--You have an awesome day as well-hugs
DeleteYay, she’s off and running! I’ve been eager to watch this paper happen. I know every step up to the eco dyeing part. That will teach me something new!
ReplyDeletesomething came up when I was getting ready to start all this-so I may just work on cooking down the hemp tonight
DeleteIt sounds like you are going to have a fun day. I hope all your plans go well and you start more stages of your paper making. Interesting for us to see the progress you are making.
ReplyDeleteYvonne xx
thanks Yvonne
DeleteFirst, I can't believe I missed a post. I didn't even see, much less have time to read, the post on crock pots/slow cookers. My friend Sally has one of those oval ones. I have FIVE, all have removable ceramic inserts. One small one I use to melt beeswax for mixed media art. The two large ones sit and collect dust most of the time, but the two small ones get called into service, along with my fondue pot, whenever I make fondue. One is for cheese, one for bullion (MUCH healthier than oil), and one for chocolate. Yep, I love to throw fondue parties and crock pots or whatever they are called serve a great purpose.
ReplyDeleteNOW, I look forward to seeing how well you make out with this latest paper. I hope it holds up well, especially since it will be "cooked" once to make paper and once during the eco-dyeing process. Please keep us informed.
I hate cleaning out freezers. I need to do my big one in basement and the one that is with the frig. You have my sympathy there. And I am very curious about this paper making project. can't wait to see the next step. Hugs-Erika
ReplyDeletefreezers are a big job-the most time consuming is getting the deep freezers emptied. I didn't get to it today as we decided to drop by our friends for a bit.
DeleteI am cooking the hemp tonight-we'll see what happens
Hope everything goes as planned. Can't wait to see your finished papers.
ReplyDeletethanks much-still cooking right now
DeleteI am so looking forward to seeing how this turns out. I think I have come to the right place to learn! Good luck!
ReplyDeletewe will learn together-thank you
DeleteIt looks a lot of work. Looking forward to see how it looks. Have a great day, hugs, Valerie
ReplyDeletethis one I think will take more time to achieve to break down the fibers-as I am using just a blender instead of a heavy duty beater to break it all down--a challenge to achieve
DeleteReally looking forward to see how it will turn out then! You are amazing to try so much fdifferent things to make paper! Awesome Kathy!
ReplyDeleteHugs Susi
thanks Susi-hugs back
DeleteThis looks veeeeeeeery interesting! I will be waiting to see your creation, Kathy. Kisses, my friend.
ReplyDeleteTo finally find time to answer two of your questions you have asked over the past couple of days:
ReplyDeleteFirst, I have made FAUX batik. I hand dyed some fabric using Staz-on reinkers, then added beeswax to the fabric. I then crumpled and dipped the fabric and beeswax mix in watered down black paint. When dry, I smoothed it out and ironed using newsprint (NOT newspapers). It turned out very similar to the real deal, in my opinion.
Your second question was "did you cook your cotton rag with the washing soda first?" I assume you were talking about the denim jeans I cut up. I cut them into about 1/4 inch pieces, which took forever, then threw them in my blender with nothing but water and a bit of tissue for added strength. Like you, I had trouble getting the dip to work properly. I ended up filling the pulp into candy molds that are dedicated to polyclay, etc., not candy.
I hope that helps.
very interesting-looking forward to see it continue:)
ReplyDelete