Talking Handmade Papers

Happy Saturday everyone.

   My online artist friend Barbara and I have been "talking" handmade papers for a couple days now-isn't the internet wonderful for sharing??  I would be lost without my artists and crafts friends, and groups online as I don't have many friends here where we live now, and most do not craft like I do.

  I wanted to share some links for help and inspiration in case any of you that see this might be interested in making papers-I think they would be wonderful for your art or journal pages.

  I started out with a very simple kit from Grummer a few years back and still serves me perfectly. I love the smaller paper size as well-fits into my kitchen sink easily and  just easier for me to handle. Of course if you know someone handy they can also make you one-but I found this kit was really nice had everything I needed and not expensive.
   I started out saving papers from magazines that were already using recycled papers-and for colors I added bright color tissue papers, also fun to add glitters and dried botanicals to the pulp. In the Grummer kit they had a package of dried dyed flowers that I pressed into the wet papers as well-those were a big hit when I sent out spring cards a couple years ago.

Here is a nice link with instructions and photos

  Now with Barbara's inspiration I have "advanced" to making papers with dried grasses I had found here by one of the ponds, and last year I made papers from fresh corn husks-which I would do again but try to get the papers more flat-keeping them weighted more.

   My next paper making adventure will be using hemp and cotton rag like I mentioned in a previous post 
     I got the hemp roving in the mail yesterday and it feels like the dried grasses.  I found a seller on Etsy that was selling 8 ounces of hemp roving for $10.00 (usa)-roving is for spinners. She had two left so I just bought them both. I couldn't picture how far 8 ounces would go for the papers.
    Hemp needs to be cooked down with the washing soda or soda ash for several hours. cooled rinsed and then they say run through a beater-I just have my dedicated craft blender so hoping it will work-this does not feel much stiffer than the dried grasses I used.

  Here is a video on a larger scale:

I want to mix the hemp with cotton rag-which I have purchased from Grummer.  It should arrive here early next week.  
    One can take old cotton fabrics and break them down and process into the cotton rag pulp-but not sure how that would work without an industrial blender with higher power voltage. Usually an industrial beater is used to break down all of the fibers.
   I could have just bought the cotton rag handmade papers for my eco dye project-but what's the adventure in that?? ha ha

   I found this video of how it used to be done-they were recycling old clothing.

                

Here is another paper making link that I found interesting as she is blending different materials including cotton linters which is a bit different than cotton rag.

   Here is Barbara's explanation of the difference between cotton rag and linters again.  I thought I would include here in this post too so the information would all be together.
"Cotton linters and cotton rag are different things. Cotton linters are a by-product of the cotton harvest. It comes either in a puffy state a bit like cosmetic cotton balls, and also in sheets. I think the sheets need to be soaked before use, so I went with the puffy kind. It can be put into the blender right out of the bag. I think “linters” is a word only used in the harvesting of cotton, so not the same as pulp. 

Cotton rag pulp is from used cotton clothing and rags, so there may be threads in it. I just looked again, and it says “blender friendly for blenders 800 Watts and up”. So I looked at my old blender that I use for crafting, it’s really old and was given to me by someone who didn’t want it, and it’s 825 Watts. You can  look on the bottom of your. If it’s not over 800 Watts, I’d try the cotton rag pulp anyhow and just watch as you start blending to be sure rag threads don’t get caught around the blades. It will probably be OK."

        One can also break down old blue jeans to make cotton pulp as well-but I think one still needs a more heavy duty blender to break down cotton cloth.

Another general how to paper making link

I thought this was fun-and another way to recycle what you already have-make papers from your dryer lint.  link here with lots of photos

      Update from Barbara on using dyer lint--About dryer lint, I enjoyed this Q and A from Grummer’s site. He makes the point dryer lint can be used, but it might not go real well because of synthetic fibers in the lint. However, he makes that point in an amusing way. Copied and pasted:

“9. I saved a whole garbage bag full of lint from my dryer. Can I make paper out of it?

Ah — our favorite question not to answer! Paper is cellulose fibers naturally bonded. If your lint is synthetic, rather than natural fibers, they won’t bond. They might hang together by friction due to their length. Even if enough of the lint fibers are natural, wet lint is horribly hard to disperse in the vat or handmold before forming the new sheet. So unless you can decoratively incorporate lumps of wet lint into your paper, or patiently pull dry lint apart and drop it into natural fiber pulp, it seems to me making paper out of lint is "iffy". But if you can patiently get lint reasonably dispersed, enough of it in a sheet does impart a definite characteristic to a sheet. (This answer is a good example of how to answer a question that is your favorite question not to answer.)”

Another recycle she uses newspaper and small fabric pieces-whirled in blender.

I also have a Pinterest Board for Paper Making

Barbara this one is especially for you-natural dye extracts to dye papers

I wanted to share this link as well They have broken down the whole process explaining with photos, and also how to make your own paper making supplies too.

Also, any of you reading this post that make handmade papers you are most welcome to share links or information in comments that you have found helpful.

     I find paper making very creative and fun. A good way to recycle and end up with something beautiful and useful. The process is rewarding however simple or complex you want to make it.