Adding wildflowers to the pulp mixture

I collected lots of buttercups from meadows around where I live. The buttercups are blooming at this time of year. The best time to collect them is in the afternoon when they do not have any moisture on them. Also when it is a sunny day and has not been raining.

Buttercups added to the paper

The buttercups had been pressed between two baking sheets to allow the moisture to all be removed naturally. Then I placed some heavy books onto them, wildflower books of course. The process of pressing and drying them took around three weeks. I found this to be the best way of preserving the colour. After I finished the process and dried the paper, I found that the buttercups were not secure on the paper. So next I added PVA glue (mod podge) to each flower and allowed that to dry. The glue sets the flower and preserves the colour. I think the effect is very pretty and more practical than the flowers falling off the finished paper. I have tried adding an extra layer of pulp over the flowers, but found that this covers them and therefore their natural colour does not shine through.

Handmade paper displayed on mold and deckle

The art of papermaking is very mindful and I love the idea of trying out new things such as adding the glue at the end. I also enjoy holding the paper to the light and seeing all the different pieces of shredded paper that are in the mix.

Holding paper to the light and seeing all the shredded paper

Comments

Starting my journey of making paper at home

L itter picking on a local beach is really where my journey began. I decided to volunteer with primary school children to collect discarded plastic and the like. I felt really proud of myself. I had always wanted to operate a litter picker. I really didn't expect to find much as I frequented this beach on many occasions and had never noticed things that weren't supposed to be there. W ithin the first few hours we had managed to fill so many bags of rubbish that the local Council sent a vehicle to pick the waste up. I found a sharps container full used syringes, so many plastic bottles and discarded balloons, bits of plastic that I was shocked. I grew up with the Wombles of Wimbledon, who were ahead of their times. Picking litter of Wimbledon Common, public funded signs and message telling you to take your litter home. Under no account drop litter in the streets. The one items that was commonly seen everywhere was discarded pull ...

Green Reveal

Twenty four hours is a long time to wait to see the results. I am running out of room to dry all the pages and decided to try stacking the sheets inside old paper. Paper sheets stacked onto each other The bottom sheets didn't really dry and so I placed them around my desk and window ledges. Having a sneaky peek to see if they have dried All good so far even though the sheets are not properly dried I was happy the new method of using pencil shavings has worked. The effect on some of the sheets was amazing. Especially with the little bits of colour that came out of the pencil sharpener. I used watercolour pencils so that the colours would not run into my paper. Watercolour pencil shavings The sheets produced this time had a lovely hint of green. The paper was so much thinner than last time as I had reused some of the old paper and added it to the new pulp. I did this by getting out all the water using a strainer. I then mashed th...

Made it!

I added some petals from the garden. The paper is different sizes and thickness. I am happy with the end product. I tried several ways including different screens and how much mulch to include. The old envelopes I used can be seen in the final product, which I quite like. I did run out of drying areas, I only have so many window ledges and tables. Right next time I am going to make some seed paper and see how that turns out.

Lemon Tree Paper Creator

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