My Journey in Book and Paper Making

Shopping for anything, especially clothes has never been an enjoyment, for me. But a trip to a library, or a book store or even a craft store fills me with pleasure. I love paper.

As a child, in the 1960's, my mom would occasionally treat my siblings and I to a special treat at a local department store, challenging us to spend no more than a dollar on our purchase. My selection was usually a book of paper dolls, filled with color and texture and imagination. Those paper dolls became the start of my obsession with paper.

I love the texture and smell of handmade paper. I love single sheets of paper, in multitude of colors. In grade school, I would look at the crisp, white sheet of paper on my desk and wish I never had to ruin its new-ness.

I love paper in books. Journals are my favorite, especially line-less journals that give me the ability to write outside the lines of conformity. I love to record a journey or an event in a journal. Line-less paper offers itself to my free-form thoughts. I'm not a scrapper, although I have a great appreciation for those who enjoy scrap booking as a creative outlet.

For me, I want simple. And yet, because of my love of paper, I've taken on the task of learning how to make paper and journals by hand.

Several years ago, on a television show called 'be simple' or 'be creative' (I can't recall the show's name, anymore). The host made a very simple paper book by folding several sheets of white construction paper in half. She painted each page in a different color, with different shapes and designs on each page. She cut notches in the folded side and then looped thin wooden skewers through the notches. To secure the notches, she wrapped twine

I was so fascinated by the creativeness of the booklet that I set myself to make one. I was pleased with my results, but had no idea what to do with it, so I packed it away in a box.

Last year, a friend of mine, who I hadn't seen in a few years, experienced a horrific car accident while she was visiting her parents in Oklahoma. I wanted to send her something special, but just couldn't decide what was appropriate. As I was digging through my boxes, I found this booklet that I had made. On each of the pages, I placed a photograph that meant something to me and scribed my thoughts. The pages came to life and I was so pleased with the end results that I wanted to create more.

There were design flaw in the original, so I started researching book binding on the Internet, which lead me to researching handmade paper, which lead me to my current project of making handmade paper, handmade note cards and handmade journals.

This blog will represent my experiences, my thoughts and my journey in to the world of paper.