Magna Art Festival

Saturday August 28th was the Magna Art Festival on Historic Main Street, in Magna Utah. We had a booth and offered demonstrations on paper making. I met so many wonderful people from the area. There seemed to be a great interest in the paper making process. I sold all but three large journals and three small ones. I'm so thankful to the community for their support.

The one resounding question that was asked over and over was "Do you use dryer lint?" I do not use dryer lint. Remember; Garbage in....garbage out. I take great pride in my product and I want you, my customers to have a quality paper you are proud to use.  My paper is made from 100% recycled office paper. I get my color from napkins that are purchased at a discount store. Additives include day lilies, tulips, onions, and even floral petal, but never dryer lint.

Thanks Magna....it was a great day!

And special thanks to my two helpers: Alex and Wade Velasquez....I can't do this without you!

Park Sill Sunday Market

June 27, 2010, I was a featured artist at the Park Silly Sunday market in Park City Utah. Alex, Wade and I spent the day meeting people and making paper. The market continues on Sundays through October. If you have an opportunity to visit Park City, make sure you plan to stop at the market. You won't be disappointed.

Taking Inventory

I'm ready for the Park Silly Sunday Market, June 27th, in Park City Utah. Here's a photo of my large journals, small journals, boxes and paper that will be available for sale. I'm the featured artist and I'll be making paper all day. I hope you can join me...

How Much?

I've always been a "dump and pour" cook. It's probably why most of my baked goods don't turn out. Baking is more of a precise measure, while cooking is a little here, a little there, adjust to taste, texture and desire. "How much?" is question most frequently asked when it comes to paper making...how much paper do you need to make pulp? Much like cooking, it's not an exact measure. The following is an estimate of what I use in my paper making journey.

I usually use paper that has been shredded by an office machine shredder. On occasion, someone will give me paper that hasn't been shredded and I tear it up into tiny pieces, by hand. I place a good handful of shredded paper (about a cup and a half) into my blender.

Next I add about two to three cups of tap water. (Don't panic, my tap water isn't this cloudy. I took this picture after making about four batched.)

I turn my blender on the liquefy/blend setting. Here's the most important factor in making pulp... DO NOT let your blender run for more than 20 seconds at a time. You WILL burn the motor up. I know from first hand experience. I'm currently on my second blender. Sometimes during the blending process, as the paper turns to pulp you get the feeling that nothing is happening. You don't see the "swirl". When that happens, I just add another cup of water.

Making pulp isn't an exact science. But it is a lot of fun. The pulp I made today turned into 40 sheets of paper slated for packaging, later in the week.

I'm still madly preparing for the Park Sill Sunday Market event. I'll be the featured artist on June 27th. All day long, I'll be making paper in my booth and sharing this fabulous hobby with everyone who stops by to say 'hi'.

Check out the Market....it's going to be the most exciting event to date for me!

Daffodil-Tulip Paper

Saturday morning isn't complete until I've pulled a few sheets of paper. This morning, after two cups of coffee, I took the "harvest" mixture from the refrigerator and mixed it with paper pulp. The results were a unique shade of green, with flecks of daffodil stems and tulip leaves.







I pulled 36 sheets of paper and made two sheets of book markers. The inclusions in the book markers are red and yellow tulip petals, and a few stems of some type of weed growing in my neglected garden. After this sheet dries, I'll cut the paper into strips to complete the book marker. The 36 sheets of paper will take about 24 hours to dry enough for me to finish them with the iron. They are slated for journal making.

Harvest

Daffodils and tulips spread a blanket of color across my yard in the early Spring, with a promise of warm weather to follow. Within my very small space 80 tulip bulbs are planted and the hues of yellow, red, pink and purple bring a smile to my face each year.

The wet and windy weather of Utah's version of Spring destroyed the last of my tulips as their short-lived beauty fell away, last weekend. But good news follows as I harvested the stems and leaves for paper making.

You see, the tulip leaves and daffodil leaves have a fibrous content that can be cooked down, blended and turned in to a pulp additive in paper making.  I sat on my front porch, last evening and cut the tulip leaves and daffodil stems into small chunks. I can only imagine that the new neighbors across the street wonder why I was "cutting greens" from my front yard for dinner.

This is a view after about 90 minutes. After all the leaves were cut, I added about 5 tablespoons of baking soda to the pot and about 4 cups of water. The baking soda helps to break down the fiber. It's the closest ingredient to soda ash, that I use. Most articles I've read call for Soda Ash, but I'm really adament about not using a chemical.

The pot was full to the brim when the leaves started cooking. The leaves cooked down for about 2 1/2 hours. I asked my husband to describe the odor/aroma from the cooked leaves. He said "there are no words".

This is the finished harvest. The cooked leaves have been ground to a pulp and will be mixed with paper pulp on Saturday. Once the paper is made, I'll post a few photos....stay tuned!

Contest

I entered a contest!

KSL Channel 5 in Salt Lake City Utah is hosting a contest for inexpensive craft ideas, and I entered one of my handmade journals.

Studio 5 viewers vote online to choose one winner from among the five finalists. Online voting begins Monday, May 10, at 11:00 a.m. and closes Thursday, May 13 at 5:00 p.m.

Visit with website....cast your vote!!

I'll let you know the outcome.

Wanted

My desk is a mess, but there is a good reason 'why'. I'm taking inventory, and there's a good reason 'why'. I'm wanted.

It's a satisfying feeling to know something you make is wanted.

I am thrilled to be part of two upcoming shows; the Main Street Arts Festival in Magna, and the Park Silly Sunday Market, in Park City.

I'll be doing what I love best--making paper and giving people an opportunity to make paper with me. My booth will be full of opportunity to get your hands wet and pull paper. I love giving demonstrations. Its amazing to watch people's eyes light up when they see a sheet of paper appear.

I have also made contact with a store in Park City known as MaryJane's and the great news is that they're interested in carrying my paper. I can't tell you how excited I am to have this opportunity.

So, I'm taking inventory to see if I have enough product for success. I can tell already, I don't....which means.... I've got to get busy.

Last weekend, I went to the Magna Library and found some books of inspiration. I spent this last weekend making paper (two different shades of green). Yesterday, I whipped two copic stitch books together and created a keepsake box to add to the inventory. I figure if I work every weekend for the next three months, I'll have enough to get by...yes, just get by.

I love that each piece I make is made by-hand, literally, by hand. Each piece is unique and special. It's time-consuming and after a weekend of work 30 sheets of paper don't seem to be productive. Still, I wouldn't have it any other way.

I'm wanted....it's a great feeling!

Slump Fest 2010

I can't believe it's been almost two months since I've created anything. I've been in a slump. I love my journals, but I'm still perplexed about parts of the process. Using handmade paper is fun, but it presents a few challenges in the signature binding process. I don't shy from a challenge, but the quality of my work is important to me, and when my journals aren't perfect, I won't put them up for sale. The more I tried to figure out the process, the more I became discouraged, which has led to this absence of creativity that I'm calling "Slump Fest 2010". I'm still not out of a downhill spin concerning the excitement of my journals, but I learned a long time ago, if I don't do SOMETHING creative, I'm not truly happy. So I dug through some old books, read a few articles on the paper making process and found a few creative ideas that have nothing to do with journals. The photos that follow are my newest creation and the oh-hum duldrums are slowing leaving.

This is a cute little keepsake box that you can store your most precious items. I collect all sorts of items, so this box was easy and inexpensive to assemble. I tore pieces of my handmade paper into tiny little squares and glue them to all sides of the box. The inside bottom of the box was a little rough so I jazzed it up with a zebra strip paper. (Maybe, I do have a wild side). Then I placed a thin coat of matte medium over the top of the paper to seal and protect. The trinkets on top are random findings from a scrapbooking drawer...final product-cute!

My other creation is a wall hanging.

I made several sheets of plain handmade paper and cut shapes into the wet sheets, with a bottle cap, a nail head and my fingers. After the paper dried, I cut the pages into several pieces, glued the sheets together in a pattern, layered it with reds, oranges, yellows, and blues acrylic paint and finished it with a coat of matte medium for protection.

There it is hanging in my living room.

I'm still perplexed about my handmade paper journals. But I'm not perplexed about the need to create... and next weekend, I'll try something new, again. Stay tuned for the next chapter....

Am I Crooked?

Today, I took my signatures and made them into a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch journal.



The process (except for the cutting) is easy. Close pins and office clips help secure the signatures until the glue dries. I ran out of gauze that I lay over the glue to give extra security to the binding, so I used cotton lace. Improvising is one of my favorite skills.



As the glue dries, I begin measuring and cutting the book board. Counting fractions and worrying about sharp edges, calculating numbers and drawing straight lines, shake my steady hand. "Measure twice, cut once", says every good carpenter, but does any of it sink in to my eye-hand coordination? No. Yet, I keep trying to stay straight and avoid the crooked lines. The longest part of making a journal is the cutting. Even with a metal ruler, a very sharp blade, I still feel crooked edges creeping into my book board. But I keep trying. Someday, I'll stop seeing crooked and everything will straighten out.



The outside book board is covered with a heavy weight paper. I found a textured white sheet of paper at Reuel's Art Supply.



Since I wanted to make a Valentine's journal, I chose the white paper to cover the book board and a red scrap book paper for the inside. One side of the scrap book paper is glued to the book board to give a finished look to the inside.





The finished project fits nicely in a gift box and it a perfect present to give a loved one to record their thoughts, or to hold precious photographs.