[Artemisia] Paper Making in the Keep-Supply List

[VLJ1930 at aol.com]

Disclaimer-above average level  of modern methods involved.
I will have a handout  with additional information to give out on Sunday.

Supplies---
Flat regular  kitchen spongue
Rubber gloves (if you want) your hands will be in water a  lot!
Scissors, ruler, pencil, notebook
Plastic or rustproof dishpans,  tubs, Rubbermaid flats—at least 8"
deep and big enough around to submerge  paper frame (my frames are
small 5"x7" and 8"x10")
I will be bringing  several tubs but if you have one you may want to
bring  it.

Blender to pulp paper scraps (Adne has been working  with fibers so I
am not sure what is recommended to pulp them?)
I have one  blender but more would help.(i believe Adne has a couple)

Old  towels, brown paper sacks, stacks of old newspapers for  moisture
absorbing layers.

Old cotton sheets torn  into pieces a little larger than the size of
paper you want to make, felts or  those blue and white reusable
cleaning cloths to use as couching  material.

Used paper of your choice---
Computer  printer paper, watercolor paper, any paper as long as it can
mush into pulp.  (newsprint paper is NOT good for that but is good for
couching and drawing  moisture out of the freshly made sheets)
Magazines and slick papers do not  work well but can be chopped up for
added interest in the pulp. (I have used  leftover color paper flyers
before and will try to find the examples to show  you how neat they
come out.)

You can buy cotton linter sheets at  places like Micheals that can be
pulped up. I have not worked with it myself  but have gotten some for
me to add to my paper to see what it does. I believe  it comes with
some kind of an additive so check that carefully?
Adne has  looked more into fibers so if you are considering that, you
should probably  talk to him for advice.

Additives to make your paper  fun---
You can try anything that is small enough to be embedded in  about an
1/8" of paper pulp.
Spices, wildflowers, dried autumn leaves, cut  up reeds, sawdust, pine
needles, ferns, old packaged seeds, grass, herbs,  potpourri, tea, tissue
paper for color flecks, fibers, tiny fabric scraps,  glitter (but this
is messy and gets into everyone else's paper) etc, etc,  etc. (I made
paper for my hairdresser association officers once from our  old
budgets that I pulped up. You could see a letter or a number here  or
there in the paper…it was kinda cool)

Construction paper and the  colored art tissue paper are suggested for
adding color but I have not used  them myself. I am sure you could use
natural dyes but I have not researched  how?

(I am researching sizing because I want to reconstitute my  watercolor
paper scraps and get a surface I can paint or draw  on.)


Homework---(if you chose to join us)
Cut up  your paper (about 1" sizes or smaller?) or shred your fabric
pieces ahead of  time
Soak the paper scraps in hot/boiling water to break down and  soften
them. You can also soak them overnight.

We will consider doing  further experiments in papermaking using plant
materials and more period  methods AFTER we see how this goes!

We plan to start at 10 a.m. so Adne,  Ygrainne and I will start on
ours then and get the ball rolling as quickly as  we can?

RSVP to Baron Adne on anything pertaining to the `beast burning'  portion of
the day.  I don't cook!!!
 
humbly,
Vígdís




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