Advice from a Cardinal

Hi everyone, I hope you are having a wonderful week and hopefully got to enjoy a 3-day weekend. Don't you love just having some extra time to create something with your hands? Something you can hold and look at and say "I made that!" Well, that is how I feel about my little Paper Casted booklet, 'Advice from a Cardinal'.

I had so much fun making this and it all came together rather accidentally because there are times after I make a sheet of paper that I have a handful of pulp left over, so what do I do? I put it in a heart cookie mold and make a paper casting. I've been collecting hearts for quite awhile now. They all tend to be different thicknesses and different colors so I just picked some that were similar to make my booklet with.

One way to tie them all together is to give each one the same treatment. I took some watercolor and painted the edges the same color and then came back and added glue and glitter to give them a yummy sugar cookie appearance. Now my big tip here is that you are working with paper that is called Water-leaf, which means it has no sizing and is very absorbent so each time you add a wet element     ( watercolor, glue etc. ) you need to wait in between these steps and make sure the paper has thoroughly dried or it could easily tear and fall apart.

Also to create uniformity, I printed out the sayings using the same font and added little cut outs from magazines to illustrate each sentiment.

Now if you're asking what came first, the box or the booklet? Then let's say the box did but I was darn fortunate that the hearts fit so perfectly into it! I made a short slide show video of the box and you can watch it if you like.

I just love this little booklet, full of yummy texture, you might notice that the top page of the booklet  has Impatient flowers inclusions in it, and the last page I has buttercup petals. Making your own Garden Paper forms a wonderful bond between recycling paper and mother nature.

Make sure to check out Jean's mixed media wall hanging that she created with her paper casted heart! There are so many things you can create...right at your fingertips!

So be like a Cardinal and stand out from the crowd by making your own handmade paper.