Arnold Grummer's Design Team Blog

I know, I know—Halloween isn't even here and I'm posting about Christmas. But, it's not too early to start making decorations. For this piece I used the Christmas Tree mold from Arnold Grummer's. These molds are great for paper pulp, but this time I used Creative PaperClay . I kneaded the clay and then pressed it into the mold, taking care to press the clay into all the intricate design areas.  Christmas Tree mold I removed the casting from the mold before it was completely dry, and set in right side up on a flat surface to finish drying. Then, I trimmed the casting with a craft knife and filed any rough edges. Trimmed casting Next, I sealed the piece with PPA from USArtQuest . After the PPA dried I covered the piece with USArtQuest's Duo Adhesive . This unique adhesive goes on white, but its real magic happens when it dries clear. It becomes tacky  enough for gilding, powdered mica pigments, foiling or even glitter. I chose to cover the tree with sil

Paper is amazing. I'm not talking about that 8 1/2" by 11" college ruled stuff you've used half your life, I'm talking about handmade paper. Handmade paper is an ancient art form steeped in history. It's beautiful, versatile and useful. And it's so fun and easy a child could make it with just a little help from Mommy. But there are plenty of grown ups making paper too. This week I think the world lost some of it's sparkle with the passing of Arnold Grummer. But his legacy lives on with every sheet of handmade paper we make, because when it comes to paper making I think the whole planet would agree Arnold Grummer was, and always will be the go to guy. His superior knowledge of paper making was equaled only by his commitment to bring paper making and paper crafting to the masses in an easy, fun and affordable way.  I'm a huge fan of Arnold Grummer and his work, so when I wanted to make my own paper I went directly to his website  arnoldgrummer.c

Some of you have heard, the Lord called Arnold Grummer home yesterday. His life was filled with family, faith, love, and a passion he shared with you, papermaking. We'd love any who wish to send a message to our family or have a story to share to do so here. Mabel, Greg and I (Kim) thank you in advance for the love, prayers, support and many kindnesses that come to us because of him. We know he belongs to more than just the Grummer family. ♥

I've created . . . an owl! Enjoy this Halloween video. Instructions for the card below.     To make the speckled paper for the front wing, I added Arnold Grummer yellow anglewings botanicals to white pulp. The tree branch is made from magazine paper-- so, recycled but not handmade. The rest of the owl is made with handmade paper. To get the black outlines on the wing, face and branch, glue the cut out peices onto a slightly larger peice of black paper and trim very close to the shape   

I love working with different mediums as much as I love finding different ways to use things.  Did you know that you can use Arnold Grummer's Casting Molds not only with paper but also with clay?  I have had some fun experimenting with the molds recently and think that this would be a great project for anyone who enjoys working with paper and paint or making things out of clay. Items Used: Arnold Grummer's Mini Texture Casting Mold Scrap Paper Sculpey III Polymer Clay Liquitex Heavy Gloss Gel Medium I started out using Arnold Grummer's Mini Texture Mold and some scrap paper to make my casts that I use for the stamps.  The great thing about making the stamps out of paper is that when you are done with them they can be recycled. Before using them you need to seal them because the paper is porous.  This will also help your texture stamps last longer.  This is what they look like after a thin coat of heavy gloss gel medium. You can use them to add te

Many a beautiful paper can be made using  Arnold Grummer Paper Making kit s!! In this Design team post I will share with you the fact that there is a beautiful place for everything... especially when creating handmade papers!!  I recently had a small vase of Black Eyed Susan's and instead of throwing them into the composter.. I recycled the dried flowers into the handmade papers I created !! That got me thinking and wondering what else  might I be throwing away, that I can toss in the blender~ Kind of like a refuge pot! The next day I made my coffee and wondered about using the coffee grounds in the paper and "Voila" adding the coffee to the blender with the papers worked really well.. And who knew that the papers  would smell like a great cup of coffee!! I even used the coffee filter! The first paper on the right on top  is the coffee paper! Next the dried grated orange rind from fresh squeezed OJ!! :) When you think about it.. So many things ca

This is a great autumn project! I created a piece of jewelry from a a handmade paper casting. I used Arnold Grummer's paper casting strainer ,  maple leaf mold , cotton linter squares , and copper sprinkles . Following the directions in the linter package, I used four linter squares—enough to cover the mold. I blended the linter squares with three cups of water, added a teaspoon of sprinkles, and gave the pulp mix one more quick whir in the blender. Next, I strained the pulp into the casting strainer, pressed out some of the excess water, and plopped the casting pulp onto the mold. After I had pressed the pulp into all areas of the mold, I used a sponge to press out the excess water. Then, I carefully took the casting out of the mold and set it on a flat surface to air dry. Drying took about a day. I used scissors to cut the leaf shape out of the paper casting. I painted the top of the leaf with PPA from USArtQuest. I used a generous amount, but not so much that the paper

Pop-up cards are fun, but I've always felt like I needed an engineering degree to make them. That is until I found  Playful Pop-Up Cards by Takami Suzuki . She makes creating a pop-up card easy. I think all 25 of her projects are doable, great looking cards that someone would love to give, or receive. I wanted to take this project up a notch by adding the element of handmade paper. Handmade paper is beautiful and has a wonderful texture that will really make your pop-up cards pop!  Arnold Grummer  is without a doubt the go to source for paper making and paper crafting supplies, and he offers several free videos showing you how to  make your own amazing handmade paper.  I used the  Arnold Grummer's Papermill Complete Kit  to make the paper for this project. Here's what you'll need to make this pop-up card: Eight 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 inch sheets of handmade paper in the following colors... Dark blue (cut to 5 1/4 by 7 inches) Light blue (cut to 5 by 6 3/4 inches)