Arnold Grummer's Design Team Blog

This little project is something that could be used as a small photo album for any occasion by just changing the type of handmade paper and paper casted embellishment.  It could also become a small journaling book or mini scrapbook keepsake. Prepare two small sheets of handmade paper using the pour method and follow the instructions for completing the sheets. Refer to this video  LINK  for the basics.  The paper created for this project had small bits of various pink shades of shredded papers and some  iridescent flakes . Begin with a  "zig-zag" book .  Cut the two chipboard pieces and the folded insert in half. One set of of the chipboard pieces is covered with handmade papers.  The remaining two where covered with pieces of  coordinating fabric.  To decorate the book covers, choose a coordinating ribbon and place them onto the front and back covers in any pattern desired.  Glue the fabric covered boards to the pa...

I love working with stretched canvas.  A recent sale at Michaels brought me to purchase quite a few for my classroom and my studio.  This morning I woke to a vision of a spring canvas, layered with handmade papers, paint, a bit of stitching, some polymer clay, and a few paper flowers that I created for an upcoming article in "Just Jewelry" magazine.  I hope you enjoy this tutorial. Materials: Arnold Grummer's Papermill Pro LuminArte' Twinkling H2Os blender 8"x8" stretched canvas (or whatever size you have handy) brush The Ultimate! glue Procedure: 1) Following the instructions with Papermill Pro create 3 batches of paper pulp.  Sprinkle a bit of the powdered Twinkling H2Os paint into each batch (one color obviously per batch).  Once blended, pour pulp onto paper making screen placed on top of the plastic grid.  Spread the pulp into an even layer using your fingers.  Follow instructions for pressing out moisture and creating a sheet o...

Memories are a very important thing to hold onto for every person.  I will be collecting some very special memories through photos this summer and wanted a nice book to keep them in so I created this book using a sheet of handmade paper.  This would also make a great book for any mom to keep her Mother's Day memories in, too.     I wanted to add a lot of color to the first sheet so I made 2 bowls of pulp and used a ladle to pour each color into the deckle in various spots.  If you see spots where one color is more dominant and you don't want that just add some of the second color into that spot.  Make sure you have enough pulp in the deckle to create a full sheet of paper.   This is what the sheet looks like before it is finished off using the basic instructions .  Isn't the color of it gorgeous?  Since I will be using this book this summer, I wanted it to be bright colors so I used scraps of leftover card stock that I had fr...

©Michele Emerson-Roberts 2015 I love this angel mold and made several extra full castings the day I made the casting for the Angel Baby card (where I used only a part of the mold). A dear friend that I will be visiting next month has a beautiful guest bathroom done in shades of royal blue with lots of blue glass bottles, jars etc. She is also a collector of Angels. I purchased this decretive heart shaped bottle several years ago and it will be the perfect hostess gift with the addition of the Angel casting. Supplies: Any of the Arnold Grummer™ paper making kits AG Cotton Press Angel casting mold Scraps of white paper (think junk mail, etc.)  Microwave, traditional oven, heat tool or a sunny window Blender, cello sponges and soft towels Westcott® scissors BowEasy™ Beacon QuickGrip™  & ZipDry™ Adhesives 24” of ½” iridescent royal blue ribbon Iridescent glitter Pastels, chalks or powdered eye makeup and applica...

Happy Earth Day!!  Today is the day that people all over the world collect garbage, recycle things, plant trees and flowers all in the spirit of Earth Day .  Earth Day should be practiced every day!  Every little bit counts!  Today I tried something a little different.  This is my version of a collaged canvas.  I used recycled handmade papers of different colors and textures and collaged a small beach scene.  I hope to get better with these and  add more and more organic elements.  That's just a personal artistic goal of mine.  Here is my canvas..  As Always I began with my handmade papers  by simply using one of the pour or dips methods for creating paper found  here .  I took various colors I made and tore them to create layers on the canvas.  After I layered the papers the way I wanted.. I adhered them with Helmar's Craft and Hobby PVA Glue .  After everything was set.. I  pulled out my t...

Hello, it's Ann here today with a sweet project to share with you.  Since wedding and shower season is coming I was inspired to make something with some handmade paper that I would have appreciated myself at my own wedding shower, many many years ago!  By the way I had a lovely lovely shower. Following the Arnold Grummer Paper Making method I made several different types of sheets of paper and stashed them away for whenever I am inspired to work on a project.  I had made this lovely shade of pink with the dried flowers after the Christmas holidays.  I had some used red tissue and white tissue paper and shredded them and made this paper.  I also added the dried flowers (available through the Arnold Grummer store ). To make a cone similar to this one all you need is a sheet of handmade paper and some glue.  I formed the cone shape and found that using my hot glue gun was the easiest method to get the cone to stay together with our unrolling.  Make...

Our days are slowing getting warmer, and there is the promise of spring and summer in the air. I'm eager for the flowers to bloom!! But, while I wait for them, I created this spring tag. I included fern fronds and flower buds that I dried last summer using Arnold Grummer's Garden Press.  (Can't wait to press flowers and leaves again this summer!!) I started with a wooden tag that I painted white. The next step was to napkin collage the flower motifs at the bottom and upper right corner. the fern fronds and flower buds were decoupaged in place using PPA.  When the tag was dry I added ribbons and the little bird in the upper left corner, which I die cut from my own handmade paper.  Carole

©Michele Emerson-Roberts 2015 Yes, I admit it, I have a TON of word stamps! I have collected them for years, and this project was the perfect venue to use them. This kit from Arnold Grummer made the project go together quickly. How many words can you think of for each letter in the alphabet?   Supplies: Any of the Arnold Grummer™ paper making kits A sunny window Blender, cello sponges and soft towels Personal paper cutter, scissors Beacon QuickGrab™ Adhesive Scor-Tape™ Scraps of black paper (think junk mail, left over cardstock scrap, etc.) One or more of AG  #2732 Original Zig Zag Book kit or kits or #2782 Tall Zig Zag Book kit or kits Verbiage stamps and black ink pad ColorBox ™ Stylus™ handle and soft tip Dies: Spellbinders’ Shazam alphabet set Die cut machine: Spellbinders ’ Grand Calibur Thin strong black cord Alphabet beads Instructions: Follow the directions found in any of the Arnol...

...and if you know me, you know I love to use my stamps in unusual ways! Being on this design team has opened my eyes to discovering new ways to utilize my stamps like I never thought of before and having great resources like the Trash-to-Treasure book by Arnold Grummer motivates me to a whole new level! On p. 102, Mr. Grummer discusses using a "rough or patterned surface to use as an embossing plate." Keep in mind that this technique uses a freshly formed wet sheet of paper to emboss with versus using a dry sheet of paper along with a embossing plate.  This is my card I created using a stamp from Paper Smooches, Timber , to emboss with. I took my wet sheet of paper, ( go here for the steps to make your own paper ) couched it, and then laid the paper over the wood grain stamp. I then placed them both in between the boards of the Garden Press  using the adjustable straps to tighten the pieces together. Figuring I might need a little more pressure, I ...

©Michele Emerson-Roberts 2015 Did you know that Arnold Grummer has wonderful blank books that can be used for photo albums, journals, guest books or scrapbooks? They are called “Books a' la Carte” and come with great instructions. They are easy to assemble, and make terrific gifts for any occasion. I have used the “Photo Album” set for today’s project. This will be a birthday gift for a dear friend who loves the ocean. The book will be filled with sketches, poems and saying about the sea. Supplies: Any of the Arnold Grummer™ paper making kits A sunny window Blender, cello sponges and soft towels Westcott™ paper trimmer & scissors Scraps of ivory or off white, taupe and tan paper (think junk mail, etc.) Dried crushed leaves or old spices Arnold Grummer’s #2720 “Books a' la Carte” kit Raffia for binding (I wanted a different thread than came with the kit) Large eyed needle Scor-Tape Beacon QuickGrip™ adhesive Tiny sea ...

One of the most awesome things about making your own paper.. Is you don't have to leave your house when your supply gets low!  You can merely look around and say.. Wonder what that would this look like as my new paper.. Then get up and make it happen. ::smiles::  Today is my daughter's birthday and while we have been celebrating almost two weeks already, TODAY is the actual day.   This is another card I made for her special day. My supplies included: To create paper: Any o f the Arnold Grummer Papermill Kits Torn papers of my choice  Blender To create card: Cardstock (to create card base) Variety of hand made papers Girlfriend Stamp- Art Impression NeoColors II Koi Water Brush Archival Ink DecoArt Gesso DecoArt Acrylic Paints Wink of Stella Glitter Pens Heidi Swaap Banner Stencil scissors Helmar Tacky Glue The papers I used today can be made by simply using pour or dips methods for creating paper found here . ...

Tags are so versatile and easy to make and I enjoy making my own. Hi, it's Ann ( http://annmakes.blogspot.com ) here today with my share of how to make your very own handmade paper tags using The Arnold Grummer Paper Making system .  Here is a picture of three tags I made to use on gifts for my family this Easter. To make these I used two sheets of handmade paper that I made using the Arnold Grummer Paper Making System.  I recycled some advertisements from a local restaurant into a sheet of blue and a sheet of white paper. With the template to make tags (available  here ) I traced and cut out the blue tags.  To make the white tags I repeated the process with the white paper and I tore the white tags to be smaller than the blue ones. I stamped the sentiment and bunny with some rubber stamps from Michael's dollar bin and some Ranger Black Archival ink.  I coloured the bunnies with a wooden colouring pencil. To add interest I inked the edges of...

©Michele Emerson-Roberts   2015 WOW! Easter sure snuck up on me this year, and along with two friends’ birthdays that I didn’t have listed on my calendar, I have run out of time!. Thanks to Arnold Grummer’s wonderful paper casting molds and extra castings that I always make when I have the supplies out - not to worry! I was able to complete the three cards in a jiffy. Supplies: Any of the Arnold Grummer paper making kits Molds: R192 Song bird, 412 Rosebud and Celtic Cross (available from AG) A sunny window or traditional oven Blender, small strainer, cello sponges and soft towels Scraps of white or ivory paper (think junk mail, etc.) Scraps of light colored handmade paper or scraps of card stock (for die cutting the words) Dies:  3 different Doilies, Happy Birthday, and Quietfire Designs ™ “Believe” Spellbinders Grand Calibur™ Machine Westcott™ paper trimmer Scor-Pal™ (LOVE the new 1/8 th version!) T...

I know many friends and family members that suffer from "sentimental card clutter", which is the art of keeping all cards ever sent to you. I view this as an art form and I can understand this mentality, but I like to re-use and recycle versus storing the cards. It's my new venture in continually trying to downsize the amount of "stuff and things" I'm willing to hold onto. This is a re-cycled birthday card that my brother sent to me. I loved the sparkly butterflies that were on the card, so I cut out the largest one to use and recycled the base of the card to make a new sheet of paper. I love how the glittered paper turned out!  I use to try and cut apart store bought cards and re-use them but I just never liked the way they looked, until now...I used the steps for making your own hand made paper that you can find HERE   to get this lovely glittery paper. It makes me feel good to know I reused the card to make something brand new from it. I hope you...