Salute to Our Military

I wanted to create something special to give out on Independence day to the many members of local organizations who so selflessly serve the Veterans in Cochise County. Having just taught a class in paper casting to Veterans/spouses, I had the perfect project. These were so easy to do in large batches (I did over 50). Follow along and see how easy it was!  These could so easily be customized for any occasion, check out all the sayings available from Quietfire and the designs from Rycraft.

Wonderful stamped sayings!

Close up....sorry it is a bit blurry.

Ready to assemble.

Some of the stamped sayings fanned out.

Ready to give away!

Supplies:

• Any of the Arnold Grummer® paper making kits
• Blender, strainer, cello sponges and soft towels
• A sunny window or microwave (for Terra Cotta mold only!)
• AG Cotton Linter or scraps of white paper (think junk mail, etc.)  AG cotton linter
• Arnold Grummer® 3 ½” 52 Card blank booklets
• Dark blue with Silver Stars Mulberry paper ( a friend gave me three colors of this paper
        several years ago and the blue was perfect for these books!)
• Rycraft paper casting stamps: #341 American Eagle, #478 Army, # 479 Marines, #474 Air Force,
        # 477 Navy, #608 Coast Guard
• STAMPS
        Quiet Fire Designs™ #6407 “You never know…”, #6331 “The only time…”,
         # 5635 “Anyone can change…”, # 6005 “Invisible tears…”
Impression ObsessionTM #C13210 “Greatest glory…”, #C17189 “God bless…”
• Tonic Studios™ Tim Holtz paper trimmer
• Round hole punch the size of the binder screw head
• Beacon ZipDryTM adhesive
• ColorBox™ Midnight Archival Ink pad
• Soft lead pencil and paper stump/tortilla


Instructions:

1. Follow the instructions found in any of the Arnold Grummer™ paper making kits to create
     white slurry with the cotton linter and cast one or more of the Rycraft Military paper crafting
      stamps.
2. Allow the casting to dry in a sunny window or place in the microwave for 30 seconds.
        Open the microwave between the 30 seconds burst to allow the molds to cool a bit and the
        moisture to escape.
3. Remove the screws from the booklets.
4. While the castings are drying, stamp the sayings onto six of the pages with the Midnight ink.
5. When the casting are dry, use the soft lead pencil to very lightly outline around the design,
        soften and blend the pencil marks.
6. Cover the booklet covers with the dark blue silver stars mulberry paper.
7. Punch rounds from the mulberry paper to cover the front (flat) screw head.
8. Assemble the pages and covers.
9. Attach the paper castings to the fronts of the booklets.

They are a wonderful remembrance to give away and will be treasured for years to come..




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TAGS: Arnold Grummer, Michele Emerson-Roberts, handmade paper castings, Quietfire Designs, Rycraft, ColorBox, Beacon, Tonic Studios USA , Impression Obsession