Arnold Grummer's Design Team Blog

A few years ago, my third child, Candice, and I were discussing the nature of dreams and their meanings. We both have a huge interest in what dreams mean and how they can inform our lives. She has been diligent about writing her dreams down. I, on the other hand, tend to forget my dreams as soon as my feet hit the floor. As I thought about what to create for this next project, I pulled out my box of treats from Arnold Grummer's Papermaking and was reminded of the Make Your Own Book kit. I thought just how perfect this would be for writing my dreams down. If I could keep the book next to me on the night table, I could write my dreams down before my feet hit the floor! Of course, it would have to function much like an art journal so that if my dreams were extremely vivid and visual, I could draw them instead of writing narratives about them. As a result, I decided to create a dream journal that could function as a writing journal and an art journal. This actually combines my...

My husband and I have been discussing our 25 th anniversary, which occurs next year. We ’ ve been to Germany, France, and some of the surrounding countries but have never been to Italy. So, after very little debate (it is, after all, Europe!), we decided to head there. One of the greatest challenges for me when traveling is that I cannot carry my entire workshop with me. It is really hard to decide which art supplies to bring. I know that when I travel to Italy, I will want to carry something with me to create with. I could certainly bring an art journal, but I am thinking about how cumbersome that could be unless the art journal were much smaller. I also have to be truthful to myself about just how much time I really will have to create. Keeping both of those in mind, I decided that I could carry several mini journals — about four or five — and create a memento of my time in Italy. This is how the Tiny Traveling Journal was born! Four or five mini journals would not take up too much ...

After creating several 3D/mixed media pieces for other Arnold Grummer Papermaking projects, I thought it would be nice to give card making a try. Life recently had been such a rush and too full of requirements on my time that it was nice to be able to slow down and enjoy creating. I have long admired vintage paintings, drawings, marketing products, and schematics. There is something so tender and endearing about reminiscing on the past. For this project, I used the following materials: Arnold Grummer’s Large Pour Handmold Arnold Grummer’s Cotton Lintner  Arnold Grummer’s Petals: Summer Gold Thin manila paper (two sheets for each handmade paper) Vintage art from copyright free sites like Pixabay Large pop dots Colorbox Fluid Chalk Inkpad in Dark Brown Scotch Spray Mount Repositionable Adhesive (or similar products) Making the notecards: 1.        Using the large pour handmold, make as ...

As a mixed media artist, I love to make art that seems extremely difficult. This doesn’t mean that the effort is difficult, only that the result looks so fabulous that others would have a hard time believing that “you” made it. Comments of disbelief are actually my favorite types. They show me that I have created something wonderful. As a newbie to the papermaking world, I found myself fascinated by the process and the materials. I was even more fascinated by the potential for creating 3D art from paper. After several false starts, I walked away and thought I would turn to a different form of art for a minute. I walked into my utility room (one of the five million “arting” spots in my house) and saw a rubber stamp that I had been wanting to use. Yes, dear reader, the light turned on. I ran to the kitchen and started making pulp using about a 1 x 6-inch piece of cotton lintner in sheet form and four cups of water. After letting the cotton lintner soak a bit, I pulsed it ...