Arnold Grummer's Design Team Blog

I'm trying to get ahead on my gift giving. Usually it's a mad dash the last couple weeks before Christmas. This year I've vowed to start early so I can enjoy the holidays, too. With that in mind, I created this trio of greeting cards for gift giving. Each represents a different handmade papermaking technique. When I make my papers I follow these basic instructions . I used Arnold Grummer's trifold window cards for each of these. For the first card, I dry embossed a piece of handmade paper and inserted it into the window card following the instructions on the package. Handmade paper embosses beautifully!! The second card features a handmade paper casting using Arnold Grummer's gingko leaf mold . The third card displays a dried leaf on a background of handmade paper. I dried this coleus leaf using the garden press . The paper has botanical inclusions. I plan to make several more of these greeting cards sets for gifts for this years holiday season...

Is it too soon to give any thoughts to Christmas?  When days are hot and steamy why not!  Actually I have been into a couple of craft stores in the area and "holiday" items are already on display. It was time to play around and experiment again.  Going through the casting molds and other things items to use as deckles for shapes, I found a Wilton cookie mold and some plaster molds.  Here is a snowflake casting, using the Wilton cookie mold and cotton linter squares.  I used enough of the squares that would cover the size of the mold and processed them in a blender as suggested for making pulp.  I included  "Iridescent Flakes" into the pulp before making the casting.  Once the snowflake casting was dry, I used some glitter glue to add dimension on some of the raised lines on the casting.  I small hole is punched and a narrow ribbon hanger is added.   Just for a few ideas, the snowflakes would make a nice additon to a Christmas tree...