Arnold Grummer's Design Team Blog

Hi, Tamiko here.  Posting a quickie way to embellish your cards or any other paper-crafted idea with paper castings.  I found over at Arnold Grummer's site, in a book called Trash to Treasure Papermaking.   I apologize in advance if my photo is in the wrong position on the page, I am working from my cell phone and blogger app. (yikes) I can't tell you how important it is to either spray or brush some kind of release agent or oil to the molds when you first get them. It allows for a much easier/quicker way to remove casts from the molds, without breaking and/or sticking. Another thing to note when making castings and determining if they are ready to come out, when you air dry, is feeling the mold.  If the mold feels cold and even the slightest moist, it's NOT ready.  Trust ME!  ::scouts honor::  Can't tell you how many times I was in a rush to use the mold again, and it just wasn't time! They were indeed n...

Deckle division rocks! "Deckle division is simply dividing your hand mold's deckle into two or more compartments." I got this idea from the Trash To Treasure book, pp. 108-9 to blend 2 different colored pulps together. It's a little hard to see in this picture but the bottom ½ of the card is green and the top ½ is blue. They run together so smoothly that it's hard to see where one ends and one begins!  Arnold tells you how to make your own deckle divider out of foam core but I found that by adding duck tape to it added a lot more strength and it lasts a lot longer this way. Make sure that the end that lays against the paper screen is flat and even so the pulp cannot mix together before you are ready to have it do so. I also found that drawing an arrow to which way it should be inserted into the mold helps too. You also want to make sure it is a snug fit, and the duct tape can help "fatten" the divider up if you need assistance. ...

Continuing with the theme of Love this month, I made a mixed media piece and embellished it with a wonderful handmade paper heart.  After I layered the 5 x 12 inch wood panel with gesso and paints, I added stamping and a title. My plaque was then ready for my embellishment! I made paper pulp which I then squeezed through a strainer to remove most of the water. I used cookie cutters to form different shapes. Using the sponge and wood block (papermaking kit) I carefully removed as much water as possible. I put them in a 250 degree oven for 15 minutes to speed up the drying but you could also let them air dry.  I love these embellishments which can be large or small, and painted and altered to fit any canvas, scrapbook page, card, etc.  And here is the heart painted red and sprinkled with glass glitter.  I look forward to using the rest of these on other projects!! Supplies used: Trash to Treasure Book Please be sur...

 I love the Trash-to-Treasure book cause it's just full of awesome ideas to get you jump started to your next project. The section on "Bonded for Life" p. 118 got me thinking about re-cycling a tin can into a tool holder for my desk to keep all those pesky tools contained somehow. No glue, tape or adhesive was used to hold this handmade black sheet of paper that I created using my  Papermill Kit   to the can itself. That is amazing! I removed the water from the sheet of paper per the instructions and then wrapped it around the can using my fingers to fold the top and bottom of the paper over the edges of the can. Even the ends of the paper which overlapped when wrapped around the can are simply couched together and left to dry... and it holds together beautifully.  I actually wrapped this can over a year ago and just kept my eye on it as I was using it ( because I wanted to see how well it would hold up under  use ) ...and  can ...

I am a literary creature, I just love the feel of a book in my hands. If you are like me then you will want the perfect page-saver for your favorite novels or your much-loved Trash to Treasure book !  I had made this simple bookmark out of my mulberry paper that I made this past summer ( you can go here to revisit that post and how I made the paper )...it's functional, but I could embellish it some. Thankfully I used my Arnold Grummer Microfleur press a LOT this past summer so I have lots of pressed flowers and yes, weeds to choose from on a dreary rainy day to use. So after choosing something, in this case, I think it's a random weed ( but with lots if fun texture ) I took my Helmar Decoupage & Craft Paste and first coated the paper, then laid the stem on top of it. Next I cut a piece of tissue paper the size of the bookmark and pressed it gently over the stem and then coated it again with the Decoupage paste. I left the tissue paper hanging over the e...

...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 ...

Let's embrace the imperfect, and find beauty in the cracks and crevices. ( At the age of 56 I am learning to embrace a lot of imperfections, lol )  Let's celebrate the Wabi-Sabi in our life that patiently waits to be discovered. I have enjoyed for many years the Japanese philosophies of accepting what we call flaws as something valuable instead. When I made my paper casted bowl I could only see opportunity and not disaster in the tear along the side of the bowl. I am a firm believer in Wabi-Sabi which then gave me the chance to experience the art of kintsugi . I "repaired" the tear with gold leaf. I painted a line of Helmar Super Tack glue along the crack and then used 14 karat gold leaf to cover the "flaw" to simulate the kintsugi method. The art of kintsugi "The Japanese have a long tradition of repairing pots with gold; it’s called “kintsugi” or “kintsukuroi”. “The term “kintsugi” means ‘golden joinery’ in Japanese and refers to th...

Hi everyone! As promised I am going to show you how easy and fun it is to take some junk mail and turn it into a brand new useful object....a pushpin, along with the Mini assortment casting mold.  You might remember that I made a Charm-ing paper heart banner the last time and used the coordinating pushpins to hold it up with. To begin with you need to make some paper pulp   by "tearing up some paper and putting it into the blender with water. Run the blender for 30 seconds or less, turning the paper into pulp."  trash-to-treasure-papermaking book  p. 31 Here is a short video I made to show you the few extra steps I added to the paper casting and it was very simple to create! By using the steps that are outlined in the trash-to-treasure-papermaking book on pp.130,131 for making a paper cast you can see how to create your own pushpins. ( There are quite a few wonderful books available and you can save 20% right now by using this code to s...

Since my last post  I have been making paper like crazy, this is so fun and addicting ! I just love the paper making process. Did you know "that paper was first recorded in 105 AD, in China... Many believed that Ts'ai Lun was the inventor of paper, but paper was probably being made before him."  ( p. 12 Trash-to-Treasure Papermaking ) I have been using all this wonderful, yummy paper in my card making. There is nothing better than the texture and feel of handmade paper. I used 3 of my handmade papers for this card, that I created using the Arnold Grummer Papermill kit . On p.48 of the book  Trash-to-Treasure Papermaking   it gives you a formula for how much pulp to make to create your paper. ( I am more of a hands on type girl and rarely measure anything so sometimes I get very interesting results this way lol )  The green sheet was the thinnest and easiest to cut using my paper trimmer. The pink sheet was softer and thicker, so I tore the ...

Hi everyone, this is my first post as an official member of the Arnold Grummer Design Team and I am so excited about making paper. It has been a blast to play with and it thrills my frugal heart to know that I am recycling! I admit I was a little timid about making actual paper at first so I began by making lots of pulp ( which are processed fibers ) and watching lots of Arnold Grummer videos . I really enjoy watching his videos and would love to have met him in person, I bet he was a lot of fun to be around!  The first video that really caught my eye was the one on Paper Pulp Painting.  So I took his idea and ran with it.While I working on it I had artists from the studio peering over my shoulder as I literally painted a canvas with paper pulp. I think what I enjoyed the most was using the pin technique to paint the black lines with. When you dip the pin into your paper slurry ( water with fibers ) it will pick up the fibers and you can then use the pin to "draw"...