Arnold Grummer's Design Team Blog

I am really excited to be on the Arnold Grummer's Paper Making Design Team.  I love working with hand made papers! I must confess, I have never made handmade paper before! So we are going to start at the very beginning. I highly recommend watching the video on the BASIC PAPER MAKING tab at the top of this page!  I thought paper making would be difficult... I think that is what put the fear of paper making in me.  You will not believe how easy paper making is using the ARNOLD GRUMMER'S COMPLETE PAPER MAKING KIT . The design of the "hand mold" makes paper making so easy!!! With the kit you will receive a DVD with more information on how to create cast paper molds.  Today I am sharing paper cast molds. To make my paper pulp I used papers out of the paper shredder. Added enough water to make pulp. A loose handful of paper and about 2-3- cups of water! A little pulp goes a long way! Then I filled the Arnold Grummer's Paper Casting Strainer  about half...

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and it's time to start creating that special card for the one you love. This year, show your love even more by creating some handmade paper for it.  What says, "I love you" more than a handmade card?  This card was created using one of the fantastic papermills from Arnold Grummer's to create a sheet of paper using the basic instructions . It was, then, used for the card base.  The small pink scalloped squares were made following the instructions to make the paper pulp and then it was poured into a small metal cutter used for making clay pieces and finished off the way you would to create a sheet of paper.  Next, the hearts were molded using some cotton linters and the mini assortment mold .  It's easy to create beautiful cards from handmade paper just like this one. Have some fun and give it a try.  I know you'll "love" it!    To share our love for papermaking with you,...

If you follow my projects, then you know that I gravitate to jewelry items. Today, I've combined mica, handmade paper and dried botanicals to make this gorgeous OOAK piece. One of a kind because each leaf, each piece of mica and each piece of handmade paper has its own characteristics. I dried the leaves using Arnold Grummer's Garden Press . The paper I made by adding tissue tints and dried rosebuds to the paper pulp. I started with mica tiles from USArtQuest. Mica is a rock that is composed of several layers. After selecting a piece for my necklace, I easily delaminated the layers by gently slipping a fingernail between the layers. Next, I arranged the leaves and paper on top of the bottom piece of mica. I tore the paper so it would have feathered, irregular edges. You can see that the leaves extend beyond the edges of the mica. I used small pieces of Cut-Bond-Create , a double sided adhesive, to bond the two pieces of mica. You can see the blue grid backing on th...

It's hard to believe another year has gone by and that this will be my last post for 2013.  I know many have been through difficult times this year, my family included, so I'm glad in a way to see this year end, but just because it's ending doesn't mean there's not fun in store for 2014.  I'm looking forward to seeing what the upcoming fun will be. The start of a new year is the time for resolutions.  Make one of your resolutions be to start a new hobby such as making your own handmade paper.  It's a great way to have fun and create some wonderful handmade items including all of the gifts you will need next year.  You know you'll need one sooner than you want to think about it so now is the time to get started! This New Year's banner was created using handmade paper.  The "bow" started out to be three bells, but when I dried the paper using an iron I had laid them on top of each other and suddenly my eyes saw a bow and that's how ...

Are you still decorating for the holidays? I am—and probably will be until the wee hours on Christmas Eve. (But, then, I guess that would be the very early hours of Christmas Day!!) Anyway, you get what I'm saying: I'm going to be decorating until the last possible moment. Many of my decorations include handmade paper, and today I'm sharing one of my favorites. It is a 3D angel. She's so easy to make!! I'm sharing the pattern in PDF , MTC (Make-the-Cut) , and SVG formats. Here you can see the angel cut out from a light blue handmade paper. I colored the paper pulp with a pale blue tinting tissue and added botanical inclusions. I following these basic instructions when making the paper, but for this piece I processed longer so the inclusions would be blended into smaller pieces. Next step was to embellish the cutout. I chose a silver metallic chenille stem for her halo and Dew Drops along the hemline. You could also use glitter glues, rhinestones, or othe...

I love working with paper and am  really excited to say that I will be joining the Arnold Grummer's design team  in January!    Making dresses with handmade paper is so much fun. Cut the paper, get it damp and it is easy to work with, almost like delicate fabric. If you have a dress form to work with it makes it easier to form the wet paper when creating the dress. Before the paper is  wet run a thread about every 1/2 inch through the top of the skirt to help hold the gathers in place. After the paper is wet gently (VERY GENTLY) pull the thread to make the gathers.  Pictured is the damp paper dress tied with ribbon on the form ready to dry overnight. When making a project like this allow plenty of drying time.  NO cheating... the paper must be totally dry before removing it from the dress form. The dried pieces are able to free stand.  To make the dress I free cut the a skirt, three parts for the bodice and the s...

I love making rosettes and this time of year I always seem to make as many as I can.  This rosette is extra special because it's made using handmade paper.  The image is one of my favorites that I've had for a while now.  It came from one of the collage sheets from Altered Pages.  I've been in a vintage creating mood lately so chose to make this rosette have a vintage look to it.  For the rosette, I made 2 sheets of paper using the Papermill Pro Envelope & Stationary Kit .  I used some scraps of white paper that I had been collecting and followed the basic instructions for making paper.  When I added the water according to the directions, I added a 1:1 ratio of water to tea to dye the paper.  I laid the paper flat and allowed it to dry for a day. Here's a little hint, if you don't want to use an iron or heat gun to dry it quickly, you can lay it a little ways away from a heat vent and as the furnace turns on and off it helps to dry...