Jumping Back Into Papermaking

It’s been a hot minute since I made paper. My last paper batch was made on the night of the election, an activity I deemed as necessary to relieve my stress and not obsess over the news.

That paper batch was grass clipping paper. Super experimental. Super fun to make. Super weird, also. I wasn’t sure at all how it would turn out, but it surprisingly turned out quite well. It’s very textured due to the all the unique elements in it—grass, shredded leaves, and some tiny branch-like fragments that didn’t get completely blended up.

The experimentations are set to continue. My hope is to create some paper every week starting in the new year. Over the weeks that I haven’t been making paper, I’ve been collecting different, interesting add-ins as I’ve come across them.

My collection of paper additions

I like making strange, unique paper. So my focus in the new year is to see how these paper additions will work out. From left to right, there are: dried rose petals, dried fall-colored leaves, shredded wood fragments, recycled denim padding, colored sand, and colored paper offcuts from past bookbinding projects.

I’m excited to see how these new batches turn out, but I think I’m most excited about the denim padding.

My parents have been trying out food subscription boxes. The denim padding comes from a Freshly subscription box. When my parents opened up the padding bag and saw what it was, they thought I might be able to do something with it (they know me so well!). I haven’t tried using textiles in my paper yet, so this one will be an interesting journey—from pulping, to pulling sheets, and then to drying. I have absolutely no idea how it will turn out, but it has to work, right!?

So, keep an eye on this space, and I’ll be posting about how each of these materials worked: the outcomes, what worked, what didn’t, and what I’d do different next time.