New name, new site, new things to try!

New name:  Wooden Deckle paper making kits (formerly Going Green paper making kits)

New site:  Wooden Deckle Paper Making Kits and Supplies

New things to try:  Note card size mold and deckle , and a Rectangles Kit , and many other fun paper making things.



Special thanks to Nicole of Nicole Hacker Photography for providing photos of the paper making kits and mold and deckles.

Time to make gift tags...

For the past few Christmas seasons I've been offering free Christmas gift wrapping on all Microfleur flower presses and Going Green paper making kits, and I've always included a free handmade paper gift tag.  Sometimes it's a pressed fern/Christmas tree tag, other times a pressed Queen Anne's Lace flower/snowflake tag, either way, they are fun to make, and a great way to showcase two of my favorite things:  pressed botanicals and handmade paper.

Here's a quick tutorial of my favorite way of making handmade paper gift tags...

You're Welcome!

Thank you to one of my customers for sending this kind note. Beth purchased the Deluxe GoingGreen Paper Making Kit , which includes both a 5 x 7" and a hard to find square 5 x 5" mold and deckle. Happy paper making Beth!

Going Green Earth Day Journal Project

Two weeks from now will be Earth Day, a day set aside to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's environment.

I like to put my own spin on it, and focus on the beauty and wonder of our earth. More importantly, I like to reflect upon the awesomeness of the God who created our earth, with gratitude.

This Earth Day Journal project is a great activity for kids and adults alike, and is made from 100% recycled paper! The cover of the journal is made from recycled junk mail, using the Going Green Paper Making Kit, and the paper earth is made from scraps of blue and green paper, and believe it or not, tin cans!

I will be making this journal with some of the kids in my life, and I will be encouraging them to fill their journals with expressions of thankfulness for the world around them, as well as ideas about how we can take better care of the earth God gave us.

Here are your instructions for making the Going Green Earth Day Journal Project. Enjoy!

Recycling your own paper

What kind of paper can I use to make my own handmade paper if i order your own paper making kit?

I've been hearing (reading?) that question a lot lately, from prospective customers who are interested in purchasing my Going Green Paper Making Kit, but want more information. I include a list of good sources of used paper that can be turned into handmade paper in the instruction book included with my paper making kits, but for those of you who are just wondering...here's a list of good sources of used paper for handmade paper making for you.

2nd annual elephant ear leaf cast

Here's this years paper cast of an elephant ear. This leaf measures a whopping 38 inches long, two inches longer than last year's paper cast leaf.
This time I also made a paper cast of the large stem, which measures 25 inches, so if all goes well (no rain, snow, footballs), I may end up with a really large paper leaf!

Note to self: Next year, do your paper leaf casting in September, not the end of October. It's cold at the end of October!

new life for rejects...

Sunday was interesting. At our church potluck I sat near a visiting missionary. She is stationed in Lebanon and works with Palestinians in refugee camps (I won't use her name for safety's sake.) It was amazing to hear her story, and her love for the people she works with was very evident.

She likes to do crafts when working with the Lebanese women, because it's something they never had the luxury of spending time and money on. While she was explaining how hard it is for her to obtain certain craft materials there, it occurred to me that I might have something she could use. When I was first putting my Going Green paper making kits together, it took my craftsmen and I awhile to get our acts together, so I ended up with a number of "reject" mold and deckles that are perfectly usable, but not quite nice enough to sell.

While the potluck was winding down, I zipped home to get my box of "rejects," along with one of my instruction booklets an assortment of paper making inclusions. She was thrilled. Recycling scrap paper to make new creations would be a perfect fit.

I don't know how many times I was tempted to toss the box away, just to get it out of the way. But now it's amazing to me that parts of my paper making kits are going all the way to Lebanon.

It's neat to see how God works.

elephant ear paper cast

Here it is, my paper cast elephant ear, sealed and painted.

I am so pleased with how well the strong veining show up - it seems to lend a sense of strength and vitality to the leaf. I painted it with several different shades of green acrylic mixed with Perfect Paper Adhesive to form a translucent glaze. I also added an iridescent medium to the veins which gives them a subtle sunlight-like sparkle when viewed up close.

My next challenge is to come up with a way to display it. My art friend Bonnielynn suggested using a large shadow box, which I'm look into, and I'm also toying with the idea of attaching a hook on the back so that I can hang it directly on a wall. We'll see!

molds and deckles

Here's what I'll be doing this morning - stretching and stapling the screening that goes on the deckles for my Going Green Paper Making Kits. I received a fresh batch of frames from my craftsman yesterday (I'm enjoying the wonderful scent of the freshly cut pine) and he did an excellent job on them.

My paper making kit seems to be a good fit with Earth Day, and thankfully I've been blessed with quite a bit of interest in them this year, including Allie, from Posh Cravings.

I'm thrilled that soon Inspiration Ministries will be taking care of the packaging of the kits for me. Their clients will be putting together the sturdy boxes the kits come in, and will be labeling and filling the "inclusion" bags with lavender, blender flax, flower petals, shredded money, and colorful fibers. They will also be cutting the reusable "couching" sheets and the bendable copper wire included in every kit. Currently they are completing a time study of the project, and once that's completed they will will receive a portion of the proceeds from each kit.

Pressed Elephant Ear Leaf

Last spring I discovered elephant ears, and set out to find, grow, and press some. I put together a large botanical press but my first try failed - the elephant ear actually disintegrated. It was a mess. I think I clamped it too tightly.

Just before our first hard frost last fall I picked another leaf and put into my large press, but forgot about it until a few months ago. It had held together really well, and what was really amazing was its unusual coloration - it's translucent in the middle, which seems to give it a surreal "glow."

It's mounted on my handmade paper with Perfect Paper Adhesive, but in order to make the paper large enough(and strong enough), I pieced several sheets onto rug hooking fabric. The square pattern of the cloth subtly shows through the paper, as you might be able to tell in the picture below. It's an interesting effect.

For someone who has never framed anything larger than an fern, this is a large piece for me! The leaf itself is 24" long, and the frame is 30" x 26".

I am still working on finishing my leaf paper casting. I finally jumped in and started painting it, and it's going really well. I hope to have it ready to show you really soon.

to blend or not to blend... question and answer

Hi Elizabeth:
Could you please answer a question for me. I have been surfing the web for information regarding paper-making. The one thing they all have in common is using a blender. I'd like to know if a food processor could be used instead. If not.....why a blender?? Just curious!!! I know you sell a paper-making kit which I may purchasing a little later.

Thank-you......... Val

Hi Val, Thanks for writing!

You know, I’m not sure! I don’t know that much about food processors – I only use mine for making bread dough or pesto. I do know that blenders are capable of “liquefying” just about anything, and for paper making you need enough power to separate and isolate each and every fiber so that it can be suspended in liquid. I don’t know if food processors are powerful enough for that.

On a more practical side, food processors can be quite expensive, and adequate blenders can be found for less than $20.00 at discount stores, or for even less at Goodwill, rummage sales, etc.

I would recommend getting a hold of an inexpensive blender, and using it only for paper making (it’s hard to get a blender really clean after making paper in it). Once you try paper making you’re sure to get hooked, and having a blender dedicated to paper making will be well worth your investment.

Speaking of making paper, my paper making kits have been out of stock for a number of weeks, because the man who was hand crafting the wooden frames used for the mold and deckles was unable to continue. Recently I've been able to obtain a limited number, so thankfully my paper making kits are back in stock for the time being. (Note: you might have to hit the "refresh" button in order to get rid of the "out of stock" message on my website)

I'm still looking for a skillful retired woodworker to hire, so if you know of anyone in south east Wisconsin or north east Illinois please let me know!

Paper making with Keith Green

I love handmade paper - I use handmade paper in my art and for my cards, I sell paper making kits, and I even teach paper making. But here's a little known secret about me - sometimes I find that paper making can be a bit dull. Especially when I'm behind, and have a lot of paper to make to fill my orders.

Today has been different - I've been making paper with Keith Green. I had forgotten all about him, but since my husband gave me with an ipod this Christmas (bless him), I've delved back into the music of my past, and it's been such a treat. Once I had kids, my musical world shrunk down to Veggie Tales, Sesame Street, and Kid's Praise (thankfully they never got into Barney). I had set my CD's tapes and albums aside, and basically forgot about them until I received a 4 gigabyte ipod that needed filling.

Keith Green was a radical Christian musician from the late 70's who never pulled any punches. His lyrics were convicting, very honest, and even a bit sarcastic at times. His songs were not "sugar coated," like Christian music often is. Listening to his music while I was working today was really uplifting - almost like being at a mini retreat. I had forgotten the power music sometimes has.

Want to find out more about Keith Green? Listen to samples of his music here and read about his life here.

leaf casting with recycled paper pulp

Several weeks ago I made a paper casting of one of my 36 inch elephant ear leaves, and I am so thrilled with how it turned out. (Unlike the elephant ear I tried to press!) Using recycled paper pulp (discarded printer paper paper I shredded, soaked, and blended), I placed the leaf vein side up on a mound of sand in our sandbox, and carefully applied about a 1/2 layer of the pulp.
I mixed some sand into the pulp to enhance the texture, and in order to make the paper casting rigid, I added several tablespoons of carboxymethylcellulose. "CMC", which reportedly "promotes fiber to fiber bonding and gives needed strength to paper castings", and I'm happy to say it worked! My leaf turned out extremely strong and rigid, and my kids insist that I've created a fossil.
I haven't painted it yet - I'm almost afraid to, because I'm afraid of ruining it. Maybe one of these days I'll get brave.

Some things take so much longer than you think they will.

Last summer, after teaching one of my handmade paper making classes, I decided to come up with my own paper making kit that I could offer my students – since the ones commercially available tended to be either very expensive, or affordable but lacking in quality and durability.

I wanted nice pine frames for my mold and deckles, but I needed to find someone handier than I who could create the lap joint required for sturdy corners. My hope was to work with Inspiration Ministries’ sheltered workshop, but unfortunately despite all our attempts their clients weren’t quite able to manage the special lap joints. Hopefully I will be able to use them for a different project I have in mind for the near future, because they are an awesome ministry that I would love to be a part of.

At any rate, after coming to one dead end after another, I finally found a way to manufacture the pine frames, and the paper making kits are good to go. A year later! I was repeatedly reminded that when God closes one door, He opens another. Sometimes we have to learn the hard way.

The picture at the top is grass paper, made with recycled printer paper, and of course, grass! This recipe, as well as many other interesting papermaking recipes, hints and ideas, is included in the comprehensive instruction booklet that comes with the kit.

Making Handmade Paper...

Handmade paper has certainly become a passion of mine. I first tried it about 7 years ago, after seeing Lynette Jennings make it on TV. When I look back at the first few pieces of hmp I made, I have to laugh…they are practically like cardboard. But, since then, and hundreds of pieces later, I am grateful to have come a long way. I have read a number of books, but I have learned the most about making handmade paper by surfing the net, and by just doing it…making it again and again. Trying new techniques, adding new fibers, experimenting with different equipment, using different pulp mixtures… all of these yield new and subtle surprises.

For my pressed flower cards I tend to use a basic pulp mixture of half recycled paper and half cotton linters, with various fibers or flower petals for added interest, but I also love using grocery bag pulp, with flecks of binder twine for more rustic, rugged paper. When I need a splash of color, I tear up white recycled paper with and throw a few sheets of colored tissue paper into my blender to make a brightly colored confetti paper. Last week I made an interesting paper using the paper from an old piano lesson book – tiny cute musical notes are sprinkled through out the paper.

Below I’ve included a few good handmade paper links. The first two are good instructional sites, the third is J.J.Goodwin, which is where I’ve purchase most of my mold and deckles. All of her kits contain an excellent instructional booklet, and lots of free pulp inclusions. If you happen to order one of Jane’s kits, please tell her that you heard about her from me. Maybe she’ll give me a discount next time I order from her!:)
11/01/07 I now sell my own paper making kits and paper making supplies.

http://www.pioneerthinking.com/makingpaper.html
http://www.exploratorium.edu/exploring/paper/handmade.html
http://jjgoodwin.com/