Homemade paper...

After seeing a really nice piece of artwork on pinterest I decided I would do the same for my child when he's born to mark the day he is born. This is the artwork I found.

 

 http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/littlebirddesigns/product/new-baby-personalised-map-picture

I wanted to make this from scratch including the frame and the paper and then maybe with some calligraphy practice I could do the writing too. So first I wanted to learn how to make paper and this is how I got along my first time round.

 

1. I took some old toilet roll tubes, some junk mail and some news paper.

2. I tore up the two rolls, one piece of junk mail and 4 pages of the news paper, put them in a blender with warm water. Then blitzed it for about a minute until I had some nice bubbly pulp.

3. I took an old print screening screen I hadnt used for a while and laid it over my sink.

  
4. I poured the pulp onto the screen and let the water drain through. After some water had drained through I shaped the edges to 'straighten' it up a bit and then lightly pressed a sponge over the top to take out any excess water.

5. I propped the screen on top on a radiator for a few hours to dry and it came out perfect, i'm going to add a few colours in my next few pieces and experiment with a few others and see what i can come up with.

This is the paper I ended up with, I have about 3/4 sheets from the first batch of pulp I made. I'm very proud of the outcome and thought making paper would be harder and messier.