Handmade Birding Journals

I keep a record of the birds that visit my gardens and feeders in a sketchbook journal. It becomes tedious to record the lists each day as the species of birds are quite consistent each season and especially day to day. Thinking it would be convenient to have a checklist, I created these small journals today.

 The covers are my own handmade gampi papers.

 

 The checklist was created in Microsoft Word, printed onto drawing paper, and sewn with single and double pamphlet style bindings.

 I plan to make additional journals as the seasons progress and will keep an eye out for a container in which these will fit. Or possibly construct a slipcase for them.

Top Three Posts

Blogger counts each time a post has been viewed and of my 80 posts, the Eco Bundling - OMG post has received the most by far - 102 views and climbing. This post has been viewed almost every day since I posted it! My post Papermaking Adventures: Water Retting is second with 87 views and Experimental Printmaking I (carving into Masonite) is third with 81 views. In general, most other posts get anywhere from 6 to 35 views. I suppose these three topics have very little written about them although India Flint and her eco-bundling technique is getting more popular every day. She has spent much time traveling and conducting workshops and posts on her blog regularly. The popularity of the technique has folks searching for more, I suppose.

To those who have searched for information on these topics, please leave a comment and let me know if you found what I wrote to be helpful and share something about your own experiments and experiences. Thanks!

Turning One of A Kind into a Printable Plate

Monarda Trace Monotype

Making a trace monotype creates a lovely effect and is somewhat time consuming to do, as in this example of a drawing of Monarda. Part of a project I worked on last summer (see link here), this piece shown was created as follows. I made a sketch of red monarda that grows in my front garden. I rolled red ink onto a plexiglass palette, placed a piece of my handmade gampi paper on top, put a piece of blank copy paper on top of that, then the drawing. I traced over the drawing which put pressure onto the paper below which made contact with the ink.

Not only does this yield a color copy of the drawing on the paper of my choice, it provides a softer version of the line drawing. The light, unintentional pressure of my hand as it rested on the sheet as well as the texture of the gampi paper adds something that the original drawing lacks.

I am taking a class exploring Pronto Plate printmaking. I am working with both Pronto Plates and Z Acryl D2P Ployester Plates.  I will have this monotype copied onto the plate in black and white and will have it as a permanent plate to use again and again.

The only thing I don't like about lithography - stone, paper or polyester plate - is that oil based inks are required. I do not like to use mineral spirits for clean up, so use vegetable oil but this process is time consuming. When I create monotypes, monoprints, lino cuts, gelatin prints, etc., I am able to use water mixable inks and paints that clean up with soap and water in very little time. If you know of a litho process in which water soluble inks or paints may be used, please share that information with me!

Papermaking Adventures: Water Retting

Back in March (see post here), I set out several fibers in buckets of water and wood ash to ret for a few months. Today I strained the fibers and and thoroughly rinsed them with the power wash setting on my garden hose.  To my delight, three of the four had broken down to form a wonderful pulp. Here are the before and after photos:

               Gampi

             L: before

             R: after

             Kozo
        L: before
        R: after
 

              Mulberry
    with bark attached
         L: before
         R: after

                Willow
           L: before
           R: after





The only unpleasant part of this process is the foul smell of the pulp, though that is to be expected. The kozo is the most smelly and the willow has no foul odor at all, in fact it has the same pleasant, aromatic scent it always has. To help mask the odor, I added lavender essential oil to the pulps. I am storing the gampi, kozo and mulberry in the buckets and hope to make paper with them in the next few days. The willow I laid out to dry. I will try cooking this with lye to see if it will break down.

To be continued...

2012 Papermaking Season Has Begun

It was a beautiful, sunny day today and I was off from work, so spent some time outside straightening up my papermaking studio and setting some fibers to ret.  Mulberry, willow, kozo and gampi bast fibers were each put in a five gallon bucket with approximately six ounces of wood ash and four gallons of water. I put tightly fitting lids on them and placed them in the sun. I plan to give them a stir or tumble once a week for a month. Hopefully April will be warm and sunny so that I can cook these fibers and then beat them. Then the real fun begins!

Mulberry bast with bark

willow bast with bark

gampi

kozo

The mulberry and willow basts were gathered here on our property.  I bought the beautifully clean gampi from Keith Gum of IFUGAO Papercraft. The kozo is from Magnolia Paper.

 I am also reading up on preparing fibers for natural dyeing.  My plan is to dye the cotton sheets first this year, then cut and beat them. This should be easier than trying to mordant, rinse, dye and rinse pulp like I did last summer. From what I read, I believe I need to treat the fabric with tannin (need to find a natural source of that), then mordant twice with alum. Fibers/fabrics can be premordanted and kept indefinitely, ready and available when the dye materials present themselves! I am also planning to use this dyed cotton fabric for weaving and small sewn projects.

2011 Papers

A sampling of the papers I made this summer

Some of the papers you see here are (bottom to top):
14x17 - kozo dyed with forest green Procion dye, Philippine gampi, sage dyed under-beaten cotton, flax, goldenrod dyed cotton
8.5x11 left -  pure cotton rag, cabbage dyed cotton, carrot top dyed cotton, bamboo sheaths, turmeric dyed cotton and abaca
5x7 left recycled paper
8.5x11 right- gampi dyed with colored tissue during pressing of sheets, gampi, purple-leaf plum bark dyed gampi, abaca dyed with dandelion leaves and flowers; sage dyed cotton, goldenrod dyed cotton, carrot top with copper modifier dyed cotton, flax