~A Beautiful Place For Everything~

Many a beautiful paper can be made using Arnold Grummer Paper Making kits!! In this Design team post I will share with you the fact that there is a beautiful place for everything... especially when creating handmade papers!! 

I recently had a small vase of Black Eyed Susan's and instead of throwing them into the composter.. I recycled the dried flowers into the handmade papers I created !! That got me thinking and wondering what else  might I be throwing away, that I can toss in the blender~ Kind of like a refuge pot!

The next day I made my coffee and wondered about using the coffee grounds in the paper and "Voila" adding the coffee to the blender with the papers worked really well.. And who knew that the papers  would smell like a great cup of coffee!! I even used the coffee filter! The first paper on the right on top  is the coffee paper! Next the dried grated orange rind from fresh squeezed OJ!! :)

When you think about it.. So many things can be incorporated such as dried and powdered pine needles for a Christmas themed paper, brightly colored  dried fall leaves for an autumn theme. Also spices such as  cinnamon,nutmeg,allspice etc can be used as well for a  beautiful holiday paper!

You can also add natural coloring agents such as dried beet powder or any of the sea powders such as kelp or spirulina, turmeric, colored pepper powder, Chinese 5 spice... so many yummy options for adding color,texture and fragrance naturally!!

Here... as you can see with the mini papers, the beautiful natural flower petals which are dried and added when blending the paper mixture. If you want more of a fragrance( for instance with the lavender and Rose), use the dried powered versions as well as the petals and you will get a much stronger scent than if you just used the dried flower petals! You can purchase a great selection of powdered herbs and flowers at Rose Mountain Herbs! 

I also love leaving large chunks of text when blending my papers and items together... it adds great interest and texture in the finished product!

Even as an artist, I can take any of my journal pages or small pieces of artwork and combine them in the mix of blender "goodies"... so many things that we aren't even aware of can be recycled.. not just paper when creating beautiful handmade papers!

I hope this gets your mind in the fun direction of "where can I look now for things to incorporate into my lovely handmade papers!!

~In Love & Faith~

Sherri