PAPER!

Nothing makes me as happy as a big box of paper scraps to make my handmade paper. I use a lot of high-quality junk mail to make all of my papers. But since I do not use bleaches or dyes to color my paper, the only way that I can make all the delicious colors is to combine various paper scraps — some yellow scraps and a pinch of brown makes a beautiful mustard color. Cobalt blue with a little bit of black makes a nice navy blue. And I love combining pinks, oranges and creams for a beautiful peach. I met a lovely woman named Cindy who owns a card stock company. She saves the trimmings and cast-offs from cutting down large pieces of card stock into cards for her paper orders. Then she sends them my way so I can make them into gorgeous handmade papers. Don’t get me wrong - I don’t want your scrap paper! I have had many friends and acquaintances offer me their discarded paper. There is so much paper that goes through my life — even as I get off all those mailing lists and do more bill paying online — that I don’t need one more scrap of it from anyone, even the most well-intentioned! One of my friend’s friends heard about my papermaking business and decided I was the perfect avenue for her wonderfully obsessive recycling. She gave my friend, who then gave me, a huge garbage bag full of toilet paper wrappers. This is the super thin paper that comes around a new roll of toilet paper. It practically dissolves into nothingness when you look at it. She must have saved those wrappers for more than a year to accumulate the amount she gave me. I appreciate the gesture but I really have enough paper between my own mailbox and household recycling. But I digress. I received a lovely huge box of paper from Cindy this week. It is heavy card stock, saturated with color - perfect for my plantable paper products. (Say that 10 times fast!) It’s always a nice surprise when I open up a box from Cindy and see what is inside, and how the colors will inspire to create something. Some women love getting new shoes. For me, it’s paper scraps!