Handmade wedding

Just finished two large wedding orders of tented cards made from plantable paper. There are many steps to make an order for a wedding. First, I gather together all the paper scraps that I will need to make the order, making sure I can make a consistent color all the way through multiple batches. Then, I shred the paper scraps into small pieces so that they can be ground up with water without stressing my blender motor. Next, I make a slurry (aka a big vat of pulp), add wildflower seeds and then "pull" sheets of paper using an ancient technique invented by the Chinese and still used today by hand papermakers. It involves using a wood frame with a screen pulled tightly across (called a mold) and another frame called a deckle (which is where the term "deckle" edge comes from when referring to the feathery edge of handmade paper). For large orders, I have to make several batches of paper and repeat the process over until I have enough sheets of paper.

Once all the paper is made, I let it dry and then cut it down into the size the wedding couple needs, then trim it and fold it. There is a smooth side of every sheet (where the paper was against the screen) that makes a good surface for writing the names of guests, but you can still see all the yummy seeds. A lot of work goes into every order, and I think that handwork shows without the paper looking homemade. Very satisfying!

FaceBook

I very reluctantly started a FaceBook page for my handmade paper business a couple of weeks ago.

I am not a FaceBook person. I have only posted something to my personal FaceBook page twice in the last 6 or 8 months. For me, it is a black hole for my time. It is incredible to see what my best friend from high school is doing and how my college roommate is solving the world's problems in Africa. And that's the problem. I could spend all day on it. I have a friend who recently deleted her account because it was so much of a time suck that she needed to take the temptation out of her life!

Anyway, I am not sure what customers might like to see, but I will try to show behind-the-scenes things about my life as an artist and a papermaker, and hopefully inspire your creativity. So, as they, "Follow me!"

https://www.facebook.com/PulpArtPaper

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life

This season is all about the commercial side of life. As a hand-maker, I love the message of a handmade holiday. Even though I should be pushing my wares, I am still all about everything that isn't commercial at all, about making your own things by hand and celebrating things other than store-bought. I was one of the thousands of people without electricity for several days in New Hampshire. The challenges brought neighbors together and made strangers friendly. Cumberland Farms was giving out free coffee to everyone and a local gym opened its lockers rooms to anyone needing running water, whether they were a member or not. The snow turned everything white and wonderful, and it was a lovely couple of days without technology. I had one of the nicest holidays I can remember (even if it included washing my hair in a bucket of melted snow), and hope I can maintain these feelings of gratitude through the hectic holiday season.

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
― Melody Beattie

(And, by the way, everybody looks better by candlelight!)

Small Business Saturday

In addition to the dance lessons and team jerseys, you are also helping this small business owner be available for scraped knees, early school dismissals, emergency car repairs and large batches of laundry in the middle of the work day. Thank you! Shop small!!

Full of thanks

My Etsy store (https://www.etsy.com/shop/PulpArt) has been my little corner of Heaven ever since 2008. It started as a small side business to grow my local art business but I am humbled by its successes. To date, I have more than 4400 admirers, I am in the top 100 Etsy paper goods sellers, I have logged almost half of a million all-time views in 150 countries, and I am just a handful away from making my 5,000th sale, a number I could never have imagined 6 years ago. Wow! It’s been a good run and I am grateful and thankful today and every day. Happy Thanksgiving.

Futzing

"Futzing around" is the term we use in my family when we should be doing something but we have gotten sidetracked with a project that is not a necessary one. Hang on, I'll use it in a few sentences!

"Dinner is going to be a bit later because I was futzing around reorganizing the closet."

"I forgot to call because I was futzing around in the yard."

"She futzed around all day and didn't do her homework."

To me, futzing is a mix of procrastination and a creative spurt that overrides making dinner, doing laundry or even the creative things I do that can become a bit routine. These Christmas tree gift tags came out of my latest round of futzing. I had some pretty scrapbooking paper that were leftovers, a few sheets of green plantable paper and some good shows on the DVR. Enjoy!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/55966099

Wedding colors

Here's what makes me happy: Telling a bride that I can come CLOSE to her wedding colors but I won't be able to match my plantable papers exactly with her flowers because the colors are really specific and there's a lot of color mixing that has to happen. Plus, paper pulp is wet and looks darker and different than when it dries. She trusts me and goes ahead with an order and then I get to tell her that I matched the colors better than I could have hoped. Booyah!