Paper Making with Friends

Ohhhhhhhhh, I had so much fun while Cecile and Marcel visited from Belgium.  We went so many places and did so many things together that it is hard to keep everything straight.  One thing that always happens is I over book myself and end up committing to do something not realizing that I have guests at the time...so...this time my guests opted to help me out and then go to my meeting with me.  

I belong to a Lace Guild made up of some wonderful women and we meet once a month close to Waynesboro,  PA.  At the meeting we always do something that prompts us to learn, whether it be something new or another technique for something we already know.  Well this month I had volunteered to show the ladies how to make paper sachets and we used homemade paper!  I will take you through a quickie process (pics and all) of how Cecile and Marcel assisted me in my quest to make a multitude of paper for the class.  

 Here is my deckle in the sink.  I had already made quite a few sheets prior to this so the water and surrounding area are quite ucky. (w?) lol  

 This is my handy dandy blender that I blended up some beautiful purple paper in, along with the lavender that my awesome friend, RuthAnn, had given me.  It was quite a concoction, let me tell ya.  I smelled like a big LAVENDER PLANT when I was done! lol  

 These were my paper sheets as they came out of the deckle and I left them on the counter to dry.  The good thing about making homemade paper is that you have the choice to add whatever that you like to your paper as it is being blended.  I have made paper with little snips of gold lame in it as well as tiny pieces of gold thread.  It really adds to the paper.  This time I used entire stalks of lavender with the paper that I had torn-just to give it an awesome smell and wonderful texture.

This was Cecile helping by ironing the paper after I had taken it out of the deckle and sponged out the extra water.  She put it in between two couching sheets to dry them out quickly as our humidity must have been about 120% that day! *sigh* 

Here is Marcel, supervising this time.  Actually, he helped out by taking the paper from the kitchen counter to the dining room for Cecile to iron then made sure each was put into a telephone book for pressing later.  

I have the coolest friends!!!

Well, I just wanted to share this with you today.  I love being able to craft and being able to share with friends so this was a win/win situation.  I hope you have a groovy week!

*hugz and blessings*

Elizabeth