Simple Leather Bound Exercise - Book No. 0003

. So, heres a quick example of a leather bound book. 6 signatures made from cheap shop boght staple bound note book.

Book No. 0003 4x7 in (10x17 cm)

Curry Paper - Good Enough to Eat? - Paper No. 0004

Well maybe not exactly curry, but the inclusions in this paper are paprika and oregano. Straight out of the kitchen cubboard, and well mixed in the pulp. The paprika leaves delightful orangey red flecks in the paper. There is a very slight paprika smell to the paper too! Good enough to eat?

Paper No 0004 8x6 in (20x15 cm) Paprika & Oregano Inclusions.

Detail of Paper No. 0004 showing the flecks in the paper from the paprika.

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2 More Experimental Sheets

OK, tonight I made these 2 papers. Both experimental. The first one has silk fibres (all the same fibres) sandwiched between 2 sheets, and the second sheet has various different fibres sandwiched. Again, as 'Another Experiment', I should have left it and pressed as a single sheet, without the sandwich.

Sawdust Inclusions Paper - Paper No. 0003

OK, today I made 3 pairs of timber boards to use as book covers at some stage. I've no idea what the wood is, I picked up a big plank about 8mm thick from local reclamation yard. It's a very dark wood, with light stripes, and it chips a bit like fibreglass. My hands were cut to shreds before I'd tamed it! Anyway, once finished, I swept all the sawdust and chips up, and made some more pulp as Paper No 0001, and added a large lot of the sawdust. This is the finished sheet.

Paper No. 0003 8x6 in (20x15 cm) Sawdust Inclusions.

And here is the finished stack of some of the dozen or so sheets I made.

Another Experiment

. I cut up a pair of jeans, hoping to make some denim paper. Unfortunately, after 20 minutes of blending I realised, this wasn't going to work, and that the denim needed cooking first. But, with the small amount I had blended, I made this sheet by sandwiching the denim pulp between 2 sheets of paper made as Paper No 0001. But, in hindsight, i should have pressed it on a single sheet. This image is of the same sheet, one back lit, the other using front light from camera flash.

A Single Sheet Experiment

Just a quick experiment with a spoilt sheet while making Paper No 0001 Applied coffee granules, and i ran my sons Thomas train over the paper, which is how i got the tram lines across it!

Bank-Note-Book - Book No. 0002

Contact me: blog[at]sgwilkinson[dot]freeserve[dot]co[dot]uk

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25th March 2009 - UPDATE: I am now making these Bank-Note Books with endpapers made with my handmade paper that use shredded £20 bank notes as inclusions. See here for details.

So, if we swap, you'll receive a Bank-Note-Book with bank note paper endpapers, 3 different sheets of other of my papers, and a tiny amount of shredded bank notes for you to experiment with.

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Today I made 8 little single signature pamphlet note books from some old banknotes i've had for some time.

Book No. 0002 circa 2.5x2.5 in (7x7cm) 24 to 32 relued pages.

I've got an idea in my head that i could swap these with anyone who is interested in either putting a link to my blog on their page, or sending me a sheet of paper or a simple pamphlet that they have personally made. To that end, I've bought job lot of uncirculated banknotes from Ebay to make them from. If anyone is interested, email me at email at sgwilkinson.freeserve.co.uk for a chat about what we can swap. If we do a swap, i'll publish info, and photos of items swapped.

My First Book - Book No. 0001

With the 2 papers I'd produced, it was time to try a book. I used 2 thicker sheets of the Paper No. 0001 for each of the 5 signatures, and used a folded sheet of Paper No. 0002 for both the covers. Sewn coptic stitch, and with a thin strip of hand painted Japanese Washi paper as a front label, i ended up with this as a first attempt.

Book No. 0001 4x6 in (10x15 cm)

My First Coloured Paper - Paper No. 0002

I sorted some old utility bills either printed on yellow / orange paper, or with a lot of yellow / orange print. Shredded as below.

I pulled 20 or so sheets again. These were a lot faster to make, but i was limited by the Number of felts i had.

Paper No. 0002 8x6in (20x15cm) No Additives

My First Attempt at Making Paper - Paper No 0001

, My first sheets using a basic papermaking kit from Ebay and a basic document shredder from Staples. I shredded a pile of regular utility bills as below.

This is one of the first batch of 20 or so papers i produced in a couple of hours.

Paper No. 0001 8x6 in (20x15 cm) No Additives

The papers are of varying weights, due to both experimentaton, and lack of knowledge. Couched on old 'as found' felt sheets, and pressed between 2 boards using woodworkers ratchet clamps.