We Think Green Too!

We are Lia and Pauline, two longstanding friends. We are always creative, especially with paper often in combination with stamping, embossing, watercolours, hand lettering, fabric, wood, macramé and embroidery. But we also enjoy cooking and the (vegetable) garden. It is also fun to turn things like onion skins or flowers into paper.

In 2018, we carefully scooped our first sheet of paper. Our starting point was to use leftover paper and natural dyes as much as possible. In doing so, we try to do our part to reduce waste. Meanwhile, the paper shredder is our best friend and we use water from the dehumidifier to make pulp. If we want a blue colour we add the familiar tax envelope. If we want green we add geranium leaves. Flowers, feathers, leaves and twigs are fine decorative materials. So much fun to get creative with the backyard as a hobby store!

You can also do really cool things with kraft paper.  Curious as we are, we opened Gerstacker’s packing pads and used the contents to make pulp. Only the blender is less happy with the pieces of elastic 😉 After scooping and drying the kraft paper, we got to work especially for Christmas with Finetec paint, stamps, fabric, etc.

See photos for the results!

                                                                       

HANDMADE PAPER

Handmade paper has been made for centuries.  It is an ancient craft. The base of the paper consists of fibres that come from plants and trees found in nature. When we searched for handmade paper on the Internet, it not only yielded a list of stores where the paper can be purchased, but also explanations of the creation process.                                                                                                              

“Could it really be that simple?”, we wondered? We knew it was…..                                                                                                                    

From the first handmade card, we were thrilled with the results! We continue to be amazed at how much is possible with so little material!

STEP PLAN

Step by step towards a sheet of handmade paper:

step 1; collect and tear paper

step 2; mix the paper with water in the blender (from the thrift store!) After mixing, a firm paper pulp remains. We dilute this pulp with more rainwater in a large container.

step 3; gather decorative materials, dried or not in the flower press pictured: lavender, seed pods, Judas pennywort, pansies, hydrangea, onion skins, sawdust.

Step 4; scoop frames, homemade from old picture frames/metal rings and screen mesh, some even with our Pluma watermark!

step 5; create 

step 6; transfer to household wipes, remove excess water with sponge.

step 7; with our book press we gently squeeze even more water out of the paper. Then we hang the wipes with paper on the clothesline. Weather permitting outside, otherwise inside the studio.  

STUDIO PLUMA

Even though it’s a hobby, we like to promote our work. That’s why we came up with a name and logo. Then how much fun is it to get to work with wood burning and lino gouging ourselves!

Of course, we also made our own work aprons. The fabric came from our men’s old jeans and Grandma’s button box is a bit emptier again.

Studio Pluma has been around for over 5 years now. Last year we celebrated with a special series in pink and green.   (Pink = flowers, green = leaves from nature).

Occasionally we get to stand with our handmade paper at a local fair. So last year and in honour of our anniversary we handed out bags of flower seeds from our own garden.

Another anniversary item is the Plumaat. The bottle contains ingredients for a spice cake made to an old family recipe with a Pluma twist. About 50 years ago, neighbour Mien gave the recipe to Lia’s aunt Geertruida. 4 generations later, spice cake is still baked in the family.  Lia and I put our own twist on it. You have a real Plumaat in your hands, of course with a handmade label around the bottle!

More examples of what is possible with a little paper and water.  

Here is a label “get well,” scooped from leftover paper and geranium leaves, text and hydrangea stamped, dressed with raffia and wooden bead.

Below is a card “hug,” created from leftover paper and sawdust, letters and feather (balsa wood shapes) printed in the pulp for an embossing effect, decorated with a handmade ceramic heart.

Here is a folded card “invitation to 25th wedding anniversary”, scooped from leftover paper with a judas penny, text stamped, closure made of cardboard (cereal packaging), split pin, string and beads.

Here is a plant pendant “Flower” created from leftover paper and sawdust, letters and flower (balsa wood shapes) printed into the pulp for an embossing effect, further decorated with driftwood, string, wooden beads and rings and dried flowers from our own garden in a glass jar.

Below is a mini label, created from white and pink leftover paper, violet inlaid in the pulp, framed and a bottle of flowers from own garden.

This poem we wrote ourselves, it actually says it all:

PLUMA

So pure that nature

With all its power

The animals, trees and flowers

A leaf, a flower or a feather

It makes us happy again and again

So delicate that feather, but also very sturdy

So strong and flexible that it moves us

Pluma is the Latin word for feather

For us it gives the right atmosphere

Nature motivates and illustrates

How to create something beautiful

 

 studiopluma

  handmadepaperbystudiopluma

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