lovely day

Long busy, happy day. Fab new haircut, incredible crabapple blossoms(I'll have to post pics and fill the flower presses before they fall!), art opening for our group, letters from friends, papermaking and hanging out with friends and more friends. Sillyness was in the air.



I made papers something like this for our bookmaking class tommorow. They are a tad more violet than blue with green threads. I'll post them later too. Oddly enough, the pulp clumped and stuck together and okra slime (used here as a formation aid) did not solve it. I had to strain the pulp out of the water and break it up with the blender and then it was clear that the formation aid was working. Okra "slime" works as a defloculant and keeps the pulp suspended in the water. The sheets are more even and thinner. I'm not certain, but this may be a Japanese papermaking technique. I will have to look it up again to be sure...