Arnold Grummer Blog Roll -Birch Tree Card

These  striking white birch trees are made by layering white paper pulp onto a white sheet of blue handmade paper. I mounted the finished paper onto a green 5 X 7-inch folded card to use as a Christmas card.

To make the blue background I used half a sheet of paper made in a  Grummer Medium Pour Mold.
I wanted to work with this half sheet while it was still wet. I also wanted it to have a soft edege on all sides. The pour mold gives the paper this nice edge. To get a smiliar finish on the last side, I tied a ribbon to the the screen and plastic gride before I attached them to the frame.

ribbon tied on the bottom of screen and grid

top

Once the frame is in place, I poured the blue pulp into the mold, then drained it and sponged it, leaving the ribbon in place. After I very lightly sponged the sheet, I untied the ribbon and slowly pulled it away. Now I have two nicely edged sheets -- for two cards!

Wet sheet, ribbon still in place

I put a screen on either side of the ribbon before I pulled it to keep the paper from tearing.
 



Two sheets!

For the tree trunks I poured white pulp onto the black mesh screen, placed atop the white plastic grid. To get the right shape, I placed two other plastic grids on top of the black screen and poured the white pulp between them.

White gride, then black screen, then two more grids as guides for the pulp.

Nice straight edges on the trunk

I lifted the black screen and placed it, pulp side down, on the wet blue sheet. It adhered to the wet sheet after just a bit of sponging.

To make the black lines on the trees, I squirted a thin line of black pulp on the black screen (again, placed atop the white grid) and rolled the pulp with my finger until it was a really thin ribbon. Sticking it on my finger, I placed it gently on the tree trunk.

Repeat, varying the the gap between the two top white grids to make the different sized trees.

When I finished making my birch forest,  I placed the blue sheet between two couching sheets and put it in the paper press.

I glued the dry blue sheet to the front of a 5  X 7 inch folded card.

Then I made the other card.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!