I ★ Chicago Envelope

I love Chicago, my home town. I also love the Chicago flag.

 For a special birthday gift -- a Chicago flag lapel pin --I needed the perfect envelope. With the help of the Arnold Grummer square envelope template, and a tiny star-shaped cookie cutter, the perfect envelope was born.

I started with a white envelope. While the envelope was still wet and on the papermaking screen, I used a squeeze bottle full of light blue pulp to form two blue stripes on the large-holed black  mesh screen, then placed the two blue stripes on to the envelope. Then I poured red pulp into  the star cookie cutter set on the  black mesh screen and placed those stars between the stripes.
This is the same pulp paiting method I used to make the birch trees in an older post

I Could Write a Book

. . . and I have!
A whole book out of handmade paper.
Here is my illustrated version of the children's song "This Old Man."
I have always loved that song. That little "knick-knack-paddy-whack"  captures my imagination. What exactly does it sound like and what makes that sound?  In my version "knick-knack paddy whack" has a very definite sound.

This old man
He played four
He played knick-knack
out my door

 And who is this old man anyway?  I made him a not-so-old old muscian.

If you have seen my cards, you know I love to make pictures that tell stories. So even this little rhyme tells a story of the day a girl, her mom and their pup are visited by an old friend, who makes music all over the place, and then rolls home.

He played knick-knack on my hive!

It was great fun to make this book and to make the paper for the illustrations --from the beige band-aide, to the yellow dandilions. I am already humming a tune and collecting paper for my next book.

Please enjoy this preview, and yes, it is for sale!

This Old Man

By Illustrated by ...

Book Preview

This Old Man by Illustrated by Susan Carton | Make Your Own Book

Olives, anyone?

Happy olives dancing in brine! Pulp painting makes it easy. Olives make it fun. Enjoy.

Wrap a glass jar with a new sheet of handmade paper.

 

Using a scissor handle as a mold, make the green olives.
Use the black mesh screen placed on top of the white plastic grid from the
Arnold Grummer Medium Pour Mold, pour pulp into mold.

Place the olive onto the wet yellow paper, press in place.

Pour a smal amount of red pulp onto the black mesh/white grid and form it into the pimento.

Lift the pimento off the screen and dab it into place. Repeat until jar is full.

Please enjoy this olive-themed video.