I have always loved the look, feel and texture of handmade paper. So when Arnold Grummer had a card contest in August, I decided to throw my hat in!
We were asked to put an Owl on our project, which, to me, was THE most difficult part of the contest! Am not a huge fan of the Owl, in fact I avoid anything Owl related,stamps, images..you get the idea!
But I so wanted to be a part of this contest, I have been papermaking for almost a decade now and Arnold Grummer papermaking kit was the very reason I started making my own handmade paper. We used to live in SC then, and I remember picking up this box of paper making supplies at an A C Moore craft store. His kit made this entire process so easy and simplified. I caught on to it and never let go!
Every Summer I gather flowers and leaves from our garden, dry them in this lovely
wooden flower press, handcrafted by my brother and make them a part of my paper. I embed each sheet with botanicals and seeds and cast each one individually. It is this simple, repetitive process that I find extremely calming and relaxing...almost meditative!
So, coming back to my
winning card.... I decided to cast a thicker paper and used some cotton linters and painted directly on the paper and since I had just been chosen to be on the Yasutomo Niji Design team, I decided to do something oriental..and tried my hand at Chinese Brush painting and sent it off, happy that I had done my best!
And one fine afternoon, I received a happy mail from Kim over at Arnold Grummer's !
....and today it was
announced officially in their October Newsletter and on their website,
so I thought of sharing my project here too.
I had sent a mini tutorial as part of my submission..here it is...
The colors and brushes are by
Yasutomo and paper making supplies by
Arnold Grummer
......notice those petals and seeds....
That was a long post! still there?
You can stop by their
website for the announcement and supply list.
Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Arnold Grummer Contest Winner!