Cynthia Foo

I’ve made several cards in the past. There were some difficulties which I came across were looking for the right paper, colors and texture of paper is quite hard. Oh, maybe I am fussy. I want things close to perfect in my way. =)
As a consequence, I decided to make my own paper for art purpose.
I have no problem looking for recycle papers as we got quite a bit of junkz mails, brochers, even egg cartons are good ones too! I prefer ordinary paper, without waxing or plastic material.
Firstly, soak the paper/cardboard you want to recycle for few hours in order to soften the texture. If the paper is over waxed, the water won’t be able to penetrate the paper, and the process is no way to continue. ^_* (speak from personal experience)Once it is completely soaked, blend them. Yes, until they look like this:Traditionally, porous wired frame was used. However, I don’t have one here, and I want to make a thicker card, therefore I go with an old old chopping board.The reason I use this particular chopping board is it has fine lining which will give a nice lining on the paper. You will see what I mean by the end of this post.Once got the chopping board and blended paper, spread them across the surface of the chopping board evenly. Use old news paper to absorb excessive water. It helps alot!
I dry them behind the house backyard. Best to do it when the sun is strong, so they dry quickly.
You can try in hot-air oven, but from personal experience it did not dry them up completely. And it was quite difficult to take them off from the chopping board. It is not a good idea at all.
TA DAH!!!!!!!!!!!!
Those are the re-cycle papers I’ve been making. I did most of them during Autumn when the sun was still warm. =)
Have a closer look, this is the fine lining and surface I was refering to.

Recycle papers don’t normally smell great like those commercialised paper. Here’s another tip for you, you can slip some perfumed-cards in between your recycle papers, so you will get nice aroma. I picked some perfmed cards up when I walked pass Myer. I know, call me ‘cheap-skate’ =POh yeah, to finish of your recycle papers and for storage, use heavy thick books like those… put one or two of these books on top of the papers, plus slipping the perfumed cards. You will bet a nice recycle papers.Have fun making your own recycle papers. For those in ozzie..oh yeah, you gotta wait till Summer. *_^