Second on the 2nd: handmade paper

The very first Second on the 2nd was about making paper using plant pulp.  Since Kathy has shown her beautiful corn husk handmade paper (hmp), I thought I would share this again.  I know some of you have already seen this post, but because there are so many new readers, I thought I would post it again.  This is my take on the one and ONLY time I made hmp from plant pulp.  Here is the post in its entirety.

New for 2015: second on the 2nd

Once a month, on the second (2nd), I will show a piece of art I have created in the past.  It's a second look at a piece of art I am proud of, or created before anyone knew my blog existed.  I welcome you to join me. 

For my first second on the 2nd, I actually consolidated two posts and recreated it below.  Please be aware, these were taken with my old camera, so the resolution leaves more than a little to be desired.

Making Paper From Day-Lilies

Parts 1 and 2

I've made paper for quite some time, but it has always been with paper pulp. Today (September 23, 2007)

I experimented using plant pulp. The supplies I used are (from left) Arm and Hammer Washing Soda (which can be used in place of soda ash), plastic spoon, a stainless steel pot dedicated to crafts, hot plate to cook the lilies outside, kitchen shears, and a scale.

The first thing I did after I picked the day lily leaves was put the pot (dedicated to crafts only) on the scale

and set the tare to zero.

I cut up the leaves to about half an inch using the kitchen shears.

Once the leaves were cut, which I thought was the most time consuming, I weighed the cut greens. I had to do that because I needed to find 20% of the dry weight. That is the amount of washing soda I needed.

After setting the tare of the spoon to zero, I then weighed the soda ash and added it to the pot.

Finally, I added water to the pot and set the temperature on "medium." I checked after two hours and the leaves didn't look like they had done that much, so they are still cooking away. I've been told that after they cook and are cleaned, they will last in the refrigerator for about a week.

This is what I had after the day lilies were completely cooked. Don't let the height of the cooked mixture in the pan fool you. It's mostly water, as you can see below (I showed these images on my blog on October 9, 2007).

Yep, you are seeing correctly. That's all the "pulp" I got from the cooked and cleaned lilies. Speaking of cleaning!! That entails washing the slimy lily leaves until they were no longer slimy. Good for everyone, as well as my camera that I didn't get pictures of that step. Take my word for it, cleaning the cooked leaves is probably the nastiest part of this process.

I placed the pulp and water, along with some tissue paper for strength, in my second-hand, retro, handmade paper (hmp) dedicated, industrial strength blender. Sadly, that was all the pulp I had. Remember please, items (including the blender and the cook pot) are never used in food processing once they have been dedicated to the craft room.

After all that work, I only got ONE page in the traditional manner, which is dipping my mold into the watery pulp. I had to pour the second and third pages. Pouring is hard for me, because I don't get an even pour, which means some areas of the paper had more pulp than others. The edges weren't as smooth, either. As you can see from the picture above, I only got two sheets from this batch.

The third page was a bust. It was too thin in most places, and only yielded a small strip of paper, which I used on a page in my Asian AB.

I hope you enjoyed this look back at my first second on the 2nd.   Thanks for joining me, and I'll try not to be so wordy next month. ___________________________________________________________________________
Now it's your turn to share a post you have dug up from the past. The rules are simple. This is a second look back on a post you are especially proud of, or possibly one you created before anyone knew your blog existed. Anything you want to share is acceptable. Feel free to invite your friends and followers to this fun, once monthly event, too.   Then link below (direct links only, please) and Bleubeard and I, along with other Second on the 2nd friends, will be by to visit.   Please remember, it's best to post on the 2nd, because this link is only open five days.