Preparation: First Steps

Prior to July 26, 2005, I:
• Did a Google search for papermaking sites
• Found a Yahoo! group for papermaking and downloaded & read info
• Visited Artmart and bought an Arnold Grummer pour papermaking kit
• Also bought six "Specialty Pulps."
⁃ 100% White Cotton Rag Pulp
⁃ 100% Blue Denim Cotton Pulp
⁃ Gray Cotton Rag & Wool Pulp
⁃ Green Cotton Rag & Wool Pulp
⁃ Plum Cotton Rag & Wool Pulp
⁃ Scrubbed Corn Husk & Cotton Pulp
• I responded to an e-mail on the Yahoo! community about Classic Linen paper, explaining the name designated the texture, not the rag content. Also mentioned that I was a little intimidated by the site.
• I received three e-mails back, clearly encouraging and supporting me. These are the coolest people ever.

July 26, 2005:
• Read over papermaking terms again. They're confusing me, because they intersect with design and printing terms. For example, deckle. In design and printing, paper can have a deckled edge, which means one edge is ragged, generally the envelope flap. In papermaking, the deckle is the wooden frame that holds the pulp in place over the screen.
• Decided to start with simple paper recycling. This really makes me laugh, because I get so much junk mail. I will never want for raw materials.
• Found a plastic tub that will work for the deckle I have, and the next larger one that I need to make envelopes to to fit. (LOL) It was in the chest freezer, full of portions of soup.
• Sacrificed my 20-year-old Osterizer blender. I can't remember the last time I used it anyway, and I can buy a new one for food if I need it. The need to create something organic trumps cooking right now.
• Made a basic 7x9-inch template to approximate the material I need to make my first piece. I chose a piece of junk mail that actually made material for two pages. It's almost time for Big Brother 6, so I gathered all of the materials in the kitchen and sat down to make this entry. Tomorrow, the only thing on is "The Inside" at 8 p.m., so I'll be couching my first sheets then. For now, I'll close this out to watch "So You Want to be a Hilton!" Mercy, I need a hobby.