Nature Paper

Nature Paper

Once I found a tutorial on how to make paper from vegetables, but I don’t find back the tutorial (it was at ARD-Buffet, but it seems to be too long ago).
On the photo you see a card made with cucumber paper for a friend for the end of fast.

How to make cucumber paper:

  1. Cut the cucumber in slices of about 0,5 cm / 0,2 inches.
  2. Put the slices between two layers of tissue paper.
    They must overlap to form a sheet of paper!
  3. Put everything into the microwave and put several plates as weight onto your paper-to-be.
  4. Heat at a high temperature for about 1 minute.
    (Note: Please be careful when using the microwave!)
  5. After 1 minute the tissue paper is wet, you have to change it. Also air the cucumber paper a little bit.

Repeat steps 2 – 5 until the tissue paper stays nearly dry.
Lay between new sheets of tissue paper and between several layers of old newspapers and put some weight on it.
About once a day you must replace the moist tissue paper and newspapers by dry ones.
After 2 – 3 days your cucumber paper is ready for use.

Cucumber seems to be one of the easiest vegetables to be used for paper. You can also use other vegetables, but I haven’t tried them and can’t say, how thick the slices must be and how long it takes.
The paper is real paper: You can write on it, you can cut it and so forth.

Repeating Patterns

Repeating Patterns

Once I found a tutorial on how to make your own repeating pattern and found it a revelation!
I tried it immediately ;-) and it worked perfect!
On the topmost picture you see my self-made repeating pattern, on the other pictures you see what I made from it.
The whole pattern was designed on my computer, but I’ve made another one on paper which was also a success.

By the way: this Papaya Shikai Maki was designed the same way ;-))

Repeating Patterns

Repeating Patterns

Repeating Patterns


Links:
Make your own Repeating Patterns (English) (with explaining pictures)

Papaya Shikai Maki