How to make seeded paper from your Stampin’ Up!® scraps

 

Today I am proud to be taking part in a Zero Waste blog hop, showcasing Stampin’ Up!® projects which re-use or repurpose waste to create beautiful new projects. 

The three main principles of Zero Waste are Reduce, Reuse and Recycle... in that order. Recycling is the last resort so to repurpose my little scraps of Basic White cardstock for another day, I used them to make some seeded paper for this rustic-looking card. 

 

This beautiful handmade paper can be used to make cards, gift tags and more – and the recipient can plant it in their garden to grow wild flowers to attract pollinating insects. 

Want to know how to make handmade seeded paper for your own craft projects? I’m happy to say it was really easy. 

 

I always save those narrow strips of Basic White cardstock as they are useful for greetings and sentiments. But for the past few weeks I have also been saving those oddly shaped scraps left behind by punches or dies. It soon became a habit to throw them into this bucket instead of putting with my other paper waste for recycling. 

 

My tip for saving small scraps of cardstock or paper for making handmade paper is to cut or tear it into smaller pieces as you go. Doing so will take barely any time at all compared to doing it all in one go when it comes to making the paper. 

 

Tutorial: how to make seeded paper from your Stampin’ Up!® paper scraps

 

To make the paper you will need:

• Paper scraps. For this first attempt I used only Basic White but you could experiment with different colours
• Water
• Wildflower seeds - try to use wildflowers which are native to your area
• A food processor or blender. Most tutorials tell you to use an old one you won't use for food but as my Basic White scraps don’t contain any harmful inks, I used my usual processor and washed it thoroughly afterwards
• Ink (optional)
• Towels/tea towels. One tutorial I saw used kitchen paper which rather defeats the object I think. Use something you can use again!
• A flat baking sheet
• Greaseproof paper (optional)
• A rolling pin or glass bottle
• A wire cooling tray or cooking spatter guard.

1. If you haven't already done so, cut or tear the Basic White cardstock scraps into small pieces. Place them in a blender; I filled my food processor about halfway which resulted in two sheets of handmade paper, each a little larger than a standard sheet of A4 cardstock.

2. Cover the paper with water and leave to soak. I left it overnight.

3. Blend in short bursts, moving it around with a wooden spoon between bursts. The texture you are aiming for is that of a very thick soup or cake mixture, so I added a little more water to achieve this. If you make it too wet, tip it onto a towel and squeeze of the moisture some out.

4. Tip the pulp into a large mixing bowl. Before adding any seeds, first I would advise removing half of the pulp and storing it in a sealed jar for later, or for making other colours.

5. Now add the seeds to the half in the bowl. Go easy here – I think I added way many. I also noticed that some of my seeds stained the paper yellow. If you wish, add a few drops of ink or food colouring to dye it. I used some retired Wild Wasabi ink for my second batch and ended up with something akin to Soft Sea Foam.

6. Make a pad of towels on top of a baking sheet and press the paper as flat as you can. Cover with a fine-weave towel or piece of greaseproof paper and flatten further with the rolling pin or glass bottle.

7. Add a towel on top and carefully flip over so the new towel is at the bottom. This is where the baking sheet comes in really handy. Repeat the rolling a couple of times, removing the wet towel and replacing with a dry one.

8. When the paper is as flat and thin as you dare, transfer it to a cooling rack or a spatter guard and leave to dry for a day or two, or even longer if required. 

 

Now you have your handmade seeded paper which you can use as you wish. As you can see, my first batch has yellow speckles where the seeds stained the paper, which is why I added ink to my second batch to make green. 

 

Before using your handmade paper, flatten it further in the Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine or other die-cutting machine. This gives it a nice smooth finish to stamp on, and makes it thinner. 

 

 

 

 Be careful when using handmade paper with punches, especially if you have added seeds. I’ve blunted a tag topper punch on this paper, but big simple shapes worked well. You still run the risk of a seed catching so be very careful. 

 

If using your handmade paper with dies, flatten it first, as shown above, then run it through with the die a few times and be prepared to trim with scissors as well. Big simple shapes work best – don’t attempt it with anything complicated. Again, be aware of hard seeds.

 

Now I have lots of die cut shapes ready to use on future projects, but for my blog hop project I have embossed the paper using the Dandelions 3D Embossing Folder. Embossing folders work really well – just make sure your paper isn’t too thick as this could split the folder at the hinge. 

 

I embossed my dandelions towards the edge of my handmade paper – you can see where the ink is a little more concentrated – and tore the rest of the shape to fit the card. I folded the paper around the card which weakened the paper and allowed me to tear in a fairly straight line.

I have avoided all plastic on this card so used linen thread and some tiny die-cut flowers (from the Floral Squares Dies) as my embellishments. I want the recipient to be able to plant the whole card if they wish. 

The greeting says “Good things are worth waiting for” from the Enjoy the Moment stamp set, which is especially relevant in this case as the flowers won’t be blooming until the summer at least.

This Zero Waste blog hop has come about as a result of the recent launch of the SU Demonstrators Against Waste Facebook Group (#SUDemosAgainstWaste), which already has 250+ members. I am constantly seeking ways to live a greener lifestyle and do my best to reduce waste wherever I can. All my class kits are sent out in recyclable or reused packaging – and many mailing boxes get used time and again as customers kindly return them to me.

I'm not going to save the world but every little helps – which is the whole point of #ZeroWaste. We as individuals can never achieve Zero Waste but, as Anne Marie Bonneau, author of The Zero Waste Chef, said:

 

“We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.”

 

 
Please now follow the links below to see what other Stampin’ Up!® demonstrators around the world have made for this Zero Waste blog hop.

Blog Hop Index

If this project has inspired you and you are a Stampin’ Up!® demonstrator, please get in touch for details of the SU Demos Against Waste Facebook Group. If you are a customer in the UK and would like to order any Stampin’ Up!® supplies, please consider me as your demonstrators. If you shop online using the January host code RNU3JCR9, I will send you a thank you gift next month.

To make it easy for you, please shop using this link

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