Papermaking...

You'd be forgiven for thinking there's quite enough of the stuff around already - I sometimes feel as if I'm drowning in it!

But if you love the look and feel of handmade paper, but not the price, why not try making your own? It's not hard, but it is cheap, incredibly messy and wonderfully satisfying...

Homemade papers made using used envelopes and leaves from our garden...

The best way to start is with recycled paper. Lightly-printed computer paper and used envelopes (without stamps, or sellotape) are ideal. Shred these or tear them into small pieces and soak for a few hours.

You will need: a blender or liquidiser, a largish watertight tub or tank (I use an old plastic toybox) half-filled with cold water and a "mould" - a big frying pan splash cover works well, gives interestingly round sheets and is very easy to handle. Or net or close wire mesh stretched tightly over a sturdy frame. Newspaper and j-cloths are used to build a "couching mound", and more newspaper, 2 chopping boards and several bricks to squeeze excess water out of the sheets.

Make a mound by folding a double sheet of broadsheet or two single sheets of tabloid newspaper four times, then another sheet three times and placing it on the first. Then one folded twice, and one once... on top of this place the first smoothed-out j-cloth - this is your "couching mound". Place a couple of handsful of the soaked paper in the liquidiser with some water and whizz until porridgy. Tip into the tank and repeat several times - 3-4 blendersful will give you 10-15 A4ish sheets. If you add in brightly-coloured shredded paper napkins at this point you will get coloured paper; add in glitter or sequins and it will sparkle, add in flower petals or scraps of wool for an interesting texture.

Stir the mixture up thoroughly and slide the frame into the tank; holding it flat raise it up out of the water and wiggle it slightly to distribute the fibres evenly. Water should be draining through the net or mesh; as it slows tip the mould gently so that the water runs off. When it has slowed to a drip, hold the mould over the couching mound and roll it over so that the paper is pressed onto the j-cloth - then roll the mould back, hopefully without the paper! You can lightly smooth your fingers over the back of the mould to break the suction that may hold it on. If the sheet you have now made is holey or torn, tip it back into the tank and start again. When you have a sheet you're happy with, lie another j-cloth over the top of it (or fold the bottom one over the top if there is enough of it - as long as you end up with your paper sandwiched between 2 layers of cloth, which will hold it together while it dries.) Place another cloth over this and repeat the process. When you have about 5 sheets, cover the top one, lift the whole "stack" gently off the mound and place on some folded newspaper on a sturdy chopping board. Put more newspaper on top, then the second chopping board and weigh it down with bricks to squeeze the water out.

You can make some more sheets whilst some of the excess water is draining off the first stack. After about half an hour, I tend to take the bricks off the top and stand on the stack, wiggling gently - this squeezes out any water that was thinking of staying put even if I do look rather strange... Then you can carefully lift the stack and peg the sheets up to dry, somewhere where they can hang flat for at least a night. Ironing them on a low heat when they are nearly dry can help them dry quicker and stay flatter, but remember handmade paper is meant to be different to machine-made - and it's much more interesting stuff!

There are all sorts of different things to try; you can use a "deckle" which fits on or in the mould to make more evenly shaped sheets. You can make it partly or entirely with leaves from your garden - or greengrocers! - by boiling them up with washing soda for 1-3 hours until suitably mushy, squeezing out & rinsing well under running water, then liquidising as before. Try scenting the paper, or adding a little grated soap or starch at the tank stage for a smoother surface you can write on. Or 3D moulds... You can even use a gravy baster to "paint" with different coloured pulps and create works of art... Your library should have, or be able to get for you, several informative and inspirational books. But if course, making paper is only the first step - what you do with it after that is limited only by your imagination! For example, all the backgrounds in this section are made with scanned homemade paper..

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