More Nepalese Mountain Paper

Nepalese Mountain paper is one of the most popular papers in my paper supplies store on etsy;  Probably down to the colour variety, and the fact that it's reasonably priced, which means it's 'safe' to buy as a gift for other people.

Delicious colours of Nepalese Mountain Paper

currently available~ Deep Saffron, Fuschia, Turquoise, Lime

Nepalese mountain paper is made from the bark fibre of lokta, a plant which grows above 3000 metres in the Himalayan foothills. This is a renewable resource and the fibre collection and paper manufacture create valuable employment in the hill areas. The dyeing is done in the Kathmandu valley using dyes which meet current EU standards on effluence and toxicology.

 The paper has a lovely soft feel & although it feels delicate, it really is quite a robust paper... 

it gives a crisp fold & the natural plant fibres show up gorgeously along the torn edges! 

Also available in Natural!

These papers are not absorbent and can be used with pen and ink for calligraphy, for collage or for wrapping.... if your ink should bleed, a fixative can be used but most are fine.

One of the questions that is quite regularly asked is, "Can I print on Nepalese Mountain Paper?".

Well, I have written in a variety of inks & paint but I've not printed on it. 

I was really pleased when one of my customers reported back to say that it prints beautifully and shared a photograph to prove it!

"Death Spell" by Natalie Ricciardi

part of a series called "Harmonic Decomposition"

More of Natalie's work can be seen at http://ladysilvermountain.tumblr.com

I make no apologies for showing more torn edges... it's not hard to guess why I chose the name Torn Edge Paper... I can't get enough of them! 

Writing on Nepalese Mountain Paper

In the last post, Mahsheed used Nepalese Mountain paper to create wonderful collages. It is lightweight, which makes it great for layering & moulding to a shape. For all it's lightness, mountain paper is also robust…. it's made from the bark fibres of the lokta plant, which grows above 3000 feet in the Himalayan foothills. The crop is totally renewable and the plants re-grow & are ready to harvest again in about 4 years.

 These two on the cerise are written in a liquid Chinese stick ink (bought from a Chinese supermarket) using a Chinese calligraphy brush. A metal nib works well enough on this paper; the surface is actually very crisp although the paper feels soft, if that makes sense!

I want to be an outrageous old woman who never gets called old lady.

I want to get leaner & meaner & sharp edged 

and earth coloured until I fade away from pure joy.

~ Julie Kookin ~

I copied the quote from someone else years ago & searched for it's origins a while back. The words had been used in a film, & I think the character was Julie Kookin…(I may be wrong on this as information was conflicting) and were taken from "Country Women- A handbook for the new farmer, by Jeanne Tetrault & Sherry Thomas". Annoyingly I never wrote down the source for any of this, and now I can't even find a reference to the quote anywhere, so if anyone knows anything, please share!

I have tracked down the 'Country Women' book though...

… and look, it even has calligraphy on the cover. It seems to be a practical book with stories & poetry too, & judging by this review, it looks like one worth purchasing.

"The line art work is graceful, poetry is inspiring, the diaries reassure me that I am not alone in my failures or frustrations, and the practical information is well worded, empowering women into thinking 'yes, I can do this'. I refered time and time again to the companion planting section, wood cookstove section, wood splitting section... in fact, I referred so often to so many parts of the book that they are now committed to memory, along with my favorite poems. The book is somewhat dated in some ways, yet absolutely timeless in others."

forget not that the Earth delights to feel your bare feet

& the winds long to play with your hair

~ Kahlil Gibran ~

These were written with gouache… and with a brush again. I do like the effect of black brush lettering on the coloured mountain paper, especially where the paint is running out… and it feels gorgeous as I write. I can see a series of these coming up when I order some more paper. 

Printing on Khadi Mulberry Tissue

 I was asked,  "Can you print on Khadi Mulberry Tissue?"  & to be honest I didn't know.

Khadi's Mulberry tissue is very soft & lightweight, with a fairly open weave. It also feels absorbent & tears easily too, so getting it through an inkjet printer would be one thing, never mind whether it accepted the ink.

I used a low-tack tape to tape the tissue onto normal copier paper to act as a carrier. On the first attempt the mechanism that pulls the paper into the printer, tore the tissue away from the backing & couldn't feed it through. For the second go I left some space at the leading edge....

... and this worked fine. I had a couple more trials... an inch wasn't enough space.... 2 inches worked fine. Don't forget to allow a deeper space at the top of your word (or whatever) document for this tho'! 

Also, one side of the mulberry tissue feels ever so slightly smoother... I tried printing on both sides & there was no perceptible difference.

I couldn't get the tape off without tearing the tissue... not a problem as I would tear the edges anyway, but it is a factor to be aware of in terms of the size of the finished piece. You can tear much straighter edges than these, against a ruler, or even cut them, if that is the look you want.

The bottom sheet of carrier paper picked up some great textures too.... so worth considering a "better" paper for this task to use as a background for something else later...

...or just to layer underneath the mulberry. Mulberry tissue is neither fully transparent nor opaque... it really depends how close to the background it is. The background colour makes a difference to the overall look too, so there are certainly many avenues to explore with this!

So, is it possible to print on Khadi Mulberry Tissue? Definitely, yes... but it does take some care. It's not hard to do but you do need a bit of experimenting to get the set-up working for you. 

I went on to try various writing tools & mediums, but will follow that up in a separate post :-)

Indian Manuscript Paper

Oooh, the excitement of an early xmas gift to myself...

paper over a 100 years old.... 

19th century accounts records from Rajastan, NW India....

long, narrow sheets of Sunn hemp paper that was burnished by hand 

using a smooth stone...

See those holes at the top? 

Batches of paper were threaded with string & hung up, ready for use...

long columns of entries by various hands will provide a great textural background

for a flurry of ideas zinging around my in brain...

I bought rather a lot & have some some

available here

Paper Deliciousness...

available here

Grow Old ~ Mounted & Framed

By now, the "Grow Old" embossing will have been received by the happy couple! It's really hard to photograph behind glass.... when the lettering showed up well, the glass was full of reflections on the photo. 

Anyway, this is what it looked like; you can see the overall effect of the banana backing paper & mount with the wood frame... it's very natural. Even in 'real life' the effect of embossing relies on the light... the 'barely there' look draws you in to look closer.... subtle... 

 The paper used for backing & to cover the mount is cotton rag with banana, made by Khadi. I often cover the mount with the same paper that I have used.... I feel that a regular mount is often too 'hard', especially against a handmade paper and I never find just the right white or black to suit various white or black papers.

I have done another with the mount covered in the same white paper, in this case Arches watercolour... it give a streamlined look, nice & clean... minimalist...

An alternate mount with sanwaa tissue over the white: This keeps the subtlety, but introduces another texture... it is so sheer & light, with flecks of real gold & silver leaf. It just adds another dimension to any paper... i use it so much!