Nina Surya

I discovered I have two pink blossoming hawthorn trees/bushes in the hedgerow! They've been one of the favourites this spring!

Thank you for all the work! Congratulations on the promotions!!!

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Good answers here already!
I'll just chime in to reinforce things that have been said already from the perspective of a (former) handbookbinder;
- cooking the wheat paste makes it sticky
- clove oil makes the paste and the pasted work unpleasant for bugs that might otherwise think your paper mache is a meal. It also preserves the paste a bit longer against mold (it keeps longest when kept in the fridge, but somehow looses stickiness the longer it's preserved).
- tearing strips along the direction of the grain would be best practice for long, strong strips. Tearing is better than cutting, for smoother joint lines, but also for strength; any interlocking fibers are added strength, and with cut strips you don't have those fibers.
Happy experimenting!

Xcuse me while I pick my jaw from the floor. This is so obviously the natural way to take care of our teeth!! [ staring angrily at my electric toothbrush and natural toothpaste ]   Better late than never I guess.  [ eyeroll ]  Why are we, as a society, so separated from nature?

Thank you everyone for sharing your wisdom, one more natural toothbrusher gained!

Then clags would be the growing amount of soil (usually clay) firmly attached to the soles of one's boots

Hi Brian,
That's a fantastic concept!
I think it's a very good blueprint for homesteading hamlets, regardless of where on this beautiful Earth they're located at.
I wasn't familiar with the term Homestead Collaboratives, will check it out!

Finally a long due update on this heater.
The cast refractory slabs on top of the bell cracked - maybe there were tiny bells or air within, maybe it was the size, maybe...
We made two slabs, the first 2cm thick, the second one 2.5cm thick. But alas, failure.

At last we ordered a cast iron plate, made to measure; 60x60cm and 12mm thick. It's working like a dream.

The burn is hot and rockety, warming the mass nicely. There's a good draft going on, as always. All in all, very pleased with this one!

Here's the latest photo

Hi Nicole,

I only now read your initial post in the thread as well - sorry, too hasty action from me to jump in half way in a thread and start yapping.

The Coptic binding looks really nice when it's done with wooden covers (but you need strong enough thread, and there's some drilling and lots of sanding involved).
It's also lovely when done with (board covers covered with) handmade paper.

You don't want to use anything bulky to be able to fold around the corners - even with handmade paper I'd stay between the thin and medium weight range.

I'm not sure how the sheet cloth will work.
Make a mock-up if you can; just a scrap piece of board in the thickness you think you'll be using (I'd go for 3mm, = 0.12 inches according to converter), and do a corner with the cloth, pretending you're covering the board with the cloth and turning the edges over. Use the actual materials you think you'd be using for the project, including glue.
There's an extra dimension coming into play with gluing textile to board; glue bleeding through the cloth. Remedied by lining the cloth first with japanese paper/strong tissue paper, using paste as glue. By; laying a piece of japanese paper/tissue paper on a slab of marble (or similar smooth, rigid stuff), brushing it evenly in all directions with paste, smoothing out the paste to a thin layer as you go, deliberately also pasting the marble as you brush away from the center of the paper. Then carefully laying the piece of cloth (which is bigger than the paper) on the pasted paper, starting from one corner or edge, and smoothing it over the pasted paper with the side of your hand as you go, pressing out any bubbles or wrinkles. The cloth will adhere not only to the paper, but around its edges to the slab of marble (or glass etc) as well. You leave it in place to dry = dries out smooth and flat. & hey presto, you've got your lined cloth ready to be used for covering book covers!

Marbling textile with shaving cream (and food colouring, good find!) sounds good fun as well! But maybe that could be another project, for tote bags or t-shirts for instance?

These are just my gentle suggestions. I hope I'm not ruining any fun, just whispering from the sidelines. As always; follow curiosity, do what you love

As a handbookbinder by trade, I've made both, paste marbled and 'proper' marbled paper. The 'proper' version only in the study setting, because it's a bit more complicated as tools and materials are concerned, but paste paper is relatively easy and a lot of fun to do.
I cut 'combs' out of cardboard.

For paste marbling, use a tough, smooth paper. I used to cook my own paste out of wheat flour, and use leather dyes as colouring agent.
Try to make the paste quite thin (but not runny). We want a thin layer of pattern-paste on the resulting paper.

I haven't watched the YT video, but I'm sure it explains the process.

One of my favourite patterns with paste marbling was achieved by
- pasting the paper with just one colour paste (usually it's more about the patterns than colours, or the paper colour acts as 2nd col.)
- gently folding the paper on itself
- tapping the folded paper with fingertips a couple of times
- slowly drawing the paper open

The resulting pattern is that of "mountaintops", I really liked it.

After drying the papers well, I'd iron them with the paste side up, some kind of protective sheet between the paper and the iron - I used baking paper.
This makes the paste pattern more flat, otherwise it has a slight bevel to it.

I closed my atelier 15 years ago, so I'm afraid I don't have any samples anymore to share.