. 1 sheet Island Fiber Handmade Paper "Burnt Bamboo" (#26671) . 2 ounces of Linen Bark/Bleached (#59999) . 5, five-piece packs of Fossil Leaves, "Avocado" (#00843) . 1 jar Glueter (#73947) . soft-bristled paint brush . bowl to use as a mold . aluminum foil
1. Tear the sheet of handmade paper into workable size pieces, approximately four inches wide and six – seven inches long. The actual size will depend on the size of the bowl you are using for a mold but you'll want the paper to just reach the bottom of the bowl and extend an inch or so over the top. 2. Place the bowl you're using for a mold upside down on something stable that will elevate the rim a few inches (Sandi used a heavy pottery vase). 3. Cover the outside of the bowl with foil, smoothing the foil as flat as possible and wrapping the edges to the bowl's inside. 4. Generously apply a coat of the wallpaper paste to the back side of a handmade paper strip (torn in step 1) and position the strip on the foil-covered bowl, working all the air bubbles out. Continue doing this with all the strips of paper, allowing each one to slightly overlap the last one, until all the foil has been covered. Edges of the paper should extend beyond the rim of the bowl in a slightly jagged manner. 5. Wet the Linen Bark in warm water, allow it to soften for a moment then wring out the excess water. Gently pull the Linen Bark in different directions to open up holes and to separate some of the fibers. 6. Remove the two outer edges of the Linen Bark (these tend to be very stiff and thick). 7. Before you begin this step, it's important to note that you can tear Linen Bark vertically, but you will need to cut it horizontally as the fibers are too tough to break. For this step, cut the Linen Bark into lengths long enough to reach from the outside bottom of the bowl and extend 1/2 inch or so over the rim. Tear the cut pieces into widths that you want to work with?typically tear three to four strips from each horizontally cut piece. 8. Apply a liberal amount of paste to the Linen Bark and position it over the paper, using your fingers to separate fibers and smooth the textile down. Place some pieces so they extend over the rim, but stop others just short of the rim, taking care not to make it look to even or "planned." 9. Allow everything to THOROUGHLY DRY. This will probably take two full days, maybe longer. If you do not allow the bowl to completely dry, you will have difficulty removing the foil and could possibly ruin your project. 10. After the bowl has completely dried, remove the foil/paper/bark "bowl" from the original mold. Gently peel away all of the oil. If you do tear a small bit of paper, it's easily patched with a bit of paper and paste. 11. Place all of your Fossil Leaves, "Avocado" on the table and trim off any extending stems. Gently apply a coat of paste to a leaf and place it on the inside of the bowl, allowing a bit of the tip to extend over the rim. Don't worry if all the leaves don't reach to the same point at the bottom of the bowl. They will be covered. 12. Prepare your Linen Bark as described above. Apply paste to the Linen Bark then starting at the center bottom of the bowl, cover all the leaf ends with the Bark, letting it extend up the sides of the bowl in a random pattern. 13. Allow everything to dry for a day or so. 14. If desired, protect with a coat of a matte finish acrylic sealer.
1. If the tips of the leaves (or the Linen Bark) dry in a shape you don't like, a quick spritz with water will make them pliable again and they can be reshaped.
Project Kit #1000412   1 sheet Island Fiber Handmade Paper "Burnt Bamboo" ($3.85) 2 ounces of Linen Bark/Bleached ($9.00) 5, five-piece packs of Fossil Leaves, "Avocado" ($19.75) 1 Jar Glueter ($4.90)     (Product Total: $37.05) Kit Price: $32.90

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