When in doubt…

Make envelopes. And cards. And cover little notebooks. And put off the paperwork.

Ah, the tonic of Japanese Chiyogami paper.

Yes, yes, there are heaps in my basket here in London. But striding all the way across town in my bid to jolly up, I ended here.

At Falkiner’s Fine Papers. And I bought three new sheets.

 

It’s a cheap thrill when most people do some serious shop therapy when they are glum.

And just look what a happy humming crafter I became in the afternoon.  Walk in the mornings. Craft in the afternoon.

I love that blue parasol paper. It’s new to me; and believe me I am a fan of this fabulous paper.

https://store.bookbinding.co.uk/store/category/94/104/Chiyogami/

Chiyogami is an exquisite hand screen printed paper from Japan. The fine detail and lustre of these sheets is unrivalled. The papers were originally developed as woodblock prints to decorate accessories for the home.

Chiyogami Blue Parasol

The designs were inspired by the bright textiles from the Edo period (1603-1868) which the papermakers from the countryside saw on the stylish ladies from Kyoto. Today many of the symbols depicted still hark back to auspicious occasions when fancy kimonos would be worn: cranes for long life; bamboo for flexibility; plum blossoms for beauty and longevity.

To create a sheet of Chiyogami, each colour is printed individually with most patterns having 4 or 5 colours. Each sheet must be dried between applications and the next colour registered with fine precision. The base sheet is a machine made mixture of Kozo and Sulphite. Despite it’s light weight this paper is strong and forgiving with good wet strength making it perfect for bookbinding, origami, boxmaking, collage and card making, covering furniture and walls – the creative possibilities are endless.

[Beware, wonky formatting ahead the images I copied keep floating away from the text.]

Black Ottile.

(That’s the gardening image part of this post today.)

Chiyogami Black Ottilie

And I was tempted by some Katazome-shi paper too. This one is Green Tiny Blooms.

Katazome-Shi Green Tiny Blooms

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gardening? Do you care to share any gardening news?

It’s all very indoor gardening if you count images of flowers on paper as your dose.

It snowed here in London. Briefly. It’s freezing.  Too cold to plant my Achillea Gold Plate babies I brought back from the farm.  They are mooching in a sack of compost in a plastic bag here beside me.  I don’t dare plant them. It’s way too chill.

But all the walking is doing a power of good.