More Recycling

I've been so busy in the studio, that I haven't had the time to post. So while dinner is in the oven, I will take a few moments to share one of the projects I have been working on.
More recycling! (one of my favorite pastimes...) This is a project that I just finished for my Mom. She is giving a presentation on sustainability and the family at a conference next week. She wanted to give each attendee something recycled and beautiful. So I made bookmarks made from my junk mail and old banana peels.
Pictured here I have my junk mail torn up and ready to go. Here it is in the beater.

I cooked the dried banana peels, then beat them in the beater.
Banana peel alone does not work well as a pulp. I like to mix it with something else. Abaca is usually my first choice, but this project is all about the recycling. Together, the recycle mix and the banana peels make a beautiful pulp. I think it almost looks like granite.



For this project, I made my first ever mould and deckle. It measures 2x6 inches. Perfect for a bookmark.
In all, I made about 120 bookmarks. Hopefully everyone will like this paper as much as I do. More importantly, I hope people open their eyes to the possibilities of "beautiful junk".