When I started this journey about six years ago, it was with making my own pamphlet books, I used decorative papers and white glue to put these small books together. I folded the insides, added accordion pages, took commissions in customers favorite holidays, themes and anything else they could think of (sorry, I no longer take commissions.)
But then the pandemic happened, and I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the first of the year. So grateful that it was caught in time and got into surgery by the end of the month. A six week round of radiation and being put on medication that makes you feel like you're in a constant fog.
During this time, I got back to painting and creating art just for me, just for the sake of it and I watched a lot of documentaries about animals and the planet. It all made horribly sad, and I wondered what I could do to make my footprint much smaller.
Well, we already recycled, and I know there are so many issues with that, but I looked into my local facility to find out yes, many items go to producers of paper and cardboard to reuse clean used papers to remake paper and boxes. The facility made money by selling items to be recycled. So, if you're not sure about your local recycle plant, give them a call, see if you can visit or if they have detailed information online. It's always good to know what's going on.
My hubby gifted me with a papermaking kit and that just meant I could recycle my own paper, I am lucky to be able to paint and draw so I decorated my paper to place in my books, yay no more decorative paper (which is really pricey!) Yeah, it takes time to do all this but hey it's well worth it.
So not only did I start to be truly aware of what was going into my body, but I was also becoming more and more aware of my art supplies, of petroleum-based products.
I was falling down a rabbit hole. Not only was I making paper, but I was also rescuing old unwanted books, forging for plants to make natural dyes, experimenting with homemade glues and some ink. Some a success and some failures.
Now I'm learning how to weave and spin my yarn.... holy cow, am I going to be wearing a bonnet soon.
I have another blog on my website doloresjablonski.com and there is some more info if you'd like to take a peek, but I am limited my how many photos I can have there, so I'm adding this blog here so I can place some photos.
Love and Peace,
Dolores
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