I have been playing with paper machie as long as I can remember. Dipping strips of paper in water and letting them dry out on a hand fan was my favourite pastime as a child. Ofcourse then I didnt know that paper machie was a craft technique. Over the years I have made many items with it – bowls, containers, art works once I even tried a vase but it never struck me to make jewelry with it, until recently. One of our readers asked me if I did paper machie jewelry and I was like – Ya! I could totally do it!! so I mashed some paper, moulded it into beads, sanded, painted, glazed them and here is the result.
Paper Machie Jewelry
Paper Machie is the process of making a paper pulp by soaking paper in hot water with a bit a glue. As the paper disintegrates it forms a pulp. The pulp is mashed and kneaded until it becomes pliable enough. The resulting mash can be rolled into beads or made into products and dried. The beads can be painted and varnished. This process takes 2-3 days minimum. In the necklaces shown here I have strung these beads with other spacers and components to make statement jewelry.
Though paper machie is cheap ( newspaper which is the base is basically free) and looks easy, its a long process that requires a lot of patience. Also I had a lot of difficulties with coloring the beads, many left out spots were visible only after I glazed and sealed them and so I had to go over them with paint and sealant again. But the whole process was very satisfying and comforting.
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