Eco-printing on paper tutorial

[@nancy-dharmadee4703]

oh that is so beautifull. im going to be trying this later. I've been eco printing on fabric for a while now, but i was wanting to do paper also, yet i wasnt shure how this worked. thank you for your patient explanation. it seems similar to fabric echo printing. and i had some other ideas as well that im going to be trying next week. but i realy wanted to try the echo paper printing first. so ive been the little squirrel here and been doing nothing but, hording all the most beautifull coloured autumn leafs ha ha. and I'm the kind of person that will try to take them all home as they are all so beautiful ha ha. ive got the entire kitchen table full of coloured autumn leafs, and I'm having to now eat my meals on the floor ha ha .

[@gumnutmagic]

I love your enthusiasm! Yes it is very similar to fabric, you just have to be a bit more careful because paper is so delicate.

[@odessaspore]

What was in the pot that you simmered your paper bundle in? Some kind of dye? Really beautiful.

[@normasuelimonteirodesouza246]

Amando aprender essas técnicas, obrigada.

[@greetjenijdam]

Wow. This is Beautiful.

[@SMartypAntsPants]

Brilliant and beautiful. Thank you.

[@robinhere4230]

Beautiful teaching! Thank you.

[@biodani3657]

Loved it! Thank you!

[@mariamendes6720]

Simple...! Assim gosto, sem produtos que teremos de comprar, tais como " alum" que até está esgotado na Amazon. Obrigada pela simplicidade e beleza que toda a natureza nos pode oferecer..

[@gumnutmagic]

My pleasure. You can actually make your own alum by cutting up aluminium foil into small pieces, putting it in a jar and covering with vinegar. Only half fill the jar so it doesn’t overflow. It takes a few months but eventually the foil will break down and you can use the liquid to mordant paper or fabric!

[@mariamendes6720]

@@gumnutmagic obrigada! Fiz ontem o processo com as latas e ficou lindo. Espero a ferrugem para ter melhor efeito. Obrigada.

[@gumnutmagic]

@@mariamendes6720 That's great. Yes, keep playing and trying new things!

[@sandranykerk2280]

Thank you! This was so helpful. How large are your tiles? Backer board or regular ceramic tiles? I’ e been using different sizes of backer board. And I really appreciate the tip about using the fabric as a cushion for thicker plants.

[@gumnutmagic]

Glad you enjoyed it! These tiles are 20 cm / 8 inches wide, just the right size for my dye pot. I think they are just regular tiles.

[@rosemaryfrew5571]

Thanks for that, it was very interesting.

[@whitehairsmiling9366]

Did you treat the paper with anything like an aluminum mordant?

[@gumnutmagic]

The first sample was plain, untreated watercolour paper. The second sample was made with 1 piece of iron mordanted paper and 1 piece of paper soaked in logwood dye.

[@sohaina2814]

Lovely, enjoyed it so much. Have you put anything in water that the colour of St. John's was transferred onto paper or just nothing and it's only clean water and for how long the stack should be in boiling water? Thank you.

[@gumnutmagic]

It’s just plain water. The heat and moisture helps the plant dyes to transfer over to the paper. I cook them for about 1 hour

[@sohaina2814]

@@gumnutmagic Thank you.

[@ginniecrabtree4408]

Great you mentioned iron mordant what was that please?

[@louiseupshall8126]

Mordants help plant dyes to bind with fabric and paper. You can make your own iron mordant by soaking pieces of rusty iron in white vinegar for a few weeks.

[@Patricia-wh7kc]

what did you use in the water mix - Alum? Vinegar? Thank you!

[@louiseupshall8126]

Hi Patricia, it's just plain water. Vinegar is often used unecessarily in eco-printing, in my opinion. The heat from the water helps transfer the colour. Some of the paper has iron mordant on it, but you can get great results from some types of leaves when using just paper, leaves and hot water, no mordants or other additives.

[@Patricia-wh7kc]

@@louiseupshall8126 Thank you :)

[@joannebrenner6853]

Hi, did you put anything in the water (in the pot)?

[@gumnutmagic]

Hi, no it is just plain water. When eco-printing on paper you can often keep things very simple with just plant material on plain paper, cooked in plain water. Of course, the iron and logwood dye did help bring out some different effects.

[@maureenrice545]

Very interesting tutorial. I'm just getting in eco-printing and need to buy a pot. Do aluminium pots and stainless steel pots give the same results or is one better than the other? Many thanks.

[@gumnutmagic]

Stainless steel pots are non-reactive, so won’t affect results. Aluminium pots will provide a slight mordanting effect, brightening colours and helping them bind. They are both good in different ways.

[@maureenrice545]

@@gumnutmagic Thanks so much for your help - such a fun thing to do.

[@catalinanorenapuerta9908]

Thank you! Did you mordant the paper?

[@gumnutmagic]

The first two pieces were just plain paper. But watercolour paper often has alum added which helps the plant dyes to bind.

[@cellahosewe8466]

What if you need to work on A0 size of paper

[@gumnutmagic]

I’ve seen people use a heat press for this purpose. You could also do a rolled bundle around a pipe or pole and cook it in a deep pot, rotating halfway through so both end get cooked. I even wonder if wetting and then ironing the paper might work.

[@mcds1122]

👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

[@itsnoreentime]

Hello! Great video, thanks for sharing. I am a retired medical herbalist, new to eco-dying. I wondered if there is a way to get on paper the amazing red from St John's Wort that happens on exposing the oil infused flowers to sunlight, or even when tincturing with alcohol... ?

[@gumnutmagic]

That’s a great question. Often the colour a plant will dye is different to how it appears. The cooking seems to affect the colour, so in this case you don’t get the reds. I wonder though if they would show up from hapa-zome - hammering the plant material into the paper to get a print that way. It might work!

[@itsnoreentime]

@@gumnutmagic because it is a photo sensitive reaction to go from the yellow to red, maybe hammering and then exposing to sunlight for however long..

[@gugamito]

Can i use any type of plant ?

[@gumnutmagic]

You can try any, but some work better than others. Tannin rich plants are a good place to start, such as medicinal plants and deciduous leaves.

[@gugamito]

@@gumnutmagic Thansk alot for the attention, i was trying to use potassium alum to extract the colors, but it'snt working. Going to try vinager with water this time. thanks again, beatiful job in your channel, new subscriber!!!!

[@gumnutmagic]

No problem. I also have an ebook on my website all about eco-printing on paper including specific plants to use and how to prepare paper.

[@charlottebernard3714]

How did you prepare your paper

[@gumnutmagic]

The first two pieces are plain paper. For the second bundle, I soaked one piece in iron mordant and one piece in logwood dye, to create a discharge print. I have detailed instructions about discharge eco-printing on paper in my ebook, Plant Poetry, if you want to learn more: www.gumnutmagic.com/downloads/plant-poetry-eco-printing-on-paper/

[@tsuminijuu2373]

Im gonna confess to the girl i like with this trick wish me luck