Making Paper From Scratch

I am going to show you have to turn your scraps of paper into new artsy pieces of construction paper!

What you will need :

-a food processor

-scraps of paper (better if you have a variety of color,

and if it is shredded but it can also just be ripped to small pieces)

-a large tupperware tub that you can fill with 4-5 inchs of water

(preferably longer without a too high of a brim)

-wooden frames with thin screens stapled on them 

(make sure the holes on the frame are only small enough for water to get through)

-optional : food coloring, sparkles, or any other decorations

-dull butter knife

Step 1 :

Collect paper that is non plastic/non metallic - which can be anything else ranging from newspaper, thin cardboard, egg cartons, and more commonly photocopy paper :)
Tear the papers up into tiny squares and put about 4 hand fulls into the food processor with around 2 cups of water.
Keep adding water and paper alternatively until the mixture has turned into a nice pulp, and has been chopped up quite fine.

Step 2 :
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees f, if you are going to be using an oven to dry your paper.
Pour the pulp into the tupperware container..

and mix with 4-5 inches of water 

until well stirred and the water looks quite cloudy,

but not too thick...

Now take your frames...

Slide the screen on to the bottom (with the frame side up) 

by sliding the screen down the side of the tub gently.

Hold the screen on the bottom of the tub and continue,

moving the pulp over the screen so you get

a nice even layer of pulp. 

Then carefully with both hands,

lift the screen from the bottom evenly,

so that you have a thin layer of pulp on the screen 

with no holes or thin spots. 

Allow the excess water to drain out through the screen, 

and you are ready to place it in the oven. 

*If you are not happy with how it came out, 

simply turn it over and gently tap out the pulp and start again.

You can either use the oven to dry your paper or just leave it on a even surface to for approx 6 hours.

Step 3 :

Set the frames on the oven rack, and remove when the paper feels dry to touch...
*Note : the instructions I used when I first made paper said to leave them for 20 mins, but I found that was not long enough. I would not recommend turning up the heat of the oven as you could melt the screens, but instead leaving them for approx. 45 mins and keeping a keen eye on them :)

Step 4 :

Once your paper is dry to the touch. Run your fingers over the bottom of the screen to simply lift the paper from the screen and then take a dull knife around the edges to break the paper away from the frame gently. 

And VOILA!

You have made paper!

*Note : If you have any extra pulp please do not put it down the sink,

simply drain out the extra water and freeze the excess pulp,

till the next time you feel creatively paper inclined :) 

 Thanks!

Early Fall Mornings

*wakes up singing* Hello World! morning to you! 

I love you brisk fresh air, and your sunny light glow. I can't wait to bike in you, and ebb with your flow! Farmers markets, and mid afternoon fringe... volunteering, and mojitos with a sweet after tinge...

Movies with old friends, Miayzaki inspired, falling asleep in the mans arms of who I admire ♥... what a weekend, and its only the beginning, I'm loving life, and it feels like I'm winning ♥

September is here at last!

Don't get me wrong the summer has been amazing so far...

but my September is going to be epic.

Take diagram number 1 for example :

Relaxation to the max!

My partner Nates house has been taken over by a television production crew,

so he has been graciously kicked out 

and put up in a 4 star hotel in the fancy downtown core for a week.

So obviously I have taken advantage of this situation, 

grabbed hold of his coat tails,

and rode this train as far as I can :)

Nate and his 6 other roommates also got compensated with $1100 each,

so they have really been living it up in the lap of luxury. 

I have followed suite, and spoiled myself with some LUSH bath goodies and face masks,

took the bathroom hostage, and claimed the gold embroidered bath robe as my own.

Over the last few weeks I have been feeling particularly stressed out, 

as I haven't had a chance to sleep in, 

let alone actual time to relax because I always feel like I have to be doing "something" 

with my down time. 

The last few days in the hotel have been quite the contrary...

-Sleeping in (which to me is just sleeping past 9:30)

-Daily luxury baths

-Trying to finish my book club book in bed, and taking napping breaks

-Spoiling myself with chai's from nearby cafe's

Its been divine!

Other than hotel living September brings...

-Last nights epic Franklin Fest concert : 

Which Nathan graciously hosted in his backyard, 

featuring 5 of Vancouver's established and up and coming bands,

plus one amazing slam poet, 

and included an epic dance party in the back lit yard.

 He plans these events for months on end, and works out every detail of their execution,

and it really shows on game day, when everything goes off without a hitch, 

and it is talked about for months to come. 

I'm proud of you babe.

-This week starts the much anticipated Fringe Festival in Vancouver,

and as I am volunteering for it once again, 

I am looking forward to wholly emersing myself into all its playful glory,

and hitting every show I can fit into my schedule. 

I've gone to the training and taken a sharpie to its eccentric program guide,

 and now I am ready for the fun to begin.

-September 13th marks a wonderful occasion in my life, 

as I will be checking off one of my larger bucket list contenders :

I will be setting sail on a sunrise HOT AIR BALLOON RIDE!

As many of you might know, earlier this year I got a tattoo of a hot air balloon 

on my upper right arm, with the hope that I could commemorate it this year 

with an actual ride in one of these beauties.

Dorky as it may sound, this is going to be one of the highlights of my year,

right up there with my Naked Bungee Jumping, and vast UK trip,

and I have even stumbled upon the perfect hot air balloon dress for the occasion,

at a "fill-a-bag-for-$5-back-alley-thrift-store-sale"... what a crazy find!

I will be sure to share photos with you after the event!

-And last but certainly not least...

I am going to be heading to the high seas of the Mediterranean

for a two week cruise on Sept 23rd!

My family and I will be catching a plane over to Spain, 

where we will get to explore Barcelona for a couple of days before setting sail

on my sisters birthday (the 27th), and venturing around to the gorgeous ports of

Italy, Greece, France and Turkey, thus ending back in Venice to venture home again.

I am excited beyond belief, although it still feels very much like a dream. 

So as you can see... September is truly my month of summer :) 

I hope all your summers are going as planned <3

Love Nymph

oxoxoxoxox etc...

A Weekend Comprised of What Dreams are Made of....

I can't believe how some people, 

can say that on any given day,

that there is nothing to do,

in the city of 

Vancouver...

I find myself having to actually schedule down time,

and having to cancel already made plans to do so...

We may not be an old city,

but we do have a lot of character,

which makes us shine brightly as 

one of the best cities in the world!

This weekend was no exception to this theory,

as I jam packed my weekend with amazing events, 

and only now am catching up to myself...

Thursday and Friday

Were spent celebrating my lovely man's 37th birthday!

We dined out with close friends on Thursday night for nachos and fun drink times.

Followed by a night of trying my darnedest to stay awake whilst watching :

American Werewolf in London!

Then Friday we rode our bikes downtown to this adorable cafe called

Aphrodite's Pie Shop and Cafe for an amazing birthday brunch!

(I had the boysenberry cream cheese stuffed french toast!)

The bike ride took us about two hours in total, 

and all in all was the perfect way to go about starting our weekend!

That night, we had friends over at Nate's place for his birthday BBQ shindig,

where we connected with old and new friends, 

and got down with our bad selves till the wee hours of the morning!

Having to work on Saturday morning 

was brutal

as my head felt like it was literally made of lead...

but alas so is the life...

Work came and went,

and then it was time for Luminaries with my roommates!

Luminaries is the festival of light in Vancouver

put on by the Public Dreams non profit society

which is pretty much just a giant lantern festival

and darn good party!

There were giant paper lanterns, 

lantern making workshops,

life sized jenga matches,

an centering prayer tent,

and oh so much more.

I mostly hung out by the DJ stage,

located at the end of pier,

where all the hippies

young and old were joined in dancing.

The really amazing thing about the sound system and lights 

down at the end of the pier,

was that they had all been powered by 

solar panels that had been charging all day on the dock.

Then when the sun went down,

the fire troop Radiant Heat

grabbed their fire swords, whips,

fans, hula hoops, staffs (etc), 

and put on an amazing show for us.

My roommate Terri is in the troop 

(she is featured in the last two photos)

and it was great to see her perform in public 

as I have only seen her perform in the back yard for us before.

She is crazy talented and oh so beautiful!

On my way home that night,

upon my new green stead...

I treated myself to an ice cream,

at the famous gelato joint near my place which has

518 crazy flavors like...

Nutmeg, Pineapple Poppy Seed,

Baileys Cheesecake,

Basil,

Birthday Cake (with bits of actual white cake in in),

and Curry Peanut Butter.

I chose to dive out of my comfort zone a little bit and

order the Marzipan flavor, 

with a scoop of Garlic on top :) 

Don't knock it till you try it :)

I also ended up bonding with two lovely female teachers

who were there for a midnight treat,

and who apparently met each other teaching 

at the same elementary school that I taught at...

how bizarre!

I ended up talking up my female empowerment group to them 

(as I can never really shut up about it these days),

and not only were they interested in the group, 

but they also paid me a very high compliment by saying that

"its nice to know that Seaview Elementary kids can make a difference,

and go on to do something amazing!" 

I was so flattered that they would think that

and it make me want success for my group even more!

Sunday morning I woke up fairly early 

and got all gussied up to be part of the 

PRIDE PARADE!

As it is already apparent, 

I am not gay myself, 

but I am a huge supporter of those in my friend circle,

community and family who are. 

And I think it is very important to support them,

not just once a year but every day in their endeavors, 

as they do us!

So when my darling friend Stephanie Sciencequeen :

asked if I would either like to go and simply watch the parade with her,

or take part in a Jungle themed float with her,

I couldn't resist the urge to dress up and party with the best of them!

Such a better way to experience the parade!

That night : 

I made my way back over to Nates for yet another 

birthday BBQ for two of his room mates,

which was epic as always...

 The Ladies (Birthday Girl : Martine in the middle)!

The Boys (Including my adorable Birthday Boy: Nate on the end)!

The Birthday Boy: Luco

There were awesome salads,

exotic drinks,

singing songs of records we could not play,

dance parties commencing with "Vogue",

and partying hard in trailer until the early morn...

And to top it all off

today (Monday)

continued on my ongoing cycle of awesomeness

as I got off work at 4 to be greet by the warming sun,

with cat naps on quilts and the task of weeding our extensive garden!

You can't really see it in this picture but we discovered

that our zucchini plant is bearing gorgeous

mini veggies that we will gobble up when the time comes :)

Very excited!

To cap off the evening 

my friends and I also met for our first monthly book club meeting,

taunting us to read them,

and got to collectively look through our stash and then vote on our favorites,,,

The chosen book for the month of Aug is:

"Americana" by Don DeLillo 

Has any one read it before?

Do you have any books on your self that have been taunting you this 

summer, spring, year, decade? 

Hope you all had a great weekend! 

And

Happy Pride

Happy Birthday 

And Happy BC Day!

Love Nymph

What makes a summer, a summer?

This week finally feels like summer...

With outdoor movies....

Jurassic Park and Fried Green Tomatoes (so far...)

Bonfires and Parties....

 (Also not documented was an epic Disney movie party!)

Epic Outdoor Concerts...

The Be Good Tanya's and Dan Mangan

Getting a new bike!!!!...

Hmmm any suggestions on what I should name her?

Photoshoot with gorgeous women!...

My first yarn bomb!...

And to top it all off a lovely Sweet Revenge 

desert and tea date with my best friend... :)

What makes a summer,

a summer,

for you?