Paper and sheep

Spent the day making 11 sheets of paper from the pulp, I've added some dried fuschias and some kind of wild cereal into a couple of the pages. I also put in some thin slices of shell which flaked off the inside of what might be an oyster or something like it. Bleaching doesn't seem to have made much difference to the colour so it'll be grey paper, oh well.

Yesterday a friend, who keeps sheep, gave me a fleece. It was fun bringing it home on the bus, I suppose living round here people don't think twice about a feed sack full of smelly wool. I left it outside last night and it's been lurking in the bath most of the day. The first lot of water was totally opaque brown! It's getting cleaner but it will take a while, then I'll have to card it, anyone know where I can get cheap carding combs? I'll probably use a couple of wire dog brushes as a substitute.

This is the fleece after several washes, one with grated soap in the water. I managed to pull a little out and wash it thoroughly, I laid it into a sheet of paper, not totally successful as the lanolin in the wool has repelled the top layer of paper. We'll have to see how it is when it's dry.

I had planned to make the limbs for the puppets from copper mesh with a bit of paper on it, so far I can't get the paper to stick to the mesh. At the moment the wierd Barbie has paper coated arms to see if I can make the limbs entirely out of paper.

At last the starch has arrived

Yesterday morning the packet of powdered starch I ordered finally arrived, it took quite a while to get here, which is annoying as I've had all this pulp hanging around waiting for it. It's doubly annoying as I discovered that I could buy liquid size from a papermaking site much more cheaply than I thought. Ah well you live and learn.
I found a really strange doll in a charity shop yesterday. I decided I needed a teenage doll, like Barbie or one of those, to use as a kind of mould to create limbs for my puppets. The only one I could find is really weird. She has mauve translucent arms with glitter in them, partly translucent legs and very mad hair. She looks extra strange, as she has obviously lost her original clothes and someone has given her a pair of pink knitted shorts! More strange yet, when I got to work after buying her, I was rummaging in my bag for something and discovered that bits of the doll light up! Her legs glow red and her torso blue. Seems you might give a child nightmares with such a strange being. There's a slot in her back where the electronic gubbins are for the lights so I think she might have had wings once. She's wearing really odd pink boots too.

Very strange, I think you'll agree.
A bit of research has turned up the fact that she is a Fairytopia Crystal Barbie apparently from some ghastly Barbie movie
Here's what she should be wearing, poor thing, I was right about those wings.

I think the knitted shorts are a much better look, and the pink kinky boots! unfortunately one of her feet has broken off inside the boot. It's a good thing I only want her for her body! ( she'll be a template for limbs made from wire mesh) Luckily I have other plans for the feet, those scary permanently tiptoe barbie feet don't really do it for me.
I may redress her when I've finished using her, I can see all sorts of slightly punk fairy outfits coming to pass here! And maybe a metal replacement foot?.....ooh yes all sorts of possibilities. Of course if you've fallen in love with this little fairy you can find her on amazon and buy one of your very own, see the search box above.