Types of Papers

Beautiful papers from around the world are used in the making of Sandy’s Books and Boxes. Many are hand-made, hand-stenciled or hand-silkscreened. A number also come from women’s cooperatives, such as the Indian rag and the Nepalese Lokta.

Artisan Papers created by artists from Brazil, Canada, England, Italy, U.S.

Bangladesh Jute
Fibers taken from recycled jute rope are cut by hand and made into an exquisite, eco-friendly pulp for paper. Artisans in Bangladesh then hand-form each sheet and hand-marble each pattern onto the sheets. Because the marbling is custom made, every sheet of this decorative paper will be completely unique.  The women artisans that craft the paper are Fair Trade certified,. They are the primary providers for their families.

French Marbled
These meticulously machine-marbled paper patterns originate  from 15th and 16th century marbling, first invented in Persia. The French perfected the process and used it extensively in the 18th and 19th centuries for the endsheet and outer bindings of books.

Hand-marbled
Hand marbled papers are made by floating paints on a fluid surface. A stylus or comb is then used to create various designs. Hand painted papers employ various techniques to create stunning one-of-a-kind works of art.  Hand-marbled papers from artists in Brazil, Canada, Italy, India, the U.K and the U.S. are used.

Indian Rag 
Indian rag  papers are made primarily by local community mills or cooperatives employing local villagers. The paper, made from 100% cotton rag which is waste they get from factories, have longer fibers than other materials that are generally used in papermaking. These genuine rag papers are known for their exceptional strength and durability. The cotton rag comes from T-shirt cuttings, a reliable source of pure woven cotton.  The Indian rag is acid-free and no chlorine, bleaches, or harmful chemicals are used in any of the papers.  Intricate patterns are embossed or hand silk-screened onto the paper.  This provides richer colors. The recycling of cotton materials provides a sustainable income for the villagers.

Italian 
Rossi, Carta Verse and Kartos are Italian producers of fine offset printed papers. Many emulate rraditional Florentine Renaissance designs as well as more modern patterns. They often have six or more colors many featuring gold highlights.

Japanese –Chiyogami and Katazome
Japanese papers include Yuzen, or Chiyogami, as well as Katazome-shi. Chiyogami reflects the superb craftsmanship  of the Edo Period (1630-1868).  Originally, these papers were usually  small dense patterns made with wood block prints, but are now typically hand silk-screened.  Japanese Chiyogami Paper, is also known as Yuzen Washi Paper, are  hand-silk screened by Japanese artists using pigment-based inks for intense and fade-resistant color. Each step requires a lot of time as each color must fully dry before the next color is applied. The final layer is usually a gold or silver metallic overlay adding shiny highlights that catch light and attention. One type of Japanese chiyogami is called Laquered Chiyogami where the embossed finish resembles the look of traditional Japanese Urushi style of lacquerware. Each wax coated layer of black and red ink is hand silkscreened onto a high content Kozo base providing durability and flexibility.  Katazome-shi,”literally, stencil-dyed papers (also referred to as “Wazome”) are based on traditional kimono-printing techniques,. Using persimmon-dyed kozo paper as the stencils, and aided by paste and “Kojiro” (soy bean juice), the pigments absorb deeply into the paper to produce long-lasting colour and the unmistakable look of a print truly made by hand. All the Jpanese papers are strong and flexible making them ideal for books and boxes.

Nepalese Lokta
Nepalese handmade lokta paper is made from the fibrous inner bark of high elevation evergreen shrubs primarily from two species of Daphne bushes known as l”okta bushes “.  The Daphne shrub, a subspecies of laurel, grows wildly and covers more than million hectares of forest land in 55 districts of Nepal, of which 25 districts have an abundant supply.  Lokta bushes proliferate in open clusters or colonies on the southern slopes of Nepal’s Himalayan forests between 1,600 and 4,000 m (c.5,250–13,000 ft).  When harvested, the lokta bush automatically regenerates to a fully grown 4-5 meter plant with in 5–7 years.   The poor rural women of Nepal have traditionally been the principal forest users. Current economic conditions have reinforced the local employment of women, as many men are leaving the rural villages in search of employment. Handmade lokta-based craft paper products continue to offer considerable economic sustainability for poor rural Nepalese women due to their high-quality niche market potential. 

Thai Momi
These stunning marbled papers from Thailand feature vibrant colors highlighted in metallic gold, silver and copper swirls. Thai Marbled Papers are hand-marbled mulberry paper, using oil-based paints so every sheet is truly a unique work of art.