Here is the story of the Elephant Dung paper:
The paper was made by a company owned by Joseph Diliza. He began his working life as a “garden boy” during the 1980’s.”When I was a garden boy, I worked for a woman who asked me to help her make paper. We went to the library to get books to learn how to do.” They experiment with many different kinds of leaves and grasses and found river reeds and banana leaves were best for papermaking.
Joseph eventually worked himself into having his own papermaking company. His company, Thando Papers, produces paper from river reed, bark, sisal, recycled cardboard, garden waste and …elephant and rhino dung.
The dung is dried in the sun and then steamed in a kiln before pressing into paper. There is never a shortage of dung since one elephant can produce several pounds a day.
Sheet color and texture varies depending on the diet, age and dental health of the elephant. Fully digested fiber gives the paper a smooth finish, while half-digested fiber makes the paper coarser.
“We collect the dung of elephants; we turn it into paper and then products. We then sell the paper and return profits to feeding and caring for the elephants. In addition we provide many jobs to relatives of elephant keepers and low-income families.”
Contact Information can be found here: http://www.thatworks.org/thando1.htm
When I made my “Elephant Poop” page the overriding question everyone asked was “Does it smell?” No, it looks, feels, and smells like homemade paper. I tore it by using my water brush and wet the area I wanted to tear and it very simply came apart as I tore it. After tearing the Elephant Dung paper I used Glossy Accents to adhere the paper to the photo. I placed the photo and mat so there would be enough room for the story. I typed the story of Jospeh Diliza on vellum and adhered it to the page. Twinning the fibers together, I embellished it with flowers, buttons, and the Eco Africa elephant. I placed my title and arrow, making it pop a bit by ink stitching around the title and outlining the arrow.
Put a little “Green” in your scrapbooking today!
Supplies
Buttons: BasicGrey
Chipboard Letter: Art Blanche (EK Success)
Chipboard Element: Maya Road
Embellishment: elephant (Eco Africa)
Fibers: Color Me Silly (Basic Grey)
Flowers: Prima
Ink: ColorBox (Clearsnap)
Patterned Paper: Junkitz
Rub-ons: ScrapWorks Stitching: white Signo (Uniball), pen (Stampin’ Up!)
The story of the elephant embellishment: It was made by the papermaking and papercrafting communities in Zimbabwe. The artisans in this art community are mainly underprivileged women. Paper is crafted from the fiber of indigenous and replenishable plants that grow wild around their villages. Embellishments are made from paper, wire, or collected from nature. The papers are Acid Free-Tree Free-Lignin Free and ph Neutral. For more information, pictures and products go to http://www.scrappinoutlet.com/Brand/EcoAfrica.
To find the products mentioned in this article and shown in these layouts, check with your local scrapbook retailer. Browse our Premier Retail Stores for coupons to a store near you.
