I recently visited Holland, Michigan for a little R-and-R with my husband and older daughter. We decided to walk the main, downtown shopping area, looking in various stores.
We came across The Bridge , a store that specializes in unique, fair trade, import items. There were some very interesting things in the store, but the most fascinating to me was paper made from elephant dung!
I purchased both a small, spiral-bound book and a box of small, loose sheets .
This paper is mostly white, but you can see the pieces of fiber and some evidence of recycled paper bits. The company it comes from is Mr. Ellie Pooh .
This paper, as it turned out, is very pourous. Drawing on it with the normal, Zentangle, Sakura Pigma Micron pen turned out to be a poor choice because the ink bled into the surface instantly.
Instead, I ended up using a Sharpie, no-bleed pen. I had to work quickly and confidently because the ink spread quickly even from this pen!
I used a regular graphite pencil and stump to shade the paper. This part was a total delight. It was so much fun to add the depth to the designs! The end results were really smooth and nice.
This would not be a replacement for the beautiful, Fabriano Zentangle tiles, but it was a lot of fun to play with something different.
BTW: If you’re looking for a scrumptious lunch while shopping in this area, I would suggest the Waverly Stone Gastro Pub right down the street. The food choices were wonderful, and delicious and the staff was wonderful. If we’re ever in the area again, we would choose it again!
Zentangle drawn on Mr. Ellie Pooh paper using a black, no-bleed Sharpie pen. Shading done with graphite pencil.