Unless someone kept the url, it's probably gone, as there is nothing here earlier than April 15. I wish there was an archive. If you see something you might want to refer to later, keep the url address, and you can still bring it up. Sue

I had a request for my formula for papercrete so thought I'd post a copy here just in case it might be of help to someone. Cement and Paper Fiber Sculpting Materials Portland Cement (NOT a concrete mix just the cement powder) Paper Fibre (I buy the paper insultation you can get from Lowes. It is already shredded. You can take newspaper and shred it, soak it, mush it more but this saves a lot of work). Bucket of joint compound Mixture You have to experiment here to get it to the point it feels like clay. Off hand I'd say 2 parts paper fiber to 2 parts paper cement. I then just put in a handful of joint compound, add water and mix by hand. If it doesn't feel like clay I add more cement and more joint compound. You can do 3 parts paper to 1 part cement if you just want bulk and are not concerned about strength. The higher the paper fibre the longer it will take to dry. I just do this in a bucket. I've not tried a large scale mixing because a) you can get tired out pretty easily and then you are wasting the rest and b) I don't know if it would dry out too quickly. IMPORTANT!: Wear a mask and rubber gloves. Cement dust easily goes into the air and it is not a good idea to breathe it. Also, I wear thin rubber gloves. I much prefer no gloves as I like to feel my subject but the reality is that cement will suck all the moisture out of your hands. I've been asked if one can add sand. I've only tried this once. It makes the mixture a lot less claylike and takes longer to dry and will slump easier, but you can do it. The plus side is likely added strength. Armature I try to avoid anything that will rust as an armature because I just don't know if the paper fibres will wick water all the way through the sculpture. If it does it could cause rust on the armature thus splitting the sculpture. This may not happen at all. I would say though if using an iron armature to make sure to seal it with paint BEFORE applying the cement. This is probably a good idea with any type of cement mixture in any case. My armatures are made from styrofoam, pvc piping and aluminum piping. If it is a "sqaut" figure, meaning triangular or a column type figure I just use styrofoam but it won't have the stength necessary for limbs. So for my Greenman figure I used pvc piping. My gargoyles though have all just been styrofoam, including the one with wings. The wings were just the blue styrofoam sheeting you get for siding. The papercrete adds amazing strength. The Process BUILD A GOOD ARMATURE! Make sure that it is to the proportions you want before applying cement. I've had to do some chiseling because I didn't take into account the extra width added by the cement and threw a piece out of proportion. I know it's common sense but I don't always have common sense so thought I'd give the warning in case there is someone else like me out there. I coat the armature from the bottom up, when it is completely covered with one layer I let it set for a day IF it has things like "legs", such as with the greenman. I needed the strength there in the legs before I could build up the "musculature" with more cement. This technique worked great! Once you can start adding "muscles", and bulking up the figure you pretty quickly learn if you are adding too much at once so it slumps. Be patient. My experience with papercrete is that you can add additional layers after a piece is dry and it holds nicely. I've even gone back months later and done more work on a piece. I know this isn't conventional wisdom but it works for me. Make sure and cover the bottom of the armature as well with cement. You don't want bugs getting up inside your armature. It is said that carpenter ants love styrofoam. How long does it last? Short answer. I don't know. Papercrete houses have mostly been built in arid areas. And they advise not sealing the surface of a house too much so it can breathe... BUT you don't have to worry about that for a sculpture so SEAL AWAY. I use paint and polyurethane. I have one sculpture that has sat unsealed for at least one winter. He has minor surface crackling but no stuctural damage. I think that my sculptures will last my lifetime, but I don't know. Still, do any of us know how long our art will last outdoors anyway? When I sculpt a piece I do try to think about how water might pool on it and try to make it so water will run off as much as possible. Ice in crevices can be deadly to cement pieces. But paper fibres give a lot of strength to a piece. I am always amazed how I can coat a piece of styrofoam with this mixture and once it is dry I can stand on it with no damage. Painting For my Greenman piece I used a sponge to paint with. This makes sure the figure gets well covered. I did an enamel base and then added acrylics for highlights. I used spray polyurethane but want to try the kind from a can sometime. You don't have to paint of course but I still think sealing is a good idea with polyurethane or something else. Here is a link that might be useful: Jonathan's Sculpture Page

The only incentive I have to complete anything is if it's common knowledge. I'm easily side tracked by experiements that never turn into usable stuff. So I'm going to go out on a faux bois limb here and post what I'm going to attempt for this project. It won't be tufa, so technically it won't qualify for my own challenge but I'm going to attempt it anyway.:) I was going to make one of those giant lilly pads but that would float even out of regular concrete, it's like a dish. Then I though about a half sunk aligator but I have no carving skills. I've decided to try to make the giant lilly pad flower itself. I think they are very cool. Hopefully a nice big pinky white bloom out of light weight concrete and papercrete. Could be tricky considering I don't use paint. Blending pigments to give a smooth transition from pink to white is going to be a challenge. Can't be that tough to make the flower, just a bunch of pointy things sticking out of a base.:) I'm not sure if a time limit is needed but I'm going to need at least 6 weeks, maybe the end of july.:) Considering I've never seen a real lilly pad flower I have some homework to do.:)

OK for Hippie in De Nile and some others here's a list of the plants being offered in the Auction with the donor name followed by the name of the item. There are so many donations that it's hard to keep track of everything. But there is something for all of you in this Auction from 'Simon Says Shout' at $400+ to a Hallson's gift card. Thanks to Ross Johnson for the initial post of this on FB. Kuenster 2 H. ' Fickle Blue Genes' Harbor Lane 1 H. ' Derriere' Barta 2 H. ' Abba Dabba Do' O.S. McHugh 2 H. ' Red October' Russo 2 H. 'Captain Atom' O.S. Dean 5 Double Flowering Bloodroot #2 Anderson 1 H. 'Dream in Blue' Thaubald 1 H. 'Foxfire Palm Sunday' O.S. Rawson 1 H. ‘Pride and Joy’ O.S. Altman 1 H. ‘Fog Light’, H. ‘Stir It Up’, and H. ‘Cold Heart’ McHugh Orchid 2 Bletilla striata orchid w/white-edged foliage - #2 Schaffner 3 VARIEGATED LILAC Hallson 2 $50 Gift Certificate King 1 H. ‘Peace Offer’ O.S. Solberg 5 H. 'Peach Salsa' Abrams 1 Hosta Leaf Earrings - #1 McHugh 4 H. clausa var. normalis 'Jilin' McHugh Orchid 1 Bletilla striata orchid w/white-edged foliage - #1 Russo 1 H. ‘Crazy Quilt’ O.S. Wols 2 H. ‘Dream Maker’ BADITC 1 Papercrete Angel, Hosta ‘Guardian Angel’, and Daylily ‘Dear Dad’ Thedens 3 H. ‘Risky Business’ Dean 4 Double Flowering Bloodroot #1 Ramsey 4 H. 'Wings of a Prayer' O.S. Kinchen 1 H. 'Tin Knocker' O.S. Meyer/Brashear 1 H. ‘Jim Hawes’ Micheletti 1 H. ‘Azure Waves’ Schaffner 2 Pink Lily of the Valley Indiana Bob 1 H. ‘Dark Vader’ Gilligan 1 Ladies' Greenstone Marsden River Flower Jade - #1 Jones 1 H. ‘Paul’s Glory’ AND… this wide-eyed garden frog. Shadrack 1 Shadrack Hosta Book Collection Van Wyk 4 H. ‘T-Dawg’ O.S. Thy 1 Amber Necklace Van Wyk 3 H. 'Gone Fishin’ Schulz 1 H. 'Sam Spade' Hallson 3 $50 Gift Certificate Janisch 2 Votive Holder �" Cobalt Blue Kuenster 1 H. ‘Blue Lightning’ Seedling Schaffner 1 Striped Lily of the Valley ROHS 1 One Box of The Hosta Journal Wols 1 ‘Ice Age Trail’ x ‘Sutter’s Mill’ and ‘G4B’ x ‘Blue Splendor’ Barta 1 H. ‘Reflected Glory’ McHugh 3 H. ‘Miss Ruby' Wiebold 1 Daylily ‘Heaven's Edge' Ternes 1 Collection of 5 Plants Solberg 3 H. ‘Touch of Class’ seedling Thy 5 Amber Tree Soucek 1 H. ‘Rachel’ O.S. Dingeman 2 “Beware of Hostas” Sign Lehtola 1 H. ‘Humpbacked Whale’ O.S. Jojo 1 Photograph �" “Wings” Scroggy 1 H. ‘Drake’s Tail’ O.S. Hanner 1 Hanner Pottery Planter Stegemiller 1 H. ‘Teen Archer’ seedling Ramsey 2 H. ‘What’s That’ Rawson 2 Don Rawson’s Book of HOSTA LISTS Doughty 1 H. ‘Unstable Mabel’ Solberg 2 H. ‘Sugar Snap’ streaked Terpening 2 Artisan Soaps, Salt & Sugar Scrubs, Garden Mosaic Stone #1 McHugh Orchid 6 Bletilla striata orchid w/all green foliage - #1 Gilligan 2 Ladies' Greenstone Marsden River Flower Jade - #2 Dean 1 H.‘Country Dreaming’ Dean 6 Merrybells (Uvularia) - #1 Anderson 2 H. 'Jimmy Mac Black' McHugh 1 H. ‘Riptide’ McHugh Orchid 8 Bletilla striata orchid �" mystery cultivar - #1 Markland 1 Stone Spirit Van Wyk 2 H. ‘Tattoo’ O.S. Naylor Creek 1 H. 'Snow Bunting’ Linneman 1 Hosta Valley. A world full of hostas ..... Janisch 1 Votive Holder �" Ruby Red Terpening 4 H. rectifolia ‘Rishiri’* seedling Remschneider 1 H. ‘Chinchilla Blue’ O.S. Ramsey 3 H. ‘Valley’s Future’ O.S. McHugh Orchid 3 Bletilla striata orchid w/white-edged foliage - #3 Solberg 1 H. 'Frost Giant' streaked Thedens 2 H. ‘Flamboyant’ Serafin 1 H. ‘Oh My Heart’ O.S. Rainbow 1 $50 Gift Certificate White 1 H. ‘Love Spat’ Port 1 H. ‘Blue Grallis’ Gillegan 3 Greenstone Marsden River Flower Jade Shulz 2 H. 'Ohh! Charlotte' Naylor Creek 2 H. 'Nickie Sue Axmear' McHugh Orchid 5 Bletilla striata 'Alba' orchid Stegeman 1 H. ‘H. D. Seas’ O.S. Rekoske 1 H. ‘Daughter of Ledi Lantis’ O.S. Dingeman 1 H. 'Sally and Bob' North Coast 2 H. ‘Solar Flare’ Ross 1 H. ‘Jealousy’ Seedling Terpening 3 Artisan Soaps, Salt & Sugar Scrubs, Garden Mosaic Stone #2 Hallson 1 Double Oriental Lily Bulbs Van Wyk 5 Hosta Seedlings Janisch 3 Votive Holder �" Amethyst Ramsey 1 H. ‘Building a Dream’ Thy 4 Decorative Heart Meyer/Brashear 2 H. 'Hidden Agenda' Kinchen 2 Polygonatum odorstum 'Dai Ko Ga' Dean 7 Merrybells (Uvularia) - #2 McHugh Orchid 9 Bletilla striata orchid �" mystery cultivar - #2 Glasgow 1 H. ‘Lemon Lime’ Ross 4 100 Hosta Seeds Carlson 1 The “Smooth Sisters” Beilstein 1 Seedling: H. ‘Neat Splash’ x OP Van Wyk 1 H. 'Margaret May' Nancy's 'Garden Art' 1 Hosta Leaf Jojo 2 Photograph �" “Liberty” Solberg 4 H. 'Tarheel Blue' Ross 3 H. kiyosumiensis ‘Seiryu' Thedens 1 H. 'Galaxy' Glasgow 2 H. ‘Obsession’ Meyer 1 H. 'Special Blend' Russo 3 H. ‘Reddy Eddy’ O.S. Port 2 H. ‘Radar Love’ Johnston 1 Quilt Port 3 H. ‘Rock'n'Roll Heart’ Harbor Lane 2 H. 'Pinstripe Sister' x H. 'Indigo' Seedling Ross 2 H. 'Purple Verticulated Elf' O.S. Morzajew/Sisson 2 H. ‘Yellow Bonkers’ O.S. Morzajew/Sisson 3 H. H. ‘Good Night Irene’ O.S. Terpenning 1 H. ‘Paisley Parfait’ O.S. Abrams 2 Hosta Leaf Earrings - #2 Serafin 2 Viola 'Stephanie' North Coast 1 H. ‘Rock and Roll’ O.S. Groothius 1 'Sissy's Siberian Eyes' X 'Blue Hawaii' Seedling McHugh 5 H. rectifolia 'Nishiki' Sisson/Morzajew 1 H. 'Hold the Phone' O.S. Dean 3 - H. Country Dreaming Moore 1 - Seedling FBG x More Elegant Mortko 1 - H. Stitch in Time OS Dean 8 - Double Blood Root Miller LOTG 1 - H. Giantland Skylight Mountain Ramsay 6 - H. Renaldo's Twisted Fate Indiana Bob 2 - H. Troubled Waters OS Ramsay 5 - H. Blue Ivory Streaked Soucek 2 - H. Cyclops OS Belstein 2 - Streaked Seedling Russo 4 - H. Liberty Bell OS Goodenough 1 - H. Simon Says Shout OS Shaw 1 - H. Dorset Clown Moore 2 - Seedling FBG x Poison Dart Frog Olga 1 - NR Seedling 3/4 divisions RASmith 1 - Roger Smith 3 Seedlings Anderson 4 - H. White Linen Ross 5 - H. Pixie Moonstone OS Van Wyk 6 - Dorothy Benedict f3 seedling Dean 3 - H. Purple Verticulated Elf Miller LOTG 2 - H. Giantland Yellow Dome Even if you don't bid, it's cool to look at these unique plants. But go ahead and bid. Great plants and it's for a good cause. Steve