Nancy Drew was on the bedside table this week at our house. A whole stack in fact, just some of the over 100 titles in the series available. The title we were reading was “The Strange Message in the Parchment.”
I love using different kinds of papers. Parchment being just one of them. But the girl detective taught me something about parchment paper I never knew. Hold on to your seat now. In the middle ages, parchment paper was made from… sheep skin. Yes, you read that right, sheep skin!
I quickly rushed to do some research to see if this was true. Thankfully, not anymore, but after going through a very elaborate process of drying and stretching, sheep skin was used for writing medieval manuscripts and painting long ago. Today it is a form of pressed paper pulp. Whew. That was a close one. I could never have used it (or it’s cousin vellum – this paper used to be made from cow skin) again.
And that would have been a shame because it is cool stuff. Click here for some unusual and creative ways to use parchment paper.
So I encourage you to find your local purveyor of fine art supplies and check out their stash of vellum today. The colours are limitless.
And now I leave you to go back and solve the mystery……