2026 Foraged Fiber Paper Swap
This is a special interest, foraged plant fiber swatch swap, for intermediate and expert hand papermakers. Papermakers the world over submit 2″ x 3″ (5.08 cm x 7.62 cm) samples/swatches of up to 3 different foraged fiber papers, along with the recipes they used to make them. The samples are collated into sets, and Whiteleaf Paper designs a book for mounting them which includes the recipes. Participants each receive one set of swatches and a .pdf of the book.
How it works:
Registration closes May 30, 2026
Submissions are due August 30, 2026
Packets will be mailed by September 30, 2026
- Sign up here and pay the non-refundable fee of $50. Participation is capped at 60, which would be 5 letter size sheets of each type. Registration will close early if 60 people register before the deadline.
- On June 1, 2026, you will be notified exactly how many swatches of each paper you should send, based on the number of participants.
- You submit your swatches, to arrive in Massachusetts USA by August 30, and a digital project form, (provided after registration), which asks for information to be included in the book for mounting the swatches. The form will include the mailing address for the swatches. This form must also be submitted by August 30.
Any fiber that comes directly from plants, which you have gathered yourself, or, if you are physically limited, have had gathered on your behalf. You may recycle your own paper for this project, if it was foraged in the first place.
If the maximum registration is reached, for each set of paper, you would have to make 5 sheets of letter sized paper and cut each sheet into 12 swatches. If the registration turns out to be smaller, you would make less. You can submit up to 3 sets.
Any type of sizing, filler, buffers, pigments, etc. that you normally use are fine.
yes, last year's swap book is shown in full on the 2025 foraged tab on this website. This year's swap will have more than one entry per participant, so the book will be more like the swap book shown on all fibers>handmade paper swap> 2025-26 on this website.
Not at all. Go ahead and pull some out of your stash, if it meets the requirements.
Rules
- The focus of this project is paper made from foraged fibers only. You can add foraged inclusions, but they must be firmly mixed into the pulp, not glued on top.
- Please submit only paper swatches that you made yourself or as a team. Submissions of, say, decorated or altered handmade paper made by others will not be included.
- Swatches measure 2 x 3 inches (5 cm x 7.5 cm). If they are directional, they should be portrait orientation. Smaller is OK but larger is not OK. They will be stamped on the back with your initials, by Whiteleaf Paper, for identification to the other participants when they make their book. I do my best to make the marks unobtrusive, but on the sheerest papers that might not always be possible.
- Swatches cannot be thicker than 1/16 inch (1.5 mm).
- You may submit up to 3 sets of swatches, but submitting one or two sets is totally OK. All swatches in a set should have a single description, and consist of the same fiber or mix of fibers.
- The fee includes return shipping within the United States. For all others, you will be billed shipping in excess of the domestic rate.
- You may color or otherwise mark your paper to your liking, but please do not use religious or political symbols or text.
- To Comply With the Law: Do not send paper with seeds or soil included. Do not send paper whose pulp has not been boiled in alkaline solution. Do not send paper with insects, insect cocoons or the like. Basically, do not send paper that could cause plant diseases or infestations when distributed.
- Do not send paper with glitter or perfume on or in the paper, or items glued to the surface, or any coatings or inclusions that will damage other papers submitted, when piled together.
- Please note: the registration fee is not refundable, except if the swap is canceled entirely. If you submit paper that does not meet the rules, or if it is late, your fee will not be refunded, nor will your swatches be included or returned. Whiteleaf Paper’s decision not to include a particular set of swatches will be final.
- Everyone will be held to the deadlines. Really.
- Communications:
Once you are registered, Whiteleaf Paper will contact the group of participants as issues pertinent to the whole group arise, and will contact you individually if needed. The address is swaps@whiteleafpaper.com. If you have any past email addresses for Whiteleaf Paper, please delete them.