Question about Vellum - what it's made of???????
 

I just bought a book on paper-making, and it states that vellum cannot be classified as paper... I have no problem with that part, but it goes on to say that "vellum is made from the whole skin of still-born or newly born calves or lambs." EEEEEWWWW!!!!! :shock: I just hope that this isn't another animal cruelty thing that no one really knows about. Believe me, I am NOT a PETA person, and I LOVE meat, but I would like to know a little more about this. Is it possible that it is made in another way now, and that this was the primitive fashion of making vellum hundreds of years ago? How in the world did they think of that, anyway?????? YUK.

Anyway, it's food for thought. Any information you might have would be appreciated!

Thanks, all!!! :D

I just did a google search and here's what I kind of generally found:

Vellum was originally a material for artists and the like, and was made from skin. I think that was mostly when it was first invented, but since has been made "artifically" from other stuff.

Different companies make it from different stuff, but here's what I found at http://www.bydonovan.com/PaperInfo.html

"Vellum Papers: True vellum is made from the inner linings of calf or goat skins that have been cleaned, stretche and scraped free of hair. The vellum we buy and use for paper crafts is parchment or vellum like paper with a smooth and rough side."

Sounds pretty unlikely to be made that way nowadays - if it was I expect it would be much more expensive. I'll check it out though! How DO they think these things up? I was wondering today... sorry if this is a hijack but I'll keep it brief.... I was wondering how anyone discovered that if you soak beans overnight and then boil them rapidly for an hour or whatever, they don't poison you! I mean, if I heard that beans poisoned you, I wouldn't think to try different ways of cooking them, just in case they poisoned me!

Hemeynell, I always wondered the same thing about beans! I grew up in Syria and they had a fava bean dish called fool that we loved but could have been poisonous if not cooked properly. Glad I reap the benefits of whoever tested that out.

I'm back - isn't the internet wonderful? This is what I discovered:

"Vellum paper - strong, tough and of high class appearance - is made to imitate the fine smooth finish of a parchment made from animal skin. Vellum paper is often used for certificates."

I got this from the following website: http://www.instituteofpaper.com/glossary.htm#sectV

Hope this reassures you! I'm certainly relieved - I don't eat meat and don't really want to be crafting with it!

Helen

Beans don't poison you! No matter how you cook them. There are several ways to cook beans. I always start with dried beans. Soaking them overnight only makes them cook faster once you start boiling.

Another way to soften them fast without the overnight soaking is to put them in a pot....cover with water and bring to a boil. Remove completely from the heat (totally off the burner...very important...trust me!) Add 1 1/2Tbsp. baking soda and stir. Wait 5 min, rinse thoroughly and bring to a boil. It only takes about 1/2 hour to get them soft.

The main thing with beans is to not add salt or tomato products until they're soft or they'll never soften.

I repeat....beans are in no way poisonous! Unless of course they're poisonous beans, and no amount of cooking or soaking them will make them OK to eat.

I just read about fava beans in particular. The only thing about fava beans is that some people in the Mediterranean area are allergic to a substance in raw fava beans. And that's only fava beans.

Cooked beans are perfectly OK to eat, no matter how you cook them.

No offense to anybody here, but this is the weirdest thread I've ever read! :lol:

Granted, I've only been here a few hours... :wink:

I agree!! I don't know how we went from calf-skin vellum to poisonous beans. Am I Alice....in Wonderland??

I have to agree with you :lol: :lol:

You think this thread is weird? Take a look at Jovi's avatar! What's going on there then? :wink:

So how come I've had it drummed into me that beans will give you terrible stomach pains if you don't cook them properly? (Okay, I admit I exaggerated slightly by using the word 'poisoned')

Beat's me about the beans. I'd check with whoever told you that in the first place. I've cooked dried beans in the methods I described for years as did my mother before me, and no severe pains.

If your body is not used to the fiber and protein in beans you can get gas, but that's about it, and then it doesn't matter how you cook them...

The only problem with fava beans is that there is a genetic group of people in the mediterranean that are allergic to them. It's a heriditary trait, not a problem with the beans or how they're cooked.

JOVI - LOVE your avatar!!! How did you get your dog to stay in the flower? Mine can't stand anything on her!

Back to the poisonous beans - my hubby's Egyptian, so I know about fool (also called fool madamas). Once cooked a whole crock pot of those stinkin beans (he was eating them forever!)

Holy cow!!!! This is the strangest thread I've seen on SCS! :lol: I feel kinda proud for starting it!!! :D

Kristy

Back on beans (beginning to regret bringing up the beans, actually :lol: )... I've just checked a couple of my recipe books and they just say beans "need" to be soaked overnight, so perhaps, being naturally paranoid, I've misinterpreted that. I'm sure I've also read that they can cause stomach pains if not cooked properly, but that could be a reference to the flatulence issue. The whole soaking thing is not an issue for me, anyway, as I'm far too disorganised to know what I want to cook the following day, so always use beans out of a can.

At least the original question got answered....and I'm getting a good laugh at the strange twists it's taken!

Maybe it's been a long week of BORING work, but I laughed out loud when I read this thread. How in the heck do you get from vellum to beans?!? Then, I saw Jovi's avatar and actually LOL'd at work! One of those serious giggle moments where every time I think about it I crack up. I'm about to show people around me so they don't think I'm crazy. Well...you know...they probably already do! :) Thanks for the laughs.

BTW, I always refer to vellum as "plastic paper" when I talk about how it feels, especially the card stock. It certainly doesn't feel like it's made from wood like regular paper.

Lesley

The cute doggie in my avatar isn't mine....

I just wanted to say that I know a bit about this because before I became a stamping obsessi, I was a medievalist. True animal parchment is quite rare today, but in the middle ages all paper was made from animal skins. It was very durable and versitile. The mass production of paper with wood pulp seemed to come about around the same time as the printing press, perhaps a tiny bit sooner, although paper has been made out of other fibers world wide from ages ago (hence paprus in Egypt).

Animal skins were readily available and easy to make into paper, although reather messy and smelly process where they boiled them down with lye I believe, etc.

Anyway, most medieval manuscripts are made on this. Parchement was never thrown away; it was far too expensive. They would simply scrape the top layer off and write on it again. This could be done several times before the parchment became to thin to reuse.

Craft velum that we use today is NOTHING like this animal skin paper. It is rather thick, and while having some translucent qualities, it is way too thick to see through (I have actually seen books made in the middle ages with mine own eyes-- way cool experience)

Probably not super important, other than to reassure the general public that craft vellum is in now way produced with the byproducts of animals. But I think it is interesting.

Hey... I learn something new on scs everyday! :D

Sencie

Okay, I will take this a step weirder, I can't resist!

When I read about the beans, it made me think of macadamia nuts. Australian aborigines (sp?) didn't want Caucasians to know how good they were so they told them they were poisonous! This kept Caucasians from eating them for a very long time until one young man accidently ate one and found out they were fabulous! Tricked and foiled by the natives for many long years! I just thought of this story when someone mentioned the poisonous beans! :lol: :lol:

Speaking of beans and nuts, I read a novel that indicated that lobster, back about a hundred years ago (or so) was only eaten by the poor people that lived on shore. It was considered too gross for other people!

Anyone know if this is true????

Goat gut paper...death beans...I'm really laughing now!

Now if I could only convince my husband that housework was toxic!

A.

Thanks for the info, Stampysister, but what's that got to do with beans? :wink: :wink:

Interesting to note that some of my favourite signature lines (veni vidi velcro, cats are tiny people in cheap fur coats, cats take a message and get back to you) are all gathered together on this weird thread!

My personal rule is: When my kids say, "You're weird, mom," I say, "Thank You."

:shock: WOW....I didn't know that!!! Gosh....if they were still making it that way I would stop buying it (yuk).

So, vellum is made from beans? (just kiddin' :wink: )
Ronda

:lol:

I just love this place!

um. out of vellum, I say, don't ask, it might be made from skin.