Long ago, an African missionary gave me a stack of handmade cards. They taught the people of the village to paint their handmade paper with pictures of the Nativity for Christmas. The paper was made of banana peel, newspaper, and other fibrous materials.
I loved the paper and saved it, using it sparingly over the last 20 years. Here is a tiny scrap of that paper, glued in my sketch journal:
This paper inspired me to make my own paper many years ago. I’m still using that paper in my art today.