Ribbon – Page 2 – custompaper.com/blog

October 23, 2014

Earth Silk Sample Cards – At long last; longer lengths!

Silk ribbon sample set — Hand dyed silk ribbon sample set

Since we started our silk dying studio in 2010, we have known there was a need for this, now we have finally made it happen. The Earth Silk Sample Set gives you a look at our 90 blends in a new way. The 1 inch wide lengths will let you see how the dyes interact with the material in a more informative way than our 5/8″ swatches can. The eight yard lengths allow you to see how the patterns that form on some of our blends, repeat. Unlike the swatch card where the silk is grouped in numerical order, on the silk sample cards we have arranged them by color.

Earth silk sample sets — Hand dyed silk ribbon sample cards

You can find these sets on our samples page here custompaper.com/samplesets.

We have numbered them on both sides, with the silk overlapping by a half inch. You will notice that the ribbon’s number is centered on the correct color. You can also use the web site as a quick reference if you are unsure.

June 13, 2014

How to Make 100 Ribbon Embellishments

We were thrilled to receive news of our inclusion in the latest book by the talented Elaine Schmidt: How to Make 100 Ribbon Embellishments: Trims, rosettes, sculptures, and baubles for fashion, decor, and crafts.

“Create amazing trims, butterflies, flowers and more with How to Make 100 Ribbon Embellishments. With clever techniques and a huge selection of ribbon styles to choose from, the timeless art of making ribbon embellishments is better than ever. Let author Elaine Schmidt take you through 100 ribbon designs, offering helpful hints and tips to help you make beautiful accessories to place anywhere.”

This is the second time Elaine has used our products, the first was in her second book The Complete Photo Guide To Ribbon Crafts. The tutorial using our silk ribbon is featured below.

This is actually not our first foray into the publishing world. Our products have also been included in Green Wedding, It’s Easy Being Green and The Everything Green Wedding Book.

Thank you, Elaine – and congrats on yet another lovely publication!

February 20, 2014

Video from New York trade show –

Well we did it! We battled Super Bowl hotel prices, a slushy snow storm that shut down parts of the city and empty propane tanks (burrrrr!) in our efforts to put our Earth Silk ribbon line in front of an East Coast audience.

Here is our latest effort at creative film making (video #3)

http://www.custompaper.com/Files/OfTheEarthEntersNY.wmv

We would love to hear your thoughts.

Kevin

December 19, 2013

Silk Flower Hair Clips for Flower Girls, Brides and Bridesmaids

We announced earlier this year a partnership with Sashaco, a local (Kirkland, Washington) startup company who began buying our silks last year and makes beautiful hair clips and pins out of our ribbons. Here we have a collection of photos of their wonderful work!

As 2013 winds down, we find ourselves without much time to reflect on what a crazy year it has been as we are looking forward to what 2014 has in store for us. We expect big things to come from this and our other (soon to be revealed) partnerships as we keep our eyes on what is next.

I am sure you will agree, these silk flowers are fantastic! We have over 170 colors now in our silk line and there are so many that would work beautifully in this clip format. Imagine the brides who can color coordinate their whole suite of paper goods with their bridal party attire, just by tying together the ribbon on their invitation with the ribbon in their flower girl’s hair. What do you think?

These hair clips (or pins, they have both hardware on the back) measure 3.5″ in diameter and sit 2″ tall. You can find them for sale right now on Etsy here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/173418350/. They can be ordered in any of the colors shown here: http://www.custompaper.com/earthsilk/hand_dyed_blends.html

Each color we make comes out so uniquely on these flowers, we can’t wait to see them all!

3" silk flower clip — Lavender silk flower pin

November 7, 2013

VERSATILITY: RIBBONS FOR EVERY OCCASION

We know we are biased, but we are consistently amazed by the projects our clients create. Luckily, many of them are eager and excited to share said creations and generously send photos our way upon completing a project.

Jewelry designer Amanda Ace creates one-of-a-kind pieces and delivers them to clients in beautiful packaging (if we do say so ourselves) featuring our handmade papers and ribbon.

It is an enormous compliment to know your designs are being chosen for a first impression.

We recently worked with another client who created this gorgeous bridal bouquet using our silk ribbon, shown here in her wedding day portrait. Any of you brides and creative folk reading this; be sure to share your work with us so we can feature it here.

October 15, 2013

WEARABLE RIBBON

It appears we have officially segued into the fashion industry: we have launched our very first silk ribbon wrap design! This is a one yard length of our hand dyed silk that is finished with two pointed ends and a seam stitch along the entire length.

Our modern take on the classic “fairy ribbon” design is available in over 150 color options. These Earth Silk ribbons are made by hand in our Seattle studio. We measure, mix, dye, rinse, wash, dry, fold, iron, stitch and sew to bring you this great wrist accessory.

The wrap is a thoughtful, eco-gift idea and an easy and affordable accessory option to elevate any ensemble. After years of inquiries, we are excited to offer to offer a hand dyed silk ribbon option to our jewelry-designing and accessorizing clients worldwide!

September 16, 2013

Summer 2013: A Recap

The end of summer always marks the winding down of our busiest season, and this year was no exception. There was no shortage of productivity; in addition to the usual fervor of the wedding season, we moved to a new location, continued working on our website redesign and found time in the sun with our kids. Whew! We are exhausted just talking about it. We cannot wait to “officially” share our new space with you, but until then take a look at highlights from the last few months:

In June we made it on to the front page of Etsy! As you can imagine it is the dream placement for any crafter/maker selling on the site. Our hand dyed silk ribbon is featured above.

Here we are again in July! This time our ribbon was included on the craft supplies browse page.

Finally, a lovely feature by Canadian blogger Janick in mid- July had us blushing; it is always an honor (and an exciting surprise) to receive praise from fellow designers and crafters.

We hope you enjoyed a lovely AND relaxing summer; keep an eye out for news on our open house to showcase our new space!

We can’t resist sharing this image from our summer fun.

Lake Dorothy - North Cascade Mountains — Looking for mountain lake trout

May 15, 2013

BLOG PRESS

It is always a pleasant surprise when we stumble upon our products or work in the blogosphere. Last week we had a client mention in passing that they had included photos of our seeded paper used on a wedding project in a past blog post.

wedding menu on our seeded paper — wedding menu our seeded paper

Stacey and Company is an invite, décor and event planning company in California. We have been working with Stacey since 2007. She often uses our seeded papers when working with clients who want stylish, green paper options for their events. We love how this couple used our seeded products throughout the event and also as their take-home gift for their guests. You can check out the entire post here.

The Green Bride Guide is a go-to resource for those searching for “wedding ideas, inspiration and supplies to assist you with planning a green wedding.” They included our hand dyed silk ribbon as a way to add “glam” to your eco-wedding, and offered some great suggestions for integrating our ribbon into wedding décor. “Speaking of eco-friendly ribbon, there are about a hundred ways to use the stuff in your decorations—from creating sparkling gold garlands to wrapping it around your bouquet. Tie shimmering tendrils to your up-do, or weave some thin strands into the bodice of your dress. Decorate your chairs and tables with ribbon and use it to add some metallic accents to your ring pillow or flower girl basket. The possibilities are endless.” One of our favorite uses so far has been a wedding background trellis covered by streamers of silk that gently move in the slightest breeze, we are still trying to get Pearl and Godiva to share their images with us (nudge nudge). You can check out the Green Bride Guide post in it’s entirety here.

Thank you Stacey and Company and Green Bride Guide for supporting our work!

April 26, 2013

CUSTOM PROJECTS

What do we do? We make paper and ribbon, right? Piece of cake. Two products, easy peasy. Well no actually, we have over four thousand inventory items currently featured on our website and thousands more when you consider the custom work we offer. This includes everything from the aforementioned Accommodation Cards to Memorial Invitations. Since starting this business eighteen years ago, we have greatly increased the breadth and depth of our collection. While we continue to expand and take on a variety of products outside wedding planning, invitations and promotional events, we always welcome the opportunity to take on custom projects.

We created this custom silk ribbon for our friends at Tiny Pine Press in California who needed to match a fabric color for invitations and wedding day decorations.

We took on a custom matching dilemma for Susan Hammer of Fontastic in Georgia. Ultimately this order did not go with our hand dyed silk. We could not match the effect created in this Dupioni silk where threads of different colors are woven together and seem to shift color from different angles. We were able to provide a ribbon for her wedding programs, just not one we dyed by hand.

A beautiful custom place card for an English bride. This customer has been working with us for close to a year planning her wedding. Tomorrow is the big day! April, 27 2013. We are very excited for her and all of the couples we have the pleasure of working with.

If you are in need of a custom piece, please contact us directly. Some of our favorite and most innovative works come directly from client commissions.

April 15, 2013

Client Profile: Theo Chocolate

We consider ourselves lucky to call the amazing Seattle-based Theo Chocolate a client. They not only create insanely delicious products, they are also committed social entrepreneurs and conscious stewards of the environment. It is always exciting to see how they incorporate our ribbons and papers into their displays.

Last Friday Theo introduced a new Collection in connection with their “ongoing commitment to sourcing cocoa from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)”, the Congo Confection Collection was “designed for Mother’s Day and inspired by the women of Congo (a portion of each box’s sale will benefit ECI’s work with women in the region)”. We created the custom ribbon for this gift set and think it beautifully complements the already colorful and gorgeous package designs.

To learn more about Theo’s commitment to the Congo, please check out their blog. Purchase their Congo Confection Collection here.

Working with businesses, small and large, passionate about using environmentally responsible products and practices is always exciting and encouraging. If you know of a company searching for a way to instill better practice please, send them our way! We create beautiful custom products that meet the strictest client specifications and leave the smallest wake in the process.