Hand Dyed Silk and Seed Paper Invitations – A marriage of the things we love

Recycled lotka seed paper paper invitation with blend #014 Silk ribbon
We are excited about our latest marriage of silk and paper.  These invitations are so easy to make!  We have always loved the silk bows that we assemble our invitations with but when faced with 250 invitations to make (and 250 silk bows to tie) it can be overwhelming if you are doing it at home.  This style of invitation pairs our hand dyed silk and hand made papers in a way that can easily be done at home to save money for more important things (like cake).  Just a small photo mounting square on the back side hides the seam.  This invitation uses just one yard of silk.  There are currently 144 colors both solids and blends that you can pick from in our Earth Silk line.  You can order the printed invitation below for just $2.17 each and then add the silk ribbon shown for $0.76 to attach at home.  If the deckled edge look is not for you, you can order the printed invitation on our lotka seed paper for just $1.32 each if you order it with cut edges.  Call us today if you want to know more. 1.888.294.1526.

Recycled lotka seed paper paper invitation with blend #014 Silk ribbon
Recycled lotka seed paper paper invitation with blend #014 Silk ribbon
Recycled paper invitation with blend #056 Silk ribbon
Recycled paper invitation with blend #056 Silk ribbon

 
Recycled paper invitation with blend #056 Silk ribbon
Recycled paper invitation with blend #056 Silk ribbonRecycled lotka seed paper paper invitation with blend #014 Silk ribbon

Summer Wedding Invitations

These invitations just went out the door today.  They were so pretty I had to capture them before they left.  Thank you spring sunshine for helping to make our silk ribbon shine.  This invitation is made with our 7x10 golden garden wrap, 5x7 seed paper panel and Charm silk ribbon.  Can you believe this customer spent less than $270 on her order?  She did, for 55 handmade custom printed seed paper invitations. 

golden garden lotka paper with seeded insert and hand dyed silk ribbon
Seed paper wedding invitation – 7×10 wrap with 5×7 panel

Our Seattle Papermaking and Silk Dyeing Studio

Seattle hand dyed silk and papermaking studio of Of The Earth
1226 S Angelo St. - Of The Earth papermaking and silk dyeing studio

We have been in this great Seattle location now for three years, it seems time to post a photo of our space!  Located in the flight path of Boeing Field we had President Obama flying overhead twice last week for campaign fundraising events.  We are so close to the end of the runway, he was literally within 250 feet (straight up).   We can always tell something big is up as all other air traffic stops in advance of a presidential arrival.

If you have the chance to visit us, you should be sure to take a look at the other great Georgetown curiosities.  Fantagraphic Comics, All City Coffee, The Hangar Cafe are some of our favorites.  Here is a link to an article in the NY Times written in the month we moved here http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/travel/01Surfacing.html

We hope you can stop in and see our hand dyed silk ribbon and paper making efforts.

Silk ribbon and sunlight

Here are new photos of our hand dyed silk ribbon in glorious spring sunshine.  We love the interplay of light and shadow that these silks create.  We hope that you will enjoy them as much as we do.  Keep looking back for more photos and colors as we expand our line.
The silk is sold in five widths and two finishes and there are almost 150 color choices!   

Each of these bias cut silk ribbon spools is first sewn together in China of the finest silk, using silk thread to join the material, then the spools are sectioned into the smaller widths using extremely sharp knives to ensure a clean cut.  Once these spools reach our Seattle studio we dye them to order and ship your ribbon purchase in just a weeks time.  Be sure to call or email for your free sample before you buy! 

Seed Paper Sprouting

lotka printer safe stock printed and sprouting
Seed paper sprouting

We have new images to share of our seed paper sprouting.  This lightweight printer safe seed paper is sold in packs of 25 for $11.50.  This is one of our best selling products and has been part of our core handmade paper goods since 2006.  I love how the tiny root is stretching across the sheet in the second photo, trying to find soil for nourishment.

Printed seed paper sprouting
Go little root, go!

Custompaper.com links

www.custompaper.com

www.earthinvitations.com

www.flowerseedpaper.com

 April has been busy! We started a blog and a Pinterest account, updated our shopping cart to include Google Checkout, added five new silk ribbon colors, added tree seed paper to our new product list and welcomed these new customers to our family:      

A BUTTERFLY EXPERIENCE

A Family Limousine

Alchemy Fine Events & Invitations

A-Line Locksmiths

Alta Ski Area

Andy’s On River Road

APPF

Art+Science Salon

Bethel Lutheran Church

Black Elk Energy

Cathedral School for Boys

CCAN

Celestial Sage

Chameleon Consignment

Cheshire Center

Chloe & Olive

Compassion Care Hospice

Creative Event Services

Custom Color (Focus Printing Group)

Designs That Matter

Drexel University

EAM Services

Eberle Invitations

Ecolab

Edit 1 Media

Ellison’s Towing

Embrace

Empire Pizza

EyeCaptureDesign

FEEP

Finishing Touches

Foundation for Senior Care

Gilded Lily

Gilryo Gardens

GraceBible Fellowship

Grand Hyatt New York

Hadley School

Heritage Prairie Farm

Holland Cafe

Home Grown

Ink

J.S. McCarthy Printers

Keating Tractor

Keycom

Lands’ End

Leda LLC

Native Village of Gakona

Natures Art

Oil Equipment Supply

Opportunity House Thrift Shop

Paper & Light LLC

Paradise Valley United Methodist Church

Paul Hastings

Performance Plus Plumbing

Precision Door of Delaware

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard

RCI Recruitment Solutions

Regas New York

Rubicon Brewing Company

Siren’s Cellar

Smith Family Soapworks

St. Vincent de Paul’s deja Vu Thrift Shop

Tampa Museum of Art

Tepel Brothers Printing Co.

The Cheese Connection LLC

The Colburn School

The Crust

Timeless Treasures

Tuality Healthcare

Van Emden Management Corp.

Van Wyck & Van Wyck

Wahine Sport

Wild Lily Boutique

Woodland High School

Yellow Tulip

Youth Mentoring Partnership

Seed Paper

Earth Day is April 22. Planning a successful eco‐event just got easier.

Seed paper cards spread good will and generate interest.

On Earth Day 2012 more than 1 billion people worldwide will take action to protect our planet and make a difference in their neighborhood. Earthday.org asks the question “What can you do for Earth Day?” and a small Seattle company has the answer. Earth Day is a global event where everyone can get involved to improve the world we all share. Of The Earth aims to help individuals and businesses create a buzz that drives people to participate with their seed papers. Seed paper is unique paper that is formed by hand with live plant seeds embedded within the sheets. These print safe papers then carry messages of ecoresponsibility which encourage the holder to dig a hole and complete the lifecycle of the message with their own hands. These messages have a greater impact by directly engaging the individual with a task that results in a bouquet of flowers, herbsor even trees. Businesses like ABC, WalMart and Time, Inc. have used Of The Earth papers to promote their events. Earth Day is the right time to spread the seeds and promote neighborhood cleaning events, recycling workshops and tree planting parties. Connecting with people on Facebook or Twitter is a cost effective and earth friendly approach but does not have the same impact as putting seed paper in people’s hands. Seed paper has a remarkable hook that grabs attention as people are less likely to throw away something living. With seed paper invitations people are inspired to participate. The target audience will be able to close the circle of life on environmentally responsible paper use and start a new circle with the plants that will bloom and clean the air as they filter carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Planting the paper starts the cycle. For seventeen years a small company in Seattle has been focused on doing their part to positively impact the world choosing ethics over profits and putting their treefree seed paper invitations in the hands of their customer’s friends and families worldwide. Coowner Lori Graham said “I had to mail almost 100 invitations for my wedding and just couldn’t bear the idea that the paper was going to waste”. Using this motivation she and her husband created an invitation and (two months after their wedding) business where the hundreds of pieces that each customer mailed spread the message of making responsible choices that touched every generation of their families. Since that humble start; Lori and her husband/business partner Kevin estimate that millions of people have received their message of responsible stewardship. Since 1995 their handmade paper company Of The Earth has been a leader in innovation with an earth focused product line. You can find their seed papers at www.custompaper.com. People have more choices than ever today with invitations that are not only cost effective (especially important in this economy) by being do it yourself, but also close the circle with seed paper cards that sprout when planted. Of The Earth offers handmade seed paper invitations that you can print at home for less than $2 each. See the many invitation kit choices here.  Earth Day 2012 is the right opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Paul Mitchell , Yahoo and The Home Depot by using seed paper to spread the message of growth and change in a sustainable way.

Invitation Images

 New images from orders filled this week.  Seed paper #9s (treefern) made in the 6×9 gatefold with eco-twist outside assembly.

Invitation stack
Tree fern paper with eco-twist

invitations

Thought we should try a scroll style display of our work.  What do you think?  These invitations are made from paper formed one sheet at a time in our Seattle studio.  The paper contains flower seed that will bloom if planted.