handmade paper – Page 3 – custompaper.com/blog

January 15, 2014

Our 2014 Seattle Wedding Show Invitations Display – Video!

We just returned from the 2014 Seattle Wedding show two day event that was a remarkable success! The show was very well attended, with aisles full of smiling brides and their retinue of sisters, friends and family in tow. We displayed several new invitation and paper designs along with our timeless styles that never fail to please. Here is a five minute video that takes you through our booth from top to bottom.

We hope you have an opportunity to visit us in our new store in this new year and view these designs and more in person. Our shop has hundreds of papers, dozens of invitation styles, wedding invitation assembly tools, guest books, seed paper by the sheet and much, much more.

December 17, 2013

WRAP IT UP

Our green flower print handmade wrapping paper was included in a round-up of holiday wrapping options in Artizen Magazine.

“Artizen magazine’s goal is to spread the love with inside scoops on the artisan and handmade industry.” The magazine is free to readers and offers myriad of inspiring images and projects. We love seeing the creative holiday uses for our papers and we also love being recognized by our fellow artisans – what a compliment!

While we don’t like to contribute to the frenzy of the season, we know there are only a few shopping days left and hope you consider using handmade, beautiful packaging this year. A thoughtful and lovely finishing touch to even the most practical or impractical of gifts – you can check out our selection of papers here.

Happy Holidays!

November 22, 2013

COVET GARDEN HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

We were pleasantly surprised to discover our handmade wrapping paper included in a list of “Fantastic under $50 finds” on the front page of Etsy last week!

The list was curated by Covet Garden, an Etsy Tastemaker and online publication based in Toronto that “peek(s) into the homes and lives of some of the city’s most interesting people”.

We love the concept behind the magazine, profiling “spaces that have not been styled by interior decorators”, focusing on the “inspirational not the aspirational”. That is a mantra we can get behind!

We also love the selection of wrapping papers we are offering this holiday season! The extra touch of packaging a gift in something beautiful and handmade not only adds a lot to the presentation, it illustrates the time and thought that went into every last detail.

At least, that has always been our experience.

October 25, 2013

Northlake Wedding Event Programs

Here is a quick look at the Northlake Wedding Program for the Center for Urban Horticulture event space. We are using our Earth Silk ribbon blend #016 in conjunction with the lotka seed paper, black print and a light weight slate background. We think this says Whimsical Romance! What do you think?

October 2, 2013

THE GOOD EARTH CANDLE COMPANY

We often write of the custom orders we create for clients’ worldwide, commissioned projects remain to be some of our favorite and most memorable endeavors. Recently we had the pleasure of working with Jeanette Maurer of The Good Earth Candle Company.

“The Good Earth Candle Company features a thoroughly sustainable product, it is carefully crafted in the US in collaboration with a number of skilled artisans and small companies. All candle components are made of natural and renewable materials.”

Jeanette discovered us at a trade show and worked patiently with us to create the right combination of petals and seeds to pair with her line of soy candles. The paper we make for her acts as both a label and a protective cover for her product.

“The last touch to her candles is the unique cover. Jeanette partnered with a creative “eco” printer Jen Merrill, and Kevin Graham who handcrafted the beautiful paper. The paper is infused with real flowers, ferns and seeds that can be planted into the soil to beautify our wonderful planet even more. Jeanette has passion and pride in everything she creates and is very excited to pass this on through offering high quality, very special, “Eco Elegant” products to her customers.”

Upon completion of the project we chatted with Jeanette about her experience working with us to create unique packaging for her candles.

“Kevin and his team have been amazing! When I came to him with my custom project I was impressed with his ability to seamlessly design and execute the elements for my candle covers. He continues to be gracious, generous and helpful even after our project has technically been completed.”

Thank you, Jeanette! We so enjoyed working with you!

September 12, 2013

Scout Mob

We have been getting ready for a new partnership with a company looking to promote our papers. You may have heard of them; scoutmob.com. They find companies they like to feature their goods and tell their story which hopefully leads to selling their products. We are excited to see what the response is from their customers. They have asked us to share a bit about our work which triggered an impromptu photo shoot. I thought it would be fun to share that shoot here on our site so you could see what they do with the raw files. I will add a link here to the scoutmob sales feature when it is online. They will be offering discounted retail prices off of the handmade paper and bags they have selected.

Here’s the link – They are now live http://scoutmob.com/seattle/of-the-earth

They chose some of our seed papers and some non-seeded lotka papers, some papers that we make here in Seattle and some from our facility in Nepal. We are looking forward to see what the scoutmob customer finds interesting.

Handmade paper tool kit — Tools for paper

Don't try this at home — Watch those fingers

Paper pulp closeup — Paper pulp – Recycled lotka fibers

August 30, 2013

New Holiday Handmade Papers – Eco Friendly Gift Wrap

Here is a look at our latest additions to our lotka paper line. We hope you like these new designs. These should just whet your appetite however as we are looking to add many more designs as we stock our new retail store in North Seattle! We are excited to keep taking small steps to our grand opening celebration.
We will keep you posted as we creep closer.

The papers below are all ready for the holidays. We have them in 20″ x 30″ sheets in our light weight (20g) material. These papers can be used multiple times if you are one of those people who carefully lift the tape rather then tear your packages open.

Let us know what you think!

May 24, 2013

DIY: NO LONGER JUST A TREND

DIY (Do It Yourself) weddings have far surpassed the trend status and are now becoming a popular practice for creative, budget-minded couples who want to put a personal touch on their event without breaking the bank. Some of the most lovely and unique nuptials we have ever seen (or attended) are those where the couple put their stamp on the ceremony and reception. All you truly need is an open mind, some extra time, a few helping hands, and a source for inspiration.

Luckily for today’s brides there is no shortage of sources for said inspiration. There are a variety of bridal magazines, bridal blogs (we gravitate towards the green selections) and of course, Pinterest. Tutorials on everything from creating your own bridal bouquet to instructions for printing on pre-folded paper are abundant on the internet.

On our invitation supplies page you can find many of the tools and materials you need to construct any of the hundreds of invitation styles we display. We have templates and instructions for free here.

Our plantable seed paper box was part of a DIY wedding profile in the Minneapolis St. Paul paper’s “Aisle Files”. We will soon be adding video demonstrations of the detailed finish work we create, like the lovely leaf seen on this seed paper box.

Cotton Seeded DIY Kits with Eco-Twist Paper Ribbon

For those of you who want to handle every aspect of the invitation process, we offer almost everything you need to make your invitations at home: cotton linters to make your own paper, seed and petal inclusions sold by the ounce, paper folding and tearing tools and all the blank paper and envelope stock you need to print and mail your invitations.

Whether or not you take a DIY approach to your entire wedding, or choose to tackle certain projects here and there, we hope we have provided you with a few feasible options in the invitation and favor departments. And, if you ever have questions on any of these topics, please don’t hesitate to contact us directly.

April 18, 2013

WEDDING ACCOMODATION CARDS: THE BASICS

For many of our customers the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of paper in the wedding planning process is invitations. And while the invitation is obviously a vital part of the package, there are many supplemental materials that often need to be included with the star of the show. Accommodation cards, depending on your style of wedding, serves an integral role in providing wedding details.

Accommation Card — Torn edge recycled paper accommodation card

Wedding Accommodation Cards 101:

The purpose of a wedding accommodation card is to provide out of town guests with a selection of hotels in a range of prices. These cards often contain information on bridal party group rates if you have made arrangements with your local hotels. You can cut printing costs and paper usage if you can combine this card with your direction/map card. This card is an appropriate place to include information on activities if you anticipate your guests will have time to soak in the local culture.

We often suggest this card as the best location for planting instructions for our seeded papers. Letting your guests know that the beautiful invitation papers contain live seeds that will sprout if planted is critical if you want your guests to enjoy the bouquet of flowers these papers have the potential to become. Giving them clear information about the seeds will ensure your guests start enjoying your wedding well in advance of your special day.

For text examples and more paper options please check out our online selection.

March 6, 2013

Do it yourself seed paper invitations for just $1.00!

DIY Kit closeup - Plantable paper — Aspen print at home seed paper invitation kit

Print at home invitation kit — Natural seed paper diy kit

We just added new photos of our latest product to help in this economic recovery. Our seed paper DIY kits are prepared with a cut edge finish to save on the hand tearing labor common to our other invitation styles. We also have included felt finish recycled paper invitation envelopes in place of our more expensive seed paper envelopes. This swap has brought the cost of these invitations down do just $1.00 for a fully do it yourself print at home Eco-friendly marvel. The kits are sold in packs of 25 for $25 and can ship with first class mail to you for about $4. Each invitation is meant to be printed at home using an inkjet or laser machine one piece at a time through the envelope feed mechanism. The envelopes have a great raised texture and pair nicely with the handmade stock. There are five colors to pick from. The colored sheets are all dyed with earth friendly vegetable dyes and are ironically named after trees (as they are entirely tree free).

We make these kits in our Seattle paper studio and ship them worldwide, typically within 24 hours. The paper twine used to hold the pieces together can be swapped out for different colors to create more combinations than we show here: http://www.earthinvitations.com/

Our papers contain a blend of wildflower seeds which include varieties that grow in all the growing regions in the US. Read more at www.flowerseedpaper.com