lotka paper – custompaper.com/blog

October 21, 2019

Be-leaf in yourself! Die Cut Seed Paper Shapes with messages you will Fall for.

Plant Me Leaf 60S — Printed Seed Paper Leaf Shape in 60S

Washington might be the Evergreen State, but we are definitely starting to see some autumn colors here in Seattle! Fall is one of the most beautiful times of the year in so much of the country. If you love autumn leaves as much as we do, here are some of our products that would be perfect for a fall wedding or event.

The crafting possibilities are endless with these pressed red Japanese Maple leaves. Attach them to paper goods for decorations or use them in resin art. We also offer custom invitations with pressed leaves added to create a unique and memorable invitation for your wedding or other event!

Red Japanese Maple Leaf invitation — Custom invitation with Maple Leaves

Maple Leaf Accent Invitation — Custom Lotka Invitation with Maple Leaf

We also have a whimsical leaf die cut shape, which is available in a variety of our seeded papers in printed and blank options. The leaf shown below is made of our handmade, #12S seeded paper which contains kenaf fibers.

#12S Leaf — Seed Paper Leaf Die Cut in #12S

You can also get creative this fall with our pressed oak leaves, available below:

Does autumn inspire you to stay in and get crafty as the weather gets cooler? Show us your projects or contact us with ideas for custom printed items!

September 25, 2019

Rainy Days – Seattle weather inspires paper and silk artists to create “mood goods”

Seed paper cloud 34S — Seed paper cloud in paper 34S

It’s officially fall, and here in Seattle that means the rain and clouds are back after a warm, dry summer. Here at Of The Earth, we’re experiencing the rainy day blues in a more positive way – inspiration!

“Into each life some rain must fall.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

This collection of our lotka paper, handmade in Nepal, fits right in with the mood and weather we’re having. This is a lightweight paper with many decorative and artistic uses, including wrapping gifts.

Seattle Blues Lotka paper collection

Any discussion of color and mood would be incomplete without mentioning our Earth Silk Ribbon. These hand dyed, rich colors pull me right into a relaxed, rainy-day attitude.

Our seed paper cloud shapes are available in a variety of our seeded and petal papers, with or without printing. You can also create a custom design to be printed on them for your business or event.

Seed Paper Cloud 04S — Seed paper cloud in paper 04S

Stay dry out there!

June 18, 2019

Fairy Glen and Handfasting Wedding Ceremony and Celebration Traditions

Hand dyed silk ribbon with hand lettering — Studio Chavelli hand lettering on silk ribbon

At the end of winter, a petite curly haired woman came into our shop looking for special paper to print her friend’s painting onto. It was an image of Fairy Glen in Scotland. She planned to use the image in her wedding invitation.

Hand dyed silk ribbon with black print — Printed silk ribbon

While she found our lotka seeded cardstock to be perfect for her project, she was also enchanted by the idea of using our hand dyed ribbons for a #handfasting ceremony. I told her that we can even print her and her fiance’s names on the ribbon. I hope we see her in the shop again soon because that would be a fun project.

The green and gold ribbon image was posted in Pinterest by Studio Chavelli, one of our customers. It features hand-calligraphy for a bouquet. The pink and red images are printed here in our shop. So you can get a custom message printed in black or white.

You are welcome to come visit our shop in Seattle and find inspiration for your next celebration.

Here are some links to details about #FairyGlen and #Handfastings.
Handfasting
Fairy Glen

June 29, 2017

Of The Earth Silk Ribbon and Seed Paper Goods

It is long past time to be sharing these photos that have been inspirational to our brides.

We have had the great fortune of having our paper and ribbon goods featured on many talented designers, artists and photographers Instagram feeds. While we have our own feeds (ote_seattle, and of_the_earth) they really don’t hold a candle to the creative skills shown in the photos we have seen.

What we have planned here is to share with you the many photos with proper attribution.

If you do end up sharing these with your friends and family, please be sure to give the appropriate nod or mention of the original group of skilled individuals so their work is not in vain.

Lotka Seed Paper Invitation – Letter and Line Studio

Styling: @bixbayandpine Photo: @toniechristine Original post: @letterandlinestudio

Moelleux Events Floral Design — Florals: Moelleux Events

Silk Ribbon: Of The Earth Florals: @moelleux_events Photographer: @alyssaryanphotography

Hand Dyed Silk Ribbon on a Floral Bouquet — Floral design by Smashing Petals Hand dyed silk ribbon by Of The Earth

Coordination: @krisannaelizabeth Silk Ribbon: @ote_seattle Photo: @dandyfineparty Florals: @smashingpetals

Hand made seed paper birthday invitation — Custom printed hand made paper invitation.

Design: @celestecclark, Photo: @wilsonwife, Paper and Printing: Of The Earth

Hand dyed silk ribbon on custom vow books — Krisanna Elizabeth

Photo and design: @krisannelizabeth, Silk Ribbon: Of The Earth

Photo: erikapaige_sea, Hand Dyed Silk Ribbon: Of The Earth

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?

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!

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.

April 2, 2013

NEW TO THE STORE

We now carry the ideal invitation kit for the handmade DIY enthusiast! Our plantable handmade seed paper invitation kit creates 25 panel style 5” x 7” invites.

Each Invitation Kit contains: – 25 5×7 inch cut edge panels of our handmade paper(containing flower seeds so they can be planted) – 25 cut to size (4.75″ x 6.75″) printer safe lotka seed paper pieces
– 25 recycled paper machine made invitation envelopes
– 6 yards eco-twist ribbon
– Punching template

Designed for home printing on a laser or inkjet printer, these invites are then punched, and assembled by you. Templates and downloadable instructions can be found here.

All invitation components will break down naturally in soil, but only the invitation panel and overlay contain flower seeds.

Our unique North American Wildflower seed blend tolerates partial shade; needs 4 hours a day of direct sunlight and grows to about 3′. Seeds include these perennials and annuals: Spurred Snapdragon,Tussock Bellflower, Creeping Thyme, Lilac Godetia, Foxglove, Catchfly, Monkeyflower, English Daisy, Red Corn Poppy and Showy Evening Primrose. This blend is specifically designed for safe propagation in many growing zones.

Germination may begin as soon as one week, or may take up to six weeks depending on your regional growing zone and planting depth. We recommend just 1/4″ soil coverage.

We are happy to swap paper and eco-twist colors. These DIY kits are available for $26.50 for a set of 25.

December 17, 2012

Elegant, speedy, affordable and earth friendly wedding invitation options by Of The Earth

Christmas is just a week away and when the festivities and visits
with family are over, the realization hits you. It’s January and that
spring wedding you had so much time to plan for is fast approaching!

Before the panic sets in check out invitation DIY kits by Of The Earth. Both of our DIY kit collections contain seeded paper which, when planted, will sprout a bouquet of wildflowers.

Of The Earth DIY invitation kits come in many different sizes and paper styles. All of
the paper is handmade, biodegradable and environmentally friendly. Choose
from handmade papers produced in Nepal to papers made by local artisans in our Seattle, Washington studio, made the same way as when we started 17 years ago!

The Nepalese paper, we call Lotka paper, is made from the bark of the Daphne bush. Harvesting the bark does not kill the plant, it 6-7 years the still living root ball generates another harvestable crop naturally making this a great renewable material. The Lotka DIY kits come in five different colors and 8 different sizes ranging in price from $57.40 to $88.25 for 25 torn edge invitations and handmade envelopes.

Lotka invitation kits contain 25 seed paper cards, cut edge overlays,
online instructions, templates for punching and folding (if needed) and enough Eco-twist to assemble the entire order. All of the components are biodegradable and the seeded paper will bloom when planted. These invitations range in price from $2.30 -$3.53 each set.

The cotton DIY kits are made from paper produced in our Seattle studio.
Each sheet is individually made then the invitations are hand torn in our studio. The
Cotton DIY kits come in 5 different seeded flower paper options and 8
different sizes.

The cotton kits contain 25 seeded hand torn cards, cut vellum overlays,
online assembly instructions, templates for punching and folding (if needed), envelopes and enough Eco-twist to assemble the entire order. All of the components are
biodegradable and the seeded paper will bloom when planted. These kits also
contain enough supplies to make 25 invitations, ranging in price from $47.29-$112.46.

Both the vellum and seeded overlays can be printed on your home computer.
By doing the printing and assembly at home you are saving significantly over the printed and assembled invitation costs. The kits containing gate-folds and bi-folds come with a folding template. All of the printing and assembly work is done at home.

The staff at Of The Earth is available Monday-Friday form 8:00am-5:00pm Pacific time to answer any questions or assist you with assembly concerns. We can also be reached from our customer service page on www.custompaper.com.

Our invitation kits typically ship on the same day you order or within 24 hours. If you would like to order custom printed or assembled works we are happy to help you with our speedy one week production time.