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Promotional Products from Canada to Around the World June 10, 2010

Many ask us, "Where are you located anyway?" And many are surprised to hear that we are in one of the prairie provinces in Canada. We are proud of our Canadian roots and even our wildflower seed blend is from North America. Although we are located in the centre of the country, we deal with clients all over the world! We have made plantable promotional products for companies such as Starbucks, McDonalds, KPMG and more!

Check out these great promo products made with seed paper for other Canadian companies we have worked with.

A personal favorite product we made with our seeded paper was for Edmonton Tourism, who needed a fresh idea to help promote eco-friendly meeting and promotion hosting services. We created these gorgeous eco-friendly bookmarks filled with fresh messaging and wildflower seeds.

Another great Canadian company we had the pleasure of working with was WestJet where we made a unique plane shape with blue seeded paper along with eco-friendly cardstock made from 100% post-consumer waste.

Canadian cards and stationery are great, but we challenge you to choose not only Canadian products, but look for eco-friendly ones as well.

Personalizing Your Party Favor Boxes May 19, 2010

Everyone is on the lookout for unique and personal expressions of who they are as reflected in the special day. At each place on the table, it is nice to place a wedding favor to mark the day and provide an interesting take-home piece to remember the festivities in days to come. The favor is also a great way to say, "Thank you for coming and being part of our day".

A popular Botanical PaperWorks product is the plantable seed paper Pyramid Favor Box - a plantable seed wedding favor box which may be filled with your favorite candy or tokens. You purchase the boxes unfilled in your choice of plantable paper and then personalized with ribbons or ties, tags printed with the names of the couple and the wedding date, and a unique filler.

Favor Box Personalizing Ideas

Here are some great ideas for personalizing a Pyramid Favor Box:

(1) Paper Choices: Order your die-cut Pyramid Box forms from Botanical PaperWorks and assemble the box according to instructions provided. 

When selecting a paper color, choose paper to match the theme and tone of your wedding. Many of our customers order the boxes in white and add color with ribbons and other adornments.

(2) Box Closures: All Pyramid Boxes come with a hole punched at the tip of each side of the pyramid. The holes provide an easy way to tie the pyramid closed, keeping the contents secure until opened. Use one of these ribbon and tie ideas to close the box:

CLASSIC

Sheer ribbons for a romantic look

Raffia for a natural look

Satin ribbon in the wedding colors

WHIMSICAL

Shoestrings for the wedding of an athlete

Wool strands for a knitter/weaver

Dental floss for the wedding of the dentist

Another great idea for personalizing the Pyramid Box is to add additional interest by tying a bead or a metal token to each end or glue a dried flower to the tips of the ribbon.

(3) Box Fill Ideas: The sky's the limit for filling the Pyramid Boxes - anything that fits the box goes! Here are some of our ideas:

Small candies- jelly beans, mints, gummies, 2 or 3 Jordan almonds, a couple of exquisite chocolates, chocolate kisses
Wedding cake wrapped in decorative foil or cellophane
Seeds for your favorite flowers and planting instructions, perfect when presented in a Plantable paper box.
A few beautiful marbles and a set of instructions for a marble game

Plantable Pyramid Boxes are available from Botanical PaperWorks. Boxes are shipped flat, come scored for easy folding and include instructions for folding.

All About Handmade Paper April 13, 2010

Why Use Handmade Paper?

In today's world of email, voice mail and cell phones, people everywhere are placing great importance on paper that stands out from the crowd. If you're going to take the time to mail a letter or an invitation, it should be special. Handmade plantable paper, with its distinctive, tactile surface, is very special - after all, each sheet of plantable paper was made by hand.

Handmade paper turns waste scraps of cotton fabric, blue jeans and office paper and adds wildflower seeds to turn it into exquisite sheets of paper.

Handmade plantable paper has a unique look and texture that sets it apart from machine-made paper. The beauty of handmade seed embedded paper is that no two sheets are alike. Unlike the cut edges of machine-made paper, each piece of handmade paper is made-to-size and thus has a feathery "deckle edge" on all four sides. Handmade paper also has a rich texture, making it perfect for drawing, writing, binding into books, rubber stamping and more.

The Deckled Edge of Handmade Paper

The term Deckle Edge refers to the distinctive, feathery edge of handmade paper. It occurs when the handmade paper is made and enhances the overall look of handmade paper. Other paper manufacturers make their handmade paper in large sheets, and then cut them down to card and invitation size. They try to achieve a similar effect by tearing or cutting the paper; but a true deckle edge can only be achieved when the handmade paper is made to the specific card size as is done at Botanical PaperWorks, and not cut down from a larger piece of handmade paper.

The Process of Making Handmade Paper

Preparing to make handmade paper starts first with a base pulp, often 100% post-consumer waste, cotton fiber or abaca fiber for beautiful, acid-free sheets of handmade paper. To the pulp, pigments and inclusions are added such as seeds and petals. The uniqueness of the handmade paper is determined by the materials added to the base pulp.

The pulp for making handmade paper is then added to a papermaking vat. The papermaker stands in front of the vat and using a mould and deckle designed specifically for making handmade paper, the papermaker pulls the set through the pulp. After draining the sheet, the handmade paper is "couched" onto a pad of felts, layered with additional layers of handmade papers and felts, and then pressed in a hand papermaking press.

Finally, the handmade paper is removed from the press and either air-dried or dried in a special dryer system designed exclusively for handmade paper.

Unique Properties of Handmade Paper

Handmade paper has several unique properties:

• Handmade paper is often made from tree-free fibers such as cotton, abaca or hemp. Handmade paper is also made from recycled fibers found in office paper and newspaper.
• The quality of handmade paper is determined by the base pulp, so if the handmade paper is made using low-quality newsprint, the resulting quality of handmade paper will be poor. Alternatively, fresh cotton, abaca or hemp pulp produces an artist-quality handmade paper.
• Many handmade papers are acid-free and pH neutral, depending on the raw materials used in a given handmade paper. Check with the specific producer of the handmade paper.

If you need further information on handmade paper, please contact us at Botanical PaperWorks. We're happy to assist in any way.

Magnetic Photo Frame Wedding Favor March 30, 2010

Would you like to offer your guests a favor that they will keep for many months and years to come? Instead of something edible, make plantable seed wedding favor of a photo frame! Select a favorite photo of you and your groom-to-be, place in a small handmade photo frame, and glue a magnet on the back.

Project Supply List

2 squares of stiff cardboard, 2x2 inches
1 sheet of plantable paper, 8 1/2 by 11 inches
archival PVA adhesive gluesharp blade or scissors
pencil
magnetic strip with one sticky side
small photo of the couple

How To Make This Project

1. The Backing: Cover one of the cardboard squares with the handmade plantable seed paper. We used cream paper from Botanical PaperWorks and cardboard from the lid of a shoebox. To make the cover, first cut a 3x3 inch square of paper and apply a thin coat of archival PVA adhesive or white glue to the paper. Center the cardboard square on the paper and fold the corners over the point of the cardboard towards the middle of the square. Press in place. Apply more PVA to the edges of the cover if necessary, and fold them over the card, pressing in place. Smooth the edges to give nice, sharp definition.

2. The Frame: Using a sharp blade, carefully cut a window out of the center of the second cardboard square, leaving a 1/2 inch frame. Cover this with another 3x3 inch piece of handmade seed paper. Make a slot in the center of the paper covering the window and wrap the edges around the inside and the outside edges of the frame.

3. Assembly: Apply a thin coat of archival PVA to the back of your photo. Place it on the center of the back square on the wrong side. Spread adhesive on the back of the frame and affix it to the backing, being careful to position the frame directly over the backing in order to reveal the photo. Place aside to dry. When dry, mount a 3/4? piece of magnetic strip on the center of the back of the piece. Repeat entire process until you have enough for every guest at your wedding.

Written by Mary Reimer, co-founder of Botanical PaperWorks, and author of An Introduction to Papermaking, 300 Papermaking Recipes, The Encyclopedia of Papermaking and Bookbinding.