Stationery Scoop

Kind words mean a lot

We love it when clients shoot us a quick email to express their delight with our products. It makes the entire team feel good, from customer care who helped the client choose a product perfect for them to the papermakers who made the plantable paper and the assembly team that put together the order, all the way to the shipper who carefully packaged the order up and sent it on its way.

Here is some lovely feedback from client Leigh:

Just wanted to compliment your company's service and product.  The favors were a big hit at the organic themed baby shower.  Thanks for getting them here in time.

It's wonderful that you had an organic-themed shower, Leigh. When planning an event such as a baby shower or wedding, we each have a unique opportunity to make product choices that make sense for the planet, such as choosing to go organic. Wonderful!

Last day of school

It's the last day of school for the Reimer-Epp kids so that means teacher gifts and picnics. Favorite teacher Mrs. Best will be receiving this set of personalized thank you cards from the Absorb Creative Pixie collection:

The last day of school calls for a picnic in the park. We'll be bringing this:

and this

Subscribers of Botanical PaperWorks' newsletter Fresh Idea Monthly will be receiving an email today with a special offer on Bucket of Love plantable seed favor as shown here

It was a party!

We celebrated my Dad's 60th birthday last night with a CD release party. My brothers Nathan and Ben went into the recording studio with our Dad and recorded a Matt Dusk song, mixed it and did it up in a very professional-looking CD package. It was fun to hear the piece that included my Dad on vocals, Ben on drums and Nathan on keyboard and other overlaid tracks.

Here are Toni and I at the start of the party.

I made a 10-page mini scrapbook called 10 Things I Love About My Dad from Simple Scrapbooks. Years ago, at a CHA convention, I was given this book as a sample and I had been saving it up for a special moment. And with my Dad turning 60, it was the right time to use it!

Inside the book, I wrote 10 things that I especially treasure in my Dad and included a photo, like this page with my Dad and the kite.

What did my brothers and I give my Dad for his birthday? Rock Bank for the Wii! We played it until the "wii" hours, and by the end, my bass petal foot (from the drums) was aching. I had to take Advil at bedtime to relax it and fall asleep! Here I am rocking it out with sisters-in-law Toni and Anne.

All in all, a very fun night. Happy birthday Dad!

Welcome Petra

Welcome Petra Z. McGowan to Botanical PaperWorks! Petra started this week as Marketing Manager and brings her considerable experience with sales, branding and marketing to BPW. This photo was taken this afternoon outside our facility, in the shade of a beautiful old tree that's working hard to keep us cool and comfortable in the midst of some lovely hot weather!

Plantable clothing hang tags

What do you do with a clothing hang tag after you've brought the new clothes home, tried them on with half a dozen pairs of shoes, decided that Yes, I'll keep it and ripped off the tags? How about plant it!

These hang tags created for Unus Mundus clothing are plantable, meaning you get wildflowers out of the tag when you plant it. As with all of the products from Botanical PaperWorks, the flowers grow right out of the paper used for the tag, called Garden Greetings™ plantable paper.

We're off to a great start

It's going to be a great week around Botanical PaperWorks! Marketing Manager Petra McGowan starts work today, the weather is warm and sunny, we have some interesting client projects on the go and July is just around the corner.

Here are some colorful wildflowers from Brereton Lake in the Whiteshell for you to enjoy!

Cupcakes and coasters

Here are some photogenic cupcakes from last weekend's ballet recital lunch. I used the recipe that I blogged about a few weeks ago, this time with the lime zest and mini-sized (the opposite of "super-sized").

Huge thanks to client Andrew Daniel from the marketing department of DRYCO Construction Inc. Andrew ordered plantable coasters from us recently, and here's what he said in a email to us:

Those coasters were a hit the Bay Area Sustainable Tradeshow last week, everyone thought it was such a novel idea – I also forwarded a few interested parties to you guys.

We appreciate the referrals, Andrew and also love hearing that the plantable coasters were a hit. Here are some samples of the plantable coasters in square and circles: 

 

With the beautiful forecast, we're doing some gardening and landscaping this weekend. I'm hoping there is still time to put in some tomato plants and maybe a few favorite herbs - basil, mint, coriander. How are you spending your weekend? Be sure to enjoy yourself!

Plantable paper in action

We're working with an innovative client right now designing plantable packaging for a line of consumer goods. I've blogged before about the plantable boxes that we make for Lilyfield Cakes, made super strong with triple-thick Garden Greetings™ wildflower seed paper. Did you know that triple thick paper also means that the paper has triple the usual amount of seeds, so this paper is going to grow A LOT of wildflowers!

This is a bloom growing right out of a piece of Garden Greetings plantable paper that I have planted in a pot on my window sill at home. This particular flower appeared about a week ago and opened up just yesterday. It was very exciting to watch the transformation.

I received this promotional piece in the mail today from Toyota. Nice that they used FSC paper, but too bad they didn't use 100% tree-free plantable paper!

All systems go

 

Good sunny afternoon! I hope that you had a wonderful weekend and took the time to enjoy a moment or two to rest and reflect. We gathered with friends on Saturday afternoon for a picnic at Assiniboine Park and got to see the newly hatched goslings and ducklings in the Duck Pond by the English Gardens.

So far today, I've had my weekly Operations Meeting with Stephanie and I'm getting ready for a strategic planning meeting with Customer Care Manager Jorge. With graduation celebrations across the nation wrapping up this week and next week, our focus now turns to summer weddings and wedding favors for garden parties, baby showers and birthdays like the Butterfly in Flight plantable favor shown above.

Tomorrow night, I'm attending a reception at the Winnipeg Art Gallery for Executive Vice President of RBC Shauneen Bruder. Ms. Bruder will be receiving the *new* 2009 Plantable Eco Calendar which is not yet available to the public - it launches in about a month. Here's the one that we did for 2008: 2008 Plantable Eco Calendar.

Have a wonderful day!

Lots of support for eco weddings

It's exciting to see the interest in an eco/green wedding spread throughout the wedding industry. A recent post by Tickled Pink author Brittany Fletcher called The best eco-wedding trends had this to say about seed-embedded invitations:

When trying to incorporate "green" into your wedding, which methods should you choose? There are so many options today for brides who want to add environmentally-friendly twists to their big day, but the multitude of ideas may seem daunting. Which will make the biggest difference? How can you cut back without skimping on style?

Here are a few of my favorite eco-conscious wedding ideas that are easy, inexpensive, and will keep your party style in tact:

1. Seed-infused invitations or Save The Date cards that guests can easily plant at home. Botanical PaperWorks sells printed wedding invites and plain seeded paper that you can print at home.

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