Elum Designs

I spent some more time browsing around the Elum Designs site and found out some interesting things, first of all, like so many designers, she began her wedding stationary line when she was looking for an invitation suite for her own wedding. Unable to find the perfect design for her and her betrothed, they designed their own! Aren’t we all glad she did? Her designs are so beautiful.



Another thing I learned was that not only does Elum have their own design studio; they actually have their own warehouse, which accommodates their very own print and letterpress shop. Amazing! I wish I could go on a field trip!

Lastly, Elum is most impressive in their stride to leaving a minute or non-existent footprint on the earth. They use “tree-free, 100% post-industrial waste cotton rag papers and soy based inks for our every-day stationery and custom invitation lines.” They “encourage their customers to be intelligent about their purchasing decisions, to ask questions about sources and materials and to use the limited resources of the planet wisely.” They say that “printing is inherently a non earth-friendly process but we are doing our best to limit the amount of natural resources we consume and waste we leave behind. “ How fantastic and responsible! Read more about Elum.

So, not only are they beautiful on the outside, they’re beautiful on the inside.

Destination Welcome Bags

Peonies and Lotus and Furochic – Oh My!

I’m in love with another shop, Jenny Wren Paperie. I even love saying the name. Jenny Wren Paperie. Based in Victoria, B.C., Jennifer, the owner and designer, infuses nature with an Asian flair in her patterns. Her online store is a paper buffet of goodness featuring cards, notebooks, gift tags and more. However the item that I’m excited to share with you is in her Furochic collection.

Furochic is based on a Japanese art form of wrapping purchases and embellishing important gifts with a piece of fabric; I featured furoshiki in an earlier post.

All that said and shared, I’m most excited about the pictures below, the Furochic wrapped into a handbag with bamboo handles. Wouldn’t this just be the perfect presentation to welcome your friends and family at a destination wedding? Can you imagine how impressed your guests would be if they walked up to their room and this was on the door to greet them? Can you hear the “ooh”, “ahh”, “giggle”, “giggle”, “wow”.



And. It is reusable. And. The fabric can be used as a head wrap or sarong. And. It’s eco-friendly. And. It would be easy to pack. And. It would be easy to assemble. And. They’re really, really pretty!

Biota - Wrapping "Green"

In honour of fellow blogger, Jennifer, of Earth Friendly Weddings (thanks again!) I've decided to post something "green".

Furoshiki is a traditional type of Japanese wrapping cloth that were frequently used to transport clothes, gifts, or other goods. The ancient artform developed from public bath houses where the patrons would bundle their clothes into neat little packages. Eventually, the furoshiki's usage extended to serve as a means for merchants to transport their wares or to protect and decorate a gift. Learn more wrapping techniques at Furoshiki.com.

What a wonderful way to package a present to one you love, not only do they receive the gift inside but also the beautiful fabric, wrap, sari, pashmina, scarf you can choose to wrap it in. Think Christmas, birthdays, Mother's day and for your bridesmaids!

The following are examples from the Biota Collection to be found at a company called Posch, located in Montreal.



The possibilities are endless.

Eco-Friendly Dinnerware

I don't know about you but I'm having a love affair with wood. So, when I saw this alternative to the paper plate my heart skipped a beat.

Bambu. This line of dinnerware is environmentally friendly and fashionable: they're beatiful and disposable, Ideal for indoor and outdoor use, these environmentally friendly bamboo plates provide a sleek alternative to boring, less sophisticated disposables. Made of 100% organically grown bamboo, these plates fully biodegrade in 4-6 months and contain no bleaches or dyes.



Found at Joanne Hudson Basics.

Be still my heart.

Being Green

My friend Lara from ready 2 spark {unofficially} tagged me to answer this…

What are you doing to introduce environmental sustainability into your daily life?

It seems that Andy and I contibute a small effort to lessen the blow to our little footprint on earth. But there is so much more we can do, thanks for the reminder Lara. This is what I've come up with.

Wedded Green. When I planned our wedding I was very, very conscious about buying items specifically for the wedding that I would never, ever use again. I attempted to utilize items we already had around the house or procured new items that we would find a suitable use for in our home. For example, the card box for our wedding is now the receptacle for the daily newspaper, an old shed door used as decoration is now in our garden, the ceremony arch is now in our inventory to reuse at client weddings. The fabric used to decorate the head table and “Pie” table are going to become pillows in my girly-girl-haven-retreat room, moss used as décor will become topiaries and my favourite brown feather wreath (which I find kinda sexy) is going to find a home over our bed.

E-Green. I used to print out so many photos and put them in a journals and albums and scrapbooks. Each event has it’s own. Each category has it’s own. Now, I’m all organized on the computer. This blog has helped me categorize items. And, I’ll soon be communicating ideas and inspiration pictures to my clients over the web.

Living Green. I don’t want to re-state too many things that other people have but we’re pretty conscious of the everyday things. We recycle {nearly*} everything, everything we can anyway. We carpool. We have re-useable shopping bags. Turn off lights, unplug everything; I use the toaster oven if I can instead of the big oven. I wash dishes in an inch of water, we use rainwater to water the plants and we shop at the farmer’s markets. We use Method products.

*One effort we've adopted {out of necessity} is to buy products in {conveniently} recyclable containers. What do I mean by that? Calgary doesn’t have the greatest recycling program and they aren’t launching the new one until 2009 I think? We can’t recycle anything plastic, like salad dressing, mustard and mayo bottles. Margarine and Philly cream cheese containers. Not to mention plastic packaging like saran wrap and the plastic that everything is packaged in, like cookies, a pair of stockings… It drives me absolutely mad! So, if I’m going to buy mustard or salad dressing, I buy the kind in a glass jar that I can recycle. And, if I buy a margarine container, well I keep it and use it for leftovers or freezing stuff. I found out that a small town (yay Okotoks!) recycles plastic so I may just collect our stuff and drop it off every few months when we might drive through.

Oh, and in the spring, I’m going to start composting!

I almost forgot to pass on the tag:
Kelly from Glamour this!
Liene {or her resident guest blogger!} from blue orchid designs , and
My friend Sharmi from Glory Box