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How to have your cake and eat it – guilt free confetti

Raspberry Ripple Eco-friendly confetti by Rosie and the BoysWhether it’s showering the happy couple with confetti on their wedding day or a ticker tape parade in New York, there is something about those tiny bits of paper fluttering down from the sky that makes them an essential part of a celebration.

Confetti is fun! But it’s not always the most environmentally friendly way to celebrate.

So here’s how you can have your confetti cake and eat it too!

Whenever I create a papercut I generate hundreds of teeny tiny scraps of paper like this (pretty aren’t they). Until relatively recently I had just swept them up into the recycling but then my husband brought home a new product from work and I realised that perhaps I could give these tiny scraps a happier more useful life.

Papercut scraps for eco-friendly confettiNow the proud owner of a heart shaped die-punch I could transform these scraps into frivolous, joyful, romantic and environmentally friendly confetti! I’m delighted to say I also found a supplier of biodegradable glassine bags and biodegradable stickers so the packaging is eco-friendly too!

Because they are created from high quality art paper, this confetti is not only coloured on both sides, its also deliciously thick and the range of papers means I have created some rather luscious colour combinations. Raspberry Ripple, seas greens, summer pastels etc.

At the minute the quantities of confetti are rather small but with each papercut stocks will grow. If you’ve got a wedding or event coming up later in the year and would like me to stock pile certain colours for you feel free to get in touch.

Summer Pastels Eco-friendly confetti mix by Rosie and the oysTo take a look at the current range of eco-friendly confetti click here

 

 

Going green – one envelope at a time

Eco=friendly Mandarin Duck design cut from offcut of paperAs a papercut artist it might not surprise you that I’m not really a believer in a paperless society. But using a product that results in millions of trees being chopped down each year doesn’t exactly scream environmentally friendly does it? So how do I justify my obsession with paper?

 

Don’t stop using paper – use it better!

 

 

Earlier this year we committed to making Rosie and the Boys as eco-friendly as we could without giving up on using paper (you can read about it here).  So here are the some of the ways we are trying to put our new maxim into practice:

Reduce how much we use

Sounds a bit obvious doesn’t it? But this isn’t just about no printing things when we don’t really need to, it’s about getting the most out of each piece of paper.

  • Similar to the concept of no-wastage pattern cutting I try hard to position cutting templates to make the most effective use of a piece of art paper.  High quality art papers are now the only paper resource we use that are allowed to hold single use status.
  • Challenging myself to reduce how much art paper I use has also meant I now actively look try to create designs to utilise the larger offcuts from commission pieces.
  • And what about the teeny tiny scraps of paper? Well I’ve even come up with a use for those!( Find out more in the next blog post.)

Reuse what we have

  • Reusing envelopes and scrap paper to write lists and practice designsI find myself writing endless lists; jobs to do, people to contact, which photos I’m going to use.
  • A sheet of blank paper can be daunting, somehow using the blank side of an envelope or scrap piece of paper takes away some of the pressure and you can get straight down to sketching.
  • Even though I use Illustrator to create a lot of my commission work it helps to block out a draft design on paper first.  Drawing takes practice, practice, practice. Not all the designs I come up with are “keepers”, sometimes I’ll redraw something over and over to get it right. Sometimes I walk away from an idea. By using scrap paper to practice first, I make better use of “The Sketchbook” or Illustrator to develop promising ideas.

Recycle what we can’t reuse

And what happens to all those to-do lists once they’ve been completed and the practice designs drawn on the back of envelopes?  What about the teeny tiny offcuts from papercuts that are so tiny they can’t be used? Well, this cardboard box now has pride of place under my desk ready to catch even the tiniest scrap allowing it to be recycled.

Ensuring we recycle every last scrap of paper at Rosie and the Boys

So here’s to changing the world: one envelope at a time!

If you’ve got any suggestions for how we could use paper even more efficiently then we’d love to hear them. Just add a comment below.

 

The challenge to be green

Hand cut Wren Card – Available in our folksy shop

Have you ever received an email asking you to think before you print? Perhaps a cheery email at Christmas from Uncle Joe saying that in consideration for the environment etc he won’t be sending any actual Christmas cards this year but replacing them with a cheery E-card instead.

How do those emails make you feel? Guilty – because you’ve just printed 10 pages? Disappointed because you like displaying cards from family and friends at Christmas?

Going green can be tricky.  Rosie and the Boys wouldn’t exist without paper and ink but how does that fit with saving the rainforest?  This year I’m trying to make sure that my work is as kind to the environment as possible. It’s an important issue to a lot of people and I’m sure it’s important to many of you. But rather than present a big publicity spiel about how green we are I’d like to share with you some of the reasons behind choices Amy and I have made as well as the action we have already taken.

Today I’d like to tell you a story to help explain why I do what I do and why we think paper gifts still have a place in an environmentally friendly society:

My Auntie Hilda was an amazing lady who taught me a valuable lesson that is at the heart of Rosie and the Boys.  Great Auntie Hilda had a terrific sense of fun and made no secret of the fact that she was clearly besotted with us.  A few years ago when she passed away, we discovered just how much she loved us.

Personalised flower papercut available in our notonthehightsteet.com store

Whilst clearing her house we discovered boxes full of letters, pictures and cards. She had kept everything we had ever sent her. From clumsily written thank you notes to carefully coloured in pictures we had proudly presented as gifts when we visited.   She treasured them all.

Auntie Hilda recognised that people are special.  She made sure we knew she loved us and I hope the many cards I made for my aunt showed her that the feeling was mutual.

Personalised new baby papercut available in our Etsy store

Personalised new baby papercut available in our Etsy store

I’m not sure an E card would have conveyed the message quite as effectively. Whenever I create something, whether it’s a printed card or an intricate papercut I hope that it will be treasured for a long time.  It’s why I choose to use quality materials and work with skilled printers and crafts people. Yes I’m using paper that came from a tree but I hope the way in which it is used shows respect for the resource it came from as well as the person who will receive the gift.

 

 

Over the coming weeks we’ll be sharing more about our journey towards being green. If you’ve got comments or questions about our choices, we’d love to hear them!

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About Us

Rosie and the Boys is a creative family team with a love of colour and soft spot for parties. Our products are handcrafted with attention to detail, quality materials and a smile on our face! Inspired by Nature and designed with the latest trends in mind, we provide a range of party decorations and greetings cards with a contemporary twist.

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Latest Posts

  • Autumn Decorations
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  • Wedding Papercuts – a recent commission
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