FAQs
How do I care for paper flowers?
Paper flowers are relatively low maintenance and durable, but there are ways you can make sure your flowers continue to look their best.
Avoid continuous exposure to direct sunlight
Many of the varieties of crepe paper I work with are highly pigmented, making certain pieces more susceptible to fading than others. To be safe, I recommend placing your flowers in an area with indirect light. Avoid positions directly in front of windows where sunlight is usually strongest or even directly under particular types of artificial lighting. If you’re worried about fading, rotate your arrangement periodically or move it to a new location every now and then!
Avoid severe fluctuations of temperatures and humidity
Crepe paper is essentially many layers of fine tissue paper fused together—this makes it fun to sculpt and stretch, but also very sensitive to moisture! If you’ve ever used a paper towel and then let it dry, you know that it stiffens up. This is what will happen to your flowers too. It’s best to not get them wet, and even better to keep them away from rooms that have big swings in humidity levels (like attics, basements, and bathrooms).
Dusting!
I get a lot of questions about dusting—which leads me to believe the average person is much more into dusting than I am. But I digress! I find that a soft shake usually takes care of any dust that settles on paper flowers. You can also use canned air as long as you are careful to hold it far enough away and not let any moisture touch the paper. If you’re extraordinarily anti-dust, you can also use a soft paint brush to get into the grooves of the paper. I would not recommend using anything that could snag on the crepe though—like a Swiffer duster—or you’ll end up with more things to clean than you started with. Trust me on that one!
Do you do weddings or other events?
I sure do! Please review the information on my Custom Design page and fill out the appropriate form to inquire.
How long does it take to make these flowers?
This is a loaded question and one I get all the time. To give a better look at what goes into my work, I detailed all of the steps in a blog post.
What kind of paper do you use and where can I find some?
I primarily work with German and Italian crepe paper which I source from the following retailers:
Cartotecnica Rossi is the Italian manufacturer of crepe paper. I typically buy from them directly in Italy for the broadest selection of options (and an Italian checkout process!). Stateside, Carte Fini, also imports the majority of Cartotecnica Rossi's product line.
Lia Griffith’s Felt Paper Scissors | Lia has worked with the German manufacturer (Werola) to curate a beautiful and realistic palette in wonderfully versatile fine crepe, heavyweight, and doublette.
Rose Mille | A fantastic supplier of many craft goods, Rose Mille has been steadily growing their selection of crepe. They are also one of the few providers of single-ply Dennison, made in the US.