Our paper florist friend from New Zealand, Wendy Anderson, chats with us about building her business with a support network both in person and online.

How do you build a paper flower business all by yourself? 

The answer is, you don’t. Even if you’re the only paper florist in your entire country, you need a support network to help you grow as an artist and a business owner. That’s the entire purpose behind our work with Paper Talk: to share, connect, and grow our paper flower industry no matter where you may be.

Wendy Anderson of Just Imagine knows all about forging a paper flower business without a robust local industry to support her, as she lives in New Zealand without any other known paper florists in sight. But she still doesn’t go it alone! 

In our latest episode of Paper Talk we chatted about how she has built up her virtual, familial, and friend network to support her paper flower journey.

Finding an Online Community

We first met Wendy through our Facebook group, which bri...

Listen to our guest from the UK, Rosie Wykes, as she discusses her paper flower journey, how she manages clients, and where she sources her crepe.

Our paper flower community truly encompasses the globe, and we love to share, connect, and grow with all of the paper florists out there. 

A huge benefit of gathering together virtually is that we can solve problems. Many of our listeners in the UK have encountered a similar problem: sourcing crepe paper. So when we spoke with paper florist Rosie Wykes of Soul Binding in our latest episode of Paper Talk, we knew we had to ask her where she buys her crepe.

We had so much fun discussing Rosie’s journey from crafting handbags to paper flowers, and getting a peek into how she is building up our industry across the pond. She specializes in weddings, and she had many insights about how to promote a paper floral business in the wedding industry and how to prevent surprises from cropping up while working with clients. We of course touched on...

Our Facebook admin Christina Funderburgh hasn’t been in the paper flower business long, but her artistry and business has taken off at an incredible pace. We chatted with her about how she has grown so successfully, so quickly.

You’ve jumped into the paper flower world. You know that you want to turn this hobby into a business. Where do you start? How long will it take?

Christina Funderburgh proves that you can build up a successful paper flower business without waiting years and years. She has always been a DIY, creative soul, so it felt natural for her to create flowers for her wedding even though the medium of paper was new to her. That was only a couple years ago, and since then her artistry as a paper florist has improved by leaps and bounds. She’s been able to use her artistic background to build her business, Fleur-ish Paper Flowers, into a distinctive brand that we know will only keep growing.

In our latest episode of Paper Talk, we chatted with Christina about how she ...

Stephen Brooks talks about the many facets of running a paper flower business: how to take great photos, which craft shows to enter, how to trademark your name, and more.

If you’ve been lucky enough to see pictures of Stephen Brooks’ amazing paper roses, you’ll know why we were so excited to have him on the podcast as a guest. We love the aesthetic of his paper flower business, which was strong enough to carry over through a business name change. We’ve been following his work for years now, and he is an admin of our Paper Talk Facebook group. 

In our latest episode of Paper Talk, we chatted with Stephen about his recent business name change and the steps he took to trademark that name to avoid legal trouble in the future. This is a topic that we ourselves have wondered about, and hearing how someone else has navigated it was enlightening and encouraging. 

Our conversation also covered many aspects of running a paper flower business, including pricing and craft shows. Stephen has lots o...

Susan Bonn is an admin for our online group, teaching all of us with her wealth of knowledge about paper flowers. Learn more about how she teaches, calculates prices, and keeps customers happy.

If you’re part of our Paper Talk Facebook group, you’ve heard of Susan Bonn. She runs the monthly Makers Meetings where we join together with paper florists from around the globe to chat, share our projects, and elevate each other's paper flower artistry. 

Susan also facilitates our group’s monthly paper flower challenge. You can take a look at the banner on the Facebook page and see last month’s incredible creations from our members. It’s a stunning and creative lineup! If you can’t tell, we love our group and would love for you to join us.

We’ve loved working with Susan the past couple of years. Besides her stellar work as our Facebook admin, she is an incredible paper florist and teacher. In our latest episode of Paper Talk, we chatted with Susan about how she started her paper flower jou...

Our guest Amy McGee has changed her business focus many times over the years. Hear how she decided when to try something new and how she did so successfully.

Change is difficult and scary. When you are presented with a business opportunity or something is pushing you to transition to something new, how do you know if it’s right for you? What if you make the wrong decision? What if you fail? 

These are questions that go through every small business owner’s mind at some point. Recently at our Paper X Talk lecture, we discussed how deciding to do something new, like changing your prices, is such a personal decision. There are so many factors to weigh. We’re excited to continue that conversation about pricing on November 14 (buy your tickets here), but we wanted to have a deeper discussion about change and transitions in general. 

That’s why we invited Amy McGee of Botanical Brouhaha to chat with us on our latest episode of Paper Talk. You’ve probably encountered her amazing blog about f...

Hear about the books Jessie and Quynh are reading right now and some of the valuable information they’ve learned about branding and building their businesses.

“It’s one of those few books...that’s very actionable. It’s set out in very straightforward categories, let’s say ‘5 things you need to do to create a...resilient brand.’” - Jessie

Do you wonder where we turn for info about building our brands? While experience is important, learning from others can save a lot of time and heartbreak—one reason why we’re committed at Paper Talk to share, connect, and grow with our community of paper florists. 

The small business landscape is always shifting over time, and one way we keep up with those changes is by reading books from experts. As Jessie said about the book she’s been reading, “I found her really interesting because she’s talking about marketing in the 21st century, like about now as opposed to 10 years, 20 years ago. It’s changed so much.”

That expert insight has been esp...

A copywriter can build your brand, engage your followers, and give you back valuable time. Kelsey Reed talks with us about what a copywriter can do for your business.

Have you ever wondered how we manage to write so many blog posts, emails, and social media posts? If you’re a small business owner, you know that this kind of content is important, but it’s often the first to get scrapped when you’re pressed for time. 

Here’s the secret: we don’t do everything alone, and an integral part of our team is our copywriter, Kelsey Reed. 

If you don’t know what a copywriter does off the top of your head, don’t worry. You’re not alone! In our latest episode of Papertalk, Kelsey chatted with us about all of the amazing things a copywriter can do for your business. Here’s how she described her work: 

“Basically anything that you’re going to be writing out—words that your potential customers will read—I can work with, and a copywriter could work their magic on it and make it really sparkle for...

Paper florist Sara Kim shares how she makes her brand instantly recognizable on any platform and how she’s successfully transitioned her business over the years.

You know branding is important, but that’s easier said than done. How do some creators make their brand instantly recognizable, even across different platforms: Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, everywhere?

Sara Kim of Handmade by Sara Kim is one of those amazing creators whose work you can identify with a glance because of her incredible branding work. In our latest episode of Paper Talk, we chatted with her about the winding journey her business has taken and how she’s kept her brand consistent through changes and across platforms. As Sara said, “It’s the little details that no one really notices.”

She had lots more to say on the subject, and you won’t want to miss out on any of her helpful advice for small business owners. Here’s what you’ll learn when you tune in:

• What will make your brand instantly recognizable a...

“The one material that makes the biggest difference with watercolor is the paper.” - Sarah Simon

If you’re unfamiliar with watercolors, you may be intimidated to try them on crepe paper. Do you have visions of a soggy mess when you think about it? Or maybe you’ve tried combining the two and didn’t get the results you wanted. 

Here’s the good news: both crepe and watercolor are fairly forgiving mediums, and the end results can be absolutely fantastic for your paper flowers. To get those beautiful results, though, you may have to go through quite a bit of trial and error. Luckily, there is help out there to get you started on the right track and save you from some heartache. That’s why we chatted with a watercolor expert in our latest episode of Papertalk. 

Sarah Simon of TheMintGardener is an artist, illustrator, and designer. Her gorgeous botanical works are simply amazing. On top of her artwork, she teaches watercolor workshops and is the author of three books. We discusse...