Paper Talk

We chat with Holly Chapple about how she screens new clients, navigates contract negotiations, and protects her floral design business.   When starting out, it’s understandable to take on most clients. But as your business grows, you’ll have room to be more selective about who you work with.  How do you screen prospective clients to find the best fit for your paper flower business? In ou...

Listen to our discussion with Holly Dionisi about how she overcomes her anxiety in order to build up her paper flower business.   Why should I even try?  If you’ve ever reached that point on your paper flower journey, you’re not alone. We all encounter difficulties that make us want to give up at the peak of our frustrations. But sometimes there’s an even deeper issue under the surface,...

Learn how paper florists can help bring meaning, healing, and more to the world this International Paper Flower Day. Art is powerful.  Your paper flowers are powerful.  At first glance, people might dismiss paper floristry as simply a pretty craft, but we know that it is much more. We pour our hearts and souls into our work. That gives it power, and that power can be used to support grea...

Learn how our guest Martha Lucia reaches out to her local market in order to successfully promote her paper flower business.  How do you market your paper flowers to local customers?  Selling online is fantastic. We all do it for a reason. But it has drawbacks like high shipping costs and more competition—plus, you can miss out on a customer base that will be more loyal to you and is mor...

Learn how entrepreneur Crystal Marshall avoids problems for her event planning and paper flower business.   Problems happen with any business, but it’s always best if you can avoid them.  How in the world do you do that, though?  In our latest episode of Paper Talk we chatted with Crystal Marshall of Faithful-E Planning . She shared so much useful insight into running her event plan...

We chat with Chantal Larocque about how she has become such a successful paper flower artist, and how you can navigate business decisions as well as she has.   How do other paper florists grow their businesses so quickly and so well?   Everyone makes mistakes along the way that you probably don’t see, but the most successful business owners do make the right decisions most of the time. S...

Learn about The Wild Mother’s project to commemorate the Greenwood Massacre of 1921 and how you as a floral artist can get involved.   Have you heard of the Greenwood Massacre of 1921?    If you haven’t, you’re not alone. Quynh, who was raised in Tulsa where it happened, didn’t learn about this tragic event at all while growing up. In short, one of the most thriving black communitie...

Nora Fradin shares her paper flower journey and how she got the help her business needed to be successful.  How do you know when your paper flower business needs help?  Small business owners like ourselves have that entrepreneurial spirit, which is fantastic! We do have to be careful not to fall into the trap of thinking that we have to do everything by ourselves, though.  We’re so...

 We’ve made some big changes to our online course that will make it even easier to successfully build your creative small business.  Can you build a successful business when you’re an artist at heart? Yes! We know you can! You can learn to be an entrepreneur. You can love your job. You can have the right tools.  How? With Paper to Profits . We’ve put together all of our knowledge ab...

Learn all about intellectual property law with lawyer Bradley P. Hartman, including how creative small business owners can navigate trademarks and copyright.  Do you understand intellectual property law? If the answer is no, you’re not alone by any stretch. There’s a reason why lawyers specialize in this particular area of law—it can be really complicated. For artistic souls like us, it can f...

We talked with Bob and Michelle Jorgensen all about their products, business, and how they face challenges in our latest episode. If you’ve used doublette, there’s a good chance you’re familiar with Rose Mille. We love our German crepe paper, and we were excited to chat with one of the distributors of our favorite product on our latest episode of Paper Talk . Bob and Michelle Jorgensen joined us t...

We’ve brought in the amazing Christina Shay to help us update Paper to Profits to be easier for students to use and complete. Learn all about it in our latest episode.     Do you have a to-do list a mile long? Feel like you’ll never get through it all?   We’ll be honest: we’ve felt completely overwhelmed many, many times. You may think we’ve got our crap together, but we don’t...

Jessie and Quynh discuss how powerful it is to say no to certain projects. Learn how they judge when to turn down work and which factors you should weigh.   When starting out as a paper florist, every paid project feels like a blessing. You’re grateful for the money, the exposure, and the experience. But at some point, you’ll have to say no to a job. Maybe you don’t have the time, or maybe it...

Learn why you should be on Clubhouse and how you can connect with us for our weekly meeting.   Have you heard about Clubhouse?    It’s an app that lets you gather together in virtual rooms to have audio-only conversations. Think somewhere between Zoom, Whatsapp, and old-fashioned phone calls. The app hasn’t been around that long, so don’t worry if you’re unfamiliar with it. We’...

We talk with paper florist Sue Bowen about how to experiment with new materials, techniques, and styles in order to find your artistic voice.   How do you find your paper flower voice? Or if you’ve been a paper florist for awhile, how do you help your artistic style evolve naturally? Style isn’t something you can copy, at least not successfully. It has to come from a genuine place inside...

Welcome to our new Over Coffee segment called “Q & A with Our Community” where we answer questions from listeners about anything paper flower related.  Be sure to leave your questions in the comments below or email us at any time! In today’s episode, we answer questions about how to pack for shipping and what shipping methods we use. We also talk about the different paper mediums we use a...

We chat with Martina Polelli about the history of the Italian crepe paper company, their products, and where to buy around the world. Italian crepe paper is beloved by paper florists for good reason. We love the consistency, the quality, and the wide-range of options available for our artistry.  In past episodes of Paper Talk we’ve chatted with the U.S. distributor of Italian crepe, Carte Fin...

Learn from our guest Poy T. Granati and how she has made the most of her time while building her paper flower business. Building a small business means wearing many different hats. How do you find time to advertise, bookkeep, communicate, network, and create?  With time management.  This isn’t just a catchphrase. We’re all busy. We have to make the most of the time that we do have so tha...

Learn about the many sources of imposter syndrome and how you can overcome it as a paper florist. Includes special guest Margie Keates. Can I raise my prices or try something new? What if I fail? What if people don’t like it? Do I even deserve to be called an artist? If these doubts sound familiar, you’ve met our old friend imposter syndrome.    Can we let you in on a secret? We’ve all d...

Learn which scissors Devin Head recommends for paper flower making and how you can best care for them so that they live a long and sharp life.    Could you make a paper flower without scissors?    For paper florists like us, the thought is quite terrifying. Imagine a peony without the distinctively shaped petal edges, or making flower centers without fringe. Our craft requires...

Learn three ways that Inga Peterson keeps her fans happy and increases customer engagement with her paper flower business, and how you can help your supporters become patrons.  Have you ever had someone in your life who cheers you on, no matter what? That person who is so excited to see what you do next and want to support your artist journey?   That person is a patron.   We all nee...

Guest Gerry Rosales talks about building up his paper flower brand in the Philippines and shifting customer perceptions of paper crafts. Anyone can make a paper flower.  There’s something beautifully hopeful in that statement, but it can also create problems when that idea prevents consumers from buying your products. How can you help them value your skills, time, and art? We chatted all abou...

Two professional paper florists share their artistic and business goals for 2021 and give insight into how you can improve yourself this coming new year. The last year threw us all for a loop. Like us, you probably had to cancel plans and restructure your goals for your paper flower business.  So what will 2021 bring?  We have hope that things on the Covid front will improve enough to ga...

Learn the costs of creating a podcast and how you can create something polished that people will want to listen to. If you’ve ever scrolled through podcasts on your favorite listening platform, you know there are countless shows out there. It must be easy to produce one if so many people are creating them, right? Just hit record on your computer and talk.    Not quite.  The truth is...

We chat more with paper florist Wendy Anderson about how she’s grown her paper flower hobby into a business. How do you take the leap from hobby to business? It can feel terrifying, and even if you’ve taken the leap and started down the business path, you are still going to encounter bumps along the way. Fortunately, there are many paper florists who have successfully built their hobby into a pape...