Our Blog has moved…

Thanks for checking out our blog and sorry for the new location. Our blog is now on our website at www.bloomin.com/blog. Thanks for checking it out. Soon this blog on wordpress will completely disappear… poof… just like that.

-Tom Noyes

Norm turned 42 today.

Today was one of our biggest celebrations of the year. No one loves birthdays more than Norman, our longest employed person here at Bloomin’. He has been working here for 11 or 12 years. He has always been instrumental in getting our daily tasks finished on time.

For years he has shagged paper, (part of our paper making process). Now he preps paper for our 20 inkjet printers. FYI – we use inkjet printers for full color printing because they don’t damage any seeds, anyway, Norman rarely complains about anything, except maybe when his shift is finished. You should see him on payday. Can you say BEAR HUG!!! Oh, and his moon walk… you would almost think it’s Michael Jackson himself.

This place wouldn’t be the same without Norm, I really love him, we make each other happy. I think everyone loves him. We even had three former employees show up for Norm’s party. One hasn’t been working here for over 5 years. Norm’s place is most certainly here with us.

- Tom Noyes

Eco-Wedding: Seed paper is a growing trend.

Seed paper is perfect for your eco-wedding, check it out. I am very excited to share with you a recent video that was filmed of Bloomin’ President, Don Martin. While we were exhibiting at the recent Stationery show in New York, we had the pleasure of being interviewed  to discuss our gorgeous seed paper products.  Thank You to Get Married for sending the video link our way and for a wonderful segment. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! Click on the image below to view the hottest trends for this wedding season.

Suzanne Maestri-Walters

From the getmarried.com video clip.

We love working with other greeting card companies.

Although we offer many great cards of our own, you may not know that we have provided seeded paper to several other greeting card companies over the years. One of our local favs is Leanin’ Tree. We have made 100’s of 1000’s of seeded cards for Leanin’ Tree this year alone.

Nice header huh!

Leanin' tree display in our local health food store.

Sometimes we supply other greeting card companies with raw paper, sometimes with parts for their cards and sometimes we supply them with complete cards. With Tree-Free greetings, we provide just the letterpress printed seed paper medallions for their greeting cards and they take it from there.

Fine letterpress printing on each shape.

We made the coolest little place card favors for Event Blossom. They say “Please Be Seeded” and they offer several designs including a holiday design with a snowflake.

Here are three of several designs Event Bloosom offers.

Hallmark in the United Kingdom offered four cards like this one below this spring. They are large cards with A7 colorful envelopes.

clean, simple and large

We have been making plantable favors for Kate Aspen for years now. They are one of our perennial favorites—thanks you, guys. Awareness ribbons, bears, seed paper prams, pots, flowers, butterflies and more make Kate Aspen a big plantable favor leader in the wedding industry.

awareness ribbon favors

There are several other greeting companies we work with which include American Greetings, Hallmark, Oakthrift and more. I’ll try to show samples of their products at a later time.

You will be seeing more and more seeded paper showing up in the world, and we’re planting the roots to provide plenty of plantable paper for all.

This post was provided by Tom Noyes

Holiday Favors: What’s Your Holiday Wish this Year?

Too early to think about the holidays, you ask? Well, in retail, it’s never too early to plan ahead for the upcoming winter holiday season, How about some Holiday Favors.

Here at Bloomin’ we strive to ensure a prompt arrival of a fresh new alternative to holiday gift giving. This holiday season, you can continue to promote the green way of living by giving green, as well. Whether you choose to be traditional with one of our many seed paper holiday cards, or offer a unique twist to holiday gift giving at its finest.

Due to the success of our self-growth wish cards, we wanted to create something just as exciting for the 2009 upcoming holiday season, as well. Our new Holiday Wish Cards offer the opportunity for the gift giver or recipient a way of writing down their most inner thoughts and wishes. Once they have written down their wish list or New Year’s resolution, plant the seed paper and watch it grow into beautiful annual and perennial wildflowers. Each wish card is letterpress printed for an old world debossed classic look.

With the affordable $10 price tag, it’s a cost-effective solution in a struggling economy.

Letterpress Seed Paper Holiday Wish Cards

Diversity at Bloomin’

Over the years, we have enjoyed employing “differently-abled” individuals from the Boulder community. We also enjoy the opportunity to work closely with the Watshop and Boulder County Enterprises, who also actively support the inclusion of individuals with disabilities within our community.

Bloomin’ Flower Cards was also awarded “Employer of the Year” by The Association of Community Living. We are proud of this award and our relationship with the diverse community Boulder, Colorado represents.

Norman Tankersley is our longest standing employee, having worked with us for 12+ years. He plays a vital role in the production process of each and every card. Happy to be a part of our team, Norm greets each of us every day with a bear hug and a smile.

Jacque Alber has been a huge part of the Bloomin’ team for a few years now, and having her here as part of our employee roster, is nothing short of satisfaction on everybody’s part. Her infectious smile is the highlight of our day.

Thank you, Jacque and Norman, for being an integral part of our team here at Bloomin’.

Stunning Letterpress Wedding Invitations

Recently, we had an order for these beautiful wedding invitations that were letterpress printed on our handmade seed paper. They were such a success, that we’ve decided to market them for sale (coming soon) as a customized invitation. All you would need to do is order the custom plate for your personal information and your initials (within the heart on the tree trunk), choose your paper color and ink color and we’re on our way! We promise we’ll let you know as soon as those are available for ordering. For now, we wanted to share it with you for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

Refreshing Lemonade on a Hot Summer Day

Last week daughters of Bloomin’ owners Tom and Sue, decided they wanted to give everybody a cool, refreshing reprieve from a hot, summer day. What better way to accommodate our thirst by putting up an old fashioned lemonade stand. The girls—Naomi and Tia—worked hard while lines of people formed to get that delicious glass of lemonade to quench their thirst. 

Not only was it a delicious alternative  to your everyday soda, but it allowed the girls to make a few bucks, as well. Can’t beat that for a mere 25¢.

Gorgeous plantable paper by the sheet

Want to be a part of the green frenzy with seed paper, but don’t have the need to purchase invitations or individual cards? Guess what? Bloomin’ now offers these beautiful Plant Me Paper by the sheets in both multi-color packs or all white. Each pack comes with ten 8.5″ x 11″ sheets and they’re completely printable with your home inkjet. Perfect for invitations and personal stationery.

Plant the paper and enjoy the wildflowers!

Sprouting away…

Check out our paper in the process of sprouting beautiful wildflowers. Although this is how it looks only a few days in, we feel it’s important to give you a glimpse of what it looks like in the early stages, as well. Enjoy!

Lots of Seed Paper…

Our seed paper is running rampant in our facility. We had to take a picture of the endless stacks to show you how colorful and beautiful it all looks displayed together. We’re making lots of new paper on a daily basis to keep up with our demand of orders and new retail products. Check out our retail website to see what’s new.

 

Happy Promotions!

Check out a recent seed paper coaster for General Mills which was inserted into each box of Cheerios. We’re very excited to share this amazing product with you. The order was over 100,000+ seed paper coasters to be inserted into each and every box of Cheerios. 

It was a successful eco-product for the popular Cheerios brand cereal—and for Bloomin’ Promotions, as well. Here are a few pictures of the box itself and  how it looked on the supermarket shelves.

America’s Mart Atlanta

This weekend is a busy weekend for Bloomin’ Flower Cards. Don and Abby are at the America’s Mart Atlanta trade show this week promoting lots of new and original Bloomin’s seed paper products. In addition to enjoying the gorgeous Atlanta views, they’re both working very hard at the trade show with lots of seed paper in tow.

What are your plans for the 4th?

Getting ready for some excitement and fireworks? BBQing? Or just relaxing with friends and family? Either way, the 4th of July is a special occasion to be shared by all to celebrate our nation’s independence. We hope that what you do decide to do on this celebratory occasion, you choose to do it wisely and safely. Just a little message from your friends here at Bloomin’. 

Check out our new 2009 retail catalog

After many revisions, we are pleased to share with you our new 2009 retail catalog that has just been uploaded to our website. We invite you to check out our many new products which include our 2010 perennial calendars, our recently launched Bloomin’ Invitations™, our really cool Self-Growth wish cards, and many more! 

We’re currently working on our upcoming holiday cards, so be sure to check back to our website within the next few months to get a firsthand glimpse of our NEW 2009 holiday line. We’re currently designing a new letterpress holiday card which will be printed directly onto our seed paper. Not only will this be a gorgeous alternative, it will be a smart eco-friendly choice as you start the 2010 new year. These cards will be in line with our current Pressed Blooms™ , in addition to other formats, as well. We’re very proud and eager to get them rolling off of our presses into your home just in time for the holiday rush.

Dog Day Friday at Bloomin’

It’s that time of the week again—dog day friday here at Bloomin’. We feel that not only is the end of the week a celebratory occasion, but it creates an even more casual atmosphere here in the office. Since we pretty much wear jeans or shorts any day of the week, what can make it even more casual than to allow Bloomin’ employees to bring their favorite furry friend to work? It’s been a heart warming experience and we love having our doggies around the office for play and companionship. Some are big, and some are small, but all in all they’re our bestest friends!

Get ready for 2010 – already!

We’ve got ‘em. The new 2010 Bloomin’ seed paper desk calendars so you can plan ahead for next year. They’re gorgeous and they’re plantable, just like the rest of our seed paper. Why go through each month of your calendar and throw it away as the month ends, when you can take those months and plant them and watch them grow beautiful wildflowers. Talk about an eco-friendly idea for your office, desk, kitchen, or wherever your calendar sits. It comes displayed with a spiral bound stand which allows easy access on your desk or countertop. The 2010 calendars are now available for purchase.

Community Cycles – walk & bike to work month

Every month, throughout the month, our neighborhood community bike co-op, Community Cycles, is all about getting people off the roads from their cars to their bicycles—perhaps to and from work, or just a ride to your local gym. Community Cycles really promotes not only a way of life/living within our Boulder community, but to give you the opportunity to help our environment any way you can. Whether you choose to recycle, reuse, or bring your own bags when you’re shopping, Community Cycles has a goal to fulfill, and that goal is to get more and more of our community either walking, taking the bus or riding their bikes around town as often as possible. It is important for the city of Boulder to continue to maintain their commitment to the global impact on the environment. Here at Bloomin’ we feel the same way, and we try and promote that same logic company wide.

Whether or not you’re in the Boulder, Colorado area, you too can make that commitment worldwide within your local community, as well. For more information and/or ideas for your local community on the Bike to Work Day/Month sponsored by Community Cycles, check it out — and you can also be a part of that global green effort.

 

Bloomin’ Potluck

We’re very proud of this recent tradition, because we feel it brings all of our employees gathered together in one confined space where everybody is happy — the kitchen. A bi-weekly event to our company, every other Friday we host a different themed potluck plentiful with all kinds of delicious food. This week’s theme was everything and anything Asian. Some people brought homemade Indian cuisine, while others kept with the traditional Asian gourmet. Either way, we all loved it and ate it all up by day’s end. As you can see from the smiles on our faces, we’re pretty much satisfied with our full bellies! Mmmmm mmmmm good…

Make a wish – write it down – watch it grow!

Beautiful wish cards a plenty! What are they, you ask? To start, they’re beautifully handcrafted letterpress cards printed directly on our homemade seed paper. Not only are the designs reminiscent of a nature theme, they’re plantable as well. Plantable you ask? Yes. Meaning they’ll grow annual and perennial wildflowers. So not only can you write down your deepest, darkest secrets, your wishes, your goals, etc. — after planting it, it will grow beautiful wildflowers. Since this is ideal for the environment, you can also enjoy your wish while it comes to life and flourishes in your garden at the same time. Sounds like a deal to me!

Each Wish Kit includes a pencil and 12 handmade seed cards in 6 color combinations. For ordering information, click here or on the image below.