Plant a letter and watch it grow

“Everyone thought we were crazy,” says Heidi Reimer-Epp, the 35-year-old co-founder of Botanical PaperWorks and a member of FaithWorks Church in Winnipeg. “How can you have a business making handmade paper?”

Business is growing for Heidi Reimer-Epp’s plantable paper. Photo: Kelly Rempel

Co-founded by Heidi and her mother Mary Reimer in 1997, the company specializes in handmade stationery made from recycled fibres, flower petals, herbs, spices, and more. Employees use an old method of hand papermaking, standing at vats, mixing recipes, and pulling sheets one by one.

A popular item is “plantable papers,” a biodegradable product embedded with flower seeds. When the paper is planted, the flowers grow.

“It’s a symbol that’s applicable to so many life occasions, like baby showers and weddings, where you’re celebrating love blooming and love growing, or funerals, when you’re remembering and celebrating a life,” says Reimer-Epp.

There’s also an eco-element to the plantable papers. “People are tired of buying favours and stationery that are going to be read and thrown out,” says Heidi. “Plantable papers aren’t another piece in the landfill or the recycling pile.”

When all five of the retail businesses they approached with their first product samples put in orders, Heidi and Mary knew their idea was solid. Heidi quit her full-time pharmaceutical job and with her mom and grandma, set up a paper-making shop in her parents’ basement.

Starting with a mail order catalogue initially targeted to the Canadian market, PaperWorks created a website that now serves the U.S. and beyond.

Today Botanical PaperWorks has 20 employees and some high-end clients including the wedding website The Knot, TLC/Discovery, Starbucks, Sony and TimeWarner. Plantable paper was featured on an episode of Days of Our Lives and Mary and Heidi have co-written three books on papermaking and bookbinding.

“I always had big dreams for the business in terms of making it into a really viable, happening place. But I think the last year has really exceeded my wildest dreams,” says Heidi, who is also the mom of two toddlers. “I love combining my love for business with my love for paper. You don’t always get that in life, to roll your loves into one job.”

—Kelly Rempel, ChristianWeek newspaper. For more information go to botanicalpaperworks.com