Making Paper Flowers For Fun And Profit

Making Paper Flowers For Fun And Profit FARM HOME Novelty Items There’s a lot of interest in the art of making paper flowers these days For anyone interested in starting a side business Amity Katharine Libby offers a free guide “Launching a Paper Flower Business” under “Courses” on her website She offers other courses many at $65 that show how to make everything from daisies and buttercups to hydrangeas roses and calla lilies In November she is adding a new series on making paper fruits and vegetables Libby was previously a curriculum developer for a botanical garden Between jobs pregnant and bored she discovered an online flower-making tutorial She purchased $20 worth of German and Italian crepe paper made paper peonies and sold them for $40 As she made and sold more flowers she realized her real passion was to educate and empower others to be creative Through her website Libby has taught paper flower art to more than 2 000 people from around the world She grew up helping her parents with their flower farm and grows peonies on the terraces of her hilly Dixfield Maine farm So she knows flowers well and how to incorporate botanical realism into her work “We’ve had hummingbirds try to sip from her paper flower sculptures ” says Catherine McLetchie who sells Libby’s and other fine artists’ work at her gallery The Good Supply in Pemaquid Maine www thegoodsupply org Libby’s most expensive piece has more than 20 blossoms and sells for $1 650 Libby sells a few commissioned pieces each year such as an unconventional wedding bouquet for a writer for an international publication who chose unusual flowers such as a squash blossom which would never hold up in a flower bouquet Made with archival paper and stored carefully in the dark the bouquet will last years for her to display on special occasions Some of the artists who take Libby’s courses or retain her for creative coaching sell pieces for thousands of dollars while others run successful sideline cottage businesses Many simply enjoy making the flowers for their own entertainment   Libby encourages would-be paper flower artists to check out her free course that covers everything from bookwork and taxes to selling and marketing for a paper flower business Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Amity Katharine Libby Dixfield Maine amity@flowerandjane com; www flowerandjane com

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