What inspired you to start making botanical soap paper, and how did you get into this craft?

I started out as a visual artist. I was going to school at NSCAD and landed on textile art. Over time, I realized that much of the dyeing techniques you use on textiles, you can also use on paper.

I had a friend working at Sangre De Fruta at the time when Allison was looking for someone to design and create paper wrappers for her botanical bar soaps.

The timing worked out perfectly.

Can you walk us through your process of creating botanical soap paper, from concept to finished product?

I begin the process by settling myself into a deep meditative zone. I think about colors, words, and ideas I associate with the project.

Then I take my Japanese SUMI-E paper, and create a mordant paste to bind the designs to the paper. I pint on the whole roll, sandwiching the paper to get a mirror image of the design.

Next, I let the paper dry and hand cut each piece before I begin the dyeing process, which includes multiple dye baths for each paper.

What challenges have you faced in developing this soap paper?

Definitely being able to reproduce an art piece on such a large scale.

It is also just a lot of work and very time consuming, I think I touched each individual piece of paper (there were over 1,400 pieces) at least 6 times!

What part of the process have you enjoyed the most?

I love the challenge of figuring something out, of finding creative solutions to issues like reproducing art on such a large scale.

I also really enjoy making items that have a specific purpose and ones that are for people.