My Woolley Mammoth
Owner: Janita Court
On the web: www.etsy.com/shop/MyWoollyMammoth
From a modest home near the core of downtown Sequim, Janita Court crafts personalized paper flowers and sends them to such far-flung places as Italy, France, Great Britain and Australia through Etsy, a website showcasing handmade products.
“I am a paper florist and became interested in paper flowers about five years ago because I wanted to find a way to sell online. I started with yarn and crochet items but I really fell in love with paper because of the way it feels,” said Court.
She made her first bouquets for her own wedding in 2011 and was so pleased with them that she joined Etsy that summer and listed her first bouquet. Since then, she’s sold 500 bouquets — 200 just in the past year.
The 30-year-old Sequim native learned the detailed craft by watching online tutorials and confidently said, “I can do everything — any type of flower. I start by looking at pictures of the flower and the shape of its petals. Usually it takes 1-2 hours figuring out how it’s to be shaped and cut out. It’s lots of trial and error,” Court laughed, “until the petals have the right shape.”
Under the watchful eye of her dog Harley and from a drafting-type desk in her living room, Court fashions dozens and dozens of individual petals from wide rolls of textured crepe paper in a rainbow of hues. Her nimble fingers tease a flat cut-out into a royal purple iris petal, with its characteristic dimples and curves — nine will make up a single flower — and that’s just the beginning. For every flower, Court also creates the correct pollinating structures and stems from paper, for a very realistic look. Sunflowers and irises are among the most difficult to get right, she said.
“It takes 3-5 hours to make a bouquet and the advantage is it has more of a handmade touch, plus obviously, it will last a lot longer than real flowers.”
On her Etsy website, customers can choose from bridal bouquets, wedding party sets, wedding accessories, centerpieces, single and bulk flowers, bows and hand-cut feathers, seasonal items, “big” flowers, wall flowers and everyday bouquets, any of which Court gladly will customize.
Court has received high marks for her personalized paper flowers — 170 positive reviews and no negative ones — a 5-star rating. Customer comments on her creations have been: “beautiful … lovely … high quality work … perfect … stunning … gorgeous … delicately beautiful, yet sturdy.” She also gets kudos in customer service: “fast shipping … accommodating … pleasure to work with … responsive … great communicator … offered great suggestions … awesome.”
Despite all the praise, Court remains modest.
“I didn’t think it would take off that well. It was a rough first two years but it paid off. I’ve been able to make a full-time income this year and last year and the past two years have been profitable,” Court said. “I work at it daily and during the busy season from February to October, I have a few people fold for me the origami flowers.”
An origami flower called kusudama is requested most, with peonies following at a close second; roses not so much, she said. But her personal favorite is the vivid red anthurium because she loves tropical flowers.
The vast majority of her sales are online with a smattering sold locally by word of mouth.
“I’m hoping to increase that and I also want to start teaching some small classes locally,” Court said. The most important thing, Court said, “is being able to pick up the elements from nature. It helps to keep doing it (daily) because if I stop, I definitely feel it in my hands — I’ve got to keep exercising them.”
View Court’s collections at www.etsy.com/shop/MyWoollyMammoth.
