Paper & Flora began with a fern.
Emma Lindgren, founder of Paper & Flora.
Ferns are one of my favourite forms in nature, but anyone who has picked one and placed it in a vase will know how quickly it curls—as though refusing to reveal its shape once taken from its home on the forest floor.
I wanted to create a vase of ferns that would hold onto that beautiful shape. That simple idea led me to paper, and to experimenting with ways of translating the forms I love in nature into three-dimensional botanical displays.
From Paper to Pop-Up
As I experimented with different three-dimensional designs, I began to wonder: what if they could fold flat and be posted?
That idea gradually evolved into the Paper & Flora bouquets of today—botanical arrangements that travel flat before unfolding into a freestanding bouquet.
Each design develops through a combination of plant illustrations and photography, followed by plenty of experimenting, prototyping and adjusting until everything feels right.
The Joy of Flower Arranging
One of my favourite parts of the process is bringing all the individual elements together.
There is something genuinely joyful about arranging the paper flowers and foliage, experimenting with their composition and finding the vase that feels just right—almost as much as arranging a bunch of fresh flowers.
No two designs arrive fully formed. There is a lot of trial and error along the way, and that's very much part of the creative process.
Designed in Ireland
Today, every Paper & Flora bouquet is designed in Dublin before being precision printed and cut, then hand assembled in my studio.
What began with a desire to preserve the shape of a fern has grown into a collection inspired by the colours, forms and details I find in the natural world—and by the simple pleasure of making something from them.