Sometimes we’re sorting through a box of old bobbins straight from a mill and find bobbins unlike any we’ve ever seen before – unique, beautiful, with lots of history and flair. And that’s a hard thing to say because all of our bobbins are beautiful, with lots of history and flair but some have a really rare design that makes them even more precious. Of course it’s not said that there are not more of these seemingly rare bobbins hidden away somewhere but after a couple of years in this business you get to know a lot of designs and old manufacturer’s marks.

In these moments with exciting finds under grease and dirt it gets very difficult sometimes not to hide these treasures away and to keep them. In fact the whole team is suffering from a bit of collector’s syndrome and only a lack of space keeps us from hoarding old industrial implements, tools, etc. Even though we buy these bobbins specifically to put our paper yarns and paper twines onto them and sell them again I can tell you that it’s sometimes really hard to send them out again even with the knowledge that our customers share our love for these artifacts of textile history.

I do not even want to imagine how difficult it must be for sellers of a diverse range of vintage goods to let go of their product – while we have “only” bobbins to let go they have whole furnishing houses of beautiful, old goods to say good-bye to… It’s the bobbins you see here that prompted this little blog article – after having them on the desk for a year and a half it seems finally time to let go of them and send them out to a new owner. Please treat them well.

Two Ways rug by Danish company HAY – design by Merete Laurent Erbou

No need to tell you that I love these rugs, is there? They’re made of Paper Twine (or papercord, as the company calls it) and are manufactured by the Danish company HAY. Fittingly the rugs are called Two Ways because thanks to their construction in 3 layers you can flip them over to change their look. Each rug is made of three shades of twine, a strong fluorescent color combined with natural and grey so you can choose what amount of color you want to have in your rooms!

The rugs were designed by Merete Laurent Erbou for HAY – and they’re actually woven in India. This last fact makes these astonishing pieces rather affordable (usually paper rugs tend to be rather expensive due to the high amount of labour involved).
Definitely a first item on the wish list for Christmas…

Vintage Bobbins used as candle holders with flair and history

I have been talking about it for a while – and thanks to autumn mist there was a great opportunity to finally make a picture or two: Vintage Bobbins used as Candle Holders with some flair and history. (In case you are my decoration-opposed boyfriend: well, this might have happened on you kitchen table… but it’s just really a nice table for a photoshoot!).

Jill from paperdollaccessories has found a wonderful combination in her photography featuring her fabulous Rosetta Hair Clips and a Paper Twine Bobbin in the background.

And I’ve been talking about the use of bobbins as props in photoshoots, too – and not only the vintage ones! Jill from paperdollaccessories has been using one of PaperPhine’s Bobbins with Stong Natural Paper Twine in her products photos lately and I really love the look she has created! A bit romantic, a bit girly, unusual and very stylish in a laid-back manner. Thanks, Jill!

Finding new Treasures – Small Vintage Bobbins with Colored Ends and Medium Sized Vintage Bobbins that make perfect candle holders, too! As well as a few more new Vintage Bobbins we are lucky to have for sale at the moment!

There is a lot happening here at PaperPhine’s – new discoveries and new possibilities opening up each day! People like our products (who wouldn’t… well, or at least it’s understandable!), notebook pages filling with ideas for a Christmas photoshoot in October and with ideas how to decorate your presents with paper yarns and paper twines… PaperPhine.com has also changed servers thanks to my boyfriend (otherwise I would have opened a penpal-club and you would get letters now instead of reading my blog) so I currently hope everything works – please let me know if it doesn’t!
Oh, and so many more lovely Vintage Bobbins we found under heaps of other stuff. Perhaps we should keep them all to build an all-bobbins-candle-(Christmas)-tree but on the other hand you might want one or two, too? We’ll keep you posted on the all-bobbins-candle-(Christmas)-tree!

PaperPhine’s table at Poppytalk Handmade!

Currently we also have a table at Poppytalk Handmade – a curated monthly online street market with chosen designers and crafters from around the globe. If this is not exciting!