Prima Marketing Inc. is known throughout the scrapbooking and crafting industry as a creator of high quality, handmade flowers. Although they are most famous for those handmade flowers, they make a full line of romantic themed scrapbooking products including papers, stamps, tools, and embellishments.
Prima flowers are handmade in the tradition of Thailand, formerly known as Siam. They are made in a building in central Thailand, surrounded by the natural beauty of tamarind trees. The flowers themselves are made from mulberry paper which is produced from the mulberry tree which grows in Thailand. Large sheets of mulberry paper are cut into shapes to start the flower-making process. These pieces are then hand-dyed specifically for the color of flower being made. Even the dyes are mixed by hand with colors matched by eye; this gives each Prima flower a unique appearance. Once the pieces are dyed, they are hand-embossed and assembled according to the type of flower being made. Glitter and other embellishments are also applied by hand. This hand-crafting process gives each Prima flower a unique appearance, similar to flowers in nature.
To coordinate with their flowers, Prima makes many types of nature-inspired embellishments including birds, butterflies, and leaves. Each of these is handmade in a similar process to the one used for the flowers. They also make beautiful crystal swirls, flower centers, resin, wood, and metal embellishments.
In addition to embellishments, Prima makes scrapbooking paper and stamps.
Traditionally, they have made romantic feminine collections, perfect for feminine themes and nature, although recently, Prima has introduced some more masculine collections such as the new AllStar collection.
They also offer more masculine embellishments such as metal gears and clocks in several of their newer collections including Junkyard Findings, Finnabair, and Mechanicals.
Prima papers and embellishments are perfect for a wide range of scrapbooking subjects including travel, nature, family, and holidays.
They also make tools and chalk edgers in their Ingvild Bolme collection.
Prima has always been known for their attractive and re-usable packaging. In the early days, they were famous for the adorable glass jars in which the flowers came. Now, they have a variety of beautiful packaging, much or which can be re-used on cards and layouts or altered for storage. Re-usable packaging is just one of the ways Prima is an environmentally friendly company.
Founded in 1996, Prima is a privately owned company with their US headquarters and warehouse in Chino, California. Prima has a design team consisting of designers from all over the world. They post their creations daily on Prima’s blog. Prima also has a team of educators who hold classes and events all over the world. For those who don’t choose to travel to classes, Prima offers online classes through their Live with Prima website. These interactive classes can be taken live or viewed later through the archives. Some of the classes demonstrate new techniques while others are more focused on introducing new Prima products.
Now that I have given you a little more insight into Prima and their manufacturing process, I hope you will love and embrace the handmade quality that makes Prima special.
