Featured Artist : Martha Johnson

Martha Johnson at Plain Paper our product is handmade, and that element is important to us. We take the time to produce every piece with anticipation, excitement, and care. So many variables take effect in the end, and a slight variation in one piece of paper or fabric can be intriguing and very beautiful. This freedom is one of the reasons we enjoy creating our work. Hi, I'm Martha, to the right there, and that's Eron, below, with the adorable little guys and their pumpkins.

Plain Paper began in 1998, as a part of Mid-Life Celebration, Ltd. and is based in the heart of the Great Plains in Lincoln, NE. Wanting very much to be our own boss and work from home, this mother/daughter operation has evolved from a dream into a reality, thanks in part to the Internet. After several experiments with new kinds of plant paper such as 100% whole wheat paper, and after sending nearly 1000 marbled t-shirts to buyers in Japan, the daughter part of the team moved to Oregon and continues with marbling and paper crafts there while the papermaking and designer clothing remains in Nebraska.

The main ingredient in our paper is recycled office paper or plant fiber. We include junk mail, backyard plants, and sewing scraps, and more as inclusions, and we won't stop there. In the samples to the left, you'll see inclusions of coffee grounds, aluminum scraps, and poppy seeds. Each time we make paper there is always something else that we can add to make it unique and beautiful. Oh, and we do make some without inclusions, too, such as light gray pure recycled paper, or darker brown recycled paper grocery bags. We even 'upcycle' the junk mail and paper packing from packages received into lovely handmade sheets of paper. We like to make trash into treasure!

The marbling is done on all sorts of items, from baby onesies, t-shirts of all sizes, silk scarves, and designer fashions. We even marble paper to create stationery, books, and notecards. We use western tank marbling to create these beautiful designs on paper and fabric. We are currently researching more environmentally friendly ways of applying colors to fabric so we'll keep you posted on our progress.

We thank you so much for taking the time to find out who we are and what we are about. Please browse the site, you might find something you like. If you have any questions at all, don't hesitate to ask.