I am a fan of everything which is ethnic, vintage and handcrafted. My life long love for handmade paper started when on a holiday in India as a kid, I was given a beautiful handmade paper letter writing set, as a present by my Aunt. At that point I was just intrigued by its beauty and simplicity....many years later, back in Lahore, Pakistan where I grew up and went to business school, my brothers started this venture with a family friend where they got together with a group of paper makers in Lahore and decided to revive this failing paper making outfit. The vision then was to revive the art of paper making, and somehow manufacture a quality that could be marketed to benefit the original warehouse owners.

When the first papers were made - I was in Toronto much removed from what was then happening back in Lahore. But, in the summer of 2016 I was visiting my family and my involvement with PARWANA handmade paper business started.

The challenge for us was to convert the paper to a marketable consumer friendly product and so we got going. Our first products were gift bags and money envelopes, which were targeted at the busy wedding event in the town. Gradually we got noticed and through word of mouth got exposure to socially conscious businesses.

The volumes are still not justifiable for us because the handmade paper does not get appreciation locally, being rough and expensive. But we continue to educate consumers through our participation in artisan fairs and our social media campaigns. PARWANA now sources most of its paper from the M&M brothers as well as from other artisanal paper makers.

PARWANA remains committed to achieve its goal of restoring the livelihood of the local artisans who are involved in the art of paper-making, bookbinding and block printing, providing them with financial, technical and design support to develop contemporary artifacts, and help them find new markets locally, and now through our foray in Canada - internationally.

PARWANA paper products are hand crafted, using cotton and silk textile remnants and plant fibers. Ours is not mass produced watercolour stock, which is manufactured on hand operated high-speed machines. Instead each piece of paper is individually made by hand.

Our paper: is environmentally sound, processed and handmade on wooden deckles. Occasionally, you may find irregularities in the thickness or colour of the paper, which is inevitable due to the process, and only adds to the charm of the paper itself.

Produced in beautiful, rich colours, hand finished with lovely designs and textures, and block printed by hand, our paper is available in a variety of thicknesses (90gsm – 300gsm). Our paper is perfect for letterpress and appropriate for almost any use including pen and ink, drawing with coloured or graphite pencil, or light washes of watercolours. The paper can also be used for mixed media. The lower grammage paper will print in the top feed area of an ink jet printer, however, we suggest samples be used for any testing. The full size sheets measure approximately 20" x 30" and the edges are untouched from their drying deckle. We also use this deckle edge paper in some of our unique hand bound notebooks.

Our block printed stationery: is made using the traditional South Asian block printing process in rich vibrant colours.

In the traditional block printing process, which is unique to the South Asian regions comprising India and Pakistan, each colour of the print requires a separate, hand carved wood block. Each colour pattern is stamped individually onto the paper; the process takes skill and time as the pattern is stamped repeatedly across the paper, colour by colour. The slight imperfections create the artistic effect emblematic of block prints, and every item made from this process is unique.

Hand bound Notebooks: Combining the skills of our papermakers and bookbinders, we are developing a collection of hand bound notebooks and journals that use traditional bookbinding techniques, at times incorporating leather vestige as decorative accents. Each notebook will treasure your thoughts in its timeless elegance.

Newspaper Pencils: complement our recycled hand made paper and are made by our artisan partner in Chennai. Colour and B&W Newspapers are sourced locally and converted to pulp which is poured into a mulit stage semi automatic pencil making machine making 30-40 pencils / min.

We make paper and all our stationery items in small batches so that we can improvise on designs and product range. Should you have a particular design or item in mind that you would like us to make for you, please feel free to contact us. We would love to hear from you.