Our Supply Chain

We believe strongly in voting with our wallets and knowing where our supplies come from. Our goal is to balance sourcing our supplies as local, sustainable, and economical as possible. We are continually re-evaluating our supply chain to tweak and improve as new products become available and accessible.

This page is an exercise in transparency and accountability.

Button, Magnets Parts & Machines

The component parts of our products and machines/presses are purchased through a Canadian reseller based in Toronto, Ontario. The parts and presses are manufactured in Wisconsin, United States. That company sources their steel and raw materials from American suppliers.

Stickers

Our die cut stickers are produced in Montréal by a small business.

Printing

We are proud to support a local (2 minutes from our house!) print shop for the paper components of our products.

Our business cards, backing cards, banners and other promotional goods are currently sourced through Vistaprint. Vistaprint subcontracts to print shops across North America.

Consideration and research is underway to move more of this business to local or Canadian shops.

Packaging

We recognize that this is the category that can use the most improvement both in terms of the environment and in terms of responsible purchasing.

Our backing cards, as mentioned above, are currently printed by Vistaprint. Prior to 2020 we had them printed as photographs as Costco, but, upon finding out that photo paper is not recyclable, switched to cardstock ordered from Vistaprint. We are looking into pricing and options for having these printed locally.

We use two types of bags: resealable and lip tape. Our resealable (and reusable) bags are purchased from ULINE, which is a company we are working to move away from. Our lip tape bags are purchased from Clear Bags Canada. We continue to investigate alternative options that would allow us to reduce our use of plastic.

We currently use padded mailers as they are the lightest and most economical (for both customers and us) means. Until 2020 these were purchased from ULINE and lined with plastic bubbles. Now we have sourced new padded mailers that are curbside recyclable, made with recycled material and produced by a North American company. We are thrilled with these new, more sustainable padded mailers.

For our larger orders (bulk and wholesale) we re-use boxes and packaging that we have received orders of supplies and other products in. The only new materials used are packaging tape and labels.

Display Pieces

Display pieces and materials for in person shows are purchased second hand whenever possible and used for as long as possible. Table cloths and storage solutions from Amazon and the dollar store have been used and will continue to be used, but more locally based options will be considered when those are to be replaced.