Growing up in Burnsville, NC sisters Dana McDowell and Karen Wyatt never imagined that years later their mutual love for the art of papermaking would bring them back together as partners. On October 1, 2000, they opened the door to DK Puttyroot and the Orchid Tearoom housed in one of the vintage buildings on Main Street they knew so well as children.

The sisters hand pull each sheet of their fibrous paper at their homes where you will find no elaborate papermaking equipment. Heavy kettles on burners "cook" the raw plant material, large flat river rocks and mallets are used to pound and extract the fiber content which will then be combined with cotton linters, abaca and other ingredients to form the sheets. Masonry blocks will then serve as presses.

Dana and Karen are committed to providing personal custom work in its truest form. For those who are seeking a source for the unusual, DK Puttyroot is a small jewel nestled in the mountains of western North Carolina. Their creative design skills paired with paper only they can produce or duplicate results in a service few others offer.

DK Puttyroot is located on the north side of West Main Street down the hill past Black Bear Trading Co. and the Music Shop at 132 West Main Street.

DK Puttyroot 132 West Main Street Burnsville, NC 28714

Tel: (828) 678-9588 Email: dkputtyroot@yahoo.com Open Monday - Saturday 10 am to 5 pm