The Paper Arts site talks about everything related to paper including stationery, scrapbooking, and DIY paper projects.

You may remember that Martha Stewart actually stopped selling items on their website awhile back. That was a bit of a bummer, because they had some rather nice things (A side note: …

I had heard some good things about The Paper Mill Store from a few people so I went to check it out online the other …

I saw these sheets of Polka Dot Print paper over at Paper Mojo the other day. I know that they’re nothing super spectacular but I’m feeling in a bit of a polka-dotted mood so I decided to post about them today.

These sheets of paper contain 3 …

As a rule, we try not to focus TOO much attention on big name retail paper stores. However, for this post we decided to mention Papyrus Stores only because they are a good alternative to the usual mallrat (Hallmark, etc.) card companies.

Make no mistake about it, this is a fairly large paper company and you WILL find them at your local mall. But that’s actually a nice thing about Papyrus, because assuming you need some paper supplies in a hurry and the mall is the only option, there’s a chance you might be able to pick up something nice without feeling like you’re in the supermarket card aisle.

A bit ‘o history about the company, which has been around for over 50 years. It’s of course named after the papyrus plant which is said to have contributed the fiber for the earliest form of paper ever. It was started by Marcel and Margrit Schurman (notable for Schurman Fine Papers) and continues to be run today by their daughter Dominique.

Papyrus Stores are known for their presentation of paper goods as much as the actual product itself. The nice thing is that whenever I walk into a Papyrus, it feels like you’re in a museum store or something, instead of a mall store. Clean, well-lighted and with a set up similar to an art gallery, the stores also offer a fairly wide array of paper products from announcements, standard greeting cards, gift bags, stationery and journals.

If you’re mostly used to aisles and aisles of “funny” cards like at Hallmark, you probably won’t dig Papyrus as much. The card selection isn’t as huge as those type of stores, but there is definitely some nicer sets of cards for a select type of paper shopper.

Buying paper in bulk can be a dicey proposition. Two of the biggest problems with just going to any old office supply store like Staples or Office Depot is a lack of selection and not being able to see what you are getting before buying it.

Buying paper online is always an option but again there’s that issue of not being able to actually touch and feel the paper before buying it. This is especially true for that designer paper that you’ve been looking for to do your latest mass produced projects, like wedding invites and handmade cards.

If you’ve felt yourself hankering for a good supply of both standard and more unusual kinds of paper then The Kelly Paper Company may be for you. Unfortunately, they are only in California right now (and in Phoenix, AZ I believe?) so unless you are located nearby you’ll have to wait until they expand.

The one that I’ve been to before (in Pasadena, CA) is basically a medium sized warehouse. Quite a few art students shop here, as well as people looking for thicker paper for resumes and other business applications. You can think of Kelly Paper as a sort of “Costco” for paper supplies. When you walk in there are reams and reams of paper, but the good thing is that they have samples out for nearly every single type of paper that they carry.