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

If you’re about to get married soon and the date is creeping up on you quickly, you might think twice about making your own homemade wedding invitations. The amount of time and skill needed to plan, cut, and print your own wedding invites is beyond even the most ambitious of brides. Plus, not everyone is an artist or graphic designer.

Sure, you could ask a friend or acquaintence to help out with the design or preparation of the invites (and this might be a good idea anyway for those larger weddings requiring 200+ invitations). So, most people opt for just ordering a professionally printed wedding invitation package to cut out all of the hassle. The problem is that getting stuff professionally printed can cost a couple of arms and legs. And there’s the additional risk of leaving a third party all that responsibility.

Well, if you should choose to go the DIY route for your invites, you might want to consider getting a “wedding invitation kit” instead of desigining them entirely from scratch. This compromise might be the way to go. Having blank invites keeps the cost down by allowing you to print them yourself.

Continue reading “Homemade Wedding Invitations” …

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 day. Located in Wisconsin, the company focuses on the basic idea that “Great Paper at Great Prices Shouldn’t be Hard to Get.”

They’ve got a good selection of coated, uncoated and metallic type paper for sale in bulk, along with specialty paper for printer, copier and photo jobs. They also have a huge selection of envelopes and card stock as well.

Shown at right is some sheets of 8.5 x 11″ Botanical Printed Vellum Paper that they sell in bulk.

The Paper Mill Store is actually a part of the CTI Paper group and was started up in 1989 by Brian Cowie (in his basement no less). They’ve since grown to 40 employees and have an enormous paper distro center in Wisconsin. One of the more interesting things about the company is their commitment to so-called “green” alternatives to paper manufacturing and distribution. One of the ways that they contribute is by using 100% wind power which eliminates 100s of thousands of lbs of CO2 being released into the air.

Visit The Paper Mill Store Website.

I keep seeing cool paper over at Paper Mojo - the latest are these interesting holey “Fiori” papers. I wasn’t able to find an article that talks expressly about Fiori paper but apparently they are a type of Japanese unryu paper. I think Unryu translates to “Dragons in Clouds” or something like that - it’s a mulberry fiber paper made by swirling longer fibers in kozo pulp.

The holes that are in the paper are very interesting because they are actually reinorced eyelets punched into the paper. The material surrounding the eyelet is actually raised up around it, providing even more texture to the paper.

This type of design was made by Vivant, a Dutch designer well known for creating interesting types of paper. They come in sheets that are 27″ x 39″ and there are a bunch of different colors to choose from. Shown here is pink, but they also carry the Fiori paper in pretty pastels like lavender, light blue, pale yellow and pale green, along with orange red and white.

Vivant Fiori Paper - $4.75 per 27″x39″ sheet
available at Paper Mojo.com

It’s awfully difficult to pick out just ONE item to feature from the Mahar Dry Goods shop. They carry a line of some incredible vintage and artisan crafts, clothing and toys.

But to start out with, here is a modern take on old school cut-out paper dolls. Emily Martin’s three dolls (Charlotte, Gretchen and Stella) are simply adorable and come printed on heavy 8 1/2″ x 11″ cover stock. The muted tones they’re drawn in look almost like watercolors. The dolls come pre-dressed with undergarments, socks and shoes, but you can do a bit of mix ‘n’ matching with their wardrobes which include dresses and costumes. The clothing has folding tabs to secure them to the dolls. All of the items need to be cut out, so you’ll definitely need scissors.

Black Apple Paper Dolls - $16.00
at Mahar Dry Goods

I saw these diecut paper stacks on Joann the other day, these are called “Pocket Full of Posies” and are meant for scrapbookers who want a little sparkle on their pages. These smaller Mat Stacks measure about 4.5 x 6.4 inches and can be used for anything from paper crafting to creating photo mats. They differ in size quite a bit from the usual 12×12 sheets. There are 72 sheets of vivid and colorful paper included here for your scrapbook needs.

Pocket Full of Posies Paper Stack
Scrapbooking & Card Making at Joann.com!

I saw these familiar Chronicle Books Mix n Match packs posted over at the wonderful Print & Pattern blogspot. This great Cath Kidston stationery pack sports colorful flowers along with designs that look similar to wallpaper, including polka dots. Cath Kidston is actually a well respected designer from Britain who specializes in vintage home prints and other related items.

We’ve previously posted a few times about items in this popular mix & match line which were easy to scoop up on Amazon, but it turns out that these aren’t out for another couple of weeks at least - so you’ll either have to wishlist them or pre-order.

More great papers from Paper Mojo - their latest feature focuses on Chiyogami Paper and although they often feature plum and cherry blossoms, chrysanthemums, birds and bamboo the one I chose to show here is a sort of abstract blue pattern that looks almost like plant cells.

I had to do some research on what Chiyogami is and as expected the root of the word “-gami” means paper (It is sometimes called “Yuzen” in the U.S.) The first part “chiyo” actually means a “thousand generations” (?). The paper itself is often used for origami as an alternative to washi paper, but it also gets use in various other paper arts for small items like decorative boxes.

Continue reading “Blue Rondel Chiyogami Paper” …

We’ve earlier talked about Klutz’s Twirled Paper toys. Here’s another fun idea for kids paper activities: tissue paper flowers that are supposedly “good enough to fool bees.”

This booklet provides all the materials that you need except for scissors. It comes with 75 sheets of different colored tissue paper, heavy cardstock templates for adding realistic touches, and green pipe cleaners for the stems. As with most Klutz products, the instructions are super easy to follow, and with the templates and flower know-how you can extend the activity to using other different types of paper.

The best thing about these flowers may be that you don’t have to have a green thumb to make them - nor do you have to water them!

So maybe your valentine is the type of person who doesn’t like heart-shaped items. Maybe they’re into dots. In that case, you might want to check out the selection of paper over at Paper Mojo. The latest feature is called “Dazzling Dots” and includes a wide array of brightly colored polka dot paper.

I picked out this Batik Dots Handmade Mulberry paper to show, which sports pink, purple and orange concentric circles on a natural cream colored base. These beautiful papers are handmade in Thailand, and the way they do it is by using melted candle to block out portions of the mulberry paper before dying. (I looked up Batik, and it’s a word from Indonesia that refers to “a generic wax-resist dyeing technique.”

In any case, the end result are these wonderful sheets of 21″ x 31″ paper. They also have different color schemes for the dots including blue/green and yellow/tan.

Batik Dots Mulberry Paper - $3.25/sheet
available at Paper Mojo.com

Continuing the Valentine’s theme, here’s another kit that the kids might like. It’s called Straight from the Heart: A Make-Your-Own Valentine Card Kit and features enough stickers and patterned paper to make 45+ valentine cards.

I think it also comes with a stencil as well as instructions and creative tips on how to make your cards special. The kit is a 32 page book and would be a fun paper arts activity for children - one that doesn’t involve the mess of paste or library glue!