Every Saturday morning I look out my 15th floor window to the tiny farmer’s market that sets up just a block away from my apartment. I can’t wait to walk by each stand to see the fresh produce picked just days earlier. But my favorite is the fresh cut flower selection. Many times I don’t even buy anything, but I still enjoy exciting my senses – the variety, texture, and infinite color combinations nature allows is inspiring.

Something I’ve learned from flowers is that there are no wrong color combinations. In fact experimenting can lead to the most unexpected and wonderful color combinations. This past weekend I picked up some cockscomb in curry, red, dusty pink and deep purple. Accented with bright green leaves, it’s truly perfect. I can’t stop staring at them on my dining room table.

For me the lesson learned is don’t be afraid of color, of mixing colors, and taking tips from nature!

–Kristen
PS colors: pool & chocolate
Latest fave: Gold, Pink Dots Nesting Box – great to have around for last minute gift wrapping.

This past Sunday I turned 37. How can I be 37? My birthday always makes me think of back to school time. I still remember being 7 or 8 and getting my new school shoes in early August and letting them sit in their box in my closet until I got to wear them on the first day of school. I would open the box every day to smell the new leather and would plan what to wear for the first day of school for about a month. Too bad I don’t get a new outfit and shoes bought for me every August anymore….boo hoo….being an adult is so hard! I am however excited to buy myself a new date book. This fall I’m going to buy the L’apres Midi Date Book. It’s so cute with little watercolor illustrations and French sayings painted throughout. It’s also really cool because it is an any-day diary, meaning it comes without specific dates. You just plug in your own schedule. It seems so happy to me and I like that quality in something I have to look at every day!

There are a couple of other new things Read the rest of this entry »

After Linda (head of workshops) described this technique to me I just had to try it! Embossing on ribbon? Sweet! I think it works best with rubber stamps that have a clean bold image like this cherry blossom. Imagine how lovely this would be wrapped around a package or used to embellish an invitation.

Be on the look out for cool (and free) in-store demos – this embossing on satin ribbon technique was featured in stores this month!

–Annie
PS colors: eco-white & pool
Latest fave: 12″ Guillotine Trimmer — great for cutting large sheets of paper!

Materials Needed:
Pillow Favor Box – Luxe Fino White
Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes trying to be environmentally conscious and still loving to shop puts me in a bit of a bind. We all have that one friend who claims to care about the environment but nevertheless drives a three-ton suburban mini-tank to her yoga classes, or happily sucks down 14 plastic bottles of water a day. Fortunately, in my ongoing quest to avoid being a total hypocrite, I have discovered a few gift ideas that we carry at Paper Source that are both environmentally responsible and attractive. One problem that I’ve always had with eco-gifts is that I love bright, saturated colors, but “green” items tend to be full of neutrals—lots of burlap and browns. Lucky for me reusable and colorful Read the rest of this entry »

We’re really excited around here about our new Paper Doll Kit. Our staff can’t seem to get enough of it–many of us and our families have been spending countless hours coming up with fun ensembles and paper doll characters (and their pets)– and we’re not done yet!

We thought we’d start sharing some of the doll creations that have been circulating the halls here. (The dolls shown here were created by Haley, daughter of Rhonda in HR, with some help from brother Evan, and by our summer intern Tracy.)

More to come — we hope you enjoy this new kit as much as we do!

P.S. A great tip from Crysia, the store manager at PS in Boston: in addition to the removable adhesive dots in the kit, try using Xyron repositionable adhesive for doll clothing and accessories– great for using those outfits again and again.

–Fabra
PS colors: gravel & chocolate
Latest fave: Teflon bone folder

Clockwise from top left: ballerina and go-go gal made by Haley; pilot made by Tracy; robin hood and redhead made by Haley and Evan.

In addition to being eye-catching, this fancy bookmark allows you to sandwich multiple pages to keep your place. Of course, the decorated front can be stamped with any image and embellished to your heart’s content — I went with an India-inspired theme.

A great way to show your love of reading with a perfectly poetic statement!

–Annie
PS colors: eco-white & pool
Latest fave: 12″ Guillotine Trimmer — great for cutting large sheets of paper!

Materials Needed:
8 1/2″ x 11″ Beet Cover Weight Paper
Read the rest of this entry »

Like all faithful paper geeks, my favorite part of gift giving is the wrapping. Here are two unusual techniques I like to use that often get a “wow.”

Origami box
An origami box is a super cool way to make your own gift box out of any paper. This site has great instructions for creating the box. Here are a few additional tips to keep in mind:
- To create the box base, just repeat instructions cutting a square approximately 1/8” smaller. This will allow the lid to fit over the base.
- Experiment with different papers to accommodate the weight of the gift you are wrapping.
- Be sure to go back in and reinforce any folds (especially sides of box so that edges are crisp) using a bone folder. Use double stick tape or decorative stickers to hold the inside flaps of box secure (see photo). Read the rest of this entry »

Did you know that you can create your own embossed design on solid ribbon? We’ll show you how– come check out our free hands-on demonstrations this Saturday, August 15 in stores to learn this simple technique for dressing up favors, gifts or invitations. Just stop by between 11am-2pm, no reservations required!

We’ll also be demonstrating how to use our super cute new owl kits (which are all the craze this year and really easy to make), plus some fun ways to put our new grid calendars to use long past 2010, transforming each month’s art into things like gift boxes, stationery and file folders.

Saturday, August 15 Demo Schedule (all Paper Source stores)
11:00am Owl Kit
12:00pm Grid Calendar Templates
1:00pm Embossing on Satin Ribbon

Hope to see you at the stores this weekend for some fun hands-on learning!

Cheers,

–Linda
PS colors: chartreuse & pool
Latest fave: Saddle Stitch Notebooks

A typical day in my life:
4:30am- get up, do yoga for ½ hour
5:00am- take shower
5:15am- walk dog
5:30am- drink coffee, watch the weather, get dressed
6:00-6:15am- leave for work, drop Gus off at Doggie daycare
7am-6pm- WORK-WORK-WORK
6:15pm- pick up Gus from Doggie daycare
7pm- whew! Finally get home, scramble to find something for dinner
7:30pm- eat dinner w/hubby, talk about Gus and what he did that day
8:30pm- watch a little T.V.
9:30pm- check my email
10pm- go to bed…. Read the rest of this entry »