I’m so in love with our Chalkboard Sticker Frames! We use them around the store to highlight upcoming workshops and events – so much more fun than flyers. I usually write on the chalkboard surface with Bistro Markers, but I’m always looking for new ways to decorate them. So, what about rubber stamping?

It works! I experimented with various rubber stamps using the Bistro Markers as ink. Turns out it’s an easy way to add fun images to the chalkboard – no artistic ability required! I found that the best rubber stamps to use are those with intricate designs – they are so impressive against the black backdrop!

A few quick steps: Draw directly onto a rubber stamp using a Bistro Marker – covering the entire surface. Press your stamp firmly onto the chalkboard. Lift the rubber stamp carefully so you don’t create any smudges. The image should dry in seconds!

p.s. Bistro Markers wipe off a chalkboard surface with the help of glass cleaner sprayed onto a paper towel!

–Catherine, Paper Source Alexandria Store
PS colors: gravel & curry
Latest fave: 2010 Cavallini Easel Calendar – Italia

When I travel abroad, I take a few photos of famous monuments and statues. But what I really love to capture are common elements like doors and windows. And the most remarkable to me are not the ornate or gold-plated, but the understated ones on tiny storefronts and countryside homes…the ones the locals walk through and look out everyday. Simple and modest, but so rich in color, texture, and feeling.

It’s fascinating the way that color is used in architecture throughout Europe. Homes and businesses show off their personalities by washing their walls in color, or using colorful doors and shutters as accents. Sometimes it’s nature creating the final color as with the rustic green patina that develops over metallic surfaces. Even if the colors are vibrant they feel demure, never flashy.

Photographs like these inspire me to pause for a moment at the everyday things… and remind me why I love to travel!

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

Masking is a very cool rubber stamping technique that involves layering rubber stamp images to create depth. By rubber stamping images one on top of the other using masking you give the illusion that images are in front or behind each other. I’ve demonstrated this technique in the 5 steps below – give it a try to add visual interest to your next rubber stamping project!

Here are the materials I’ve used in this demonstration:
• My own hand carved rubber stamp
• Sky Blue Color Box Inkpad
• Moss Color Box Inkpad

1. Stamp Your First Image: For this demonstration I’m masking using a single rubber stamp with two different ink colors. The first image you stamp will be the one in the foreground of your picture. Ink the rubber stamp in your first ink color and make your impression.

2. Create The Mask: Read the rest of this entry »

Just about every year, I find myself moving to a new apartment for one reason or another. This time around I wanted to send a creative handmade moving announcement to my friends and family to let them know my new address, instead of another mass email. In playing around with some of my favorite materials, I ended up creating the perfect “I’ve moved” postcard!

I rubber stamped and embossed the front of a postcard, and addressed each one.

To the back of the postcard I attached a 2 1/4″ x 3 1/2″ glassine envelope and added the message, “I’ve moved! Write me at my new address…”. I inserted a business card with my new address and sealed with a circle label. Such a fun and unexpected presentation!

Sending postcards lets you save some money on postage as they only require postcard postage stamps, and your friends will be more than thrilled to receive something fun in the mail! If you’re worried about the glassine envelope staying attached in the mail, you can always slip your finished piece into an envelope for protection (though all of my postcards made it safely to their destinations!).

–Catherine, Paper Source Alexandria Store
PS colors: gravel & curry
Latest fave: 2010 Cavallini Easel Calendar – Italia

Materials Needed:
Postcards Read the rest of this entry »

My sister, a third grade teacher, is always looking for creative kids craft ideas. She recently asked me to come up with a fun project she could do with her students for Halloween. When I think Halloween, I think monsters, which led to these colorful paper monsters. The basic shapes are made from circle cards, printable labels, and scrap paper. For a fun dimensional look I combined two circle cards, folded the top card in half, adhered the top halves of each card together, and left the bottom halves free to create an open mouth.

The idea was to let the kids be creative when making their monsters, so beyond showing them some samples, they were free to add horns, eyes (however many they desired!), claws, teeth, etc. For finishing touches we used Stickles glitter glue as slime, warts, boogers…you get the idea.

The motto of this craft project: “No Rules, Anything Goes!”

–Ryan, Paper Source Reston Store
PS colors: moss & khaki
Latest fave: PS Printable Labels

Turns out the new Stylish Self-Adhesive Mustaches at Paper Source aren’t just for Halloween – I use them to turn everyday errands into funny adventures! Recently I bought a pack of these when a friend of mine was visiting from Los Angeles. While we toured all of the famous Chicago landmarks, we took photos of ourselves sporting the different mustaches. Sure we got a few glances from strangers, but we had tons of fun and ended up with a wacky photo album documenting our “mustache adventures.”

Next I want to dress up a few everyday household items with mustaches – a can of soup sporting the Sheriff mustache…a toothbrush donning the Bruiser mustache. Imagine what you could do with the images with a little Photoshop work! By the way, these mustaches also work perfectly as bushy unibrows – just turn them upside down.

Sometimes in life you just need to be silly, and these mustaches do the trick!

–Keri, Paper Source Evanston Store
PS colors: pool & chartreuse
Latest fave: Birds Water Bottle

More and more people are throwing parties and insisting that their guests not bring presents… “No presents, just your presence” seems to be the theme. In these tough economic times, that’s not a bad thing. However, I often find myself wanting to bring at least a little something – a token of my friendship with that person. I’ve found recently that a handmade card can be just the thing.

Recently, a friend threw a surprise birthday party for his wife. The Sunday before the party, several of us gathered at my house where I pulled out my boxes of cards and craft supplies. Having moved across the country, I have gathered Paper Source materials from several stores: Chicago, Evanston, Carlsbad, Georgetown, Alexandria, San Francisco, Beverly Hills, and Thousand Oaks (lucky me, I know). By now I have quite an extensive collection of labels, blank cards, envelope liners, rubbers stamps, stamp pads, embossing supplies, rub-on transfers, ribbon and other materials. The plan was to create one-of-a-kind birthday cards for our friend.

At first, the room was quiet as people rummaged through the supplies and formulated ideas. Some started immediately cutting and gluing, others sketched out a draft of their design…and many started one idea, stopped, started another and so on. You can learn a lot Read the rest of this entry »

This Saturday all Paper Source stores will be celebrating the Grand Opening of our 32nd store in Dedham, MA! If you live nearby, we invite you to visit our newest store at Legacy Place for our Grand Opening Event, where you can enter a raffle to win cool Paper Source goodies and check out our brand new digs! In celebration, Dedham, along with all Paper Source locations, will be featuring an entire day of creative crafting demonstrations.

WHAT: Paper Source Dedham, MA Grand Opening Event (with demos at all store locations)

WHEN: Saturday, October 24, 11am – 4:30pm

WHERE: Legacy Place — 728 Legacy Place, (781) 407-5867

WHY: We’re offering free creative demos on how to dress up envelopes, make some of our fall kits, embellish with rubber stamps and more.

We hope to see you there!

–The PS Dedham Team

Our last Girls Night Out of 2009 – The Grateful Table is coming up this Thursday at all store locations. In addition to a fun opportunity for you to spend an evening with friends exploring creative hostess gift giving and learning to make beautiful accents for your holiday tables, this a wonderful way for you to thank others by giving them the gift of our Girls Night Out. Treat your next-door-neighbor, babysitter, or any of the other people in your life you are oh, so grateful to, with a ticket to this wonderful event!

WHAT: The Grateful Table Girls Night Out
WHERE: All Paper Source stores
WHEN: Thursday, October 22, 7-9pm
HOW: Visit our workshop page to find your store & purchase your $30 ticket.

We look forward to sharing our great ideas and inspiration with you, all while gluing, stamping and sipping a glass of wine. The best part: you’ll receive 10% off all your purchases that night.

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