Our new swatchbooks have arrived and with them our yummy new colors, peacock, persimmon, sunshine and paper bag. We’re all about color here in the Design Department, and there is a certain giddy vibe that comes over us when the new swatchbooks are ready. It’s sort of like the satisfaction of getting shiny new school supplies in the fall.

Inside you’ll find a page in every color of the PS palette, as well as handy shape and size guides for our cards, envelopes and enclosures.

They’re so useful for planning a project…even take it with you when shopping for decorations and flowers to match colors to your invitations!

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

My oldest daughter just went to sleep-away camp for the first time. It’s a big deal for both of us – she’s a bit reserved and home-based, and I like having her around! Of course I wanted to send her off with materials to write our family lots of letters (we’re five days in and nothing has arrived yet). She left with a cool set of Sukie stationery with 4 different types of writing paper and patterned envelopes (available in stores only at this point).

More importantly, I wanted to send her special notes each day to let her know how proud we are of her new independence (and how much I miss her, though this cannot be written too much!). I am so proud of the awesome camp stationery that I made using Martha Stewart camp-themed 12×12 scrapbook paper and stickers, tied to some of my favorite colors in envelopes and cardstock (peacock, persimmon, paper bag, curry, and pool). I lined envelopes using the envelope liner template kit with bandana, wood grain, ladybug and gnome-in-the-woods paper patterns. I cut the 12x12s into smaller cards or just trimmed them to fold into my A2 cards. Stickers went on scalloped cards to created 3D campfire scenes or corresponded to an icon in the liner pattern (e.g. an owl, bunny, trail sign, gnome). Most of these “ingredients” are still available in stores, but not all are online (though various interpretations are possible!).

My hope is that every note she gets makes her feel good because it is a connection from home, but also because each one is so cool that she will feel proud and show them off. When we dropped her at the bus for the ride there, I gave her a note written on a piece of 12×12 paper. I used a white uniball pen to write on the side that looked like a tree trunk (wood grain pattern), and then gate-folded it so that the opposite side pattern (woodland gnomes and creatures) came together and was sealed with a cool 3D gnome sticker. One of her friends looked over and said, “That’s cool. You’re so lucky your mom works at Paper Source”. So true!!

Cheers!

– Sally, Paper Source CEO
PS colors: papaya & pool
Latest fave: 2011 Paper Source Academic Grid Wall Calendar

Jot lists, to-do’s and ideas on this E-Z to make and stylish notepad. Make it tall, make it small! Customize your notepad colors to suit any mood or room in your home. Handmade notepads make fun gifts for friends – don’t forget to pair them with paper covered pencils!

–Annie
PS colors: gravel & beet
Latest fave: Japanese 8 1/4″ Scissors

Materials needed:
How to PDF
3-4 packs of A2 Note Cards (use two different colors for a jazzy pad!)
PVA
Glue Brush
2 Rulers
1-2 Jumbo Binder Clips

Instructions:
1. Stack A2 Note Cards (alternating colors optional). Jog sides back and forth on a flat level surface until desired edge is completely flush.
2. Cover one edge with PVA to bind cards.
3. Carefully sandwich the glued edge between two rulers, then clamp with jumbo binder clips. The rulers will protect the paper from the clips. Set aside to dry.
4. If necessary, apply another layer of PVA and set aside to dry. Once completely dry, unclamp and use!

For my last blog entry as a summer intern at Paper Source, I interviewed someone who embodies creative inspiration – Annie, our Craft and Visual Merchandising Designer.

What do you do on a typical day at work?
Everyday I brainstorm new kits, how-to ideas for the stores and our blog, as well as physically work on numerous craft assignments. I make samples for our stores such as cards, invitations and paper kits. I even make birthday banners for PS employees!

Where do you get your inspiration?
Ironically, I rarely use paper craft books for inspiration. Instead, I like to look at kid’s catalogues, knitting books, kid’s story books, and store window displays. These sources usually provide simple shapes that can be easily translated into paper crafts.

How would you describe your crafting/artistic style?
My style is mostly whimsical and quirky. My crafts usually appeal to the light-hearted person who is a child at heart.

What is your favorite type of project to work on?
I like projects that form organically from kits that we’ve created in the past. For example, the flower petal shape from our Gerbera Daisy Flower Kit served as inspiration for our new Mums Wreath Kit coming out this fall. One day I noticed that after curling the daisy petals and playing with different shapes and colors, they transformed into a completely different flower.

Why do you like to craft?
Crafting for me is a form of creative expression. I like it because it transforms something so basic as paper into interesting and fun objects. Working with paper is unique because with just a few simple tools, you can create so many different things.

What are your favorite summer colors?
I like the combination of bright, bold peacock with pure white.

–Lauren
PS colors: curry & paper bag
Latest fave: Leaves 4 Bar Letterpress Stationery

For the design team, working on the Paper Source calendar collection is a true joy and privilege. Having all of us work on the 2011 calendars results in a creative variety of design and illustration styles, tied together in look and feel by the PS color palette. Like clever little squirrels, we spend the year gathering inspiration and sketches so that come spring, we have a surplus of creative ideas for our new calendar designs!

You can see some of our favorite illustrations, patterns and designs in our 2011 Letterpress Calendar, Wall Art Calendar, Mini Desk Calendar and Academic Grid Calendar. Have you seen Archie the dog? Or the classic cruiser bicycle (see Elaine’s bike inspiration)…or the serene forest? You’ll also see our new colors­ Persimmon, Peacock, Sunshine and Paper Bag featured prominently throughout the designs.

This year, we were given the opportunity to create brand new calendar formats! So, without further ado, please allow me to formally introduce 3 new additions to the Paper Source calendar collection:

1. Great BIG Calendar: Clean, classic typestyles in bright bold colors on our lovely new Paper Bag. As the name implies, it is nice and BIG so you can see it halfway across the room! The Great Big Calendar is perfect for a classroom or office.

2. Booklet Calendar: To be truly honest, Read the rest of this entry »

We reached out to you recently for guest blogger submissions and received many great stories about how you use your favorite crafting essentials. We’re thrilled to introduce our first guest blogger, Andrea Boudewijn, whose creative inspiration is simply delicious! Here’s her story:

Hi PS Fans! My name is Andrea Boudewijn and I’m a baker of wedding cakes and confections who loves to shop at Paper Source in Pasadena and Beverly Hills. As a cake maker, I’ve often looked to Paper Source for tools I can use on my cakes. I know what you’re thinking: What could a paper store offer that could be used at a bakery? More than you can imagine. Everything in the shop is an opportunity to get a creative edge on my cakes, but today I want to talk about a tool I reach for and use every single day: The bone folder.

If you’ve used one, you likely know its primary purpose: To aid in the clean, precise creasing of hand made notecards, origami, and other projects needing paper-folds. But in the shop, we use the comfortable, slightly-rounded face of this tool to smooth and heal our fondant and gum paste. The comfortable grip, organic feel and convenient shape allow us to rub out wrinkles, tuck fondant under a cake tier for a clean line, and on occasion texture the surface!

Once we have the fondant and gum paste smooth and perfect, we dig into our collection of PS rubber stamps to decorate. It makes an image so much more precise to use a stamp (with edible food coloring, of course!) then paint over or around it for the desired effect. We also use them in a repeated pattern to create unique texture on our cakes. It takes a steady hand and lots of math to get it exactly right, but that’s our kind of everyday creativity.

photo credit: Andrea Bricco

When we’re doing a suite of confections (‘sweet’ of confections? Blerrrg…), we love to Read the rest of this entry »

It’s nearly impossible to walk past a Paper Source store without stopping to admire the creative and colorful window displays. If you are like me, you may have simply assumed that the items in the windows – whether giant paper dolls or bigger-than-life pastel paper magnolias – are mass-produced by machinery. But I learned on my very first day as a Paper Source intern that every single item in a Paper Source window is made by hand.

One of my first projects this summer was to help make multicolored whirls from envelopes that are now displayed in the windows of our new stores in Corte Madera, California and Houston, Texas. We made these sunburst shapes in our new PS colors: persimmon, peacock, sunshine, and paper bag; using four different envelope sizes. I worked along side Maria and Estela, two of the master crafters here, who work every day to make the beautiful items you see in our windows, as well as the samples in our stores.

Often, our window displays are inspired by Paper Source kits sold in our stores, and are so well liked that customers have even asked to buy the display items to use as decorations in their homes or children’s bedrooms!

Now after having been at Paper Source for close to six weeks, this dedication to maintaining authentic artisanship doesn’t surprise me. Paper Source goes the extra step to preserve the unique character that making crafts by hand produces. The thought and care that goes into every project here is truly outstanding.

–Lauren
PS colors: curry & paper bag
Latest fave: Leaves 4 Bar Letterpress Stationery

It’s funny “living” in a space – you tend to overlook things after awhile, especially when it’s busy (which at Paper Source, it always is!). But all around our office space in Design, there are inspiring moments, some of which we have created. The old doors Sue, Paper Source founder, use to collect for our very first stores, now serve as a “bulletin board” for the inspiration gathered by our Design team – magazine pages, fabric, print outs from the web, etc. And Ms. Linda, with her artistic photographer’s eye, has captured their grit and beauty – a gentle reminder to pause and look around every so often!

P.S. Take a close look at what inspires our team, perhaps you’re somewhere up on our inspiration doors!

– Cindy
PS colors: persimmon & paper bag
Latest fave: Keep Calm and Carry On Water Bottle and Colored Dots Insulated Lunch Bag

Make the mundane magnificent by covering mechanical pencils with beautiful papers! Improving on an already classic idea and using refillable – not disposable – pencils makes complete sense in this time of reusing and recycling. Enjoy the fruits of your labor over and over (and over again)!

–Annie
PS colors: gravel & beet
Latest fave: Japanese 8 1/4″ Scissors

Materials needed:
Mechanical Pencils
Decorative Paper (Indian & Japanese papers work best!)
PVA Glue
Glue Brush
Scissors
Guillotine Paper Trimmer (optional)

Instructions:
1. Cut strips of decorative paper to fit lengths of mechanical pencils, with a 1/4” overlap.
2. Coat backs of decorative strips with PVA. Wrap around barrels of mechanical pencils just below erasers.
3. Reuse over and over and over again!