We have a wonderful customer here in Dedham who loves to create her own special holiday cards and decorations. She visited us recently on our Grand Opening Day in search of a Thanksgiving placecard idea, perhaps a twist on our classic Turkey Placecard Kit. Along with my fellow associate, Calla, I had some fun concocting this adorable turkey placecard for her using our Owl Placecard Kit as inspiration.

We chose chocolate 4bar oval scallop cards for the body, and cut a few in half to create feathers. We cut poppy 4bar oval scallop cards into feet and a beak, and used red cover paper to make the waddle.

We gave our turkey some stylish eye shadow using gold 1.25″ circle labels. Two circle hole punches created the large white and brown eye components, and a 1/8″ hole punch was perfect for the small whites of the eyes. We think our turkey has some attitude.

Our customer was thrilled with our creation, and we’re looking forward to seeing her group of turkeys soon!

–Colleen, Paper Source Dedham Store
PS colors: beet & chocolate
Latest fave: Flocked Gift Boxes

We are so excited about our Annual Holiday Open House this Saturday and Sunday at all Paper Source locations. In addition to our holiday demonstrations, this year we’re giving you an opportunity to do “make & take” projects so you get hands-on experience learning some of our favorite decorating tricks. The best part – it’s all FREE!

11:30am – 12:30pm • Holiday Greetings Sent with Style – Make & Take
Learn how to dress up & coordinate your holiday greetings with this hands-on rubber stamping and envelope lining “make & take”.

12:30 – 1:30pm • Kraft Boxes for Hostess Gifts! – Demo
Using paper, sealing wax, and ribbon we’ll demonstrate how to dress up our kraft boxes for lovely Thanksgiving gift giving.

1:30 – 2:30pm • Festive Stamped Notes & Place Cards – Make & Take
In this festive stamping and cutting “make and take”, you’ll see how simple it is to dress up place cards, as well as the Thanksgiving table.

2:30 – 3:30pm • Thanksgiving Table Décor – Demo
When it comes to easy and colorful table accents, our favors and place card ideas are just what you need. Let us inspire you with kits, stamping accents and embellishing techniques for the table, as well as for the hostess!

3:30 – 5:00pm • Creative Crafting Time
Explore rubber stamping, heat embossing, quickie glue pens, glitter and more during our free Creative Crafting session. Please contact your local store for this “reservation required” crafting experience.

Come early to our make & take sessions as supplies are limited and available on a first come first serve basis. If you can’t make it this weekend, be sure to mark your calendar for our second Open House weekend November 14 & 15.

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

I recently had the pleasure of reconnecting with my childhood friend, Sarah, who moved away long ago when we were in elementary school. What an amazing surprise to find that over the years Sarah has become a wonderfully talented crafter and has fallen in love with Paper Source. In April of this year Sarah got married in beautiful Charleston, and I’m thrilled to be able to share some of the incredible things she created for her big day.

Sarah said it all started with a trip to the Paper Source Georgetown store. In searching for inspiration she kept in mind her wedding location – a historic Charleston building right on the waterfront. She was looking for something that would emulate the colors of a sunset. What she found was a decorative Italian paper glittered in golds, oranges and blues. She knew right then that print would become the aesthetic for her entire wedding day.

First on her list were save the dates, and Sarah wanted something bold and unique. With a little coaxing from the Paper Source associate she was working with, Sarah decided that she could only get the perfect design by creating it herself. Using A2 matchbooks, colored brads, and the Italian paper, Sarah put together a beautiful four page save the date booklet. Each handmade save the date took 30 minutes to make, but Sarah was so pleased with how they turned out she said it was worth every minute.

The first page of the save the date booklet featured a US map that listed fly and drive times from various locations where their guests would be traveling from to Charleston. She also included an introduction about the wedding and the events to come.

The second and third pages Read the rest of this entry »

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