We worked hard for it and now we’re seeing the results – a whole lot of exciting Paper Source product featured in the press this holiday season! The fun part about seeing our products in these wonderful magazines are the great ideas their creative teams come up with on their own – often with new uses we hadn’t thought of, that we love!

Better Homes and Gardens really showed us off with their story on holiday trimmings. Our Solid Wrapping Papers in pool, moss and red are coupled with our Moss, Pool Diagonal Stripes Wrapping Paper, along with gift wrap from our good friends at Snow & Graham – an inspiring mix of pattern and color. They used the 2010 Paper Source Mini Calendar to top a gift box in place of a bow (a great idea if you’re shipping a gift wrapped package since a bow might get smashed in the mail). The pool January page of the calendar looks so fresh with the red and white wrapping paper featured.

Another clever idea is using our Moss, Pool Diagonal Stripes Wrapping Paper as a bellyband around a pool package, then topped with a band of red wrapping paper that’s trimmed at the end to look like ribbon! It’s all held in place with a Pool Border 2.75″ Circle Label and a 1 1/4” Chartreuse Circle Sticker in the center – we love the layered look!

InStyle got crafty creating homemade wrapping paper with many of our rubber stamps. I love how they used the Alphabet Rubber Stamp Kit to stamp a recipient’s initials onto solid gift wrap – a great way to call out whose gifts are whose under the tree. I also love the Fleur de Lis Rubber Stamp done in gold on pool wrapping paper – very French. And finally, they used a technique that we too like to use – making dots of ink with a pencil eraser… so easy!

In their Christmas Ideas magazine, the folks at Better Homes and Gardens came up with another clever use for our product. Featuring our Red #1 Baby Envelopes tacked onto a background of our Moss Flourish Wrapping Paper, they created a 12 Days of Christmas activity calendar. They rubber stamped numbers onto metal-rimmed key tags you find at the hardware store to count down the days. Beginning with Christmas Day and ending with Twelfth Night, each envelope holds a holiday activity – making cookies, sledding, ice skating, and others. What a wonderful way to remind us all to celebrate the joy of the holidays!

p.s. Real Simple and Redbook each featured our 2010 Paper Source Wall Art Calendar – thank you, thank you, we’re so glad you love it too!

– Cindy
PS colors: pool & red
Latest fave: Dutch Woodcut Floral Wrapping Paper

Come to a Paper Source store this weekend for free holiday demonstrations and “make & take” projects… AND be one of the first to see the brand new at-home Letterpress Machine! We are so excited about this amazing table top machine that allows you to make your very own letterpress cards. Paper Source is one of the only vendors in the country to carry this item, and we’re thrilled to give you the opportunity to see how it works in person.

11:30am – 12:30pm • Holiday Gift Wrap, Accents & Hang Tags – Make & Take
During this hands-on make & take, we’ll show you how to dress up your holiday packages and hostess gifts using our baby #1 envelope template, hang tags, punches and more.

12:30 – 1:30pm • Keen Holiday Shapes & Kraft Ornaments – Demo
Learn simple tricks for dressing up our kraft ornaments with ribbon, adhesives, glitter, and paper accents. Perfect for hanging on your tree and adorning your holiday packages.

1:30 – 3:30pm • The NEW Letterpress Machine – Make & Take
Be one of the very first to see the new at-home Letterpress Machine in person! We’ll show you how to use this table top machine to create amazing letterpress cards. You’re sure to fall in love and be inspired to make your own letterpressed holiday cards this year!

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 (especially to see the Letterpress Machine!) as supplies are limited and available on a first come first serve basis.

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

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

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

We welcome one of our newest crafting accessories: clear cellophane bags! Though the product itself is really basic (how exciting can clear bags be?), there are literally hundreds of ways you can fill and decorate these handy food-safe bags. Here a few easy gift wrapping ideas, perfect for the upcoming holiday season!

Halloween Goodie Bags
What you might need: Papaya #10 Folded Backing • Small Cellophane Bag • Bone Folder • Metal Ruler or Straightedge • Black 1/4″ Satin Ribbon • Scrap Paper • Skeleton Rubber Stamp • White Colorbox Inkpad • Opaque White Embossing Powder • Heat Embossing Tool • 1/8″ Hole Punch

1. To create the skeleton tag, cut a piece of scrap paper to your desired size (I cut a 1 1/2” x 6” piece, which folds in half to create a 1 1/2” x 3” tag). Stamp the skeleton with the White Colorbox Inkpad, sprinkle with Opaque White Embossing Powder, shake off the excess, then heat emboss. Punch a hole in the top corner of the tag to attach to the bag with ribbon.
2. The #10 folded backing becomes a colorful liner for the cellophane bag. To do this, use a bone folder to score the backing card 2″ from the bottom, then fold to make an “L” shape. Insert the backing into the bag – the short folded portion will line the inside bottom of the bag, and the long portion will line the inside back of the bag. Make sure to place the backing against the back seam of the cellophane bag so the seam doesn’t show from the front.
3. Fill the bag with goodies!
4. Fold the top pre-scored portion of the backing card down over the top of the bag to close. Use a 1/8″ hole punch to punch holes through the bag itself where it intersects with the pre-punched holes in the card.
5. Feed 1/4″ Satin Ribbon through the holes and knot in the front. Before tying a bow, string the skeleton tag through the ribbon to attach.

That’s it, so easy! If you’re making several goodie bags, remember that it’s always easiest to work assembly-line style. So score and fold all of your #10 folded backings first, then cut all of the ribbon, then create all of your tags, and so on.

Valentine Goodie Bags
This lovely bag doubles as a Valentine’s Day card and a special gift! Read the rest of this entry »

While planning our Girls Night Out: The Grateful Table we listened closely to the many customer requests we have received this year. Your wish list for a pre-holiday social crafting night included:

• A fun evening of inspiring ideas and some “not too serious” crafting
• Table accents appropriate for Thanksgiving, as well as for the holidays
• Secrets for packaging “fast and easy” hostess gifts
• An event early enough in the season to allow time to make all of the great ideas, at home
• Ideas for building new family traditions at the Thanksgiving table…my favorite request of all

While this is a lot to accomplish in one evening, I loved the challenge of fitting it all into a wonderfully fun and festive Girls Night Out…this is our way of saying “we’re grateful for you!” Many of the ideas featured at this event come from my fellow Paper Source colleagues, and what a joy it was to learn about the ways they celebrate the season with their own families. I hope you’ll join us and be inspired to bring some of our ideas to your family.

Mark your calendar for our Girls Night Out: The Grateful Table, on October 22 from 7-9pm. Visit our workshops page to register at your local store.

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

I’ll admit there’s some pressure when you’re giving a gift to a fellow Paper Source employee – they know the products and secrets all too well. We recently threw a baby shower for our lovely and talented coworker who is having her first baby, and I put together a gift basket on behalf of the group. Filled with all kinds of special baby goodies tied individually with satin ribbons, the basket came together nicely…but I wasn’t quite satisfied.

Though full to the brim, the basket itself was lacking so I added a banner strung across the front with miniature paper animals secured to a ribbon with tiny wooden clothes pins. Irresistible and easy, I promise. I cut out the animals from sketch drawings I did on the back of our dots gift wrap keeping the silhouettes simple and rounded. If animal shapes seem too detailed for you try cutting triangles for a pennant banner instead. This extra special detail made the gift one to remember.

p.s. We are so excited to announce the birth of Molly – congratulations to new mom, Carolyn!

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

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 »

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 »