Can you believe that Easter is right around the corner? It is so early this year! So, if any of our readers are scrambling to complete plans for their gathering, I thought I’d take the pain out of filling those Easter baskets by recommending a few of my favorite gifts for Easter.
The unseasonably warm temperatures have many of us thinking Spring already. It’s a welcome relief for us Chicagoans, considering some of us experienced a full-on blizzard last year. (Not me! See: California Dreamin’)
Sunshine days, lighter evenings, blooming tulips and nature provide perfect inspiration for Spring crafts. In addition, our craft selection has been infused with new and colorful options.
Here are a few of my favorite items…
As paper lovers, many of us have been inspired by the latest additions to our fine paper assortment. There are now 250+ styles, and each has their own unique style.
How do you choose one?
Laura, Fine Paper Buyer for Paper Source, asks herself this question on a daily basis. She swims in an office filled with beautiful colors and incredible patterns, searching for the perfect compliments to our solid paper and envelopes and inspiration that helps you Do Something Creative Every Day.
To help us decide, we asked Laura to tell us about her latest faves. Not only did she point out two amazing styles, but she also provided a great background on the art of handmade paper.
Love is all around and this year we found new gift items — along with adorable cards, kits and crafts — that you are sure to fall in love with. Whether you’re looking for something quirky or sweet, you are sure to find the perfect little thing in our latest Valentine’s Day gift selection.
Father’s Day is approaching and, whether your dad is sweetheart or a geek at heart, we have unique gifts for dad.
Geek is the new cool, so for the geek dad we have tons of options. The Geek Pen is my personal fave – It comes complete with a stylus, flexible LED light, UV light, red laser pointer, and clip. It is the ultimate gift for Dad to nerd out on. We also have a Geek Dad book with great geeky projects, like “Building the Best Slip N Slide Ever.” It’s just in time for summer fun! Read More
Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching and, while our best Paper Source Valentine’s Day products are our paper Valentines, we thought you might like to hear about our favorite gifts for celebrating the season of love.
My personal favorite is the tiny papel picado garland. The paper cutting technique is done by hand in Mexico, by artisans who chisel through layers of tissue paper to create beautiful garlands. This mini banner would be an adorable addition to your cubicle or office for Valentine’s Day!
At my house the stockings have always been my very favorite thing at Christmastime, both opening mine and shopping for them. And, here at Paper Source, we have tons of great items for stockings, from candy to toys to little coin purses. Even glitter or stamps make great stocking stuffers!
The newest and coolest items for women and teens are the colorful flip flop bracelets. Intended to be purchased in multiples (each one is unique), these are made from recycled flip flop parts and remind me of the jelly bracelets I loved as a kid. Another great stocking stuffer for ladies is the mushroom knit bag. It was hand knit in Nepal and is so cute!
It is so warm here in Chicago. It hardly feels like it is almost Thanksgiving! In fact, it feels a little weird to talk about my favorite holiday products when I didn’t even wear a coat to work, but here goes…
For crafting, a couple super-easy, but super-impactful items are the Snowflake Trim Double Edge Punch and Tinsel & Twig embellishments.
For this blog entry I wanted to focus on some of my favorite new kids gifts! One item that I like simply for its cute design and Japanese aesthetic is the Momiji doll. The new ones for fall are Snuggle (with the mushroom hat) and Happy Birthday (with the adorable pigtails and a cake for you!). These sweet little dolls are collectible and have a hole in the bottom where a child can store secrets or place special notes for friends. It’s a whole new way to pass notes in class.
Since it’s back to school time I thought I’d choose one of my favorite teacher appropriate cards and tell you a little bit about the company who created it. The card I’ve chosen is called Apples made by Salmonberry Studio on Whidbey Island, Washington.
Salmonberry Studio is actually a lovely woman named Francy Kling Blumhagen. An artist for over 30 years, Francy got her art degree in painting from the University of Washington in Seattle. She works in a variety of media including block print, woodcut, collage, and wax resist. While Francy was busy creating art, her late husband, Bob – who I had the great pleasure of knowing before he passed away – ran the business side of their little publishing company. He LOVED their company with all his heart, and when Paper Source met the pair at a trade show several years ago, we began a long lasting and memorable relationship.
