Paper Arts

Today's featured retailer is PaperArts.com. An awesome on-line store that offers an amazing variety of papers for a very reasonable price.

I talked to the owner of Paper Arts, C Grey, about her incredible site and decided I had to share this gem with everyone!!

I asked how she got started and it was rather an amusing story...."When the local paper store was closing down, I thought about opening a store and woke from a dream with the idea to purchase the phone number from the existing business. A deal was struck for the phone number and I had customers the first day my doors were open." Talk about a dream come true!!

You will not believe the collection of papers offered here. Stocking over 2,000 - yes that is two THOUSAND different handmade, decorative and fine arts paper. The paper sizes range from 8x10 all the way up to 28x40" sheets. For your convenience they do offer 3x6" swatches of all of their paper each labeled with the paper name and item number. An excellent tool for color matching before purchasing the whole sheet.

When we were talking, C shared this fun bit of trivia about paper making with me....Papermaking was invented in the Orient about two thousand years ago and the basic steps remain much the same. Raw material, such as Abaca found in the stock of Banana trees, or bits of Cotton rag are beaten to a pulp and suspended in a vat of water. Then the mould, a fine mesh in a frame, is dipped in the vat. When lifted, the mould holds a layer of matted fibers creating a sheet of paper with a deckled edge. Wet sheets are stacked between felts and pressed to remove excess water, then dried. Today's handmade paper combines Old World craftsmanship with Modern Technology.

I asked C where she found all of her sources and amazingly enough she has contacts in 18 countries and usually deals directly with the manufactures both large and small. I found that very interesting because she went on to tell me about various factors that you never think about when you purchase papers like this. She was explaining how she has lost several paper vendors in the past year due to natural disasters such as Tsunamis, Typhoons and the fear of civil unrest in our ever changing world.

Here are just a few of her experiences in the world market:

*The price of gas in Nepal is $8.00 dollars a gallon and electric service is intermittent.

*The Lokta paper is made up in the Mountains and brought down on the backs of donkeys to market.

*One of the major paper mills in the Philippines was destroyed in a fire.

*When the Tsunamis struck Thailand it not only destroyed the paper mills, the water removed all the plants that the paper was made from.

*The women's co-op in Africa is not making paper at this time, due the treats of kidnapping.

*A Typhoon in Japan reached a paper mill specializing in Washi paper. The handmade wooden blocks used to print the paper were damaged beyond repair and are too costly to replace.

*There is a woman who makes cattail paper from the marsh located behind her house!

So many fun stories!

After spending some time browsing the site I asked her what was her favorite papers and why.

"Gampi paper has a wonderful surface and is great for collage, alternative photography and printmaking. Good quality Gampi paper is hard to make and even harder to find with the family owned paper mills closing down in Japan.

Marbled Metallic Paper from Thailand is very exciting to use as every sheet is unique with a wrinkled surface that is very forgiving and the designs are hand created. This paper is excellent for book arts, collage and lampshades as it is strong and translates light very well."

Now, I don't think if it were me I would be able to choose just one or two. I'm thinkin' I'd have trouble just narrowing it down to 8 or 10 - LOL!!! (I'm going to tell you about some of my fav's in a minute.)

A bit about the store it's self...Paper Arts ships to the USA, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Alaska, Hawaii and also Canada. The reason for this is once you leave these areas it's not possible to track shipments making it impossible to ensure that your package arrives safely. There are no minimum orders. C & Paper Arts understands you may only require a few paper art supplies at a time and want you to be able to order exactly what you need. C would love to talk with you about your project or answer any paper questions, it's how we stay connected with trends and our customers needs. You may shop for papers using one of 2 methods....alphabetical or by color (simply click on one of the color boxes under the main menu).

Oh and I almost forgot...Paper Arts offers up loads of other cool items you might need....Stationary & Vellum; Ribbon & String; Embellishments and so much more!!!

Now, like I mentioned earlier...I just could NOT just pick one or two favorites so here are a FEW of my fav's....

*Ancient Tablet Paper in Copper/Black #1533 - OH MY!!! This stuff is so cool...it is a very rough, textured paper! LOVE the color.

*Bark Amate Paper - Dark Purple #1014 - O.k....the photos of this stuff just does NOT do it justice. The pattern you see in the photos is much more evident in person. I used purple as the example but all of this stuff is great! BEAUTIFUL colors.

*Bark Fiber Sheets #2035 - OMG ~ this is way cool...it's like a sheet of very thick cheese cloth that once it is wet can be stretched and molded for various applications. I'm going to dye some with my reinkers!!

*Bark Woven Amate Paper #1866 - another way cool paper. When they say woven they really mean it! It's got a very defined weave to it that is awesome! You just have to see it to kwim. I can think of loads of fun stuff to use this on!

*Cavallini Paper #1953 - Paris Postcards - this stuff rocks...it's actually 28 Paris themed post cards! You can cut them up and use them for cards, ATC's; collage, etc. Or you could leave it whole and use it. Talk about a bargain...

Well, see, I'm only up to the C's and I've already got 5 favorites ;) I tell you, you're absolutely going to LOVE this place!!

Now, it's your turn!

YES ~ another GREAT give-a-way!!!

Tell me what your favorite or favoriteS are...(be sure to include the item # so we can use the search option to check em all out).

You'll be entered to win a $25.00 gift certificate from Paper Arts so you can buy that favorite paper or whatever else your heart desires.

You have until October 25th to post your comment!!

So come on people...tell me what you like!

and remember....

You can't win if you don't post!