JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser.

2010

Hide X

Change your selection

Now Shopping by

Type Blog Remove This Item
Year 2010 Remove This Item

Buyer’s faves for back to school — Lindsay

paper

I haven’t been “back to school” in over 10 years, but when the time comes around it is always nice to freshen up my lunch accessories (celebrating “still at work”!). It brightens up the fact that summer is almost over. This year I brought in a bunch of adorable back to…
What inspired your big day?

Meg Kowieski

When planning your wedding, what inspired you? It’s interesting to reflect on this question after the fact. My friend Linda shared photos she had taken from my wedding in the fall of 2007, and through these photos it’s clear – the place John and I were married, on the shores on Lake Michigan,…
Get organized – get naked!

paper

I love my job! Part of the fun comes when our buyers find a new product that screams creative possibilities – the new Naked Binder (fun name, but I can’t take credit for that) is one of my latest favorites and is the feature of our Creative Organization Workshop taking place this Thursday,…
Ask Annie

paper

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…
Our first guest blogger! Introducing Andrea Boudewijn…

paper

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…
Behind the glass: a look into PS window displays

paper

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…
Inspiration doors

Meg Kowieski

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…
How-to: paper covered pencils

Meg Kowieski

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…
Perfecting kids crafts by learning from the experts

Meg Kowieski

What’s more fun then an energetic group of kids (girls ages 4-10 and one brave 8 year old boy) and a bunch of cool papers, shape cards, glitter glue, ribbon and shiny gems? On a rainy Saturday morning, nothing! In order to learn more about what kids love to work with when crafting, we hosted... The…
Love our crafting essentials? Be a guest blogger!

paper

We recently compiled a list of Crafting Essentials: our favorite tools that make projects easier and more professional…the tools we think everyone who loves doing creative things should have. Now we want you to tell us why these products are a must-have for you – tell us how you use any…
Girls Night Out: Sassy Personal Stationery

paper

My how time flies when you’re having fun – we can hardly believe this is our 4th Annual “Summertime Girl’s Night Out”! You told us you wanted more stationery, more rubber stamping, plus new cool and unusual ideas to take you outside the proverbial creative box! Our upcoming Girl’s Night…
Why we love the Silhouette

paper

A lot of the time, it’s the small things in life that make me happy. But, every once in a while… it’s the big things! The Silhouette SD Digital Cutting Tool is one of those things. Roughly the size of an average inkjet printer, this machine is definitely a crafting power tool. It allows you... The…
Inspired design: marigolds wrapping paper

Meg Kowieski

I’m a big fan of doing photographic research while I’m concepting a new illustration for Paper Source designs. For me, having a strong idea and concept make the designs more thoughtful, and more compelling; it should be meaningful. So for our new Marigolds Wrapping Paper, I had quite…
Welcome to the family Peacock, Persimmon & Sunshine!

Meg Kowieski

We are just so thrilled to show off our three new colors (well, four when you include beloved Paper Bag from earlier this year!). Selecting new colors for Paper Source is a lot of fun, but a big responsibility. In order to make one new color, we have to commit to 10,000 pounds of paper.... The post…
“Cute as a button” baby shower

paper

Another Paper Source baby is on the way, and last week we celebrated new mom-to-be, Heather! Between the three of us we brainstormed all sorts of baby shower ideas, eventually landing on a “cute as a button” theme, which worked perfectly for a gender-neutral baby shower. Using our button…
Girls Night Out: Paper Flowers!

paper

Here at Paper Source headquarters in Chicago winter seems to linger until mid-May, so we can’t tell you how much pleasure we get from having the warmth of sunshine finally hitting the Midwest. Everywhere we look we see greenery – the hopeful anticipation of those colorful summer flowers, many of…
Congrats to our $100 gift card winner!

paper

Thank you ALL for coming to our “birthday party!” We were delighted to see all of the enthusiastic comments and wonderful suggestions for things we can bring to the blog. We are touched to know that Paper Source has been a part of so many memories from weddings and births to birthdays…
How-to: hamburger party invites

Meg Kowieski

Looking for a summer party invitation that will WOW your guests? Send them a tasty hamburger with all the trimmings, including your party details! Such a fun and unique idea for cook outs and backyard bbqs. Our favorite part – it features one of our brand new colors…persimmon!…
Happy Birthday, PS Blog!

paper

Update 6/9/10 – Congrats to Terri from Dearborn Heights, Michigan – our blog “birthday party” winner! Put on your party hats – our blog is celebrating its 1st birthday and you could win a $100 Paper Source gift card! One full year of creative inspiration, how-to projects,…
Peek in our windows!

paper

Early this spring, we challenged our stores to do something creative in their windows inspired by our Paper Doll Kit. To quote our fearless leader, the results were “awesome”! Each store worked with the same guidelines: 1. Create an oversize template of our paper doll kit 2. Use a…
Picture this!…handmade frames

paper

Handmade picture frames as easy as 1-2-3! The beauty of this workshop is that we’ve done all the hard work of pre-cutting bookboard pieces for you. That means no fear, no sore fingers, no worries…leaving you with the fun part of simply creating! I know – you love us, don’t you? At our…
Spotted! Cupcake apron in Sex and the City 2

paper

One trend that I am totally into is the selection of cute and funky aprons on the market right now. We have been selling the adorable ruffled bohemian aprons from Funktion for years, like the Gia Apron, which is very fresh and springy in yellows and pinks. Funktion’s owner, Tara flies to…
New fave items for summer

paper

Lots of great new items for summer are here and I wanted to tell you about a couple of my favorites! First, I love our giant roll of 1,000 Admit One Tickets. They’re super fun for all kinds of summer shenanigans from family talent shows to movie nights around the tv. Hey kids, it’ll…
Don’t forget about dad!

paper

Father’s Day is only one month away, and let’s face it, dad can sometimes get the short end of the stick when it comes to sentimental gifts! Of course we know why… he would probably rather be watching a ball game (of some sort) or out fishing on any given weekend, but deep down he... The post…
Cake box centerpiece – baked with love

paper

For the past several years, I’ve been making “cake boxes,” putting chenille fabric, lace trims and other vintage baubles on craft boxes to resemble frosted confections. When I came across our Flocked Cream Fine Paper, I instantly recognized it as a perfect “frosting” for a cake box. With a few…
Congrats to our Mother’s Day Card Contest winners!

paper

After weeks of anticipation we are thrilled to announce the winners of our first ever Facebook contest. Collectively the twenty-six Mother’s Day card entries perfectly celebrated motherhood, both the many different kinds of mothers and the many different styles of mom. From retro to whimsy…
Paper Source Family Fun Day – May 15

paper

We never tire of hearing the line “We love your store!” Now you might expect this from our many brides and our wonderful following of designers and bookbinders, but the crowd we are both surprised and delighted to hear this from are kids! Our store associates can’t help but smile…
Kindergarten craft day!

paper

Once each year, I take a day of vacation and visit a grade school in my small hometown in Central Illinois. My husband and I are both from this small community of farmers and commuters, and have deep roots and relationships. My mother-in-law is a kindergarten teacher at one of the local grade…
PS Real Weddings: Laura

paper

Sometimes a bride goes above and beyond to create something truly magical for her wedding. With the help of friends, family and her 5th grade class, Laura brought a theme with personal meaning to life. Here’s her real Paper Source wedding story: Jon and I had a long-distance romance between Seattle…
Girl Power – tween crafting party!

paper

Did you know that Paper Source is the perfect place for a private party? Recently, a group of tween girls finished a soccer game in the morning, and then headed straight to our Evanston store for some fun creative time! We loved learning all about what inspires this age group – what are their…
Paper wall art

Meg Kowieski

My dad is a pretty handy guy, and so growing up, I was always encouraged to build, tinker and create. I remember as a little kid I was always outside in the tool shed with dad (yep, I was a daddy’s girl!) while he was working. Sometimes he’d give me a piece of wood, a... The post Paper wall art…
How-to: paper doll pool party invitations

Meg Kowieski

Dress up our oh-so-sweet paper dolls and turn them into adorable party invitations for a child’s birthday or even your BFF’s bachelorette shower. Ours is going to a pool party sporting the latest in pool safety with her very own inner tube. To create this accessory, slice a curved line…
Join us on Facebook: Mother’s Day Card Contest!

paper

We’re excited to announce our first ever Facebook contest in celebration of Mother’s Day! Our Facebook fans have the opportunity to win a Paper Source gift card by submitting a photo of an original Mother’s Day card creation using 100% Paper Source materials. Fans will vote for…
How-to: tweet mother’s day card

Meg Kowieski

Mother’s Day is a time to celebrate moms young and old. Our adorable chick mother’s day card is perfect for a new mom, or change the message and give it to any special mother. Made from mostly labels, this card is easy to make and is even a card kids can make for mom with... The post…
Fave spring gifts – gonzo for color

paper

Ask anyone who knows me—my mom, my co-workers, my old hairstylist Jojo—to describe me in three words, and he or she will inevitably use the word “colorful.” Rich colors, like rich flavors, tickle some deep joyful place inside of me. Fiery colors can warm up even the rainiest afternoon,…
New Silhouette SD Digital Cutting Tool

paper

I love, love, love playing with new crafting tools and am so excited that we now carry one of my absolute favorites – the Silhouette SD Digital Cutting Tool. It’s similar to a printer in shape & size and connects to your computer, but instead of printing images, it uses a tiny blade to…
What will you do for Earth hour?

paper

Three years ago I participated in the inaugural Earth Hour event. As a Chicagoan I planned to spend the hour on my rooftop in West Town, watching the lights of the big city dim, seeing how the bustling metropolis adapted to a brief moment of calm. I watched the lights fade one by one –... The…
You asked for it – Crafting Studio!

paper

We want to provide you more playtime in our stores! Honestly, isn’t that what creating is all about? Getting so lost in the “play” of a project that you feel, when you resurface, both invigorated and proud. We love that our customers have asked us for more play time, it gave US a…
Simple, sweet hostess gift

Meg Kowieski

Here is a really simple and sweet hostess gift idea that is a fun use for some of those beautiful little paper scraps that are too small for larger scale projects. Recently, I wanted to put together a little gift to bring to a friend who was hosting dinner, and noticed a Paddywax candle tin... The…
Play with color!

Meg Kowieski

In his book “Interaction of Color,” Josef Albers talks about his method of learning about color. He uses experimentation and observation to show how colors interact with one another sometimes in a deceiving way. This play can help you discover colors that are influencers and colors that…
Smiling faces from our Wedding Suites workshop

paper

It was so interesting to see what all of the couples – the brides, along with their entourage – created at last week’s Wedding Suites workshop. At our River North store in Chicago we had some really fun folks join us for an evening built around learning DIY basics for creating…
Bike love

Meg Kowieski

Anytime we work on new product development at Paper Source, it starts with a creative idea and then it leads to seeking out visual inspiration. Right now we’re working on our 2011 Paper Source Wall Art Calendar, and we wanted to include one of my favorite icons: a bicycle. I looked towards…
Kool handmade booklets!

paper

We love making these little versatile booklets – great for keeping track of projects, to give as gifts, even use as event programs. We love making them so much ourselves that we decided this would make a fantastic workshop. They’re so simple and can be made using a few different…
Paper Source Workshop: Wedding Suites

paper

We had such a great turn out for our Paper Wedding and Morning Tea events. What fun it was to show off our new wedding invitation collection, as well as to have the chance for our customers to experiment with wedding rubber stamps and assorted stamp pads at the demo and make & take tables....…
How to bake a paper wedding cake

paper

Here at the Charlotte store we were so inspired by this year’s Paper Wedding and the pictures of cakes featured on our sample invitation wall, we decided to put our culinary talents to the test and create a paper wedding cake! The best part — going shopping and finding all the…
PS Real Weddings: Lauren

Meg Kowieski

Here at Paper Source, the beginning of each new year means it’s wedding time! We start to see lots of brides in our stores over the holidays and come January the ruffles and cupcakes of wedding season are full on! This year, we thought it would be fun to share with you some Paper Source... The post…
Paper Source Workshop: Perfect Shower Invites

paper

When it comes to throwing a party, big or small, we hear from customers that one of the more challenging things is creating a theme. If you’re planning bridal shower or bachelorette party, you want it to be special for your guests and the bride-to-be. Lucky for you, we’ve pulled together some…
Hand-stitched with love

Meg Kowieski

Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how we created the cover of our most recent Paper Source catalog. Valentine’s Day is all about taking the time to show love, so we really wanted something handmade on our Valentine’s Day catalog cover. What we came up with was simple and lovely…