Playing with Paper
I love stationery, always have. Initially, I began with just cards – birthday cards, the just because funny Hallmark cards, Christmas cards. Then I began a love affair with stationery sets – pretty matching paper and envelopes, most often with some kind of floral motif.
When the rubber stamping craze hit I spent hours making my own stationery and cards. That phase faded but I still have dozens of House-Mouse stamps, Peanuts Gang stamps , a beloved Mr. Spock. I keep stamps with favorite quotes such as “Dear Lord, please put your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth” on the windowsill above my kitchen sink. They never grow old and they add a bit of whimsy to the boring task of dealing with the dishes. I use others as little decorations on shelves throughout the house.
I also used them (for a short time) in scrapbooking. Long term I found this particular hobby too time consuming but for a paper lover, this pass time was a dream come true. Fantastic stickers, colorful cutouts, gorgeous background pages – for me, every page was a new adventure in decadence. I’ve kept some supplies just to play with.
Even though I don’t make my own stationery anymore, I still love the stuff. It is hard to find the boxed sets of letter size stationery and envelopes now so I have switched to collecting note cards. I love the variety of designs a local book store carries and it is always fun to send them to someone I am thinking of. Since I often think of these people in the middle of the night, I am sure they appreciate the note rather than receiving a call! And the note cards are the perfect size for sending a simple, heartfelt and blessedly short message.
Because I am a girl who loves whimsy, I am not quite suited for the fine stationery available at Smythson of Bond Street. The fun note pads that Colorful Images sells are more my style. I dream of someday visiting a shop such as Marie Papier in France, who carries, according to rumor, amazing stationary.
So what about you, do you like to play with paper? If so, what kind do you like?
– Maggie AAR
Ever since I was little I loved small tablets. I don’t know why and I don’t know of anyone else who does. All I know is that I’ll never be able to use them all.
On of my hobbies is bookbinding, which means I collect wrapping paper of all sorts and designs. Wherever I go on holiday, I usually travel back with this long tube of rolled up paper.
I have recently decided I want to design my own greeting cards, using flower photographs. I need to experiment some more with different sorts of cards as a basis, however.
Paper is just the most beautiful material!
One craft project I like is to make recycled paper using botanicals. Usually I mount them as pictures. The sad thing about stationary is noone writes letters anymore. I don’t think as many people send traditional Christmas cards these days either.
I don’t make my own paper but I do occasionally make my own cards, basically just using my photographs. I have been to the Smythson on Bond Street, and their products are expensive. Lovely though. :)