The Amazing World of Paper

I love fancy paper. I love the look, the feel, and the untapped possibilities of what may be. Initially, I wanted seal and send type invitations, I felt they were a unique and green choice and a way to push my creativity to it's blissful limits. Of course, that was before I started cruising around wedding sites and paper stores with their amazing choices of folders, pockets, scalloped edges, ribbon trims, and monogrammed seals.

As you may remember, Friday was a very bad day. :( Saturday morning Jesse suggested we go into the city for the day. Walk though the park, have lunch, and check out Paper Source on Boylston Street. YIPPEE YIPPEE KY-HAY! It's not often that Jesse wants to got into the city, and it's not ever that he wants to go into a paper store and browse for wedding invitations, so I was super excited. Finally, a reason to wear jeans and a top (I split most of my time between scrubs and yoga pants).

Saturday was a beautiful day in New England, perfect for walking in Boston. After a slight problem with detours and limited parking, we found the perfect spot and hit the city streets. We found Paper Source without problems and for a few minutes I was in heaven. Then, I became overwhelmed. There were so many choices! I should have come more prepared, but at least I got to see and touch. The colors were more magnificent than on the web and the sizes and shapes were much easier to understand. We left without buying anything but with a paper catalog in hand which is much better for me than trying to control the browsers ("now, where did I see that yellow one?, which link had the directions?, what does that package include?") So, we've narrowed it down to a few choices (i think), and I'm posting them here for your enjoyment.




Kinwashi Sheer #10 Booklet: I like this but it will need some stamping to dress it up a bit, most likely with a branch and bird detail, pine cone detail, or pine tree detail. What I like about this one is the natural stick detail at the top, the ability to personalize with detail, and the good price, what I don't like is the lack of color, and the work that will be involved to find the perfect stamp detail and the time it will take to "get 'er done."
Gold Brocade #10 Booklet: This is the same style but with color, which I love. That means no stamp detail needed, although it could definitely be done on the inner layers. What I don't like is that I'm not sure about the shades of colors. They are listed as Coral, Papaya, and Gold. I don't have a problem with the gold but I'm not sure about the coral and papaya- they may be too "tropical" and not enough "country in the fall." I'll have to go back and take another look. Am I sounding crazy yet?

Here are some stamping possibilities, also from Paper Source:


And, another stamping possibility from Paper Source:



As you can see, the choices are endless. Hopefully, we're on the right track. Any suggestions? Favorites? Let me know what you think, and let me know where you get your stamps from- these one's aren't my favs but I'm not sure where to start looking.