Get Inspired: Make Your Own Christmas Cards!

There’s something special about a handmade card. You get to add all your own personal touches, whether you enjoy drawing, lettering, or decorating with stickers and stamps. It also allows you to get creative, and make each one unique! 

 Our favourite blank cards are brought in from Italy. They have a beautiful texture and gorgeous deckled edges. There are matching envelopes to go with them, and a choice of the white and cream colours. We also have a variety of coloured envelopes and card stock paper to help you make any kind of card!

With thicker paper, you don’t need to worry about what kind of pen you’re going to use. You can choose any type of pen you'd like!

One of the most fun parts is, of course, decorating your cards! 

We also have so many different papers that you can use to collage your card! Go nuts with shapes and layers and textures of paper. You can make little winter scenes or keep it simple and classic. The choices are endless!

Our favourite way to finish up our cards is, of course, to seal it with sealing wax! With a whole rainbow of wax colours to choose from, you can put a different colour on each envelope!

Whether it’s for Christmas or birthdays or just to send a bit of love, handmade cards are sure to convey your sincerest feelings.

Just don’t forget to get your cards out nice and early so that they arrive in time for Christmas!

Handmade cards by @Recchiaprints.
Blog by Christine Wiebe

The talented Mr. Joseph Wu

In the western world we might think of origami as a small square piece of paper that one can turn into a crane. We might think of a children's folding game. As parents we might think origami would be good to help children follow instructions while keeping them occupied. We do not tend to think of inspired design, mathematics, architecture or therapeutic applications and certainly not vodka advertisements! Now we are thinking Joseph Wu!

But Joseph Wu knows all this and much more about origami's amazing applications and potential. He has been commissioned by advertising agencies throughout the world and his works have been thus published in magazines from Rolling Stone to Gourmet. 

Wu's latest inspiration is the kirigami technique which is paper cutting and he told us he is having lots of fun with it. In fact, it seems Wu has a lot of fun no matter what he is making. He started doing origami when he was 3 and made his first original design at 11, its no surprise it was an X-wing fighter from Star Wars. If you want to meet Joseph and other like minded creators you can head over to a group called PALM that meet monthly. Besides the immense talent and originality of Wu's original origami works his sense of community and sheer enjoyment of sharing the pleasures of origami is heart warming. Find him on Instagram and Facebook too.

Should you buy your wrap and tape before you choose a gift?

​​you might want to when you see these our new papers and masking tapes!

a tactile and visual feast, something for everyone.​

peels off easily, ​cuts easily, let your imagination run wild. 

Duct Tape, yep, there's an annual festival for that!

It is called the Avon Heritage Duct Tape Festival. It is held during the Father's Day weekend, because we all know how much men love duct tape. They often consider it an actual "tool" like a hammer or saw! Other than basic carpentry tasks, there are a lot of other fun things to make with decorative duct tape. Covering old books and journals as seen here is useful, quick, and fun. I am not going to list all the things I have seen made from duct tape...like bows, wallets, dresses, necklaces, hats, and a whole array of wild imaginative items. It is pure duct tape madness out there.

Some samples of our tapes in the store right now are candy cane, denim, paisley, polka dots, chevron, gingham, skulls and the linen pattern in an assortment of colors.

It might be time to duct tape something in your household!

We have discovered some great goodies for you and thought you might like something new to play with!

We often ask our customers what they are going to do with the papers they are purchasing. It is always amazing to see the transformation. Here is an email we received recently. Thanks Kaarina!

Hi there,

I thought you might be interested to see what happens to some of your papers after they leave the shop. I’m attaching some photos of my ‘box’ purses, which are made almost exclusively from reclaimed materials. 

The basic structure is cut from corrugated cardboard boxes and lined with paper shopping bags; the strap is bicycle inner tube. The only new material I’m using is the exterior paper, almost all of which is from Paper-Ya. Although the basic materials are somewhat industrial, the fine papers give the purse a more elegant look. I normally sell my work at Circle Craft (just down the hall from you). I’ll be delivering these purses next week, and expect to be dropping in at Paper-Ya frequently.  photographer – Doug Williams 

Kaarina Talvila

Fun for all ages (part 2): how to create Halloween ghost & spider web origami the easy way [videos]

Spider Web Origami:

You'll need:

1. Origami papers* (golden paper for the spider web; white paper for the ghost)
2. Scissor
3. Hole puncher
4. Pencil/pen

Ghost Origami:

For tutorials on pumpkin & bat origami from our previous posting, click here

Thanks, Makiko!

* Paper-Ya has one of the largest selections of specialty origami papers in Vancouver