Staples calling all Specialty Paper Sellers, You Know Who You Are

Staples called this week. It got me to wondering about the world's largest office supply store and why they don't sell more of the Specialty Paper.

Paper.com is very good at selling Specialty Paper and we have about 40,000 types online.

Staples sells "Specialty Paper" too, about $300mm per year. However, Staples defines specialty paper a bit differently. They are referring to anything that is not white and 8 1/2 x 11 as specialty paper.

It is interesting to me that we all define specialty paper so differently. For Staples it represents about 300 papers. For Paper.com it represents about 40,000 papers.

In fact, for Paper.com the most bizarre and unusual papers are probably specialty papers. Edible papers. Waterproof papers. Earth friendly papers. Handmade papers. Therhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifmal papers. Carbonless papers. Paper made of plastic, like Tyvek papers or Yupo papers which are synthetic papers for watercolor projects.

How about textured papers? We have laid finish, linen finish, , rough, smooth and supersmooth. Exactly how smooth does a paper have to be to be supersmooth?

Or, we can consider inclusions. Paper is usually made by pulping cotton or wood into a pancake batter substance that is sprayed on a screen like you would find on a screen door, but finer. Water drips through the screen and the fibers of the wood or cotton line up and bond together naturally so that when its dry, its paper. During this process it is common to drop leaves, flowers, and other items into the paper during the drying process so that these items become part of the paper. Each sheet of paper is unique. Paper.com sells thousands of these unique, specialty papers, both by the sheet or by the pack.

Here is today's interesting specialty paper, Stone Cinnamon, an embossed paper:

Paper CD Case

You'll need this after you burn a copy of High School Musical 1 or 2.

How to fold the paper case:

1. Fold the left and right sides (lines labelled "1" and "2").

2. Fold the bottom edge up to the line labelled "3". Then fold it back. This part will be the pocket.

3. Fold the top edge down to the line labelled "4" and then fold it back. Then fold the top edge down the the line labelled "5" and then fold it back. This will make the spine and top flap.

4. Spread the sides of the pocket to the sides to create "wings". Beginners can do this by folding lines "6" and "7" (first wing) and then lines "8" and "9" (second wing). Or, fold "6" and "8" and then "7" and "9". The fold lines may be off slightly depending on your printer.

Steps 5-7

Holy Pink Batman!

A good prank gone horribly pink. See what happens when some rowdy friends, armed with pink wrapping paper, redecorate Jacob's flat whilst he's away.

Art installation or gaudy tomfoolery?

Paper.com Robot Insurance

I found this image here. In addition to paper robots, the site features other cool toys and spaceships made of paper. The paper robot looks like the new imagery used by Finch Paper that we saw at the On Demand Show in Boston.



Finch Papers from Paper.com

Finch Color Copy 24# Writing 12 x 18 - Bright White
Finch Laser 24# Writing - 8 1/2 x 11 - Bright White

In case you're wondering...

Paper.com carries Old Glory Robot Insurance.

Mr. Paper?

Is this a picture of Mr. Paper? The identity of Mr. Paper is the one question we're asked most frequently. Frankly, none of the contributors to this blog have ever seen Mr. Paper. He communicates with us using [warning: shameless promotion plug] the many fine stationery products available from Paper.com.

Danger, Will Robinson

Motorists delayed after lorry sheds paper rolls

MOTORISTS were delayed after a lorry collided with a car and shed its load of paper yesterday.

The large articulated lorry struck a car at 12.45pm on the London-bound A2, around 200 metres from the junction with the M25.

Read more

The Souper Dress (Andy Warhol Campbell's Soup Paper Dress)

The Souper Dress Andy Warhol Campbell's Soup Paper Dress



So far there have been fourteen people who responded to this picture and most of you want to know where you can get a Souper Dress.

How much are they worth? Does anybody out there want to sell a Souper Dress?

There is one in Ebay right now with a Buy It Now price of $4000. Sounds like a bargain to us.

I see one sold recently in Ebay for $2250. Here is the description:

"This A-line dress is printed with the Campbell's Soup can label design. These dresses were inspired by Andy Warhol and were produced by Campbell's as an advertising campaign when paper dresses were popular in the 1960's. They were a mail-in offer.The label at the back of the neck has "THE SOUPER DRESS No cleaning-no washing It's carefree fire resistant unless washed or cleaned To refreshen, press lightly with warm iron 80% cellulose, 20% cotton". It has never been worn. It was unfolded to photograph. There is some slight yellow aging from vintage condition. There are no tears or rips that I can find. It has been packaged ever since I got it in 1968.

In March of 2007 a dress like this sold through Phillips de Pury for $19,000.00 and I have seen several sell on Ebay for over $3,000.00

Buyer pays $4.60 for shipping and I would suggest insurance which the price varies depending on the selling price. I prefer to be paid with cashiers check.

On Sep-17-07 at 12:00:42 PDT, seller added the following information:

I have added pictures to show the yellowing. The worst is on the back of the left shoulder and carries over to the front. There is also some on that back of the skirt."