smaller than 8.5x11, 30+ colors, smooth or linen-like textured paper

[Kestrelco]

After WEEKS (yes, I am just that anal) of searching for this paper in Austin TX, Colorado Springs, CO and online... I am forced once again to rely upon you fine people to help.

 

I do not know who makes it. It was smaller than 8.5x11 - I would say something like5x7 perhaps.

It came in a very large selection of colors - the stores that carried it (30 years ago at the very least, but as recently as maybe 5 years ago) almost always had it displayed/stored in a cubbiehole like "box" mounted on a wall. If anyone is familiar with scrapbooking stores you will have seen the same colors/style in *cardstck*. I want to write on it. I used to buy it by the pound back in high school. It's a heavier weight than notebook paper or some stationery, but nowhere near as heavy as cardstock. It was wonderful stuff you could buy by the sheet (envelopes too) and I loved mixing and matching the colors. I believe the paper would hold up well to a fountain pen because it worked beautifully with some rather wettish Pilot felt tips I had back in the day.

 

I tried asking several Scrapbooking stores who made the cardstock or where it came from - none of them would tell me!

 

So. Anyone here have any ideas?

 

thanks!

[SueEllen]

I remember that paper! I'm sorry to be of no help. It was great paper with a fun merchandising plan. Clear acrylic cubbies. Sometimes, though, the beautiful stacks of color had suffered much mishandling. All day shoppers picked up the top sheet to feel it, then bought a sheet from the middle of the stack, leaving smudgy fingerprints across the edges of all of them. Bored children would rifle through the paper-piles with peanut-butter-and-spittle fingers. As top sheets became curled and dirty, shoppers began to feel up the next few pages for a quality test, then buy from the middle of the stack. Soon the edges of 30% of the paper were curled and dirty. I'm sure store owners had to toss a lot of it to keep the display looking nice, and I'm sure they cursed humanity every night. I guess what I'm saying is that this beautiful paper may truly be unavailable now. This may have been enough of a problem to cause the product to be discontinued. (Just guessing, from experience working in a store.)

[dizzypen]

My local scrapbooking/printing stores carry various colors, shapes, sizes, and thicknesses of paper by a company called "Waste Not Paper." I've only tried to write on their A6 card and it was not FP-friendly.

[indigirl]

Kestrelco, thanks for the trip down memory lane... I was totally into that stuff when I was in high school in the early 80s! & if you can believe it... I still have a small stash of it! When I read this I got out a sheet & tried a couple of fountain pens on it. Lo & behold, you're right, it's *great* w/ fountain pens! Anyway, PM me w/ your address & I'll send you a few sheets. They are mostly purples, blue, teal, & I have some that are teal w/ white graph lines, how 80s can you get!!? :roflmho:

 

My local stationery store has a similar concept going on w/ stationery by the sheet in the acrylic cubbies, but I am 95% sure that the paper selection is completely different from the linen-textured stuff we're talking about here. I think it's probably speckly recycled(-looking) stuff, but I'll go have a look next time I'm by there.

[Kestrelco]

Kestrelco, thanks for the trip down memory lane... I was totally into that stuff when I was in high school in the early 80s! & if you can believe it... I still have a small stash of it! When I read this I got out a sheet & tried a couple of fountain pens on it. Lo & behold, you're right, it's *great* w/ fountain pens! Anyway, PM me w/ your address & I'll send you a few sheets. They are mostly purples, blue, teal, & I have some that are teal w/ white graph lines, how 80s can you get!!? :roflmho:

 

My local stationery store has a similar concept going on w/ stationery by the sheet in the acrylic cubbies, but I am 95% sure that the paper selection is completely different from the linen-textured stuff we're talking about here. I think it's probably speckly recycled(-looking) stuff, but I'll go have a look next time I'm by there.

 

Thank you so much! I'll send you my address

 

I LOVED this paper - had a whole elegant color spectrum going, wrote letters to anyone and everyone just to be able to use that paper, and had I know it would become nearly impossible to find lo these many years later - I would have stocked up! Can't believe it's so darn 'rare' now... or in hiding if not exactly rare.

[Kestrelco]

I remember that paper! I'm sorry to be of no help. It was great paper with a fun merchandising plan. Clear acrylic cubbies. Sometimes, though, the beautiful stacks of color had suffered much mishandling. All day shoppers picked up the top sheet to feel it, then bought a sheet from the middle of the stack, leaving smudgy fingerprints across the edges of all of them. Bored children would rifle through the paper-piles with peanut-butter-and-spittle fingers. As top sheets became curled and dirty, shoppers began to feel up the next few pages for a quality test, then buy from the middle of the stack. Soon the edges of 30% of the paper were curled and dirty. I'm sure store owners had to toss a lot of it to keep the display looking nice, and I'm sure they cursed humanity every night. I guess what I'm saying is that this beautiful paper may truly be unavailable now. This may have been enough of a problem to cause the product to be discontinued. (Just guessing, from experience working in a store.)

 

OMG I know exactly what you mean! Even in high school I'd look at the paper and be so *irritated* that ppl would grubby it up!! PIGS total PIGS! ARGH! I'd find myself straightening it... and I didn't even work in the store. It just all looked so pretty in the cubbies... I sure hope there's an avenue to finding the stuff again - they had a terrific product. If anything did it in it was probably email and the internet.

[Kestrelco]

My local scrapbooking/printing stores carry various colors, shapes, sizes, and thicknesses of paper by a company called "Waste Not Paper." I've only tried to write on their A6 card and it was not FP-friendly.

 

yeah I've tried the cardstock from scrapbooking places - and besides just being too impractically thick, it was lousy with fps. Very disappointing.

[SueEllen]

I remember that paper! I'm sorry to be of no help. It was great paper with a fun merchandising plan. Clear acrylic cubbies. Sometimes, though, the beautiful stacks of color had suffered much mishandling. All day shoppers picked up the top sheet to feel it, then bought a sheet from the middle of the stack, leaving smudgy fingerprints across the edges of all of them. Bored children would rifle through the paper-piles with peanut-butter-and-spittle fingers. As top sheets became curled and dirty, shoppers began to feel up the next few pages for a quality test, then buy from the middle of the stack. Soon the edges of 30% of the paper were curled and dirty. I'm sure store owners had to toss a lot of it to keep the display looking nice, and I'm sure they cursed humanity every night. I guess what I'm saying is that this beautiful paper may truly be unavailable now. This may have been enough of a problem to cause the product to be discontinued. (Just guessing, from experience working in a store.)

 

OMG I know exactly what you mean! Even in high school I'd look at the paper and be so *irritated* that ppl would grubby it up!! PIGS total PIGS! ARGH! I'd find myself straightening it... and I didn't even work in the store. It just all looked so pretty in the cubbies... I sure hope there's an avenue to finding the stuff again - they had a terrific product. If anything did it in it was probably email and the internet.

 

Did you find that as soon as you began to straighten the display, people began asking you where to find a product or the price of a product? And if it's stationery or art supplies, you know the answer, and it takes a while before you have to explain that you aren't an employee? I feel very proprietary about paper and pens, and it shows.

 

At no point in my life would I have been permitted, or allowed myself, to have dirty hands in a store or touch anything I wasn't prepared to buy. So I bought some of that luscious paper and loved it. Of course, I had to buy from the middle of the stack; lifting gently with clean hands and tenderly pulling forward without knocking the rest of the stack askew.

 

I suspect that everyone in this forum has been raised as we have; handling writing materials with great reverence and rescuing abused paper from sloppily organized displays.

 

Anyway! Whichever of us finds this paper first, we'll post its location in this thread.

[OrchidUnicorn]

Oh yes! I both remember this paper and remember (1) being miffed that people messed it up {usually the color I wanted} and (2) straightening the cubbies! NOW, how DO we track this down??

 

Lashelle

[indigirl]

So, I looked at the stationery store & I was right, this is totally different stuff they're selling now & obviously not FP-friendly. I did put my *clean* hands on it to feel the surface & could just imagine the horrible feathering Too bad. They have some nice colors.

 

Ironically, on the same walk I stopped by another store to replenish spousette's supply of her signature fragrance, only to find that they had discontinued it over a year ago!

 

Moral of the story: either 1) stock up! or 2) don't get too attached to any particular product, whether it's stationery or perfume. Pretty sure #2 is better for sanity

[sombrueil]

I too knew and loved that paper. It was stacked in a clear acrylic sort of shelving that must have been part of the display. It had a smooth laid finish I think. Matching envelopes that were sort of square. I used it all the time. Especially a lavender and a grayish rose, those were sort of my signature colors. Back then I wrote with a rapidograph 00 exclusively! Spent many a happy hour cleaning and unclogging that thing. Those were good days.

[indigirl]

Back then I wrote with a rapidograph 00 exclusively! Spent many a happy hour cleaning and unclogging that thing. Those were good days.

 

Hee hee! Size 0 (gray band) for me. Either that or the cheapo Sheaffer fountain pen w/ peacock blue ink cartridges! Good times. :roflmho:

[sombrueil]

Back then I wrote with a rapidograph 00 exclusively! Spent many a happy hour cleaning and unclogging that thing. Those were good days.

 

Hee hee! Size 0 (gray band) for me. Either that or the cheapo Sheaffer fountain pen w/ peacock blue ink cartridges! Good times. :roflmho:

 

The sheaffer w/peacock blue cartridges was before. I tried the 000 but that was more unclogging than writing so I had to loosen my standards.

[Kestrelco]

Wow, an entire cadre of ppl who love this paper!! Now if only we could find it! I've looked all over the internet - *surely* it must be out there somewhere, but paper is popular (scrapbooking mostly) and finding that one vital link in the tousands of links has been impossible so far.

 

Thank you all for replying - nice to know I'm not alone out here!

 

I most certainly will post a source should I find one...

[Kestrelco]

Ok - don't get excited yet, but I may have found TWO potential sources of - if not the same paper, something very close.

 

The first is: http://bluedotpapershop.com/list.php?productid=1&papertypeid=1&theswitch=1

You can't buy it by the sheet - but you can buy it in 10 sheet packs (fairly expensive in my opinion, but hey...) I've ordered some sample sheets to see if it's what I'm looking for - and fountain pen friendly. I'll let you know when they arrive.

 

The second source has even greater potential to be what we're looking for, AND I have the manufacturer: http://tinyurl.com/2fry3pv

 

That's the direct link to the specific paper - check the home page for Roessler for other types of paper.

 

I found the name of the manufacturer by finding the paper on this site: http://www.katespaperie.com/store/category/stationery___paper/paper_by_the_piece/item/E0000234/rossler_85_x_6_text_weight_sheet/

 

And you CAN buy it by the sheet (from the maker and this shop) - and the size/description gives me a lot of hope it's the right stuff. I have NOT ordered any yet.

When I do I'll likely order from Kate's and direct - because I want to encourage ppl to carry this stuff in actual stores!

 

Anyway... hopefully my obsession pays off. Will keep you all posted

Edited May 16, 2010 by Kestrelco

[indigirl]

Don't get your hopes too far up... I am really not optimistic that these papers will be the same thing.

[Kestrelco]

Don't get your hopes too far up... I am really not optimistic that these papers will be the same thing.

 

Yeah - way too much to hope it's the same stuff, but if it's similar enough.... oh yes. I'll be buying it!

I don't have any of the samples I ordered from Bluedot yet. I did make a small purchase from Kate's which shipped today.

Hopefully by the end of the week I'll have them both. <rubbing hands together al la Mr. Burns>

[mackthepen]

This paper is made and sold fairly locally to me

 

http://papermilldirect.co.uk/card-and-paper

 

and comes in a range of sizes, colours and textures. The ones that I have tried are fountain pen friendly.

 

I don't know how much shipping to the USA would cost though.

 

Andrew

[OrchidUnicorn]

Don't get your hopes too far up... I am really not optimistic that these papers will be the same thing.

 

Yeah - way too much to hope it's the same stuff, but if it's similar enough.... oh yes. I'll be buying it!

I don't have any of the samples I ordered from Bluedot yet. I did make a small purchase from Kate's which shipped today.

Hopefully by the end of the week I'll have them both. <rubbing hands together al la Mr. Burns>

 

Please report back with a review! Like you, if it is close...I'm in!

 

Lashelle

[Kestrelco]

DISCLAIMER: I love paper, I love writing, but I am a fountain pen noob. I do not have a wide variety of pens or inks at this point, so cannot hope to approach even a tenth of a degree of the range most of you fine people are accustomed to. Also – I do not know a great deal of terminology you use to describe how pen/paper interact, but I will do my best to give you good review.

 

 

Pens/Ink tested with:

Lamy Safari fine nib with default Lamy blue ink

Lamy Safari med nib with Noodler’s Brown ink

Platinum cheapo eye-dropper pen from Noodler’s Heart of Darkness order.

 

Papers:

Bluedot -

http://bluedotpapershop.com/all.php?productid=1

 

Tested:

Solid Color: Steel Blue, Sno Cone, Olive, Whip Cream, Charcoal Brown, Wine

Fiber and Confetti: Flecks Birch

Linen: Linen-Natural

 

There were inconsistencies in the performance of the paper under ‘Solid Color.’ None had bleed-through, but some had see-through with the med nib Brown. It was not enough to be a problem even with both sides of the paper being written on – but it was visible. Sno-Cone feathered, but not badly. Charcoal Brown looked nothing like its website image and it and Wine are far too dark to write on. Sno-cone and Steel Blue were not as their name (or website image) portray so I would caution there’s some possible color differences and to order a sample (.50 per) if you have any doubts as to shading.

 

All colors/types listed were 70# text weight paper. Extensive color range, but the darker colors will not be reading friendly for stationery use. Fiber and Confetti were different from the ‘Solid Color’ line. Flecks-Birch was quite nice to write on – but I found the flecks of birch to be distracting and they often wound up appearing as random pen marks. No bleed-through or feathering. Slight see-through on the other side, but not a problem.

 

The real winner here was the Linen paper ‘Linen-Natural’ – not a lot of color variety in the Linen line, but it was very nice paper – a slight finish above and beyond the actual texture of ‘linen’. It had a very slight gloss, and was quite smooth – the pens really moved well over the page. No bleed-through, no feathering, no see-through even with the really wet med nib Brown.

 

Over 30 colors available in Text and Cardstock weight with matching envelopes also available. Paper is sold in 50 sheet packages – a lot when wanting to mix and match, but inexpensive if you settle on one or two colors.

 

Opinion: Frankly I can take or leave the Solid Color line – though I will order a few more samples of specific shades just to be sure. The inconsistencies in performance were what bothered me the most. I would hate to order a sample of one color and love it only to order the full package (50 sheets) of another color and find it to be a waste. Ordering samples of everything is a nuisance just to be sure. However – the Flecks line does have appeal, and I was quite taken with the Linen sample I tested. I *will* be buying some of that as an all around stationery, and perhaps mixing in some Solid Color when the mood strikes.

 

Paperado – through Kate’s Paperie

http://www.katespaperie.com/

 

Tested: Ivory, Sage, Purple, Pink, Olive, Cappuccino, Chocolate

 

 

Kate’s website very specifically states that the browns are not too dark for text, but I do not consider that valid. While a true black such as Noodler’s Heart of Darkness would be legible and visible – it’s not going to be a pleasurable read. The paper is simply too dark.

 

It’s 70# Text – thicker than notebook paper, but I had expected it to be a little thicker than it was. The paper has a laid finish – tactile, but smooth enough not to bother any of the pens I tested with. The paper has a matte finish – no sheen or gloss of any sort. When the ink dries, it has definitely sunk into the paper and appears very flat, but there is no bleed-through and no feathering on any of the paper. Nowhere near as smooth to write on as, say, Clairefontaine, but it’s a different sort of paper and was smooth enough to avoid complaint.

 

The paper comes in a large variety of sizes, with cardstock and matching envelopes also in a large variety of sizes. It can be bought by the sheet.

 

Opinion: Nice paper, and has some appealing features – such as being able to buy by the sheet, the large number of sizes (and the ability to order customized), range of color and reasonable price. If using a ballpoint pen I’d say go for it for the mix and match appeal, but while there was no bleed-through or feathering, I just didn’t care for the appearance of the ink on the paper. It was flat and dead. Shading was visible on the lighter colors, but even there – very little depth or life was visible in the ink, and subtleties between inks was lost, particularly on darker colors. Personally, I will not be buying this for use with a fountain pen though others may not find the subtle complaints I have to be all that distracting.

 

WRAP UP:

Neither of these is as good as that paper I used 30 years ago. Thanks to Indigo’s generous gifting of some of her stock I was able to experience anew just how nice that paper was. Both of these fall short. I do have one other source I’ll be checking out soon, but have not yet ordered any from them.