1 week to go!

For those of you that don't know...my birthday is in a week.  Ok yeah, sure that's exciting...I mean 24 on the 24th...wow I'm getting old!  Actually the REALLY exciting part is the birthday plans.  Are you ready?  Really ready?  I'm making my first ever trip to

I know it may be hard to believe that I've never been to Paper Source, especially considering I only live an hour away from their Annapolis store.  The important thing though is that I'm finally making it! For those of you that don't know, from my understanding, Paper Source is a Mecca of sorts for graphic designers alike.  Perhaps that is a bit extreme.  The website describes itself as this:

Paper Source is a premier paperie and retail store offering a unique selection of fine and artisanal papers, stationery, invitations, gift wrap, greeting cards, quirky gifts and a custom collection of envelopes and cards. Paper Source offers an original and distinctive aesthetic, with a color palette and proprietary designs that are developed and created exclusively by us. 

Oh yes please!  Also, not mentioned there, but apparently a HUGE highlight for brides, custom envelope liners.  Its ok, I know exactly how lame it sounds when you put it like that.  Let me try to explain this in bridal terms.  Imagine a bride who has picked the perfect color scheme for her wedding, patterns used on her invitations, the decorations for the reception.  Of course the invitations come with nasty white envelopes.  Sure those envelopes are fine for holiday cards or birthday cards but this is a wedding we're talking about!  At Paper Source you can find not only the envelopes you want in your color scheme but also line the envelopes with complementing colors and patterns.  Does it get much cooler?  I didn't think so.  At least that's what I heard around the webosphere (particularly buzzing from Wedding Bee was referenced).

Now in all fairness, since I gave this store such a rave review, I have to be completely fair.  I have been a long time customer of Paper and More, a personal favorite paper store.  The rates there are very decent, shipping is usually faster than quoted and I love that you can buy a sample of almost anything before buying paper or envelopes in bulk.  I'm just afraid that they don't offer the custom envelope liners.  Not that in the large scheme of things that's important, but I'm a firm believer in the small touches making all the difference.  I'll update again soon after my visit!