{Speciality papers}

This month I wanted to highlight to you a few different companies that make what I call "speciality" papers - those 12x12 sheets that are something a bit more than just flat card stock or paper. You can get a huge variety of different designs and styles these days from lots of different manufacturers. They include everything from varnished designs to embossed to glittered to transparencies and fabric papers.

You may have noticed that there's something exciting going on over at the shop - the new & improved website will be up on Friday 14th December so be sure to head over and have a nosey at the refurbishment! As such, links to products I've used will be added to this post once the new website is up and running.

For this page I used four different speciality papers. I use the term "paper" loosely because at the top and bottom is a strip of printed canvas from SEI's Mirelle collection. It has a gorgeous design printed onto neutral canvas material and comes in a 12x12 sheet. I found it cut easily with my trimmer, and adds a lovely tactile element to the page. In strips beside the photo I used a printed kraft design from American Crafts Amy Tangerine Ready Set Go, a gold embossed vellum from American Crafts Dear Lizzy 5th & Frolic, and an embossed honeycomb design from My Minds Eye Lost & Found 3.

I find that using papers like these means you need only a little simple embellishment, because the designs themselves give depth and interest to the page, and you don't want to cover up those beautiful details too much!

For my second page I used another SEI sheet, this time from the Entrada collection. This stunning lime green "paper" is actually a very fine woven mesh, full of glitter. It's so hard to do it justice in a photograph, but you can see the detail to a certain extent in the close up below. This paper is sturdy enough to go through a trimmer, and punches also work well with it.

I also added some strips of transparency from Hambly - the yellow chevron comes on a sheet with 3 different chevron sizes. I love how transparencies look on a page  - a lovely shiny finish, great for layering but also great used in their own right as a paper strip. 

My go-to suppliers for speciality papers like these are:
My Minds Eye - for glittered papers and embossed finishes
American Crafts - for varnished, embossed, kraft and glittered designs, and for vellum
Hambly - for transparencies
SEI - for foiled and fabric sheets