Our new Aunts & Uncles post bags, knapsacks, and briefcases are styled with care and character.

The Aunts & Uncles line is designed by Angelika and Sven of Germany. They think of their passionately designed leather bags as "bags for life".

Treated with oil and wax and produced by hand give each bag its individual charm. Your bag will gain its own leather patina and character with daily use. These are not bags to fuss over, but to be used.

Manufactured in medium sized Indian and Italian leather shops we are assured that the working atmosphere and fair wages are fundamental to this company. The workmanship is carefully guided and a high standard bag is produced for a remarkable price to our customer.

Some of my favorite highlights of the Aunts & Uncles bags are the rain flaps over the corners, the hidden back zippers, velcro latches, and the padded ipad and computer compartments. There are lots of pockets and storage inside. These are well stitched bags with sturdy hardware. Wear with pride!

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!

Marble Magic.

Each unique deckle edged sheet is handmade by Fair Trade certified women artisans in Bangladesh.

These hand marbled papers are made from 100% recycled and/or local sustainable fibers. So, not only are they gorgeous, they are totally eco-friendly. We carry both cover and text weights in 21 x 31 inches.

New to our selection, but not shown here, is the "plain" colored sheets in the cover weight. Perfect for silkscreen or letterpress printing or bookmaking. The colors are red, orange, periwinkle, aqua and a deep dark brown. 

Forage Haberdashery for the hipster man.

Beautifully handmade bow and neckties made from timeless materials like chambray, denim, gingham, stripes and classic linen...

just makes it more fun to gently wrap around the necks of the men you love!

And about the coolest all recycled and recyclable packaging we've seen in a long time.

Travel almost always brings inspiration.

On a recent buying trip to New York I came across a variety of ideas and yet simple applications for paper. The paper tree. Branches were stapled to a surface and decorative paper leaves cut and attached with hot glue. We can help you out with the papers...the branches, well just tidy up the back yard and you will have yourself a paper tree in no time.

Yes, paper tiles! Marbled heavy weight Indian papers were simply cut into squares and taped down directly onto the floor. I was told that no special coating was applied to the papers. And, I for one, was one of the hundreds of people tromping al over it. I was amazed to see that even by day three of the New York Stationery Show the paper tiles still looked great. Our shipment will be arriving within a few weeks and the new colors are gorgeous.

Paper bunting made out of these sweet printed paper bags..we should have these on the shelves sometime in early June...parties, weddings or sparking up the home front. Easy to make and they feel so joyful.

This paper wall might prove to be a bit more challenging...but it is dynamic isn't it? Inspiration and imagination abound out there in the world. Get out your scissors and glue!

Put the Wedding Party in a delightful mood. Create a table that is charming and unique.

If you have some time, paper pinwheels or windmills are fairly easy to make. Go to www.rubberstamping.about.com for instructions and a free template. We have all the paper in the world for you to pick from to make yours just perfect. Or, you can choose one of these babies that are ideal to set the mood of any festive table.

What do you mean you can't have your cake and eat it too? Actually, you can't eat these slices, sorry, but you can put something very special inside these cake boxes! Yep, cake boxes. Oh, how delightful.

You don't have to be having a wedding to enjoy these and many more little surprises we have in the store for you. You just have to have a party for two...or more, and an appreciation of the delightful.

Graduation season is upon us!

Graduation is a milestone in our lives. Like most of these lifetime accomplishments we enjoy recognizing and celebrating them. If we are lucky and work very hard, many will graduate a few times in their lives.

Not surprising, there are no shortage of inspirational cards, quotes, sayings and advice to be had for graduates but one of my favorites is this one: "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose..." Dr. Suess

Another quote, a bit more inspirational perhaps, is by Eleanor Roosevelt, who said, "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."