PaperAngel
Prolific Pea
Posts: 7,997
Jun 27, 2014 23:04:06 GMT
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Post by PaperAngel on May 21, 2024 19:25:00 GMT
What are your top THREE favorite &/or most-used (current, not including defunct/past) brands for cardstock, pattern, &/or specialty PAPER, & why? TIA.
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artbabe
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,406 
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Post by artbabe on May 21, 2024 20:12:39 GMT
49 & Market - I love the weight and the aesthetic is just my thing. I like all of the solids and the mixed media look. This is by far my favorite paper to work with.
Vicki Boutin - Her patterns are fun to work with and I love the bright saturated colors. I like solids with visual texture and she has quite a bit of that.
Simple Stories- I just like a lot of their designs, much more than Echo Park, Carta Bella, or a lot of the American Crafts lines. There are a lot of different styles and themes, but for some reason, I usually like whatever it is.
I don't have a preference for cardstock. I'll buy whatever, as long as it is textured.
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Post by infochick on May 21, 2024 20:54:55 GMT
I have exactly the same top 3 as artbabe, although I will shift the order just to be slightly different. Vicki Boutin - I love the bright fun colours, and her slightly distressed tone on tone patterns fill the Basic Grey gap for me. I find her lines to be very versatile. 49 & Market - I really like how easy it is to layer their embellishments and products. The paper is thick and beautiful. While I'm finding that their florals are a bit formal for some of my everyday photos, I could buy every single semi-solid paper they make and be very happy. Their "solids" and b-sides are now my go to instead of cardstock. I stock up when I get them on sale. They play well with my stash, and help to modernize some of my older papers. I'm also a sucker for their embellishments (leaves, acetate frames, tickets, frames, rub-ons, etc) Simple Stories - This is classic scrapbooking bread and butter for me. There is almost at least one collection in all of their releases that I like. They go well with my photos, and I like the colour palette they use. It's always easy to take a Simple Stories collection pack and make some nice layouts. Unpopular as it will be, I am going to give a runner up to American Crafts for their other designers and even some of their AC branded ranges. I really liked the recent Cedar House, and I will almost always pick up a sheet or two (maybe more) from Heidi Swapp, Paige Evans and Shimelle. They make really great b-sides. |
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Post by joblackford on May 21, 2024 21:27:37 GMT
No one who has seen my cards will be surprised to hear my favorite by a country mile is Doodlebug. For what I make they are ideal. The images are fun, the colors work well together, the consistency that some people find boring is great for me because I use them all up and kind of want more of the same. Each collection is just different enough to keep my interest but the same enough that I know what I'm getting. I can mix and match between some collections but don't really need to because I can just use everything in the paper pad + die cuts + cardstock/petite prints together easily. And it just makes me smile  The AC brands would be my next pick, but they're much more hit or miss. I have the best luck with Paige Evans, but only certain collections speak to me. I really like some of Shimelle's collections but don't always find them easy to work with. Sometimes it's the way AC packages different papers into their different paper pads, sometimes it because they are designed primarily for scrapbooking (too many journaling bits for my needs). I'm much more likely to buy American Crafts as single sheets that appeal to me. Carta Bella/Echo Park 6x6 paper pads can work for busting out a whole stack of Thanksgiving or Christmas cards but I don't enjoy them anywhere near as much. I think they have the pads with the hanging hole in the way. I think I've had issues with misprints too. |
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Post by ScrapbookMyLife on May 21, 2024 22:03:25 GMT
Reminisce
Paper Studio (Hobby Lobby)
49 and Market
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Nov 23, 2024 21:53:14 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 21, 2024 22:26:11 GMT
Simple Stories: When I’m prioritizing getting layouts done.
I’ve recently become a Simple Stories fan (excluding the vintage lines). I find I get more pages done when I’m using their collections because the kits contain nearly everything I’d reach for if I curated the contents myself.
Prima: My go to shabby chic brand.
Admittedly, nostalgia/brand familiarity plays a role here. I reach for Prima when I really want to “play” and get creative because the collections align with my aesthetic the most and the paper weight withstands stamping, coloring, the weight of bits and bobbles, etc. I know I can change my mind and take things off without worrying about the integrity of the paper.
Doodlebug:When I want something cute!
This is another nostalgia/familiarity thing for me, but I just love the kawaii cuteness! It makes me smile and I appreciate the consistent aesthetic and color scheme because I can mix and match collections. I mostly gravitate towards Doodlebug for self-contained themed projects.
I might be an outlier with some of my choices but they make me happy 🙂.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Nov 23, 2024 21:53:14 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 21, 2024 22:34:53 GMT
Unpopular as it will be, I am going to give a runner up to American Crafts for their other designers and even some of their AC branded ranges. AC is my runner up too. I like some of their designer lines and appreciate when they’re curated into a kit (even though I dislike the gummy edge of paper pads). |
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Post by workingclassdog on May 21, 2024 22:43:52 GMT
I'll go old school.. do they even make paper anymore.. but Bazzil was my very favorite for cardstock. I don't have to buy much since my stash is large, but I usually get whatever is on sale at HL or Michaels if needed.
I haven't bought a lot of specialty papers in awhile. Most of my favorites are gone. I am VERY interested in 49 & Market as I have recently discovered the company online. But haven't pulled the trigger yet. I can see it might top anything now.
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Post by AussieMeg on May 22, 2024 0:39:14 GMT
I will base my answer on scrapbooking companies who do digital as well as paper.
For mixed media papers, I love 49 & Market, specifically Katie Pertiet.
For bright and bold, I like American Crafts eg. Vicki Boutin, Shimelle, Pink Paislee.
I love the colour palettes and designs of Echo Park.
Ditto above for Simple Stories.
I really love Cocoa Vanilla, and I am so disappointed that they stopped doing digital collections. Their colours and designs are fabulous. I am suffering from major FOMO at the Happy Days collection.
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Post by Linda on May 22, 2024 0:56:50 GMT
My most used is probably Paper Studio (HL) simply because that's what's available locally and I've picked up quite a bit on their clearance markdowns - it's hard to beat a paper pad for 2.49
I'm really enjoying the Scrapbook Generations collections - they are lightly themed at most and very versatile. Pretty much exactly what I always say I want in a collection. I just wish there were more of them - especially like the blue and yellow colourful collection but in other colour combos.
Echo Park is probably the other one I use a lot of - partly because their themes often work well with the older pictures I'm working with (my kids childhood) and partly because I acquired quite a few collections from TM before they closed.
Reminisce is my runner up for themes that are hard to find elsewhere and Shimelle is my other runner up for pushing me out of my comfort zone.
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Chinagirl828
Drama Llama
Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 6,682
Jun 28, 2014 6:28:53 GMT
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Post by Chinagirl828 on May 22, 2024 8:26:34 GMT
Cocoa Vanilla - they're my one true love in scrapbooking, I own (and hoard) more of this than any other brand. I find their patterns easy to use even though I hate using them up.
49 and Market - what's not to love, that paper quality is just divine. Katie Pertiet was my favourite digi designer so I was thrilled when she started designing physical product. I love the distressed solids, and I've been really loving the single colour mini collections.
Simple Stories - they can be a bit hit and miss for me, but I still probably gravitate to them more than other companies I can think of right now.
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Post by Night Owl on May 22, 2024 9:24:09 GMT
#1 Bazzill - my favorite cardstock
#2 Doodlebug - Their cute style is fun to use, works great with my daughter's younger year pictures
#3 Simple Stories - so many pretty prints
Runner ups: Echo Park, Bella Blvd, American Crafts
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breetheflea
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,588
Location: PNW
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Post by breetheflea on May 22, 2024 13:42:33 GMT
At the moment: Simple Stories, although not the vintage lines, and I'm kind of over the harvest gold, pink, and aqua color scheme they keep using. 49 and Market, but they are putting out lines faster than my budget and my scrap powers can use it. Vicky Boutin or Heidi Swapp (I get them mixed up) but not when it's for sale at regular places, I seem to fall in love with it later when it's older and harder to find  Cardstock: Paper Accents because I used to have a cheap source, and that's what my somewhat LSS sells. My store only sells textured cardstock and I'd prefer smooth... I also like Photoplay cardstock but can only get that online which is annoying. |
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PaperAngel
Prolific Pea
Posts: 7,997
Jun 27, 2014 23:04:06 GMT
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Post by PaperAngel on May 22, 2024 19:23:20 GMT
"RULES" VIOLATION: It has not gone unnoticed that some of you - you know who you are!  - are trying to count a manufacturer, American Crafts, as one brand. Note each brand under the American Crafts umbrella - e.g. American Crafts, Shimelle, Vicki Boutin, Paige Evans, Maggie Holmes, Heidi Swapp, Bo Bunny - is separate for the purposes of this thread (which is a challenge to prioritize your top THREE favorites &/or most-used brands)! |
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Post by refugeepea on May 22, 2024 23:11:11 GMT
SEI, Simple Stories, Echo Park.
I'm not picky and I'm cheap. I've bought most of my paper at warehouse sales. I don't have a manufacturer preference for cardstock. It's more about finding the right color.
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cbscrapper
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,480
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Post by cbscrapper on May 23, 2024 3:00:46 GMT
Cocoa Vanilla - Fantastic non-pink/floral collections that really fit my style
Echo Park/Carta Bella - yes, I am lumping because they use the same designers and the only difference is the paper weight/texture. They have a great selection of non-pink/floral collections and I love their b-sides. Their fall collections are always so great!
49 & Market - not everything, but I love the “backgrounds” of mixed media style papers in their Spectrum collections, and I love their travel collections. Again, the non-pink/floral offerings they have are great, and all of the embellishments options are wonderful. I really like their page kits too.
And a runner up award to Scrapbook Generation, although I do wish the papers weren’t the glossy “ColorPlay” finish.
In the past, I would have listed Simple Stories, but I don’t care for their current designer and the color schemes they’ve been using. Basically since Traci Reed stopped designing for them. Plus, they haven’t done a “boy-friendly” collection in a while, and those are typically the colors and designs I gravitate towards.
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Post by Margie on May 23, 2024 16:25:26 GMT
49 & Market
Cocoa Vanilla
Simple Stories
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Ryann
Pearl Clutcher
Love is Inclusive
Posts: 2,643
Location: PNW
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Post by Ryann on May 23, 2024 23:08:56 GMT
Shimelle - I was SO happy (and surprised) to see her back with AC. I hope we get lots more collections from her in the future. Back when no one put purple in collections, she did consistently.
Simple Stories - Overall I tend to enjoy SS and consider them a favorite. I probably have more SS supplies than any other manufacturer. That said, the last year hasn't been their best (with a couple exceptions). I'm also one that is over the pink/aqua/mustard combo they have been "all in" on over the last year. I'm also glad they seem to be past the "boho" collections - the colors were too muddy.
Doodlebug - I was kind of surprised by this choice, but I really, really love their B-sides and tend to enjoy their holiday collections, especially. While I don't use them often in scrapbooking, I love making cards using DB supplies.
Runner Ups - Vicki Boutin and Paige Evans. I often like lots of their collections, but they seem to all blend together for me. Sometimes that's a good thing, but sometimes not.
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Post by hoopsfn on May 24, 2024 13:28:33 GMT
This is a difficult question PaperAngel. There are so many companies that I miss and there aren't really any replacements in present day (that I've found). I'm going to say my top 3 current papers come from: 1. Carta Bella, particularly Steve Duncan designs. 2. Simple Stories 3. Bella Blvd./ anything that brings back memories of OA, Jillibean, Cosmo Cricket |
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frugalchick
Junior Member
Posts: 86
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Post by frugalchick on May 24, 2024 14:10:10 GMT
My favs are Simple Stories, Echo Park and I like the cardstock lines from Hobby Lobby. I am a quite simple scrapper for the most part and my most favorite page kits are from SS, they have it all together when I want to really crank out a quantity of pages. |
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PaperAngel
Prolific Pea
Posts: 7,997
Jun 27, 2014 23:04:06 GMT
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Post by PaperAngel on May 24, 2024 17:54:27 GMT
... Echo Park/Carta Bella - yes, I am lumping ... Rebel! |
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Post by wordfish on May 27, 2024 19:39:55 GMT
This is a cool question. I'm going to break it into two sets of 3--no longer available paper and current favorites
No longer available (or maybe it is):
1. BoBunny Double Dot paper, the subtly textured kind.
2. Basic Grey.
3. KI Memories stitched papers
Current favorites:
1. 49 & Market
2. Vicki Boutin
3. Cocoa Vanilla
Plus good-quality cardstock, a perennial favorite.
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PaperAngel
Prolific Pea
Posts: 7,997
Jun 27, 2014 23:04:06 GMT
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Post by PaperAngel on May 28, 2024 2:52:56 GMT
... I might be an outlier with some of my choices but they make me happy 🙂. No worries. This thread is a safe space for sharing your scrappy preferences. |
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PaperAngel
Prolific Pea
Posts: 7,997
Jun 27, 2014 23:04:06 GMT
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Post by PaperAngel on May 28, 2024 2:54:55 GMT
... I dislike the gummy edge of paper pads Me too! As a result, I don't buy them. |
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PaperAngel
Prolific Pea
Posts: 7,997
Jun 27, 2014 23:04:06 GMT
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Post by PaperAngel on May 28, 2024 17:05:37 GMT
I'll go old school.. do they even make paper anymore.. but Bazzil was my very favorite for cardstock. ... Although American Crafts acquired Bazzill in 2014, the brand still exists & exclusively offers cardstock (e.g. ACOT, SB.com). |
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Elsabelle
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,688
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Post by Elsabelle on May 28, 2024 17:25:24 GMT
Simple Stories - I love their style and I'm even getting into the Simple Vintage stuff surprisingly.
Carta Bella - The weight and texture of the paper is great. Love their patterns.
Maggie Holmes - I love the paper designs, color palettes, and florals.
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PaperAngel
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Posts: 7,997
Jun 27, 2014 23:04:06 GMT
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Post by PaperAngel on May 29, 2024 6:38:12 GMT
At the moment: Simple Stories, although not the vintage lines, and I'm kind of over the harvest gold, pink, and aqua color scheme they keep using. ... Simple Stories - Overall I tend to enjoy SS and consider them a favorite. I probably have more SS supplies than any other manufacturer. That said, the last year hasn't been their best (with a couple exceptions). I'm also one that is over the pink/aqua/mustard combo they have been "all in" on over the last year. I'm also glad they seem to be past the "boho" collections - the colors were too muddy. .... Same regarding the mustard yellow/pink/aqua & muted/muddy/earthy boho color palettes, which are both often combined with a shade of cream. |
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Post by melanell on May 29, 2024 14:31:02 GMT
This is tough for me, because I've been away from scrapping for a few years, and even before that I hadn't been buying much. So if I go by my current stash, I'd say: Simple Stories Echo Park Carta Bella They are the manufacturers (still in production) that show up most often in my stash. However, my kids really moved out of the "little kid" stage while I was in my buying hiatus, so I don't know how my future shopping may line up with my previous shopping. I haven't bought a whole lot since re-starting my scrapbooking, but what I have purchased, with the exception of the latest 49 & Market was a sampling from different lines or companies. And while I did buy some Simple Stories, Carta Bella, & Echo Park, I also equally bought from other brands. So 6 months from now I may find that I have a new answer to this question.  |
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PaperAngel
Prolific Pea
Posts: 7,997
Jun 27, 2014 23:04:06 GMT
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Post by PaperAngel on May 30, 2024 7:19:50 GMT
Cocoa Vanilla - Fantastic non-pink/floral collections that really fit my style ... Unfortunately, like Pinkfresh, Cocoa Vanilla seems to only release one non-feminine/non-floral collection with a cool color palette per year! |
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camcas
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,152
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Post by camcas on May 30, 2024 9:44:55 GMT
Pinkfresh - but only the no pink collection- I am still hoarding some “escape the ordinary”
American crafts recent Cedar house
Steven Duncan’s Carta Bella lines- for the fabulous old OA aesthetic
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- are trying to count a manufacturer, American Crafts, as one brand. Note each brand under the American Crafts umbrella - e.g. American Crafts, Shimelle, Vicki Boutin, Paige Evans, Maggie Holmes, Heidi Swapp, Bo Bunny - is separate for the purposes of this thread (which is a challenge to prioritize your top THREE favorites &/or most-used brands)! 
