Posts Tagged ‘fine stationery’

Velké Losiny or the Art of Paper Making

Saturday, October 10th, 2009

It’s four hour drive from Prague to Velké Losiny, but it is worth every minute of it for what you see there – one of the oldest paper mills in Europe in operation since 1596!

Paper Museum and Paper Mill  tour would get you acquainted with the operation  how a blend of cotton and linen fibers becomes a sheet of  high quality handmade paper. Paper making in Velké Losiny  is pretty much the same as centuries ago. Hundreds of years old machinery is only one part of the story. It is the skill of the craftsmen that makes all the difference. Each sheet of paper passes  thirty pair of hands before it ends up in your hand.

Paper made in Velké Losiny called Losin is an icon when it comes to limited edition books, art prints or water colors. Hand  process allows  Losin paper an amazing feature of four deckle edges  both  for sheets  as well as  for envelopes. Losin watermark on your personal, business or wedding stationery certainly would get you among the elite of refined taste and elegance.

You can’t leave the gift shop without taking a peace of  art in paper making  with you – be it an elegant writing set, greeting card or just a sheet a hand made paper. So did I.


Downstairs Victoria, BC…

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

Strolling Downtown Victoria, the capital of British Columbia,  a bit of old fashioned display caught my attention – a fan of beautiful business cards, couple of stylish wedding invitations and greeting cards were tempting me to touch their relief. Inscriptions Classic Engraving and Classic Stationery invited me downstairs to the shop.

Classic Engraving sounded a little confusing, but my ignorance was cleared up soon – this is not where you get your spare key cut, it is all about paper! Engraving on paper!  So I have found one of the best traditional  print shops on the continent if not beyond!  All work on fine paper, be it business cards, stationery, thank you cards or wedding invites was of superb quality, embossed, engraved or letter-pressed with no praise to spare…   All of it in-house made! In addition Classic Stationers carry fine papers from Crane, North America’s iconic paper manufacturer of 100% cotton paper (by the way all US dollars are printed on Crane’s),  Italian leather bound journals and all that makes you shift back to hand writing when contacting  people you cherish the most…

If you are not going to Victoria soon, www.classicstationers.com is an option, too.