Behind the Shop: Fabriano Paper

I want to introduce you to the paper that I use in my shop. It comes from a small town in Italy called Fabriano, and was created by the Fabriano Mill where high-quality paper has been made since the 13th Century -- Michelangelo even used their paper.

When I told a friend of mine that works on restoring documents, maps, and books about my shop and the paper that I use, she told me that it was great paper and that the mill was the first to use the watermark, and to discover using gelatine to coat the paper so that the ink wouldn't bleed as much -- think how easy it is to write on a piece of paper towel as it has no gelatine coating.

I have been struggling with conveying the quality of the paper that I use because you are not able to touch it until you get one of my cards in your hands. It is hard to grasp the beauty of something that you can only use one sense to understand -- my husband does not understand why I have to pick-up or touch everything when we go shopping, but this is why. That same friend told me to share a photo of my paper where I held it up against the window so that the light could shine through, or not shine through as is the case with the paper I use for my cards. The lack of light shining through shows you the thickness and quality of the paper.

What drew me to my paper in the first place was the look and feel of it. The surface of the paper is not perfectly smooth. In fact, it looks like it has little craters and bumps all along the surface giving it that handmade feel. Another thing that I really like about the paper is the deckle edge from the paper making process. It's beautiful!

All of the things that I enjoy about the paper are the things that are most difficult to convey. That's why word of mouth, item reviews, and receiving a card yourself are so important.