I’m not trying to turn this into an unpaid advertisement for every company I do business with, but I occasionally get asked where I get my paper from. The majority of what I print on is from French Paper Co., a small hydro-powered mill in Niles, Michigan. Sometimes I will order direct from them, but then I miss out on visiting one of my favorite places, Anchor Paper Express in Plymouth, Minnesota.

Anchor Express is a paper warehouse where I can buy giant parent sheets (26″ x 40″) in cartons of 1,000 or just one sheet at a time. I love it because I can wander the rows of pallet racking and discover new paper lines and colors. They have a perfect mix of commercial printing papers along with some artsy exotic lines including cotton rag and shiny metallics.

Today was just one of those days. I made the treck into the city and came home with about 400 lbs. of paper, including a couple new ones to try out. It’s still exciting every time I find a new paper to experiment with.

While mostly catering to commercial printers, Anchor Express is open to the public, and even has a DIY supply and scrapbook shop.