Paper-Ya

Please let me express my appreciation to Cheryl of Strikethru for this post – it formed a wonderful guide to two stationery treasures that I recently visited.

Paper-Ya in Vancouver

Paper-Ya is located on Granville Island, a vibrant arts district in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The island is easily (and probably best) traversed on foot. Notable landmarks include the Emily Carr University of Art + Design.

Paper-Ya is immediately discernible as a labour of love. They stock an immense array of paper items that seems well beyond commercial viability. And I do mean immense – if one could extract the product names mentioned in the last five years from every stationery blog – a good number of them are at Paper-Ya, representing twenty or more countries of manufacture.

Paper-Ya in Vancouver

My suitcase only had room for some very limited purchases, including handmade paper from Papetrie Saint-Armand.

5 Replies to “Paper-Ya”

  1. Holy smokes, I’m jealous! I’m anxious to read what you think of the Tattersall. I’ve seen them in one of my favorite shops in Baltimore, but my Field Notes subscription keeps me well-fed on pocket notebooks for the time being (unless winter doesn’t get released soon…).

  2. I really want to get out to Paper-Ya one of these days. I actually remember reading that post about it on Strikethru way back then and being so excited, because I live in BC and it was great to learn about such an amazing stationery store right here in my province. Sadly, I live far enough away in the interior that I haven’t had a chance to visit it yet… I’m also looking forward to reading more about your purchases!

  3. Hi John, I like the Tattersall. Not only are the covers distinctive, but the ruling is a large square pattern that I really like – and the colour of the ruling varies with the edition.

    Here are a couple of photos:

    Tattersall notebook

    Tattersall notebook

    Hi Heather, thanks for your comment. I see that you also commented on the 2009 Strikethru post, so as well as creating a nice mutual thread, it looks like you’ve been wanting to visit Vancouver for over three years!

  4. I bought a box of Palomino Blackwing 602’s and two classic Palomino Blackwings there this week–not a bad price, either, considering shipping to B.C. Their ForestChoice pencils cost $1.25 each though.

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