Newsflash

"Montavilla- fun in portland" by Susan Hauser. Sunset: 5-08 Crammed with rubber stamps, unique greeting cards, and creative craft supplies. paperdoll is the local source for all things colorful and creative, from wrapping paper to rubber stamps!

"paperdoll- first glimpse" by Lee Williams. The Oregonian: 4-07 Crisp, tasteful cylinders of French wrapping paper shimmer in a corner. Near the door, stylish black journals beg for your stories. One wall of paperdoll, the new art supply shop in Montavilla, is nearly taken up with shelves of rubber stamps. And not just hearts and flowers: How about accenting your letters and cards with a recipe for the perfect Cosmopolitan? It’s here. Clearly, paperdoll is not your typical crafts shop. "When you say ‘craft’ everyone envisions teddy bears holding pine-cone baskets and balloons,"laughs Janene Flanagan, who recently opened the new nook with her husband, Patrick. "We have hip materials." Those hip materials are put to good use when paperdoll hosts classes, ranging from card and journal-making, to color-scheming for kids. The shop itself was quite a project: A lot of work turned the space from "nearly condemnable" says Flanagan, to its current artful state.

"New Kid on the Block" by Nathan Peasley. PDXMagazine: 3-07 This new craft/art/stationery store is so adorable you’ll want to pinch it on the cheek. They, of course, offer truck-loads of colorful paper, journals, paints, etc; and for those of you who don’t know what to do with all the sweet stuff, they offer personalized attention to teach you how to put it all together and make something pretty.

Find Your Craft "Happy Place" by Lise Harwin. Portland Picks: 2-07 Every one of our boyfriend’s past girlfriends is majorly crafty. There’s one who reupholsters furniture and another who makes gorgeous paper by hand. Naturally, we’re the polar opposite – unable to tell a glue gun and a staple gun apart. So we fully expected to feel unqualified to enter paperdoll, a cute as a button new store offering art and paper supplies as well as monthly classes. There were paints and brushes, brightly patterned pages for paper crafts and a wealth of supplies for those “other” girls. But, fortunately for us, owner Janene knows that not all women come with the crafty chromosome. She’s picked out a fabulous variety of fresh finds – colorful journals, charming cards from the likes of Snow & Graham and Egg Press, even mod pencil holders. From the chandelier to the pink and black color scheme, paperdoll is exactly the store we’d open…if we could actually do tha t sort of thing ourselves.

"paperdoll" by Reina O’Beck. The Southeast Examiner: 2-07 Decorated with the trendy and classy color combination of pink, grey and black, paperdoll, a new art and paper shop, literally peels away the school bus and beach ball sticker stereotypes of traditional scrapbooking stores. Located at 7909 SE Stark Street and owned by Janene Flanagan, this store’s updated decor matches the sleek products used to create stylish scrap-books, journals, cards and invitations. There are stickers available at paperdoll, but with chic relevant designs, along with equally fashionable rubber stamps, hole punches, and rubbings to adorn any paper project. Already assembled projects using these featured tools furnish shelves, giving customers instant ideas on how these products can be used. The establishment also functions as an art shop, retailing a good selection of foundational art supplies for mostly beginner and intermediate artists such as sketch pads, paint brushes, watercolor and acrylic paints-just to name a few items. After admiring a refreshing selection of designer paper and tools, many patrons feel perplexed with how to assemble these projects and what supplies they will need. Flanagan understands these frustrations and has created customer shopping lists that detail all the necessary items to create the paper components for any event. “People like their events to be personalized and unique- we are here to help with that process,” commented Flanagan. For more of a hands-on approach to projects, paperdoll serves as an art school, offering beginning fine-art and paper-oriented instruction. Flanagan, a third generation shop owner, recently opened the doors of paperdoll on December 9, 2006. Over one hundred people visited the shop on its first day with only one flyer in the Southeast Examiner advertising the grand opening. The positive response to the store was the kind of positive feedback Flanagan hoped would sprout around her idea to “create a neighborhood art store.” The community feel of the shop is enhanced by showcasing local artists and companies focusing on printed media. “We felt people liked that Portland look, touch and feel,” added Flanagan. Some of those Portland products include ready-made, convenient items such as cards, notebooks, journals and gifts. From the hip and innovative paper designs to attractive greeting cards-this shop carries all things paper-related. Your “paper wishes and painted dreams” are definitely fulfilled at paperdoll.