Dove of the East

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Reported by Mary Chong

My review today is on Dove of the East products. There is a niche market out there for ethnic theme paper especially with the increase in world travel, adoption abroad, not to mention the fact that scrapbooking and cardmaking are international hobbies. Personally, when I scrap trips to Mexico I don't want tacos and sombreros all over my pages - it just isn't my style - but the gorgeous patterns of the Mexican culture - NOW that would be gorgeous. Also, I am of Asian descent and I've always found it difficult to scrap old family photos because there just aren't that many "nice" Asian theme papers out there. Don't get me wrong - you see them but often they are stereotypical with rice bowls and chopsticks etc.

That's why I was overjoyed when I found Dove of the East papers at my local scrapbooking store Scrapalicious.

When you visit the Dove of the East website it is clearly organized by their lines of product — each entitled "Journeys"

• Russia
• Japan
• India
• China
• Beach Baby - Love

To be honest, I don't really understand the new "Beach Baby - Love" line because it doesn't go with the "journey" theme plus it consists entirely of charms - odd?

All papers are acid free, elemental chlorine free and come from commercially managed forests. They also have coordinating ribbon, rub-ons, stickers, charms and stamps.

The really neat thing that they've done is they have these "Treasure" boxes for the Russia and China line. Each box contains an assortment of embellishments. Now if only I could get my hands on this gorgeous item - this would look awesome in my scrap room!

In fact all of the Dove of the East embellishments are packaged in organza bags or mounted on printed cards, designed so that even the packaging can be used in your projects.

The colors and patterns are so gorgeous and intricate I actually have a hard time using them for layouts because I don't want to cover the patterns up with photos!

The other great thing is that on the China paper they have both Chinese characters PLUS the English translation of the poem. I can only read/write English (sorry Mom and Dad) and so the translation is super helpful because I always want to know what is written on the paper to match it to the appropriate photo/theme.

Here is an example of a layout from a past trip to India. The papers in the India line remind me of the beautiful silk saris we saw throughout the country.

(Paper is called "Tamarind")

Just because you aren't a world traveller or of a certain ethnicity doesn't mean that you can't use these papers. The colors and patterns are rich and vibrant and work beautifully for cards or other types of layouts. Just use your imagination and creativity!

(Paper is called "Lotus Lake")

Pros:

• nice quality
• heavy paper weight
• rich, vibrant colors
• coordinating rub-ons, ribbon, stamps and embellishments
• all papers are acid free, elemental chlorine free and come from commercially managed forests.
• unique reusable packaging

Cons:

• not a well known scrapbooking line so it may be difficult to find in your LSS
• they do not have their own online store
• limited pattern selection and availability

Price points are comparable to other manufacturers.

To find a list of online and brick & mortar stores that carry Dove of the East products:
http://www.doveoftheeast.com/04_store/store_locator.html

Have you seen these papers before? Do you like them? I'd love to hear from you....