this stationary store is so cute. i was on a hunt for a journal and was tempted by all the other assortment of stuff this place offers. the aisles were a little squished together though. read more

Cute stuff, definitely pricey. Manager is too uptight for me. First I heard her fussing over a display. Later, I was between two items, brought both to register. Consulted and decided--and then was made to wait while she returned the unwanted item to stock on the far end of the store **instead of ringing me up.**I couldn't believe it and I finally asked another gal to take my money. It was as if the manager was punishing me for having a question. Do you want my business or not?? read more

Very rude worker that checked us out. Like blatantly annoyed facial expressions in addition to tone of voice. It's still bothering me hours later. Will not shop here again. read more

Paper Source is one of the very few independent standing card shops in the area. It has a small collection of the usual PS stuff. The staff was very busy for the amount of customers in the store. The selection of items seemed lacking in overall variety. read more

I have shopped at the Paper Source several times. I have come into contact with the older Caucasian woman often. She is never friendly, but today marks the day I will NEVER RETURN or give them my MONEY or BUSINESS in-fact I will go out of my way to make sure I tell people not to shop there. Not only did she greet every WHITE person pleasantly - she never spoke or glanced in my direction once and when another sales associate asked her to help me, she scowled as she turned to me and never said a word as in, "may I help you?" or can I assist you?" or at the very least "are you ready to check out?" SHE WAS SILENT and said nothing to me. I picked up my items that I was clearly struggling with and put every single thing back on the shelf and walked out. If there is any part of you that hates injustice speak up - there are enough reviews on here we all can't be imagining things! read more

I know you can get all these products online these days but I still love shopping here, I'm tactile by nature, I want to feel the paper, test the pens, feel how they write. What beautiful selections of paper, stamps, fun cards and gifts, just delightful! As for all the associates, they have all been kind and helpful, I can tell they put ALOT of effort into their jobs because a brick and mortar is a lot of work, stocking, inventories, replenishing, straightening, dusting. I have a lot of respect for everyone here trying to balance all those tasks while supporting the customer, seems to me like A LOT of moving parts! Glad you guys are here and I look forward to my next visit! read more

This place could run me dry, wow! I love everything in this store. The card selection is amazing, the gifts are so cute and there are a lot of seasonal fun items. The customer service is lovely and even though things can be a little pricey they definitely have great selections. read more

Paper Source - Cards - Cards & Stationery Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

As a writer, I love paper stores. This place has a lot of cute things to see and buy. I stopped by to look for some Easter stuff for my sister. I had a hangnail and picked at it lightly while walking around. As I was looking at some cards, I heard a voice directly behind me welcoming to the store (I'd been there about 10 minutes at this point) and then some matronly woman grabbed my hand and asked if I found "a little something to look at" and she opened my hand as though I were a child hiding something. Nothing but a hangnail. WTF??! Is this how Paper Source normally treats customers, by grabbing their hands to inspect what you are holding? Strange store. I don't know where the friendly staff were when I was in there, the only staff I encountered was Nurse Ratched who grabbed my hand! I feel like I was frisked. Completely unacceptable! read more

To have a meaningful shopping experience here, be sure to plan on just skipping your mortgage payment because things are so pricey, you won't be able to swing it after walking out of the store. I'll start with the fact that I have something of a stationary fetish. I always feel like I need more notecards all the time and it seems I never pass up an opportunity to purchase some. Having said that, I walked out of this store totally empty-handed. They had some hilarious greeting and birthday cards and under normal circumstances I would have purchased a handful. However, each of the cards were at least $6 and they weren't even large or on nice cardstock. They were small and clever but very overpriced. The store itself is lovely and the staff is very friendly. They have some great gift items and fantastic cards and stationary. The only thing is it is INSANELY expensive. Walking down that part of State Street, you can't help but notice how many stores have either gone out of business or are in the process of doing so. I recognize that the rents are high and maybe the traffic not quite enough to keep businesses afloat. There was a lot of traffic in this store, though, because who doesn't need cards? But I couldn't help but notice several other customers walking out empty-handed just like I did. Perhaps a little price adjusting could help their overall bottom-line? read more

There is a much older woman who works there, might even be the owner and EVERY TIME I go there she shows no customer service to me but when a Caucasian person walks in I hear her greeting them, sharing any special sales they have and checking in with them to see if they need any assistance. The other employees are very friendly and helpful but I am very disappointed in this older woman especially if she is the owner. Because it's happened to me multiple times I decided to post and provide a review. read more

Stopped in while shopping on State Street today. Staff was SUPER friendly and helpful. Tons of great items to get excited about. My wife is artistic and I'm not -- to say I'm excited about a paper store while NFL games are on says a lot. We bought some of the nice and diverse wrapping paper. Not cheap but worth it. Really excited to see a store that actually cares about its customers and the quality of service from its staff. read more

This is one of the many stores I have to stop in while I'm in Santa Barbara. It can be a little pricey, however their rubber stamps and stamp pads are pretty reasonable compared to Michaels and JoAnns. They always have really cute gift items and novelty items by the register. The only reason I'm giving them 4 stars is because their staff is not the greatest. Some of the older ladies that work there are pretty rude and grumpy. No customer service whatsoever. Smile, old ladies! You live/work in Santa Barbara! You are blessed!!! read more

Kathy was so helpful and helped me design paper pockets for my wedding! She took tons of time to make sure they were perfect. I felt so taken care of! I would highly recommend this store:) thank you Kathy! read more

Paper Source - Cards & Stationery Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

How can ppl be so rude? I walked into store looking for a planner, but as I walked in, I noticed two older women stare me down as I entered the store. I greeted them first, figure they were probably tired as it was late in afternoon, but they ignored me and walked off. Again, brushed it off. I started looking through the planners that are right next to register, and the lady who was at the counter cut me off, did not even say "excuse me" and handed a bag to a customer who had just paid. I wonder if I hadn't moved, would she have bumped me out of the way? I realized the older woman working there (maybe owner) was just straight out rude. I chose to keep looking as I love to buy my calendars, cards, etc. there. I began to feel very uncomfortable as I was there for a good 10 minutes browsing around and both women never once spoke to me. Other customers walked in and they were Instantly greeted. I chose to leave, as I realized I was not going to be helped. I decided to stop, look at the lady at the counter and say "thanks!" but she ignored me still. I gave up and walked out feeling very misplaced. Not sure if they're deaf or just plain out rude. Maybe racist? Idk, could be since they were very helpful to the white customers. Hate to say it but it was pretty obvious. Def not supporting them ever again. read more

it took me almost two hours to walk to the gym which was a couple blocks away. one of the reasons was paper source (the other reasons were about five more stores). haha.. i hadn't planned to walk into paper source but the cuteness drew me in!! the staff also showed me how to emboss. there were many examples. she made me a embossed sticker. i didn't know that it was that easy to use the sticker machine. she did demos for me, explained how to get the effects that i saw, answered all my questions. i haven't made a card in quite a while. bought some stamps. since i returned from SB, i have been embossing!! it is cool!! =) thank you awesome staff members!!! read more

I love going into the store especially since it opened back up, they have a lot of cute stuff there and cute little gifts but I personally feel that the staff can do better in greeting everyone who walks in the store with the same energy, I was in line to buy some items and the woman who was at the resister was so nice and welcoming to the person in front of me and when it was my turn, she did the bare minimum, she greeted me asked if I was a member for their rewards program and asked if I needed a bag. The interaction wasn't there, she didn't seem interested in servicing me. I didn't pay attention to it until the person behind me came to the register, the woman greeted her warmly, thanked her for waiting in line told her she was sorry she couldn't help her on the floor and that she hoped she found everything she was looking for and she was extremely friendly. I worked in retail for 10 years and I know it can be challenging to keep up with a positive attitude all day but try to have the same energy for all the customers that come in the store, whether they are spending 10 dollars or 100, it' shouldn't matter. read more

I was visiting Santa Barbara and stopped at this store to buy a birthday card for my dad. At first I was having a hard time finding a good one because all the father day's were amazing and I would prefer them over the bday ones. Laurie helped me by going over all the cards and making great suggestions. I ended up buying not only the card but also a mother's day card and the gifts. I also had to control my girlfriend so she would not buy the entire store! Totally recommend! read more

I went in here twice. Both times I was barely greeted and was treated like I was supposed to know exactly what I wanted. I just felt that I wasn't welcomed. They didn't have any small samples so I could experiment with some colors so I had to buy two different packs before finding the color that would work. I read more

I decided to finally check out this store, as I needed to buy a few Mother's Day cards. I was greeted by Laurie, who was able to help me find perfect fitting cards in a matter of minutes. And then she followed that by finding a perfect gift. Laurie and I have never met before this point, but it felt like she knew my family and me, as her suggestions were spot on. I went back a month later for b-day card, and once again, BAM!, she has the perfect card selection. I figured Laurie was the owner, but she is not. I hope the owner greatly appreciates Laurie's friendly nature and mind blowing ability at choosing cards and gifts for people she has never met. Thanks Laurie!! I'll be back. read more

I love this place. They have such cute little things that it takes forever to get from one end of the store to the other. The cards were super cute, too. I'm not a creative person per se, but every time I walk in here, I want to talk up card making. Perhaps one day I will. Even then, they have tons of cute wrapping paper you can use for crafts or just as wrapping paper. And the sales people were helpful without being too in your face. They gave me time to look around without hounding me. read more

I stopped by this week to look for something simple for a gift and had the best service from Lorie. She took time to give me ideas for items in the store as well as other merchants in the area. Really great experience and great inventory. read more

I have just rediscovered my love of paper !!! I walked into this store for the first time this Sunday and wanted to buy everything in it. I settled for some little plastic bracelets that apparently were made from flip flops by African women, a card and some hair ties, all for my daughter. The whole store is laid out in such an enticing way. Every section is organized in some really great way that makes me want to buy one of everything. I used to work in retail for years, and I have gotten to the age where I am burned out on shopping in general. Most stores seem so corporate, and the service is often, well, mediocre at best. Young college kids with big smiles and "Can I help you"s but who don't really know about anything when you ask them a question. Not so this store. Friendly and knowledgeable staff. I didn't really need help but I overheard a salesperson helping another lady and she really knew her stuff. I am going back to this store again soon and I'm going to invest in some beautiful paper. I have also heard they do classes on making things. Can't wait to try some stuff. My only slightly negative would be that it's a little pricey, but I know that State Streent isn't cheap! read more

I asked a sales associate (as the stores signs tell you to do) about getting an item gift wrapped. I was told the minimum charge for an item is $10 AND you have to purchase the paper, bow, etc. from there to have it wrapped. Well, I was in a hurry and found a piece of paper for $4 and ribbon for $6.50 (the cheapest I could find) only to be told by assoc. that it would be 20 minutes before I could be assisted b/c she wasn't interested in assisting me and someone else had to. At that point, I left without spending the $25 in my wallet. You can't buy good customer service. For $10 to wrap my item (small ornament), they should give you three standard options for wrapping or you can spend money to pay for specific paper, etc. read more

The store looks pretty unorganized and not very neat but if you dig around, it has loads of super cute and cheap finds, perfect for crafting or to slap a bow on to give for a gift. The staff member I spoke to knew nothing about the product I enquired about (despite them selling it) and told me to come back another day when some other random employee would be there. She then told me not to shop at Michaels because they sell junk products, which I thought was unprofessional and offensive. Today I went to Michaels Goleta and purchased the product and received great service and advice. Will continue to shop at Paper Source but only online. read more