Everyone's printing on lokta

Lokta is one of my favorite papers. I've always loved the deep and varied colors it comes in: everything from a glorious garnet red to sea green. And it is easy to glue...it doesn't curl up and get nasty the way that some machine-made papers do. (I like to say that it behaves itself.) The paper is handmade in the mountains of Nepal from the inner bark of the lokta bush. Lokta is one of the strongest paper fibers, and since new growth regenerates quickly it provides a renewable resource.

Just this season, there is a whole new batch of lokta papers coming out with some great silk-screen designs. Paper Source (which does their own designs, I believe) has these two fun and funky prints:

Note to Paper Source...I love your new batik lokta as well, but not the color.

Wet Paint has a new assortment as well. (And yes, the picture was taken of paper brought home from the store!)


And Paper Mojo has some Japanese-themed loktas which are very trendy, but still lovely.

One of the most well known manufacturers of lokta is Lama Li, a firm in France that produces wonderful designs. Everytime I visit their web site (you have to get a password from them) I wish there was a way for all of their gorgeous papers to get to the U.S. It almost makes me want to get in the paper distribution business!