Printing Q -- unusual materials

I've recently gotten a latest generation photo printer to replace my 3-year
old one and it offers many options for media type, most of which I've never
heard of. One that intrigued me, however, was "canvas". I found some
"canvas paper" in a sample pack from Legion and it's neat, but I've started
looking for less expensive solutions too. I found in Michaels (the craft
store) a pad of artist "canvas paper" which even by feel is substantially
different from the photo stuff. I tried printing on it anyway and while I
got an image, it's clear that the artist canvas doesn't absorb ink the way
that the photo paper does (no surprise, but I hoped ... anyway). The entire
image is fainter, as if there wasn't as much ink put down -- or the paper
absorbed it too well and not as much stayed near the surface.

The question, then, is as follows: are there any web sites or publications
that cover the use of alternate media with photo printers or am I stuck
doing my own experiments and keeping the results as trade secrets?

TIA
Norm