Sara's Blog

Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a great Christmas…we made it to Portland last week just in time to experience Snowstorm 2008. Those of you used to winter weather are probably not impressed by the ice layer on top of our 6” snowdrifts, but it’s such a rare thing in Portland that the entire city came to a standstill. Bless the TriMet bus drivers—they gamely chained up and got us around town. And thanks to the people who work at Powell’s Books (my favorite bookstore) for keeping the store open…no trip to Portland is complete without a stop at Powell’s, even if it’s like a hike in the Arctic to get there. (Okay, it was two blocks from our hotel.)

In the end, we took the train from Portland to Eugene to get to my parents’ house in time for Christmas Eve. We originally planned to rent a car for the trip but the freeway was closed part of the way and it’s probably not wise for two people who normally ride bikes to drive in snow and ice anyway. Even then, the trains were delayed or sometimes cancelled so we were lucky to get there—even if it was a few hours late. My dad is from Michigan and can’t stand the snow (I think it’s all those childhood memories of having to shovel it) and by the time the stuff finally melted I had to agree with him! I’ve never been so glad to see pavement.

One of my favorite gifts this year is a cookbook my sister made for me—she included some of her favorite (easy) recipes plus fun cooking-themed quotes like “Do vegetarians eat animal crackers?” The whole thing is in a 6”x6” album. I love it! My mom also gave me a cookbook—Jamie Oliver, of whom she says, “He’s so cute but I wish he would comb his hair.” I’ll be cooking a lot in the new year! I’ve been taking some cooking lessons here in Amsterdam and the woman who teaches them also does culinary tours of the city, including the markets and specialty stores—so that will be my treat to myself this winter!

One last note to start off the new year. Webisode viewer Pearl asked about enlarging the Webisode video screen to better see some of the details. There’s a tiny button along the bottom right side of the video screen—it’s shaped like a square with funny little corners, and it’s just to the left of the “T” button. Click on that and the screen will get larger. I just discovered it and while I’m not excited about seeing myself so large, it does make it easier to see folding techniques. Thanks, Pearl!

Last week Webisode viewer Bonnie emailed a question about the Sara’s Surfaces™ Fry Boxes—specifically, how to cover them with paper. Normally I just stamp on the boxes or add bits of paper rather than covering the whole thing (I am too impatient and it frustrates me!) so I asked LeNae to help both Bonnie and me get this right. Here are her tips:

How to cover a Fry Box with paper:

1. Place the unfolded box (flat) on your work surface and apply glue stick to the front and sides, but not the bottom. Place the paper directly onto the box and trim even with the box sides first.
2. Press the box sides in to temporarily form the box shape. Hold the box with the back facing you and use the scissors to cut around the curved shape—looking from the top down. It is a little awkward, but with patience it can be done quickly and easily. Trim the paper even with the box edge.
3. Flatten the box again. Turn over and cover the back and sides with paper (not the bottom). Cut around the box to trim paper even with the edges.
4. To cover the inside back with paper: Construct the box and glue a piece of paper to the inside back. I trace the general shape of the box back onto paper to get the angle right. Trim the paper to fit into the box, but leave the top edge untrimmed. Glue paper into the box inside back and then use scissors to trim the back edge even with the box edge.

Here's another tip from LeNae: When stamping on the box, leave the box flat and place scrap paper inside to cover the back edge. Stamp over the surface and then remove the scrap paper. Stamp the back and assemble box. Cover the box inside back with decorative paper using step #4.

Thanks Bonnie for the question—and thanks, LeNae for helping us out!

Okay, so here’s the thing: In Amsterdam, we put our garbage out in bags and boxes on the (very narrow) sidewalks for the garbage trucks to come pick up. Sometimes the garbage men come very early in the morning, in which case many people set their things out the night before. This means that when you’re walking along the tiny sidewalk, you’re generally inching around the plastic bags piled up on the walk. Some people complain about this, others use the opportunity to scope out what their neighbors are getting rid of. And sometimes take it.

So the other night Keith and I were walking through the Jordaan on our way home from our favorite Mexican restaurant. As we were navigating the garbage bags, I spied a stack of books heaped forlornly on top of an old computer monitor. Well, I for one cannot bear to see a book lying around on the sidewalk, let alone a photography book on Paris, a guide to fashion through the ages, empty envelopes decorated with foreign postage or a typography textbook. “Do you think someone’s throwing these out?” I asked Keith. “Well, unless they’re storing them on the sidewalk, yes,” he said, no doubt thinking, “Oh, Lord, now she’s going to go through someone’s garbage.”

Can you imagine someone tossing these treasures? So with the rescued books tucked under my arm and a small “Dankjewel!” to the unknown neighbor, I headed home to my tiny craft room, where I promptly put that Parijs guidebook to use on some tags I’m making for a summer article in Stamper’s Sampler. What a find!

(A side note: The next day I was walking past an office on the Herengracht to see a couple wheeling away two very funky, albeit somewhat shabby, bright green chairs just before the garbage truck drove up. Seems I’m not the only one who takes advantage of Amsterdam recycling!)

This week is going to be a quick post…we’re in the midst of the January Paper Wishes catalog and things have been very busy (but I think you’ll be soooo excited to see the next issue, it’s packed with so many great things!).

I did want to share a little tip I just learned. You know how sometimes your ribbons come folded, so they have those annoying fold creases? Well, you can quickly flatten a wrinkled ribbon with a curling iron! Simply place the ribbon against the rod, clamp the iron and quickly pull the ribbon through. Genius—I just had to share it!

Have a great weekend!

‘Tis the season…to be frantically making Christmas cards (why, why do I wait to the last minute?) and holiday papercrafts. But we at Paper Wishes also have a little pre-Christmas treat for you: Rock-bottom, super-low, grab ‘em while you can prices to make your Christmas papercrafting easy! Hooray!

Take this cute cone, for example. It’s super-fast to make and becomes a great way to present candy, cookies and small gifts. Last year I filled one with foil-wrapped chocolates as a hostess gift. It makes a great presentation!

It’s really easy to do: Just take two 12”x12” papers and place them (don’t glue them) back-to-back, then curve them into a cone shape. The paper weight is perfect because it’s not too flimsy to hold things and it’s not too stiff (like cardstock) so it can still roll. Because the two papers aren’t glued, there will be a shift when you roll them into a cone...that will leave a white edge around the cone which I really like. I found that glue stick didn’t really work for me, and neither did the typical tape tabs so I used really strong double-sided tape…otherwise the rolled tip will pop and will drive you crazy! It helps to get it all glued, then use a rubber band to “set it”.

Then if you want to wrap ribbons around the cone, secure them to the back of the cone and all around the sides with Zots™, and tie in the front. The cone shown here is made with The Busy Scrapper Christmas Papers, which are now on sale at 50% off—so you get 28 patterned papers plus tags and alpha tiles for $7.49. It’s embellished with Christmas #2 Brad Buddies™ which are also 50% off and just $1.99 for a pack of 6 embellishments.

And this fun little paper ball (which, by the way, is perfect for making with kids) is also really easy to do. Just cut 10 strips of paper measuring 6”x1/2”. Place the strips back-to-back but don’t glue them together. Punch a hole at each short end of the strips, about ¼” from the end. (Don’t worry if they’re not all perfect.) Then gather all the paper pieces together and insert a brad through each end. Gently pull the strips away from each other to form a ball. Add ribbon and a silk flower and you’re done! This little ornament was made with 8”x8” Christmas Papers, which are at 50% off too!

There’s even more on sale this week, from stencils to punches and tons of paper. Even better? We have a free gift for the first 300 orders—it’s a sample of one of our new lines for January!

You can check out all the specials and savings in our Virtual Catalog Wrap. Just click here to see. Enjoy!