Sara's Blog

Somerset Studio is one of my all-time favorite paper crafting magazines, and this week I was SO excited to open my mailbox and find an advance “designer copy” of their upcoming Somerset Wedding—with some of my projects inside! Here’s one of the projects I sent in. The book shows the table number cards closed, so I wanted to show you what the insides looked like. Now, my wedding wasn’t really big or formal enough to warrant table assignments at the reception, but I totally would have done this if I’d thought if it nine years ago! Plus, little love-themed quotes inside each table number card can reflect the couple’s personality and wedding style. Whether it’s romantic, whimsical or a mix of the two, little quotes add a sweet, personalized touch to the wedding.

This week we're getting ready for the biggest crafting trade show ever, held in Anaheim, California at the end of this month. (The weather's got to be better there than in snowy, cold Portland!). This show is packed with every kind of craft supply, from scrapbooking and card making to knitting and fine arts. It's where your local retailer goes to stock up on the latest releases. Of course HOTP has a booth to show our new Finished in a Flash!™ page kits, new Creative Kits, new Brad Buddies™ and the latest paper collections like Vintage Busy Scrapper and Masculine sarapapers™. I'm so excited! But as we're waiting for our winter releases to come back from the printer, we're already creating new things for summer. One I can't wait for is called "Use 'Em for Anything" papers. These are collections of really basic patterns in easy-to-use colors. While I was doing my brother's scrapbook, I realized I needed more simple patterned papers in basic color combos, so Paulette and I discussed it and came up with this new line! Look for it around May or June–until then, check out our fabulous new winter releases, which will be at your local store and in Paper Wishes!

We've finally confirmed our 2007 class schedule! Here's what's coming up in
February and March: If you live near Bradford, UK, contact Crafting Galore at craftinggalore@aol.com, or give them a call at 01274 722236–I'll be teaching an all-day class at their store on February 15!

And for the Aussies, we've finalized dates for our trip in March. Retailers, we'll have Retailer Training Events in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne plus Auckland for our Kiwi friends. If you're not a retailer but you live near Melbourne, you'll want to come to our Girlfriends Getaway Down Under in March—we have a fabulous day lined up for you! To see our complete (as of now) travel calendar, just click here. Hope to see you in class soon!

PS. If you saw the “HOTP Albums” in the Nov/Dec issue of Scrapbooks Etc and wondered which albums they were…it was actually the sarabooks™ 6" Square Blank Book! For more ideas on sarabooks™, just click here!

This weekend we’re celebrating my big brother’s 42nd birthday. This is the guy who pulled my hair, made me eat soap and generally tortured me throughout my formative years. Somewhere along the line, though, he turned out to be a pretty amazing brother, son, husband and dad, so this year I’m giving him a scrapbook of “42 Reasons to Celebrate”, mostly featuring pictures of his kids. I used a lot of papers from the new Masculine sarapapers™, accenting each reason with a punched-circle number and computer journaling to give the book consistency. The amazing part is that I nearly finished the album in two days! (But I did have help: Even though Keith shook his head and called me a scrap-a-holic, he made dinner, did the laundry and even went to the craft store to get refill blades for my paper trimmer.)

PS. Next week I’ll have exact dates for our Australia trip in March—we’re doing a full consumer day in Melbourne! Aussies, I’ll keep you posted. (Marylyn, hope to see you there!)