Sara's Blog

Hope everyone had a great Christmas! It was so good to be back home in Portland for work (filming 8 webisodes and a DVD) and to see everyone...plus Powell's City of Books, Collage art store and Imelda's for shoes...then down the freeway to Eugene for Christmas with the family. My mom and I even got a chance to play with some of HOTP's new stamps and Citrus Use 'Em for Anything papers and Monograms. She gave them all a rave review, which is why I'm headed back to Amsterdam without them! Check out these new stamps, though--they're gorgeous! Mom's pick was Botanicals, closely followed by Delicate Patterns. (My favorite is Flights of Fancy, although Mom kept those too!)

Have a safe and happy New Year!

    

    

The word “Bohemian” has been showing up a lot lately—you can see references in fashion, art and craft magazines, and now scrapbooking and paper crafting. So what does “Bohemian” mean? Well, technically it refers to people of Bohemia (now Czechoslovakia) but in our case, it’s really celebrating a sort of unconventional, artistic style.

Loosely interpreted for the paper crafting world, this means rich colors combined with edgier images like tattoo-style hearts and wings. While Bohemian has its roots in the vintage trend and has a scuffed and well-loved look, it also features crisp bird silhouettes, soft flowers and botanicals and Asian-inspired designs. The whole point of the Bohemian look is that it’s eclectic, blending colors and styles from a variety of sources.

You’ll find motifs like “hand-drawn” swirls, wings, flames, hearts and stars plus crowns, birds and scrolls. (And yes, you will see skulls and crossbones…but they’re funky, rather than scary!)

Personally, I love the look. It’s close to the shabby chic style I like so much, with a little more color (I still love brown, though—no matter what!). And I’m mad for those bird silhouettes and the wings.

Are you crazy for the Bohemian look too? Tell me what you think of the trend!

My friend Katie Hacker asked me to participate in an e-ornament swap, where a group of crafty souls create ornaments, post them to their blogs and exchange links. What a cool idea! So when Katie asked me to make an ornament, I had to say yes—adding that it would a fast and easy one. Here it is: I learned how to make these pretty paper balls at a craft show here in The Netherlands. They're really quick and would be great to do with kids. (I'm planning to make some with my niece Molly when I get home!)

You'll need some 12"x12" scrapbook paper, a 1/16" hole punch, brads, ribbon and a paper trimmer.

Here's how:

1. Cut 5 strips of 12" long paper, each about 1/2" wide.


2. Cut each strip in half so you have 10 strips of paper measuring 6"x1/2".


3. Use a 1/16" hole punch to punch a hole at each short end of each strip, about 1/4" from the end of the strip. I usually punch one strip, then use it as a placement template for the rest of the strips. (Don't worry if your holes aren't perfectly precise, it'll still work!)


4. Gather all your paper pieces together and insert a brad through the holes at each end.


5. Gently pull the strips away from each other to form a ball. Tie ribbon around one brad to hang.

You can also use double-sided papers, like glimmer or vellum, or make them from single-sided patterned paper—in that case, you'll cut twice the number of paper strips, then place them back-to-back before punching and inserting the brad. Don't glue them, just keep the back-to-back ones together when you pull the strips apart. That's how I made these…the gray and black one is using Classic sarapapers™ and the red and black ball is using Bohemian sarapapers™.

You could also ink or stamp or chalk on the strips before assembly, or vary the width of the strips or alternate patterns.

This month Keith and I are heading back to the States for Christmas—yay! I can’t wait to see my family and to have some of my mom’s great cooking. In the meantime, I’ve been busily making and accumulating gifts for everyone in my big family…all the while wondering how I’m going to wrap them once I get home. (No wrapped presents through airport security!)

I think I have a solution: These Over the Top gift boxes come flat and you can fold them up and decorate them really easily. I think I’ll pack some plain ones, along with a few bits of paper and ribbon, then I can fold them up and decorate them quickly and easily on the other side. I personally love the holiday color assortment and how Laura decorated this pretty gold box so simply!

PS. Even Keith got into the holiday crafting spirit this year. It’s a Dutch tradition to give chocolate initials to friends, so we got a letter for each person in his department at work, then put them in little holiday bags and made tags to tie on each one. And it didn’t take long—he finished just in time to catch the game on TV!