Sara's Blog

Last week Keith and I were in beautiful Edinburgh, Scotland—not for work, not for teaching but for vacation, hooray! I’ve been there a few times (once in February a few years ago when I thought I would absolutely die from the cold) and each time, I thought, “Keith absolutely must see this place”. So we went there to celebrate our 10-year wedding anniversary (I can’t believe it’s been ten years).

Edinburgh in August is in full Festival mode—during August there’s the Fringe Festival (theater, comedy, etc) and the International Book Festival, where we miraculously managed tickets to see Alexander McCall Smith, author of the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency and 44 Scotland Street series, and one of my favorite authors.

And because I wanted to do a literary tour (of course Scotland is renowned for its poets and writers) but Keith seemed more inclined toward the pubs, we compromised and did the Edinburgh Literary Pub Tour. It was terrific—and there’s really nothing better than hearing Robert Burns read in a real Scots dialect. (Oh, I could listen to a Scot read the phone book, anyway—Burns is just the added benefit.)

On our last day, we rented a car and Keith gamely drove us through the Scottish Highlands. Now, I am an Oregonian and used to the mountains, but the Highlands are absolutely amazing—huge, huge mountains and fields dotted with heather and twisty, winding roads. Photos really don’t do it justice. Huge compliments to Keith on driving a manual transmission on the left side of the road.

Oh—here’s a travel tip: If you’re planning a vacation for a week, Google holiday lets or holiday apartments. Rather than spending a ton of money on a hotel room for our week in Edinburgh, we rented a one-bedroom apartment for much less money. This one happened to be an historic building, and the apartment was absolutely gorgeous. It’s a tip I learned from a Rick Steves podcast—thanks, Rick!

PS. More photos in the Photo Gallery!

Did you know you can spritz walnut ink on the Surfaces? I tried it out on the matte side of this 6”x6” porfolio and really liked the results. (You’ll get a much different effect—crisper—if you spritz onto the glossy side.) This portfolio is held closed with a piece of magnet tape, readily available at craft stores. As an alternative, use Velcro.

Supplies:

• Sara’s Surfaces™ 6”x6” Portfolio
• Flea Market sarapapers™
• Christmas Words stamp set
• 2"x6" Acrylic Block
• Chocolate Flowers
• Green Apple Great Big Brads
• Eucalyptus Walnut Ink
• brown inkpad
• Cardmaker’s Earth’s Palette Ribbons for green ribbon
• emery board (for sanding brad)
• blue embroidery thread
• 1/16” hole punch
• magnet or Velcro® (optional)
• Small Zots™

Instructions:

1. Spritz the matte side of the portfolio with Eucalyptus ink and let dry.
2. Cut a 4 3/4” piece of striped paper, with stripes running vertically. Mat on teal textured paper, ink the edges brown and attach to the bottom front panel of the portfolio. Trim excess paper from either side of the portfolio.
3. Cut a 1/4”-wide brown stripe from the striped paper and glue it across the top flap of the portfolio. Layer two brown flowers on top of a loop of green ribbon and secure with a sanded green brad. Attach to the top flap of the portfolio with Zots™.
4. Stamp “Celebrate” on a tag cut-out; punch a small hole at the top of the tag and thread with blue embroidery thread. Wrap around the green brad to secure.
5. Add magnet tape to secure closed.

PS. Next week I won’t be posting—Keith and I will be in Edinburgh for the Fringe Festival!

I love the idea of making a presentation with a small gift—like a chocolate bar, for example. This Tall Coin Envelope is the perfect size! It’s simply decorated with Chocolate Use ‘Em for Anything papers (how appropriate) and Instant Card Art. It took only a couple of minutes to make and I love that it can work for guys or girls!

Thanks Tall Coin Envie

Supplies:

• Sara’s Surfaces™ Tall Coin Envelope
• Chocolate Use ‘Em for Anything papers
• Earth’s Palette Instant Card Art
• white cardstock
• blue ribbon
• white brad
• glue stick
• foam tape
• 1/16” hole punch
• emery board

Tip: I use an emery board to sand the “nibs” off my punch-outs—and I like to sand off a little extra of the color from the punch-outs to give a nice white edge. It gives the look of matting without the extra step!

Instructions:

1. Cut a piece of brown striped paper slightly smaller than the front of the coin envelope; glue.
2. Turn the envelope over and cover the two long flaps with brown striped paper. Cover the top flap with brown striped paper. Tip: Make sure the stripes are going the same way—but don’t worry about aligning the stripes perfectly!
3. Cover the bottom flap with light brown “texture” paper. Line the inside top flap with light brown “texture” paper.
4. Mat the “thanks” Instant Card Art onto white paper, attach a small folded piece of ribbon to the back of the top left corner and attach to the front of the envelope. Add a white brad at the top of the “so very much” punch-out and use foam tape to attach it overlapping the “thanks”.
5. Mat the “you are so very kind” punch out on white, add a loop of ribbon to the back and use foam tape to attach it to the back top flap of the envelope.

I really love these little swirl boxes! At 4 ½”x2 ¼”, they’re the perfect size for a handful of sweets. (My personal favorites are Rademaker Hopjes, little Dutch coffee candies which are terribly addicting—in fact, I’m eating one right now.) Of course, you could also tuck jewelry inside, or even a rolled-up message.

Bohemian Swirl Box

Supplies:

• Sara’s Surfaces™ Swirl Boxes
• Bohemian sarapapers™
• Citrus Silk Flowers
• Chocolate Brad Pack
• Tags Template
• Cardmakers Citrus Ribbons
• brown inkpad
• Small Zots™
• glue stick
• black pen
• 1/16” hole punch
• White embroidery thread
• White paper or cardstock

Instructions:

1. Fold up the swirl box as directed on the package.
2. Cut six 1”x 4 3/8” strips of patterned paper: 3 strips of teal and 3 of pink swirl. Ink the edges, then glue one strip to each panel of the box, alternating colors.
3. Use the brown brad to layer a small teal flower on top of a large teal flower. Attach over a loop of pink sheer ribbon. Secure to the box with Zots™.
4. Use the template to make a small scallop-top tag from white cardstock. Write a name on the tag. Punch a hole at the top of the tag, thread embroidery thread through and loop around the base of the large flower. Secure the tag to the box with a Zot™.