PAPER PASTRIES
{please visit Paper Pastries here}
I hope you don’t mind us buffing our nails on our lapels today. {puff-puff} We are giving away our first The Bright Side Project exclusive today! That’s right, today’s contributor created a Sugar, Sugar pack of sweet paper pastries for our readers to enjoy.
Not that we would expect anything less than this attention to detail from Margaret Haas of Paper Pastries. Haas creates most of her collection from hand illustrations or personal photographs. She edits these to her satisfaction and then turns them into rubber stamps. Each “paper pastry” is then hand stamped piece by piece, some requiring several passes in various colors. This process lends a soft richness and textural quality to the collection, and, of course, the handmade element makes everything all the more special. No two pieces will ever look alike, which is a great way to tell the recipient they are both Sugar, Sugar sweet and one of a kind–just like this paper pastry pack.
Paper Pastries is giving away THREE Sugar, Sugar BSP Packs to THREE winners. In order to win, please answer one or both the following questions by Friday, September 4, 2009. (Margaret came up with two great questions because she likes variety and thought you might like a choice, too.)
What old tradition (like letter writing) would you like to see make a huge comeback?
Whats the best thing you’ve ever received in the mail?
Please start checking the winner’s box on Wednesday, September 9, 2009 to see if you won. Good Luck!
My mom used to send me care packages in college during finals week, and even though I’m not still in school…if I’m having a rough week my mom sends me a pick-me-up box. She always finds my favorite foods and includes newspaper articles that reminded her of me with a really nice note.
The thing I would like to see make a come back is simple pleasures. People are going a mile a minute all the time and they never stop to enjoy simple things. I always try to keep the simple pleasures alive in my home, like candles in the backyard for the best patio dining with no waiting, instead of going out to eat.
The best thing I received in the mail was birthday cards from family. When I first moved out on my own I loved getting mail, it made me feel important and grown up, and around my birthday when the cards would arrive I felt special.
An old tradition I would love to see make a comeback is good old bday parties at home surrounded by friends and family. No expensive party, no expensive goodie bags. Just cake, friends and presents.
Best mail day: getting CHICKENS in the mail! Yes, 30 of them. Chicks. Peep, peep, peeping. The mailman looked a tad bit terrified and practically threw the box at us before running back to his truck. I think he was afraid that we’d send them back with him.
Zoobooks! Oh how I loved Zoobooks!
One of the best things I received in the mail were pressed wild flowers from my boyfriend (now husband) while he was land-surveying in Alaska for the summer. It was nearly 10 years ago, but we had only been dating a few months when he left. The letters we exchanged that summer are some of my dearest keepsakes and now, those flowers sit in a frame on shelf in our home.
In this constantly on-the-go lifestyle that urban dwellers seem to revel in, I’d like to see people bring back a slower-paced at home entertaining ritual with close friends and family. I know how tempting it is join friends for dinner at one of the many amazing restaurants that most cities offer. But nothing can replace the warmth of being invited into someone’s home that has been dressed up for guests with delicious aromas lingering amidst fabulous music. It would be lovely to see a bit more of a balance between these two rituals.
I spent a few months living abroad, snowboarding, and once a month my mum would post out a care package for the whole house with british chocolates, and lovely treat toiletries, and gossip about what had been happening {even though she’s have emailed me the day before} and my boyfriend would throw a mixtape {or mix minidisc} in every so often with the big tunes of the month on it. every month i would love going to the p.o. box and seeing what treats we had been sent. So did the rest of the brits in the house.
It would have to be a Cleo magazine that randomly arrived in my mailbox one day- it was address to me, and I have no idea why it arrived but it instantly made my bad day that little bit brighter! One of the small joys in life is curling up in the sun, with a cuppa, and a good magazine-especially one of my favs- Cleo :)
Tea Parties is a tradition I wish that would return with a vengeance. Proper Tea Parties with fancy dresses, little sandwiches, heart shaped cakes, knitting, gossip, pretty hair and no guys allowed! It’s a lovely thought. I throw my own from time to time, and should do it more.
The best thing I ever got in the mail was a chair. An Oak chair from a friend who sent me it as a gag birthday gift. It’s a beautiful, expensive piece of furniture and came in a box about 4 1/2 feet tall! I still love that chair.
i’d love to see thank you notes make a comeback. the time to hand write anything is time well spent but to express gratitude or appreciation fosters more of the same generosity in both sender and recipient.
an old tradition I would like to see come back is having fresh milk delivered to my home in pretty glass bottles.
the best thing I have recieved in the mail is this quilt my friend made me, its so pretty and really made with love.
Awhile back I received an envelope in the mail from my aunt. My father, her brother, died when I was 7 (I am now 25). In the envelope were a few old pictures and clippings from the newspaper of and about my dad. I love, love, love getting or finding anything about my dad- anything to help me know him better. I think connecting through mail is so important even in this age of e-mail…you don’t understand how important someone’s handwriting is to you until they are gone- we need to cherish our ability to connect personally.
I would like to see good penmanship make a comeback with fountain pens!
Best Comeback Wish? Front porches!
What old tradition (like letter writing) would you like to see make a huge comeback? Making fresh jams and, driving without talking on the phone/texting…
Whats the best thing you’ve ever received in the mail?
A care package from my best friend Jill during my first week of college.
I don’t know whether I should call this “tradition” but I wish more people would go back to buying books (or anything, really) in small, cozy bookshops instead of amazon, for example, even if it’s just to give them a chance to survive (and no, I don’t own a shop ;)).
The best thing I ever received in the mail was a book. A friend of mine – I didn’t know her that well back then, we had just begun to get to know each other – went abroad for one semester and sent me said book, just because she found it and thought I might like it. As already mentioned, we didn’t know each other well but that book was *exactly* my taste and is now one of my favorites. Today, she is my closest and best friend and I love her dearly.
I’d like to see the tradition of knowing your neighbours and spending more time face-to-face with family and friends. We’re so addicted to the internet or so caught up with television, magazines and book. When was the last time we seriously spent at least a week away from it all and out and about in the world?
Best thing I ever received in the mail was a care package from my best friend while I was living in Canada by myself for a few months. It was completely unexpected, and made my summer.
The most wonderful thing I ever received in the mail was a big box of homemade christmas cookies from my grandmother. She used to live with us but had moved out on her own a couple of states away, and I missed her very dearly, but she would always send us surprise packages like the cookies for all of the different holidays, so that we could pretend she was there with us.
the best things i i receive in the mail are care packages from my mom to my daughters. they are 4 and 5 and she loves to surprise them with new little books, a craft or art project and even jewelry that she has made for them. their faces light up when a box appears on our front step!
Slow down and smell the roses – It seems that we all lead a very hectic life, leaving no time for silliness or just plain old goofing off. Smile, have some fun. Life doesn’t have to be so serious.
The best things I ever received in the mail were letters from my boyfriend (now husband) while he was stationed in Germany for 22 months.
I would like to see the tradition of wearing hats come back into fashion. I’m far to shy to start a one woman campaign to bring it back- but how fantiastic to pull a long pin out a little jewel of a hat as you walk into the house, or to peak through a cascade of netting when you talk to a person on the street.