Ode to Fiskars Scissors.

Ode to my Fiskars Scissors

You turned my fuchsia prom dress, worn once for three short hours,

Into a costume for my niece (minus all those lacey flowers)

to wear to 80’s parties, and twice on Halloween--

We recycled and repurposed that dress four times, at least!

You helped me create home-made cards more times than I remember,

From Valentines to birthdays, from July through December.

There were scrapbooks and collages, cut from stacks of magazines,

Ticket stubs and hand drawn notes we clipped and glue to things.

You kept me warm, you cut the bright and wooly yarn I used,

To make lopsided winter hats, or gloves, or slipper shoes.

A simple cut fixed thread and floss, to let me start anew,

Oh, Fiskars, I would have a tangled mess if not for you!

I love Fiskars scissors because they have been there like an old friend through both my beautiful craft outcomes and my epic fails. They were sitting there beside me at my craft table when I said “Wow, I can’t believe this turned out so nice,” as I looked over decorative paper-cut snowflake garland. Those familiar orange handles were also there when I looked down at what was supposed to look like a miniature paper swan, but instead just looked like a bent paper airplane with one wing. At times like those, I thought to myself “Woah, maybe I’m not cut out for paper crafts like kirigami and origami,” but I knew I’d find my niche in some kind of crafting if I just kept trying different things. Fiskars scissors were by my side through the trial and errors I made that eventually lead me to my passion for collage making and something that I call collage memory boxes.

The first collage memory box I made was for my mom. Born in September, she always liked things associated with autumn. From apple crisp or pumpkin pie to cider and the colors gold and orange, when I think of my Mom, the motif that springs to mind is one of autumn. I could never find the perfect, personalized gift for her, so one year I decided to make her something. I was originally going to buy a do-it-yourself kit for snow globes or music boxes. Short on time, cash and supplies to make one of those, I decided to create a memory box. I found a sturdy cardboard box at the craft store, and went to work cutting rose-gold paper, scrapbooking backgrounds and strips of material I found with leaves and autumn designs. I covered the box and then I decided to fill it with lifelike “autumn things.” A perfect maple leaf pressed in between laminate, a tiny bronze apple paperweight. I found baubles and trinkets that alone held little sentimental meaning, but when combined and scattered in the box, they became the metaphorical snow in a shaken-up snow globe. The concept was to make a three-dimensional scrapbook in a box, that when opened would flood the person who got the gift with sensory images of their favorite things, places and memories.

After making my Mom’s, I made a similar beach themed one for my sister. Filled with things she loved, I included little messages in a bottle, a tiny sized plastic palm tree, and a cd filled with our favorite summer songs, a playlist from our youth that always made us laugh and dance. In the next year, I ended up clipping and cutting things that reminded me of various people to place in an envelope to use later when I made their box. By the end of a year, everyone in my immediate family and close circle of friends had their own memory box. Once I ran out of boxes to make, I kept using the concept for paper journals. Everyone in my family loves to journal and write. We go through empty journals like we go through loaves of bread. I continued using this method that I’d used to design the box to make “pop-up” journals that were textured and touchable. A small paper crafted bird cage adorns the front of one, made for a friend who wanted a journal to use for keeping track of bird species during her birdwatching adventures. A travel journal complete with old pieces of a road atlas are on another that I made to document the month I spent road tripping across the USA. I tested the water of many arts and crafts, until I finally found a way to combine my love of the written word (poetry and journaling) and scrapbooking into one tangible artform, and I love it! None of that would be possible without my favorite Fiskars! I use them for everything, but the thing I love to use them for is paper cutting for my memory boxes. Here’s to you, Fiskars scissors, for helping me clip, cut and shape my memories into little boxes, cards and journals that will preserve them for years to come.