MEET PAPER JAM

The seed for Paper Jam Reuse was planted a couple of years ago when I volunteered at a Creative Reuse Center called SCRAP PDX in Portland, Oregon. Each week, I spent a few hours stocking the shop’s shelves and bins with freshly processed donations.

Something about physically tending to all of those discarded things– treating them with care and respect–made me feel hopeful.

Community members who donated items they no longer wanted were relieved to know the items they once valued were now available for others to discover, adopt, and value again. Shoppers were either thrilled to find items they needed at reasonable prices or delighted to discover treasures that sparked their imaginations.

When I relocated to the Napa Valley in 2024, I missed SCRAP immensely. Overwhelmed at the idea of building a full creative reuse center in my new town, I started Paper Jam, a reuse project focused on paper–the thread that runs through so many of my favorite things.  

MEET SASHA

I like paper.

In fact, I love paper.

I also love trees.

Therein lies the conflict that led me to use as much discarded paper–notebooks, notepads, stationery, business cards, bags, gift wrap, stamps, outdated books–as possible in my everyday life and in my creative practice.

That’s how Paper Jam Reuse became a thing, or more specifically, how it became MY THING.

If you’re curious about what I did before Paper Jam, click here for my archive of past projects.