[nosferatu]

1. You wake up to see a fantastic new pattern posted.

2. You begrudgingly go into the loft at 6am to look for something and instead of finding what you are looking for, you discover an unopened, virgin, box of Saral Paper that you never knew you had.

On that optimistic note, I'm off to find some pumpkins.

[zombombie]

I really need to find saral paper... I have enough for this season - I hope - but I need to get some more!

[nosferatu]

I thought I was going to have to use graphite paper this year until this morning.

Just taken the children to school and walking back stopped at Tesco. They are selling Large Pumpkins 2 for £3. They are actually medium at best but I bought a couple. Patterns will have to be resized to about 80% but I was just glad to have something to carve. Very dubious that they'll last till Halloween.

Have you noticed how supermarkets use the labels / stickers to cover up imperfections? I have 3 big pumpkins promised to me so these will do. Not carving as man as last year.

[zombombie]

I have 4 medium sized 'kins that I desperately need to keep until Halloween. It's not easy though, I wanna carve! I think I'll try graphite paper. No harm in giving it a shot.

Hoping to pick up a few more 'kins on the run up to Halloween and then carve them for my party on the 5th.

[nosferatu]

I used to use graphite before Saral. It works fine unless moisture gets to it and then it's knackered.

I' forgot you are having your party a few days later due to your hectic Halloween. How many people can say they've seen Alice Cooper on Halloween itself? Very few. That'll be awesome.

I hope those kins last and that the Devil isn't mischievous between now and then otherwise it will be a case of kin hell.

[monstermash]

I used to use graphite before Saral. It works fine unless moisture gets to it and then it's knackered.

I use graphite paper every year. At least I thinki I do, I call it carbon copy paper. It'll do the job but I always go over the design with a Sharpie because the graphite alone is hard to see sometimes.

[zombombie]

Nice one, thanks guys! Do you just get the paper from a regular stationery shop? Is it expensive?

[monstermash]

I know you can get it on ebay. It doesn't look too expensive, not compared to Saral which I noticed on ebay too.

Ahh just looked at one listing and it looks like they sell one sheet of graphite but its 18"x36" for £3.50. I suppose you could cut it up. I think it works out cheaper to buy Saral as you get 12 feet of that.

The stuff I use has been lying around the house for years so ive no idea where it came from.

[nosferatu]

When I first started carving, I used carbon copy paper. I had a box of it from where I used to work and it had been in a cupboard for years - they had it when they used to have manual typewriters in the mid eighties. It was virtually indestructible. Sadly, lost a few years ago when moving house.

[pagemaster1993]

I think sometime I will give Saral Paper a go. Would probably help with patterns that have a lot going on.

[Raven]

Thank you for reminding me I need to buy some more Saral paper. I usually get it on Ebay since it's cheaper than the ONE store I can find it at around here.

It sounds like your day started off great, Nos! Hope it keeps up!

[shaft28]

I always get mine off Amazon, range of prices and colors. Frankly I'd be lost without it. Trying to mark a pattern by poking holes slowly drives me insane. (Think Golum arguing with himsellf nuts not dog next door telling you to kill nuts).

[punchi]

I have recently learned a cheap (free) alternative to Saral Paper. It's not a good, but better than poking holes. It works on fake kins, but I haven't tried it on a real one yet.

Print pattern. Grab a pencil and color the back of the pattern really hard so the graphite is good and thick. Trace like you do with Saral. Bam!

I think the real pumpkin moisture will make it wipe away if it does transfer. I'll let you know when I try it out!

[Raven]

I always get mine off Amazon, range of prices and colors.

I just bought some tonight off Amazon. It was only a dollar more than Ebay and I have Prime, so free 2 day shipping. It's still cheaper on Amazon than in the craft store I can find it in here.