It's For You

I've always loved pretty wrapping paper, especially the designs from Paperchase but at £1 - £2 a pop for one sheet it was an expensive habit. That's why I was very happy to find these beauties at a local store called Tiger for 50p a roll!


Tiger also do a small selection of colourful tapes, perfect for presents and letters.


Speaking of letters, I ordered some kawaii writing paper from Japan and it arrived yesterday very prettily presented!

Wrap it Up

Good wrapping makes a gift even more special. One of my favourite things is wrapping up presents. In fact, I enjoy it so much it's like an unbirthday presents to myself! Turns out I'm not alone in this. The Flickr group Nice Package! have a wonderful selection of images of wrapped up gifts and package swaps, something I'd love to try someday.








Wouldn't you love to receive any of these? I know I would! I like the idea of experimenting with different materials to wrap such as posters, paper bags, fabric, comic books, maps, the list is endless.



This was one of favourite 'wraps' for the birthday of one of my best friends. I found a lovely vintage mini briefcase at a car boot sale and used some Paperchase paper as well as some handmade gold paper to wrap the dozen or so presents inside. To decorate I used parcel string, netting, ribbons and stamps!

The Fight Against the Blank Canvas

Blank space does funny things to my brain. Whether it's a blank page or blank walls, the long I stare at it, the more my mood spirals downwards. That's why I'm a fan of that basic and beautiful design skill - the collage. Everywhere I've lived, the collage has followed. The colour and design of each individual piece transform the entire canvas into visual candy.



At university a like minded friend and I collected fliers. Being students, we collected a lot! At first we created a simple collage covering an entire wall, but one lazy Sunday we decided to step it up and make a flier rainbow. This is probably the best collage I've had a hand in making!



I've also used collages to jazz up boxes, folders, notebooks and such. Here are a couple of boxes I worked on as gift boxes.