The new and improved

This is the special gift wrapping I did for the customer who bought The Bitter Betty Industries necklace. This is not the standard DPA gift wrap. I would have to charge five dollars for this. The poppies are vintage. I got them from "Dolls and Lace". The paper is from a page of my "Household" magazine from the thirties. I need to buy a kajillion more of them before there are no more of them. The Sure Jel ads are super funny. They suggest I start a "Jelly Club" and I'm seriously considering it.

This post has lots of pictures. Pardon me if you find it redundant. I really love the way this turned out. I would be so excited to get a present that looked like this. It almost wouldn't matter if there was a box of Altoids inside.

This is what the work table looks like after three days of trying stuff out, cutting, taping, gluing, stamping, discarding, pinking, and not cleaning any of it up. Actually that's a complete lie. I cleaned this table up right before working on the box decorations yesterday afternoon. What you see here is one hour's worth of frantic cutting, pasting, and searching for good ideas amongst the scraps.

I think this particular silk rose will look better with a more contrasting fabric such as black with white pin dots, or maybe a red fabric. But you can see how I covered the box with the "Household" paper? Dang, I should have posted the before picture too so you could see for yourself what an improvement it is.

This is the one that made me so excited. I love the colors, the sparkly star, and the old paper. To me they are harmonious without being boring. They are sweet without making myself want to choke myself to death. They are nostalgic without being overly sentimental. The silk rose can be made into something for those who are crafty. however, I hot glued it down to the fabric strips which are hot glued down to a piece of felt. None of it is hot glued to the box, so you can remove the decoration and put it back. So it doubles as a pretty storage box.

Here's the glamour shot. Yes, I know, I've got a thing for glass glitter. It's the best thing about
Wendy Addison's work. She introduced me to the magic of silver glass glitter. I've never recovered. I want to cover everything in it and look at it all day long. If I ever get admitted to a mental health facility for a long stay, I'm pretty sure I could be kept calm by dangling glass glitter covered objects in front of my face.

One more view. See what I mean though, about how there was something better needing to come of all those other design ideas? They were too glossy. I mean, I might actually make up one of them because they're kind of cool, but they didn't hit the spot. This version looks more polished. I think I can do some higher contrast variations that will really reflect the colorfulness of my store. But I am very happy with this one. Which is why I've shown you fifty pictures of it.

Oh right, I bet you're wondering how come I've included a picture of two rolled up pieces of beer box, huh? Rolled up pieced of beer box that have apparently been chewed on. We went to Lisa and Mark's house last night. Philip dropped off me and Max and took off to the Portland Airport to pick up my mom who's here somewhat spontaneously. Chick was bored. She whined. Philip brought her only one chew toy. She had exactly zero interest in it. Whining dogs are very irritating. I guess I could have tried smacking her around, but I hear that can destroy a dog's sweet nature. Plus, I would never do that. So instead I got the brilliant idea to roll up some cardboard really tight, tape it closed, and throw it for her. She likes to chew on cardboard. Then Lisa made an amazing suggestion to put a little peanut butter in the center.

She went through four cardboard roll-ups, but it took her a lot of time to do it. She stopped whining. This impromptu design may not be pretty, but if you're in a tight dog spot like I was this trick just might make you both really happy. I love this picture. I have to admit that she made a huge mess with this gizmo. Lots of little wet chewed up spit out wads of cardboard scattered around the floor. But it was worth it.

We're thinking about taking a trip to Astoria on Monday. I've never been but now I know at least two bloggers who live there and the pictures they post are so pretty. Besides, how can a place called Astoria not be cool? My mom's hip needs replacing, so she is in a lot of pain and can't walk around much, but hopefully we'll get to check out some of the shops. Maybe even stop by the ocean. Are there ticks waiting to latch on to us there?

I have tick fear. I have romped around on the Oregon coast a million times and never once got a tick or knew there might be any to be gotten. Then my friend Nicole told me about a field trip she took her students on to a Northern California beach at which the ticks were plentiful and eager to get acquainted with the kids. One kid apparently got about twenty ticks on him because he didn't listen to Nicole when she told him not to roll around in the tall grass.

So apparently there are two things to worry about at the beach now, no wait, three! Tsunamis, drowning children, and ticks. Man, such a dangerous terrain. I think maybe I would prefer to sit in a pub with a pint and think nice thoughts about the ocean rather than actually go to it.

I actually really love the ocean. Well, I love it where the beaches are cold, rocky, and moody. I don't like Southern California beaches. I like tide pools, smooth rocks, drift wood, and running in the cold cold water with my pants rolled up and no shoes on. There is no better spa treatment for the tough skin on your feet than sloughing it off with sand and salty water.

Well, it's time to get going to work. I hope you all have a great Sunday!