2014 gift: your greatest hits

This time of year, I do a lot of looking back and looking forward. And today I remembered a great way to enjoy the achievements of the past and let them inspire the ones coming in the future. Driving around on errands, I caught "The Best of Frank Sinatra," on the radio. Now whether or not you're a Sinatra fan (I am), you have to respect the man's catalogue. What a voice, and what a career! And the fact that "The Best of Sinatra" is a weekly program says something, too, right?

This year Steve was up for promotion to full professor, and part of the process was documenting his accomplishments since the last evaluation. I called it his "greatest hits album." What started out as a chore became a tranformative experience. "There's nothing like seeing all your work laid out. It's the ultimate scrapbook - it reminds you of all the hard work you did to get it all done."

He had a point. Besides a sometimes-tended Behance portfolio, I've not fully committed myself to building a greatest hits album. But I think I will. We whittle away at projects that take up so much mental effort, and consequently only enjoy the pride of one project at a time. Why enjoy it all in one dose?

I may not do work that saves lives or earns notoriety, but I take immense pride in it. And that's not going to change. But I am going to take more time to look back and know that I've helped others, and in the process produced some damn fine work. And this time next year, I'll think of 2014, and think, "It was a very good year."

Dr. Who TARDIS giftwrap, pt. II

I enjoyed my last Dr. Who themed giftwrap so much that I made another one. A big one! A lovely couple asked me to create a TARDIS for their daughter, a huge Dr. Who fan. This giftbox measures about 14" square by 30" tall, plenty of space for the many fun gifts they bought her. It was so much fun to make:

The lantern was a lucky find: a little plastic jar from my shop.

If you decide to make your own, get extra glue sticks and dots. And measure EVERYTHING. Twice.

I especially loved the cool old-timey (or timey-wimey) ornamental feet and corner caps. Thanks Tim Holtz!

One last pic to show scale! This was a complicated project with a ton of steps, but I loved every part of it. It's really fun; try making one yourself! Allons-y!

Nerd alert: Dr. Who steampunk gift wrap

Along with gift wrapping, exercise, and macarons, I'm addicted to the BBC's Dr. Who. So it was just a matter of time before a Whovian-inspired prezzie appeared in my shop. Besides the great writing, lovable characters, and general awesomeness of the show, I love the steampunk set design, especially the styling of our favorite blue box. So I made my own!

At first the broken foil in the pleats bothered me, but then I thought, "Heck, you don't travel through time and space without getting a few dents and scratches."

Materials: blue foil, sheer gold ribbon, patterned self-adhesive ribbon, gold thread, Tim Holtz sprockets, decorative photo corners, bling.

Who's my favorite Doctor? This ribbon is a clue.

Little Carol loves cruising around in her TARDIS.

Don't worry, it's bigger on the inside.

Fun commercial jobs

Sounds unlikely, right? But be open to surprises; the unexpected can make work so much more interesting! These are two projects I did back when I worked for Syracuse University. A huge improvement on the typical (poorly) coated paper and curly ribbon.

Above and below: gifts for conference speakers. Paper from The Art Store in Syracuse, ribbon courtesy of the Newhouse School.

Below: gifts for guests at a sponsored conference dinner. The original request was for a brochure [dull], but I suggested giving a little gift (Florentine biscotti) and wrapping it in the brochure text. Paper and ribbon from Michaels Crafts, University seals from the SU Bookstore.

I'd love to do more commercial jobs in the future, so if you've got clients or employees to thank, I'm your girl!

Obsession: exquisite tiny things

Little treasures: A pair of earrings, messages in bottles, sand from a Buddhist mandala, pearl and glass beads, a wooden match.

I'm not sure why, but I'm incredibly drawn to tiny things. Like scale models and miniatures. Maybe it's left over from a childhood love of doll houses. Or perhaps it's because I'm a small lady, and tiny things make me feel big. And of course, I admire the skill and care it takes to make something extra, extra small.

Here's a miniature my brother-in-law bought me in Germany. The photo doesn't really show how tiny the little veggies are. The potatoes on the cutting board are smaller than peas! And the knife is about a 1 mm wide and about 10 mm long. 

Anyway, my love of tiny things attracted me to these tiny corked vials and bottles at the Hobby Lobby. They're part of the Tim Holtz Findings product line. I love, love, love the Tim Holtz products. They're so industrial, and steampunk-y. I used his sprocket gears for my Steampunk Gift Machine post last December, remember?

I know, Jolie Colis is about fancy giftwrapping. But you don't always have to hide a gift to present it with style. Besides, a reusable gift container like this is incredibly green. Who would throw away such a precious, sweet thing?

Steampunk gift machine!

Sorry it's been a while, I haven't been feeling well, and this latest project took quite a bit of planning. My husband is a real fan of steampunk, so for one of his Christmas gifts, I've built him a funky gift machine, complete with little gears and moving pieces.

No how-to on this one, it's really just experimentation. I just got a bunch of materials together and winged it. If you're interested in doing one yourself, here are the colors, textures, and materials to use:

- metal gears and (if you're really ambitious) watch movement parts
- woodgrain paper (I used cherry wood Con-Tact paper)
- metallic cardstock
- little brass stick-on buttons
- jeweler's wire (for the tiny coil)
- faux leather (I didn't use it, but it would look awesome)

Once again, for complex gift wraps like this, I prefer a box with a top and bottom, so you don't have to tear any paper. And you can use it for other things post-gifting.

I'll be back tomorrow with a holiday how-to. Stay tuned...