We’ve got another special how-to post to share with you today from Carol at Jolie Colis! Last month we shared a beautiful set of gifts featuring our pastel Seersucker gift wrap, and today we’ve got another how-to featuring our Garden Path gift wrap for an extra pretty present! This approach would be perfect for a birthday gift or Mother’s day (which is Sunday, May 12!).
You will need:
- Garden Path gift wrap (or your favorite double-sided gift wrap from our collection!)
- Glue dots or double-sided tape
- Broad satin ribbon
- Narrow satin ribbon
- An ornamental charm*
- Sticky gems and pearls*
*Available in the scrapbooking or jewelry-making section of most craft shops
1. Wrap your box with one side of the gift wrap. Then, cut a strip of paper for a contrasting “belt” to go around the box. The width of the belt is up to you, but we recommend making it a little wider than your broad ribbon.
2. Wrap the contrasting paper belt around the box and secure it on the bottom with a glue dot or double-sided tape.
3. Cut two pieces of the narrow ribbon and wrap them around the box over the belt margin. Secure on the bottom with a glue dot or double-sided tape.
4. Cut a generous piece of the broad ribbon and make a big lush bow, tying on the ornament.
5. Finish with some bling: the little gems and pearls that we used have sticky backs, so they’re easy to add as a finishing touch!
Many thanks to Carol from Jolie Colis for sharing these amazing gift wrapping tips with us today — be sure to stop by
Jolie Colis for even more gift wrapping inspiration!
Love the look of colorful edge painting on a beautifully printed letterpress wedding invitation? So do we! Order your custom wedding invitations with Smock from now through May 31, and we’ll edge paint your invitations for free when you spend $2,000 or more! Choose from one of our 60 ink colors and add a beautiful colored edge to your invitations for a perfect finishing touch. Visit your favorite Smock dealer today to get started on your order!
The fine print: Free edge painting promotion can be applied to any one card with minimum order of $2,000. Promotion can be combined with our other ongoing promotions: free envelope printing on tier 3 envelopes and 10% off 6 printed pieces or more, though order total must reach $2,000 after these promotions have been applied in order to be eligible. Offer ends May 31, 2013.
We’ve got a special treat to share with you today! Carol from Jolie Colis — a talented gift wrapper with an amazing local boutique here in Syracuse that offers custom gift wrapping for special occasions — put together some tips and tricks for how to create a gorgeous gift. We love this stacked set of gifts featuring our pastel Seersucker wrap that Carol put together — it would be perfect for a baby shower, spring holiday gift or even a birthday present!
You will need:
- Seersucker gift wrap (or your favorite double-sided gift wrap from our collection!)
- Glue dots or double sided tape
- Metallic thread*
- Narrow ribbon in a coordinating color
- An ornamental charm*
- Sticky gems and pearls*
*Available in the scrapbooking or jewelry-making section of most craft shops
How to:
1. Wrap the gifts, alternating the paper patterns.
2. Center your gifts in order of size, and secure them together with a glue dot (it’ll be easier to handle this way). Tip: keep the pattern size proportional to the gift size (small gift, small pattern).
3. After you’ve secured the gifts together, wind the thread around the stack several times, criss-crossing to create an interesting pattern. Secure with a knot on the top.
4. Add the narrow ribbon on top in a traditional windowpane pattern. Thread the ornament on as you’re tying the bow (we used a small pearl).
5. Add some bling — the little gems and pearls that we used have sticky backs, so they’re a lot easier to use than they look!
6. For a finishing touch, try our new
foil gift labels — for this gift, we stuck two labels together back-to-back and punched a hole to create a tag effect.
Big thanks to Carol for sharing this fun DIY gift wrap project with us today! Be sure to check out the
Jolie Colis blog for even more gift-wrapping inspiration!
We’re heading South! Join us at Salutations for our next trunk show event — we’ll be in Durham on Thursday, March 21st for their grand opening celebration, and we’ll also be in Charlotte the night before for a trunk show! Take advantage of show specials and meet with a few of our design experts to create the invitations of your dreams. Visit Salutations for more information and to RSVP!
Calling all Chicago brides: join a few of our design experts next week at Magnificent Milestones for a trunk show event! RSVP today to secure your spot by emailing rsvp@magnificentmilestones.com. We hope to see you there!
The newest letterpress card in our Change the World card series has arrived! Fin is a new letterpress card whose proceeds will help the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch®, a program that engages and empowers consumers and businesses to purchase seafood that is fished or farmed in ways that minimize their impact on the environment.
Why should you care about where your seafood comes from?
- 90% of table fish (including cod, shark, swordfish, salmon, and more) have been fished out of the oceans. Many fish and other animals caught in fishing gear are thrown away as unwanted bycatch – amounting to many millions of metric tons of marine life wasted each year. Scientists predict that if we continue on this path, we’ll see the end of most seafood by 2048.
- Fish are important. They contribute to healthy oceans and act as an essential source of protein for many cultures. The global consumption of fish has hit a record high, reaching an average of 17kg per person. Fisheries and aquaculture supplied the world with about 145m tonnes of seafood in 2009, providing about 16% of the population’s animal protein intake. As such, the loss of seafood as a viable food option could lead to mass starvation.
- Healthy, wild ocean ecosystems provide a variety of other services to the planet, including the air we breathe. Scientists believe that phytoplankton, tiny ocean plants, contribute between 50 to 85 percent of the oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere.
What can you do about it?
- The most important thing you can do is to vote with your fork. Carry your Seafood Watch® pocket guide (or get the app on your smartphone!) and use it to purchase sustainable seafood wherever you go. Use the guide to find your “Best Choices” or when those aren’t available, “Good Alternatives”. (Our Fin cards come with a Seafood Watch® pocket guide!)
- Help raise awareness by sharing information with friends and family. You can also ask questions about where they purchase seafood. Businesses respond to the needs of their paying customers – so the importance of this action cannot be overestimated.
- Visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch® online to learn more about what you can do to make a difference.
February 14 is right around the corner — have you gotten that special someone a Valentine’s Day card yet? Here are a few of our favorite new letterpress love cards!
Row 1: Lucky to Have You | Row 2: Like Saturdays, Like Campfires | Row 3: Valentine’s Hearts | Row 4: Sweet Sweet Love, Bee Mine | Row 5: Love You a Ton
If you live in upstate New York, come visit us at the Pepper Market this Saturday! We’ll have a great mix of Smock goods for sale (including letterpress holiday cards and our double-sided gift wrap!) and you’ll have the chance to support other local CNY designers. We hope to see you there!
If you love letterpress and live in the Syracuse area, stop by our shop this Thursday, November 29 from 4-7pm! We’ll have complimentary sweets and holiday stationery goods for sale, and we’re giving away a free gift when you spend $25 or more! We hope to see you there!
We recently had the pleasure of working with the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York on a letterpress invitation set for their 2012 Fall Benefit. We provided pro bono letterpress printing for the invitations, which feature our new Tatra design in azure and orchid inks. This year’s NOFA-NY benefit was held at Back Forty in New York City, and honored Frances Moore Lappé (an accomplished author and cofounder of Food First: The Institute for Food and Development Policy and the Small Planet Institute), as well as Benjamin Shute and Lindsey Lusher Shute (owners of Hearty Roots Farm, a diversified vegetable farm and farm share program. Lindsey is also the Director of the National Young Farmers’ Coalition (NYFC)). Many thanks to NOFA-NY for giving us the opportunity to participate in such a special event!
