Gift Wrapping Inspiration: Kraft Paper

Once you've spent hours trawling the shops or the internet to find perfect gifts for all of the special people in your life you'll want to get down to wrapping. I like to spend a whole afternoon or evening  and wrap, wrap,wrap! It doesn't take that much time or effort and you can look forward to giving beautifully wrapped gifts on christmas morning! This is the first of several posts on different christmas gift wrapping themes and inspiration. From simple and rustic ideas through to the more glitzy and glamorous!

Kraft paper is probably my favourite way to wrap christmas gifts. Theres something elegant and nostalgic about pile of presents wrapped in clean, crisp kraft paper all adorned with string, ribbons and bows. As well as being cost effective it is probably the most versatile method of wrapping. The plain and simple background means you can go crazy with the decorations; ribbons, bells, bakers twine, washi tape, stickers, sprigs of leaves...the sky's the limit! You really can be as creative as you like or just keep it basic with string and a simple gift tag.

I've made a moodboard with a few wrapping ideas. I particularly like the vintage style brooch on the black and white ribbon - it goes to show that kraft can be classy and elegant!

Image Source (left to right) ROW 1: Black and white ribbon present and bell-tied bag both The Penny Paper Co, Pile of presents by Herz Allerliebst, Hamper of presents from Martha Stewart. ROW 2: Newspaper holly present by Candice Stringham, Gold tape and spring present from The Penny Paper Co, Spotted present from Candice Stringham, Vintage brooch present from The Penny Paper Co.


 The shops are full of kraft-style patterned paper this year. These are a great alternative to the plain kraft or even a mixture of patterned and plain would look great! There also loads of alternatives in the shape of boxes and paper bags. I particularly like the small pegs below from Dozi on Etsy these are a nice way of attaching gift tags to string or for fastening the top of a brown paper bag to prevent any peeking!

1. Paperchase, 2. Normans Printery (Etsy), 3. Dozi (Etsy), 4. Pearl and Earl, 5. Ocado, 6. Paperchase, 7. John Lewis, 8. Mel's Eclectic Supplies (Etsy), 9. Indigo Elephant (NOTHS)

Wedding Inspiration: Navy and Gold

Navy blue and gold is a rich colour palette for a winter wedding creating a sophisticated and elegant vibe. The blue looks great in all shades from a bright sapphire blue through to a dark navy. For this mood board I've focused on a bright yellow shade of gold which is seasonal and luxurious without being overtly festive. This sort of indian gold shade adds a sparkle and brightens up the overall feel. I imagine this would be a wedding full of candlelight and twinkling fairy lights.

Navy blue can also be a nice alternative to grey or black for men's suits at a wedding, the blue can give a warmer feel where sometimes black may feel a little too harsh. 

My sister is due to get married in March next year so for most of the last year I have been designing and producing her save-the-date cards and invitation suites. (I'll take some more pictures of these to share at some point). Throughout the design process I looked at hundreds of invitation suites and although navy and gold is not her chosen colour scheme (she has gone for a vintage countryside feel with a neutral palette of greys with elements of dusky pinks and tweed ) these were some of the invitations which stood out to me the most. The contrast of the two colours really makes the calligraphy pop. 

Image source: (left to right) ROW 1: Blue striped straws by ohlalapaper (Etsy shop), Gold flower image from Martha Stewart Weddings, Blue Sapphire Ring by Ingle and Rhode, Invitation suite image from 100 Layer Cake. 
ROW 2: Invitation suite by Mr Boddington's Studio, Invitation image from Chelsea Simpliche, Invitation suite by Jenrik Designs (Etsy shop). 
ROW 3: Menu Image by Mango studios via Style Me Pretty, Blue and gold fabric by Grey's Fabric (Etsy shop), Cake by Cocoa and Fig via JaneCane Photography, Quote art print by imkellycummings vis Society6, Table number image from Ruffled blog.
ROW 4: Table plan image from Martha Stewart Weddings, Invitation by MyDetails (Etsy shop), Food image from Ruffled blog, Bottle image from Ruffled blog.

Selection: Christmas Cards 2013

As promised yesterday I have a few christmas card to share with you! In case you are looking for the perfect card for someone here are a selection to choose from.

It's that busy time of year when you seem to have a never-ending list of christmas chores; presents to buy, wrapping to get through, meals and parties to plan! However, writing christmas cards is the one task which really gets me into the christmas spirit! This is even better when you love the cards that you are sending.

There were so many amazing cards to choose from that this is one of several instalments to come!

1. Sycamore Street Press, 2. Rifle Paper Co, 3. Snow and Graham, 4. Russet and Gray (NOTHS), 

5. Hello Lucky, 6. Paperchase, 7. Cards & Cotton, 8. Loveday designs (NOTHS), 

 9. White Knot (NOTHS)

Collection: Woodland Wanderings

For my first blog post I thought that I would pick out a few favourite stationery items which draw inspiration from the great outdoors. From furry little creatures to woodgrain effect designs there's so much great woodland themed stationery out there that it was difficult to choose just a few!



1. Rifle Paper Co, 2. Fine Day Press, 3. The Little Bird Press, 4. French Press Mornings, 
5. Paperchase, 6. Victoria Semykina, 7. Screech Owl Designs, 8. ruffhouseart, 9. Hammerpress



I particularly like the gift wrap from Rifle and Co, they have some really nice christmas wrapping papers. I plan on doing a round up of christmas wrapping ideas later in the week and I'm sure that some more of their designs will feature in that post!

There's something about this time of year that makes me want to wrap up in a snuggly coat and scarf and go for a wintry walk in the woods. With all of the chaos in the build up to christmas it's nice to get away from it all and take some time out!