Gorgeous Red Coral

Anything with a sea coral pattern catches my eye. I love this natural image and quite possibly it is because it is red and I always find coral illustrations to be so bold and delicate at the same time. It's quite sophisticated as a gift wrap pattern and one of the coordinating patterns in this collection had a wonderful surprise.

In planning my Wrap Room ensembles I assumed that most people would be wrapping multiple gifts of different sizes as they made their way through the gift wrap supplies. If you have the supplies on hand, you can also have a bit of creative fun in varying the papers and ribbons. In other words, no two gifts have to look alike and why should they? I think this method works it's best when you are giving one person a few gifts (a book and bookmark) , each one is wrapped differently, still coordinated but much more interesting. With this Natural wonder ensemble I added in two solids, a metallic red and matte black so you can extend the use of these papers with all sorts of coordinating embellishments available within this Natural Wonder Collection.

Though the top gift wrap paper features a larger sea coral pattern it works well with larger or smaller gifts. This isn't true with every large scale pattern but there is enough background calligraphy detail that it's works on either size of gift. The bottom paper with it's grid-based pattern is where you can have that fun I was talking about above. Those lovely images can be cut and then glued to the solid red or black paper. The images are so visual, it's can be all that is needed on smaller gifts. Another use for those leftover gift wrap strips.

My friends and I love this Natural Wonder Rubber Stamp Set. Great for scrap booking, making last minute gift cards, or adding to blank note cards and envelopes. It's all in the details. It can also work for making a gift wrap but that's another post (one I just figured out as I was writing this). The set includes 11 wood-block rubber stamps and a black ink pad. I think a red or chocolate brown ink pad would be perfect too. $29.00

I don't scrapbook, but I know these decorative self-adhesive labels would be fabulous for it. I have a couple friends who can't mail a letter unless it's sealed with one of these gorgeous stickers. I think they truly shine when used for gift wrapping as you can tell. As seen above, they can be used to great effect on solid papers with small lengths of ribbon. I like putting them right over a flat ribbon. Over 100 labels $17.00.

Another of our new website products that are themed to match the Wrap Room ensembles. These gorgeous linen Guest Towels are embroidered with exquisite detail and the 100% linen quality is incredible. I love giving these very special towels are a hostess gift, something they may not buy for themselves but will enjoy forever.

Powder rooms always look fabulous with a touch of red. Set of 2 towels for $60.00.

I'm almost there.......the website is finally starting to come together. While I do my Annie Liebovitz thing with all the photos, my webmaster is doing his design thing and plugging in all the copy. It's a tandem process that requires extreme multi-tasking as you all know so we are close......very close to launching A Gift Wrapped Life. And when I am done, I am going for the biggest grape ice cream cone they make. For sure.

All photos by Sande Chase ~ A Gift Wrapped Life