Beautiful Blooms.....Paper Sculpture

photo by Bruce Weber ~ styling by Camilla Nickerson

I ran across this exuberant and gorgeous display of paper flowers while looking at the May 2010 online issue of W magazine. Oh my.......what have we here? We have the work of New York artist Eloise Corr Danch and as you will see she has an extraordinary ability to fashion flowers into a visual feast of colour. Makes me want to sharpen up my paper cutting skills.

This may be old hat to New York dwellers who would have seen this fashionable display of paper flowers in the windows of Macy's New York flagship store at Herald Square last spring, but then again maybe not (this could never get old hat) and this exquisite head dress has inspired me in answering my own floral question this season.......what colour of real flowers to plant over the next few weeks? All of them, every single colour I can find. 

The windows for the Macy's 2009 Flower Show featured more than 2,500 handmade paper flowers painstakingly fashioned into swirling garlands and 20 ornate head dresses in all 23 windows. A daytime view.

I would have loved to walk the 23 windows and study this swirling mass of intricate flowers of every colour and shape in this nightime view. What I would love to know......where did all the flowers go when the installation was finished? Wouldn't they make for the most fabulous of gift embellishments? You can visit the website of Eloise Corr Danch and see more of her incredible portfolio and her list of corporate clients such as Antropologie, the Canadian Joe Fresh, Macys, Sony Group Entertainment, RUFFIAN, Saks Fifth Avenue,  Leah C Couture Millinery and many others. Eloise studied fashion illustration in France at The Paris American Academy under Chanel illustrator Davids Rees. This spring she is collaborating with the British decor company Farrow & Ball to create sculptural flowers using their new wallpaper collection ~ The Chelsea.

Top photo photographed by Bruce Weber-styled by Camilla Wickerson/remaining David Zuckerman photos from Eloise Corr Danch website.

Burberry Goes Glam

A girl has to do what she has to do and in this case it was re-gift a Burberry box to fit an array of gift items that wouldn't fit into my normal size boxes. My friend Stephanie brought this larger Burberry box over for me to blog re-gift, little did she know I would use it for that and then to wrap up the birthday gift she ordered for a 19 yr.old girl. She kind of enjoys this whole re-gifting phase I am in and won't mind this re-gift solution. She has been thinking through an upcoming guest post on re-gifting store bags. When she does join us you are in for a treat, this friend has taught me more than a thing or two about gift wrapping.




I was lucky (again) that the Burberry logo wasn't too big, out came the Paris stickers and the melon colour put me into a whole colourway that I thought would be fun, but sophisticated for a 19 yr.old girl.



My very stylish friend told me I was a bit of a snob about gift bags and she is right. I love a boxed gift, I think it is the most gracious way to present a gift. There I said it. If I use a bag for your gift, it means one of two things, actually it means all of the following. I am in a hurry or/and I am not crazy about the person I am gifting, the recipient is under 10 yrs. old, or the recipient won't appreciate the difference. I just happen to think a boxed gift is so much more elegant and civilized. But.........I know gift bags are a choice for many who don't gift wrap for a living so I told my friend she is more than welcome to tell you how to re-gift a store bag in all kinds of clever ways and she is very, very clever. She may even convert me! I do have to admit that I love folding and pleating tissue and the effect of opening a gift under folded layers of tissue. So maybe it isn't that I am a bag snob, I just love tissue really neat and crisp as shown above. And in all fairness, I do give you lots of ways to re-gift store boxes so it isn't as if I am not helping you be economical in your gift wrap endeavors. Perhaps I just need to figure out a new way to use bags with pleated tissue.......another little challenge.

I did a flat wrap on the larger box so it would fit into the limited box depth. The only way this was going to work was if I kept the bows to a minimum. I used another larger Paris label to jazz up the flat wrap on the Anna Griffin Social Stationery Set and I used grosgrain ribbon on the matching Mousepad, pencil case, and tube pencils as it is the least likely to crush and crease, good to know when shipping a tightly-packed gift by the way.

Everything neat and tidy and layered just perfectly.

The new A Gift Wrapped Life gift labels that go over my folded and pleated tissue. Now tell me that doesn't look better than crumpled tissue.

I have a new wired black & white striped ribbon that I just love using. I have never been much for wired ribbon but I sure seem to be changing my tune with this one (that happens alot around here). The gift could go out the door this simple, in fact I love the understatement........but this is me who's wrapping so let's keep going.

I added in a gorgeous melon coloured silk double face satin to go with the coral tissue and orange ribbon and then topped it off with another layer of the dramatic black & white stripe. I love this combination with the soft Burberry tan box. I had no idea where I was going with this when I started, but really wish I had a good supply of Burberry boxes, they are gorgeous and a wonderfully neutral tone. I do have some of their bags so maybe there's another bag re-gift challenge for my friend.

I could have used my white paper flowers but I kind of liked the twist that came from adding the unexpected celadon green. In fact, I liked this effect so much, I'm going to order a tan giftwrap right now.

Happy July 4th Holiday to all my American readers ~ Hope you are having a lovely day with family and friends and lots of fireworks......hundreds of them.

All photos by Sande Chase ~ A Gift Wrapped Life

Brillant Greek Key

I was dying to play with my new Blue Greek key gift wrap and as soon as today's order were out the door, I got right to it. It's certainly enough of a gift wrap statement to use on it's own but my ensemble concept is a way to stretch your gift wrap supplies. At least that's my intent. The gloss black paper acts as a base to the leftover Greek Key strips that are part of cutting and wrapping various gift sizes. If you look to the top gift you will see I've used a narrow strip right over the gloss black and then tied it up with the brighter pink saddle stitch ribbon. This ensemble will include three colours and widths of ribbon, white, blue and the narrow hot pink saddle stitch.

This Greek Key gift wrap is part of a whole series of coordinated stationery products. I love this boxed set of stationery that will be added to our new product line. Sheets, foldovers, and flat cards all fold into the one-size envelope along with a pad and sticky notes. Priced at $59.00, I think it makes for a lovely and practical gift and it's box is beautiful.

This close-up shows the beauty of my new paper flowers. They have a pin so they are wearable or usable after the gift is opened. I'll tell you more about these flowers coming up, they are simply incredible to use in gift wrapping. They were going out the door on all the orders today. Another use of leftover strips on this particular pattern, cut the motif into squares, punch a hole and and you have a matching gift card.

I have been a paper pad mouse pad gal for quite a while and think they make such a clever and useful gift. They have gained in popularity since their introduction a few years back and most stationery companies are adding them to their lines. They are the most functional of items for keeping computer notes. My mouse pads are so full of references, links, and notes that I file them when finished. This Greek Key one is $14.00 so fits nicely into the small gift category. It has a matching pencil case and boxed notes (top right of 1st photo) as well. We're going to offer these products as a complete gift ensemble for shipping or as single items. The tube of fun-word pencils too.

All photos by Sande Chase ~ A Gift Wrapped Life

Linen On My Mind ..... again

When I buy roses, I head to Costgo where I can afford to buy masses of them if I have any kind of gathering.
I like to mass them, but also love it when they are used in a flat layered fashion. Just the heads, all lined up in a square flat container. There is a floral product that you add to water which turns to a gel, this is how the roses stand in position. I wanted to replicate that look with these paper roses (if you had them you would be using them alot too). They come in a package of 20 and literally come out of the bag this way. I slide them out and wire each row together and I have a square arrangement. I like the colour combination here with yellow striped cotton ribbon and these coral paper roses. I like it best on this taupe linen, but it would probably work on my matte black paper as well.



You can see the gel in the background holding the roses. I also used the same material and a low flat square container to do roses in a heart shape, but couldn't find the image. This was way before I knew how to store photos.


Give me a armful of roses and I will hunt down every container I have and fill them. This was for my neice's bridal shower a few years back and she loves pink and peach. It does make for a beautiful colour scheme. I must have used that criss-cross scotch tape method to hold this mass of roses. When it comes to roses, nothing is wasted, I also used all the excess petals across the table.

A simpler neutral version of the same idea.


There are the paper roses in green and some new organza roses I am trying out, they come in this green, a bronze, chocolate brown and black. They come with ribbon attached so you simply tie around a box. At $3.50 each they are certainly a more stylish gift wrap choice that a store-bought bow. But, that just seems too easy and I was inclined to try them in multiples and see if I liked them better that way.

I am not sure what I think about this, but I thought I would show you anyways. All you can do is think I have lost my gift-wrapping mind. I will keep experimenting. My issue is with the 6 ribbon tails, so I gathered and braided them so it would look like a bouquet stem and just let it trail down the front. Their assumption with these gift box toppers is that you will tie the ribbon to the bottom of the box. I never cared for a knot at the bottom of a box as it won't sit straight. Silly and overly-particular I know, but there must be a better way. This final presentation reminds me of something, but can't for the life of me find the words. Maybe it's just plain crazy?

All photos by Sande Chase ~ Oooh la la Cadeau

My Gorgeous File ~ every Monday

Roger Vivier ~ Haute Couture 2009

Dior Haute Couture

I keep a blog photo file simply called Gorgeous. It's full of all things I find gorgeous, girly-girl, pretty, glamorous, inspiring, and in their fanciful manner they often lift my spirits on Monday when I open my files for the upcoming week. So I've decided to gather these together in a random fashion every Monday to share their sheer beauty in the hopes they will do the same for you. We all need a little of that! I've had my eye on this little Dior Haute Couture number for many months, it was one of the first fashion photos I posted on my blog sidebar a few months back. I simply think it is one of the loveliest creations I have ever seen. So does everyone else, the frothy creation has practically become iconic for a number of reasons. You must pick up the latest issue of Vanity Fair and see the photo spread with actress Emily Blunt (of Devil Wears Prada fame) wearing all manner of haute couture. Not only does the photography by Michael Roberts take your breath away in all it's feminine glory, the article written by A.A. Gill makes a valid larger-picture point to the place of couture in these dismal times. He also answers a fashionable question.....Why do men's and women's buttons do up differently?

Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci . Lace Fan by Defrise ~ Paris

This photo didn't make the Vanity Fair issue but it is on their website. Note the exquisite court-like shoes by Roger Vivier with the fanciful pink bird detail shown in glorious detail above. You must go to the Roger Vivier website {click here} the interactive website is worth a visit. This link will bring you directly to the Haute Couture section where you can watch how the shoe-and-purse illustrations of creative director Bruno Frisoni turn into finished product. Just click on any of the illustrations. Then visit another visual treat on the same site.... the Ines Little Diaries written by Ines de la Fressange and follow her video shopping diary. The former- model-then-turned muse to Karl Lagerfield at Chanel is now the brand ambassador to Roger Vivier and takes you along as she explores hidden shop gems located on Paris streets a bit off the beaten track. The direct link didn't work so just watch the right corner of this interactive site on the main page to see a page corner flip over and then click to get to her section.

Emily Blunt reclines in suggestive style wearing a Christian Lacroix frock (saying dress just seems so inadequate in this case) on a settee that captured my attention. Note the silk flowers and you are going to see a theme here that I can't help but notice going in more than a few stylish directions. I love it when that happens.

Ingrid at Fashion Is My Muse has been blogging about the historical use of lace. She must love this delicate Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci. I have a feeling we're going to see more lace, floral, and petals......maybe ribbon?


When I saw the satin ribbon, the rose quartz , the delicate lace-like creation from jewelry designer Ranjana Khan....I knew I was going to have to borrow this incredible necklace photo from Judith over at the blog Paris Atelier to sit amongst all these lovelies. I don't think she will mind, she shares gorgeous so well.

It isn't just the couture that makes this photo shoot so incredibly perfect. The talented Vanity Fair Senior Style Editor Jessica Diehl deserves a loud but ladylike round of applause for locating the perfect backdrop located in Le Raincy outside of Paris, but putting those chairs in a random fashion...... a stroke of styling brilliance.


Do you see a connection? Exquisite paper flowers by paper artist Jo Lynn Alcorn adorned this staircase setting by designer Amy Lau in this year's Kip's Bay Showhouse in New York. She worked with designer Amy Lau and Maya Romanoff Wallpapers to create this floral application that has everyone going crazy at this year's designer showhouse. The showhouse is open until May 13th.

Though based in New York, paper artist Jo Lynn Alcorn does a great deal of work in Japan where they have a cultural affinity for her paper creations. Visit her website {click here} to see more of her incredible art.

Though she works in vibrant colour as well (see her green flowers for the Harper's Bazaar-Japan cover in her portfolio) I love her white or tone-on-tone renditions, here's a daisy creation backdrop she did for a Marc Jacobs ad campaign.

I saw this photo on the blog French Blue today {click here to read more}. She has paper art on her radar (and her beautiful blog banner) so her blog is always full of this gorgeous craft. Paper artist and teacher Jeffery Rudell did these fanciful wigs in handmade French paper for the Tiffany window "Queen for a Day" displays in New York. I'll see if I can find out more about his "papercut" talent.

"Couture is a promise to the future from the past: There will be entrances and orchestras again, carriages and candelabra again, parties and seasons again. Throughout the history of civilization, doom, doldrums, depression, and disaster have descended to paint the town gray. But they will also recede, leaving little but a shudder. What is left, what abides, is beauty.

A.A. Gill - Vanity Fair ~ May 2009

A Jo Malone Kind of Gal

Photo by Chris Everard

Doesn't she just look like a Jo Malone kind of girl?

I am definitely a JO MALONE kind of gal and have been for a very long time now. Not only do I love it's clean, but woody smell, I am acutely fragrance-sensitive and the JO MALONE 154 seems to be one fragrance I can tolerate and it has a chameleon-like ability that I enjoy. My day doesn't start until I shower with the 154 shower gel and occasionally I will wear the more floral Blue Agava & Cocao (as my husband loves it like crazy). 154 is the address of the original London shop where JO MALONE created her first fragrances .The appeal of a Jo Malone gift is it's understated packaging, this company has always understood the importance of elegant gift presentation and it's legions of devoted followers must feel the same. As a tasteful gift, you just can't go wrong, everybody adores a JO MALONE gift. Most JM gals have a favorite, sometimes several as Jo MOLONE has a philosophy of fragrance combining that encourages the creation of your own bespoke signature scent. You can start them (of gift yourself)with their purse-size bottle of Grapefruit, Lime Basil and Mandarin, or Amber &Lavender. Don't forget to ask for the samples so you can experiment with layering other combinations as well. I buy it at the little JO MALONE shop located in Saks at Somerset or at Holt Renfrew in Toronto.

The cream and black JO MALONE boxes are like Laduree boxes, just too nice to throw away. After 10 years I have all sizes and shapes (anybody who buys JM knows what I am talking about). Do I dare to re-gift a classic JO MALONE box? ...........shouldn't mess with perfection, but you're darn right I'm going to try!! You should if you have a large selection of wonderful shopping boxes, it's environmentally correct to re-gift boxes in this way. I wonder if Jo Malone would agree or mind? First, if it isn't JO MALONE product in the box, then figure out a way to cover the logo, no point in pretending.......or getting someones hopes up! I used an over sized Paris sticker (this one is Versailles)to fit over the logo nicely.

I could re-gift this box a zillion ways ( I will show you a few more soon) but you know by now how my inspiration works, a designer sees a great photo (especially by Chris Everard-maybe I should send her a gift soon?) and off I go on a little gift wrap challenge. This silk ribbon in the most exquisite green colour is heaven to work with and does this gorgeous box it's due justice. I almost feel guilty......but not quite enough to stop

JO MALONE packaging is so distinctive, when I do gift this product I still wrap it up the box anyways so there is at least some surprise. A triple ribbon layer of double face satin, black and ivory striped cotton ribbon and a wispy garment binding over pearl paper give this petite box a crisp, spring look. And by now, you know I couldn't resist adding petite cabbage rose ......a perfect match in soft green.

Top Photo by Chris Everard-Sarah Kaye/2nd photo from Jo Malone/Bottom 3 photos by Sande Chase- OoohlalaCadeau

Girly Girl

I would have to make some serious physical modifications to wear this dress, but I am entranced by this dress! what is it about blush pink that captures my attention? Am I a girly-girl? Must be, but I'm not alone, today when I went to pick up my latte, a line-up of school kids had to cross my path, every single little girl had pink on in some version.............all girls, young or old, it's obviously embedded in our DNA. I love, love pink, there I said it! And by now, you know where that always leads me........

Remember those wallpaper book samples I have stashed away? That double face satin ribbon I love? Those paper flowers I twist and probably use too much? A girly-girl gift for sure, don't you think?

These wired paper roses come in packs of 20 and in three colours, ivory, coral and green. They seem to finish off any girly-girl gift so wonderfully. They will be added to the Wrap section of my website soon. It's the same pink ribbon but my camera has a mind of it's own these days. Note to self: quit looking at girly-girl dresses you can't wear and actually read camera instruction book.

Top photo from Martha Stewart Weddings/Middle and Bottom Photo by Sande Chase - Oooh la la Cadeau.