A Zest of Lemon

Something about this yellow and amber kitchen shot from House Beautiful (yes, this magazine is getting better and better) made me want to see if I could capture the sunny vibe in a little gift package. That gorgeous marble counter top reminded me of the marble-look wallpaper I found a few weeks back when I was cleaning that bountiful storage room of mine. Yellow is a uplifting colour, but too much and it can get too cute (maybe why it works so well with black) so I thought the taupe marble background toned down it's sunny disposition just a notch. I will do a full-powered all yellow one coming up in a future post.......just because I do like to prove myself wrong now and again (before someone else does it for me).

Look what else I found.....fake lemons and lemon leaves.

This is the one I started with but something was too-cute, maybe something to do with carnations. So off came the little flowers and one strip of the yellow grosgrain ribbon and in went the lemons. I like the green foliage with the top one much better. I've left this try-out shot in as it shows the marble-look wallpaper a bit better than the top photo. You will see lots of this cotton striped ribbon on the website, in lots of colours. I love the visual impact, the affordable price and the way it holds a bow, nice and crisp just like a cotton shirt.

If I had an all-white kitchen I would running out right now to add some exuberant doses of this sunny hue. So vibrant, so summer. I feel like making lemonade. Actually, my kitchen wallpaper is the colour of those tulips, it's a golden yellowand black toile pattern and I never get tired of it. No wonder this kitchen caught my eye.

Top and Bottom photo from House Beautiful/2nd and 3rd photo by Sande Chase ~ Oooh la la Cadeau

Red...and more red

This is the outdoor vibe I will be going for next year. It wasn't until I saw this photo from Domino that I realized I would want some red accents in my outdoor space and that wasn't what I was thinking at all! As a designer, I believe in pre-planning colour schemes so it is good to get this scheme in order for next year. I can take advantage of some end-of-season sales and not react to a seasonal whim. I also like to see some continuity when going from inside to outside, not precisely, I like to allow for nature. I change up our planter colours every year, some years it's pink, some years all-white, one year yellow and purple, but the exterior my house seems to sparkle a bit more the years I use red, or perhaps it is what draws my eye. I do have a Chinese red dining room so there is an existing passion for this vibrant accent. There I go.....decision made! This also made me want to wrap, thank heavens......I really got off-track on this gift wrapping blog this week.

In talking about gardens this week (or lack of as we all know by now), I went digging through wallpaper sample books and found these quaint papers that were reminiscent of Victorian wallpapers. Here was the opportunity to use some of my favorite check-pattern ribbons as they seem to fit the cheery mood of these gifts. I used a few of my butterfly stickers, one on the front gift and one on the black-wrapped one, both used over the ribbon. Just gives the presentation an added dimension.

The bottom gift shows that colour matching paper to ribbon doesn't have to be precise and exact science. There is no exact red in the paper, but somehow the vibrant red velvet ribbon works even with the more subdued flower tones. And you might not think a black-ivory check would work, but I find check ribbon go with just about anything. This gorgeous vibrant blue scalloped gift tag with a bird image comes in a assorted set of 36 cards. Handy to dress up your last minute gift presentations. They will be on the Wrap Room section of my website coming very soon.

I've turned this yellow wrapped gift on it's side to show you that ribbon doesn't always have to be tied in the same direction. I didn't want to cover the limited floral pattern (and my wallpaper sample sheets are not very big) so I simply went around the edge and tied the bow at the top. I did secure with small pieces of double-sided ribbon so it won't slide off, even I can't tie that tight! Here is another style of the gift tags, they come in different shapes and colours. This larger chartreuse bird tag could carry a gift wrapped in simple black paper. Hold on ......I'll just go do one real quick to show you what I mean.

Saddlestitch ribbons are one of the least expensive ribbons and one of the most effective. The small stitch detail goes a long way in making a gift look finished. And one bow is always better than two, at least around here. There's my favorite matte black paper, also very reasonably priced. In other words, there just isn't any excuse for a poorly-wrapped present. It's no different than home design, think it through and think ahead when buying gift wrap supplies. Be prepared. Don't worry, I am not going to lecture and leave you empty-handed. It's all on it's way.

Top image via Domino Mag Files at Flickr/All other images by Sande Chase ~ Oooh la la Cadeau

Right in front of me......

Months ago, I sent my husband and son to the city dump and had them dispose of over 100 wallpaper books from my sample library. It felt so efficient, but what was I thinking! The blue and white pattern seen in the gift above is a wallpaper sheet from one of the remaining books that I keep around, just because I couldn't quite part with every last one of them. They are lined up directly across from my computer screen, one day I looked up and had a "what did I do?" moment. I now have a wonderful, but limited collection of pattern and colour that I sometimes can't find in gift wrap. They do have pattern specifications on the back, so they aren't something I would use for paying customers, but as a personal collection they will do just fine for petite gifts. I went hunting for a ribbon that fit the mood and found this mint & blue duplex satin that I tied into a double bow. I'm not suggesting every wallpaper will work, smaller patterns seem to work best and anything too thick is hard to fold. Go hunting, a clearance roll could wrap a lot of gifts.

Here's another that I'll use for my next gifrlfriend gift in my favorite combination of pink and orange. And yes, these Paris labels are going on the website this week.

Both Photos by Sande Chase/Paris Labels at Oooh la la Cadeau