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Some of us might be just a few weeks away from giving a book or two to people we love.

In light of this I’ve been playing around with making some appropriate wrapping paper using images in the public domain available via the British Library Flickr stream.

I had more fun than I should probably admit to in public going through the children’s books which form part of this collection, gathering covers, title pages and frontispieces to use. I then manipulated these images in a vector graphics programme and created a composite file which I uploaded to a couple of different companies offering bespoke wrapping paper.

Here’s my roll of wrapping paper from Spoonflower:

The Spoonflower paper (a roll measuring 26″ x 72″) cost me $13.50 before postage.

Here’s my roll of wrapping paper from Zazzle (using the same images, just organised slightly differently):

The Zazzle paper (a roll measuring 30″ x 72″) cost me £6.66 excluding postage but including a discount as a first time customer.

Neither option was cheap but they are fun wrapping papers, and if I had a special occasion, I’d definitely consider doing this again. I have a slight preference for the Zazzle paper – a matte paper rather than the shiny Spoonflower one, but both are good quality – so much so they could easily be used as posters (or wall paper?!) because they are nice and thick. If I worked in a library or a bookshop I could see how these could be used to make great displays.

Now, if you’ve just a single paperback to wrap, you could print off a couple of sheets of my FREE mini version of the zazzle/spoonflower wrapping paper:

If you right-click and save the (A4) image, you can then print it to use as you wish. Obviously, printing at home means the paper will be thicker than the average wrapping paper, but I’ve found it works fine if you’re wrapping regularly shaped books.

If you’d rather go for some commercially available book-themed wrapping paper you could look out for:

British Library Gift Wrap – wrapping paper featuring manuscripts from Jane Austen, Leonardo da Vinci, William Wordsworth, Christina Rosetti, Samuel Coleridge, Lewis Carroll, John Donne, John Keats, Daniel Defoe, James Joyce, William Blake and the Magna Carta.

The Bodleian does a lovely range of wrapping paper using images of vintage books.

Illustrator Kate Slater has several different designs of wrapping paper available from her online shop.

NoBrow/Flying Eye do a range of wrapping paper using some of their illustrators. My personal favourites are the papers designed by Professor Astro Cat’s illustrator Ben Newman.

Illustrator Hannah George had teamed up with Children on the Edge to create Christmas wrapping paper to raise funds for Syrian refugee children.

Lotta Niemenen’s gift wrap is available from Lagom Design.

And if you’re after cards, maybe you’ll be inspired by these:

I haven’t sent cards at this time of year for a few years now, but what with all the horrible things going on out there in the world at the moment, this year I feel a bit differently and so am sending a few cards to say a special thank you to various folk who have brought brightness to my 2015. I made these cards out of publishers’ catalogues – dead simple (once you get a big hole puncher) and fun to make.

RIGHT. Now I need some books to wrap! Better get off down to the bookshop….

5 Stars Santa’s Last Present Marie Aude-Murail & Elvire Murail Quentin Blake Pages: 32       Ages: 6+ Inside Jacket: Julian is almost too old to believe in Santa Claus. But since his parents talk about Santa constantly, Julian decides to write the big guy in red one more time . . . just in case. This [...]

Little stocking filler, perfect for posting £5

Chrissie Cress’ or Mingo Mungbean’s Story & Seed Pack.
I recommend either of these packs for a super speedy, indoor growing adventure.

 

Starter Kit £10

The ultimate Starter Kit ; storybook and seeds of your chosen vegetable and funky windowsill propagator. The propagator is colourful, re-usable and made from recycled plastic in the UK.

NEW! Hand Forged Secret Seed Society Trowel £15 not just for kids!

This is a beautifully crafted tool for keen young gardeners or those with smaller hands. Made in Holland to last a life-time. Combine with Story & Seed Packs for the complete Secret Seed Society experience. 

BOXSET £20

Our most popular gift, the first 4 Story & Seed Packs as a Boxset. All printed in the UK with vegetables inks. READ, GROW, COOK & EAT.

NEW!PERSONALISED Garden Tool Giftset £60  not just for kids!

These tools will last a lifetime. A spade, mattock and rake with long handles will cover most of the gardening jobs. Great for raised beds. The tools will now arrive in the New Year, so we will send a Secret Seed Gift card to your lucky recipient for Xmas to let them know their tolls will arrive shortly.

SPECIAL OFFER FREE POSTAGE ON ALL XMAS ORDERS

Get in touch if you have any questions about our products or would like to have Secret Seed Society at your Xmas Fayre, we can offer you a retailer discount if you’d like to sell them for your fundraiser.

Best Amy & Shena xx

I love TED talks so I was well chuffed to get asked to talk about ‘My Adventures with Vegetables’

4Stars Franklin loved Christmas.  He could name all of Santa’s reindeer.  He could ties ribbons into bows and play “Silent Night” on his recorder. Franklin liked to give presents and receive them.  But this year he couldn’t decide what to give to the Christmas toy drive. Each year, Mr. Owl’s class donates new and gently [...]

just a quick little sketch done for ME...for my birthday today! so hard to believe the 40 is around the corner next year! ugghhh....

an older piece from last year, but SO appropriate for this week's i.f. theme of "sneaky"!
me and my brother on christmas eve..."sneakin' a peek";)

Wouldn’t someone you know - or you yourself - love a T-short featuring an iconic book cover? This company, Out of Print, says, “We work closely with artists, authors and publishers to license the content that ends up in our collections. Each shirt is treated to feel soft and worn like a well-read book. In addition to spreading the joy of reading through our tees, we acknowledge that many parts of the world don't have access to books at all. We are working to change that. For each shirt we sell, one book is donated to a community in need through our partner Books For Africa.”

Who could resist a deal like that?

See all the shirts here.

Is your child's (or your) teacher special? Want to show them just how much they're appreciated? Why not send him or her a wonderful ecard.

I actually never thought of this fantastic idea until I read it on Rexanne's Teacher Appreciation Page. Check out this and many other fun ideas at; http://www.rexanne.com/teach-app.html#Cards

How about a library christmas tree made of those nice green books? Would show you a photo here, but they’re “all rights reserved” unlike this nice shot. Worth the click through. You might also want to check out the Librarian in Black’s Gift Guide for Librarians and Book Lovers[thanks pk]

As you search for meaningful gifts for friends and family this holiday season, check out the imaginative products that you can choose while you shop to support First Book. As you pick creative gifts for everyone on your list, you will get the added benefit of helping children in need receive brand new books.

Perhaps you are looking for a personalized children’s book from I See Me!, a new Read Teddy from Build-A-Bear Workshop (at right) or a decorative golf head cover from Daphne’s Headcovers. Be sure to visit First Book’s shop to support partners this season, and enjoy shopping for gifts that give back!

This Illustration Friday topic had me thinking of using an image from a project I worked on last Christmas: a humorous wedding card depicting a newlywed couple opening gifts. The above is  a modified version of one of the roughs. I can’t exactly post the final art as the card was for a client and [...]

Art and Crafts … well, mostly crafts. I have been busy making birthday presents and celebrating my own birthday as well!

For my ma's birthday present I wanted to make something in memory of the puppy we rescued. We only had her for a couple of weeks before we found out she had internal problems, that no amount of love, time or money could help her. She had two weeks of affection and I thought it would be nice to make something to remember her by – esp for my mum, who mentioned framing a photo of her. I had the idea of a wall hanging, something based around the puppies name – Poppy. Unfortunately I couldn’t find an oval frame to use as a base (their always rectangles!) so I bought a plastic mirror to use instead. Actually it worked really well - I decorated the outside with clay poppies, covered the back with clay and painted a portrait of Poppy on some watercolour paper. Hopefully mum wont see this online before her birthday in August <<

It was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever painted, partly because she was so young I found it hard to paint the detail I normally would with older dogs, but mostly because of the subject matter. I decided to draw her at about 6 weeks old instead of 5 so her features look a bit more developed (or how I’d imagine them to be). I’m quite pleased with the final result and I hope mum is as well.

I’ve had a couple of commissions for the pens that I make. One was of a falcon -

Also, (and rather random) I've painted some miniature plates for dollhouses (ebay of course!). They seem to be selling well and attracting a lot of attention. Everyone is asking me if I use a magnifying glass – believe it or not, I don’t use anything! No glasses, no magnifier – nothing but my own eyes. My sight is awful far off, I have glasses but surprise, surprise, I never wear them. My sight is, and always has been fantastic up close. I even had to scan the plates because my camera couldn’t pick up the detail!

I plan to commission these and place photo's on my website as soon as i can.

Apart from the art i wanted to mention that earlier in July we had some crazy weather! I thought they were tornados until someone corrected me and said they were waterspouts … hmm, it doesn’t have quite the same impact does it? "Run! A waterspout is heading towards us!" as opposed to "Run! A tornado is heading towards us!" Oh well, waterspout it is, even if it does conjure up images of a garden hose >> ho-hum.

Behold – the dreaded waterspout!