Birthday Gift Wrap

And now for some fun little gift wrap ideas...

1 - Since my dad isn't the type to save ribbons (or much at all!), I tried to come up with a fun way to put a bow on his gift this year. We are swimming in catalogues around here (why do I feel the need to look through every one of them?)... so I like to use them for all sorts of projects... as project placemats under Mod Podge and paint, I let the kids draw and put stickers on them, and I most love using them as supplies for my collages.**

So in the spirit of collage, I used a linens catalogue to make pretend ribbons and bows on Dad's gifts.

2- The other thing I did is give into my Vistaprint addiction and have some birthday cards made up from artwork that I did for Mimi a few months ago in her journal (she'd asked me for a surprise collage) Now I just need a few hundred friends to have birthdays so I can give them away! (doesn't seem to be a problem around here)

**Recently, I've been working on artwork that is super portable - all I have top bring with me for these collages are a catalogue, a glue stick, a sketchbook, and a pair of scissors. (those, I'll show later)

It's that time of year...

Me and Dad, about 30 years ago

So this past week was the "Big Birthday Week" in our family. J, my nephew, my Dad and sister were all born within one week of each other. We have about 4 other close friends that that share birthdays that week... So here's a Happy Birthday "shout out" to my Dad and my sis....

First... Happy Birthday, Dada. (who, incidentally, was the first one to name me "Libby Dibby") My dad is a toy inventor, designer, and all around impressive artist. I grew up with a dad who drew on everything available - napkins in restaurants always ended up with little cartoons of me, cars and funny animals. I grew up seeing that artists can come up with fun ideas, sell them, and actually make a living doing such. So it wasn't a huge leap for me to become a corporate textile designer right out of college (Dad did 5 corporate years of his own at Mattel as a designer - where he met my mom, before starting his own business as an independent toy designer.) - and then to leave to start my own business 6 years later. I've always been able to talk to Dad about creative ideas and questions... trademarks, patents and the business side of an art-based company.

I'm super happy to have a dad who has shown me that life always has room for art.

Dad, this year, with Baby Vi.

And then, Happy Birthday to my "little" sister, Victory - who hasn't been littler or less mature than me for many years....

Vic's pre-school graduation... I was in 2nd grade.

You've already met her, both as a guest blogger and a model - so you know that she's very important to me. Victory is mom-extraordinaire to 3 gorgeous girls and she just so happened to marry one of my hubby's best friends in the world, so you can guess at how close our family is. Victory is a working mom, designing toys with Dad and running a very full life with her family.

Dave, Vic and Vi a few weeks ago at Fenway Park.

Happy Birthday, Dad and Vic!