Papercuts, Furoshiki, and Cee

My cousin Cecily is amazing. In fact, all of the women in our family are quite incredible.
Cecily and I came out of a whirlwind of ribbon and paintbrushes with totally different skill sets. Here's the breakdown: She's a graphic designer, my mom and I paint murals and watercolor portraits, her mom gardens and designs one heck of a lovely home, as does our other aunt. Our cousin Tori puts the Ace of Cakes to shame, and my little sis is a master violist and musical genius. And nearly all of us sew, quilt, and craft.

One of my all-time favorite things to receive in the mail is a handmade bit of heaven from Cee, this time she helped me celebrate my graduation by sending me her very first papercut (as well as designing my dashing announcements). I was delighted beyond belief. She also included this great retro commencement card she dug out of a friend's grandmother's stash. I love finds like that! I have a few vintage cards of my own waiting to be used.And this little granola-girl from Oregon was green before it was cool. In junior high she was buying organic makeup and stopping on the freeway to pick up trash. So it's been quite some time now that she's been anti-wrapping paper and it's no surprise to get a little treasure in some type of alternative gift wrap, like this repro sugar bag.

I've been wrapping my gifts in fabric scraps for a while now too, even using inside-out chip bags and I just love the black and white gingham that See's Candy boxes come in.

So for your creative palette today, check out these papercuts:

Autumn Kiss by Tina Tarnoffpapercutdiecut

And try your hand at an eco-friendly alternative to wrapping paper, Furoshiki.

Whadda ya think? Are you going to try papercuts? All you need is an Xacto, a self-healing mat, and a steady hand.

Do you still use wrapping paper? Can you think of more items to reuropse as gift wrap?