Every autumn I find myself drawing on my collage and mixed media skills to create holiday gifts for everyone on my list.  Each year seems to take on a theme, and this year it was boxes and ornaments. I find that making gifts by hand is an inspiring and rejuvenating endeavor, one that allows me to let down my hair as an artist and play. Here are just a few examples, in which I hope you find some inspiration, and not just for holiday giving!

The ornaments are made by covering small squares of foam core with lokta paper, then decorating them with collage (I use prints of my original collages), glitter, embossing powder, and acrylic paint. Some include scraps of fabric made from fused Angelina^® fibers. I attach the wire spirals with a glue gun, sprinkling glittery embossing powder into the glue before it dries.

There are instructions for making several kinds of boxes in Collage with Color. The ones displayed here are made from scraps of mat board or illustration board, lokta paper, and collage papers (prints of my own artwork and other materials), embellished with the usual suspects – glitter, paint, embossing powder, etc.