Hand-printed wrapping paper

I had been toying with the idea of stamping my own wrapping paper even before I found out we were going to have a big family Christmas dinner that presumably involves a gift pile under a proper tree. Then I realized if I was ever going to print some wrapping paper, this would be the Christmas to do so.  

This would be your standard magazine shot. 

Upon request, Anton dug out a huge roll of kraft paper from the garage. I wan't sure how lighter colors would show on the paper, so I decided to keep it simple and print in black. We ditched the idea of making regular snowflake or deer head stamps and went with 1) two stamps of our beautiful faces and 2) a smaller stamp saying God Jul (Merry Christmas in Swedish). 

The smaller stamp gave the final result a modern and chic feel and made us seem less like narcissistic brats who give our presents covered with only their faces. 

Oops. 

Anyway - I made all three stamps one morning, went home and we started stamping away. 

You talking to me?

Our gifts vary quite a bit in size, so I printed the stamps closer for smaller gifts and further apart for bigger boxes, using both Brilliance's Graphite Black and StazOn's Jet Black to print the wrapping paper. Brilliance is very easy to clean with just water while StazOn is an archival ink that will stain your stamp, unless you use their stamp-cleaner. I don't recommend mixing these two kinds of ink pads if you want to keep your stamps all clean and pretty, but ink residue on my own stamps doesn't really bother me. 

Printing this wrapping paper can be quite mesmerizing. 

It was a nice & sunny day - which you don't see a lot this time of the year here in Stockholm - and couldn't resist bringing these out to the garden and have a magazine-worthy photo session. The afternoon sun was low and warm but there were still traces of new-fallen snow on the terrace. 

Printing enough wrapping paper for our presents (including two other that we wrapped the second day) took less than 30 minutes; I don't think our presents could look any better. 

Tie these babes up with some twine for a rustic finishing touch. Or not.

If you have any questions about the process, leave a comment below, or head over to my Facebook page and stay in tune with my creations. 

Want to get printing, but still looking for some personalized rubber stamps? I'll make one for you! You can find geeky, cute and classic designs in my shop, or commission one by emailing me today. 

Got some red and green from our trees too. 

Happy holidays! :)

/Tyr