A Get Well Wish...

The ever versatile "celebration basket." I suppose this one is celebrating a speedy recovery. It was designed for a person who survived a serious car accident and was likely to be off her feet for a while. It's a simple basket, but the photo doesn't do it justice. She loved it!

Simple Goodness...

I can remember just starting out in the industry. Me in my little apartment shopping almost daily for things I just knew I could make work in a basket. I found a few stores that always seemed to have a steady supply of discounted gourmet items, and I would go crazy buying everything on the shelf with pretty packaging and a low price tag. One time I bought so much stuff I wasn't even able to use it all before the expiration date had passed.

Then, as time passed, I learned to be more and more selective and less impetuous. I also learned the concept of simple goodness. Just choose a few, simple staples and accent them with a real goodie that has "wow" factor. This item does not need to be expensive. It just has to POP. One thing I have found that always works is a convenient comfort food a person might consider a special treat like Pepperidge Farms cookies--in nearly any variety. My personal favorite is Milano. Along side some healthy fruit and/or boxed tea and a good romance novel, these cookies help add the "umph" to a basket of cheer or sheer indulgence. Simple goodness...

Another Diaper Cake Design...

I was blessed to find this little doll in a clearance bin one day. I could not have asked for a more perfect "cake topper"!

Tribute to Karen...

Memorial Bow Design for Karen Emily Perry

Baskets worth celebrating...

This is probably my favorite type of basket to do. These are a few of the variations of my Celebration Basket design. They all start with the same basic elements: a wicker "bottle basket" designed to hold a full-sized celebratory beverage, sparkling cider, and floral accents. Then other items and embellishments are added to fit the theme of the gift. Other than a funeral, I have yet to find an occasion that this basket cannot be customized to match. Then again, some people do see a loved one's "home-going" as reason to celebrate.

Towel Cake Designs...

I was excited to pieces to find out about "towel cakes" while just randomly surfing online one day. I just had to try it out. I printed a couple of sets of instructions from the best sites I could find. The first attempts were quite comical. Before long, after taking the best tips from several sets of instructions and morphing them into my own design process, I had it down. The light cream with "tangerine and chocolate" accents was my very first. The "lemon chiffon" one that looks like you can just bite it was my favorite. I garnished the top tier of the "chocolate mint" design with a Bath & Body Works gift card.

Sweet Baby Cake...

Diaper Cake design for a co-worker's adorable baby boy, Ethan.

Sweet little mug...

(Well, actually, a pretty big mug.) I designed this as a surprise for a friend who faced an unexpected layoff at work. I knew just what to put in to bring back her smile. An avid Pooh fan, she went to pieces over this design I named "Cup of Cheer" complete with Bellagio gourmet cocoa, Savannah Cookie Company's "Mama Slapping Shortbread" and her favorite gerbera daisy. (You should hear her try to say gerbera!)

Kelly Price missed out...

In February, Kelly Price defaulted on an appearance at Koinonia Christian Center Church in Greenville, NC, and missed out on this pretty little arrangement. After being asked to design a basket especially for her, I visited the performer's home page to find out her likes and dislikes. I used her favorite colors (purple and silver) for the basis of the design. In the end, the basket was given to one lucky in attendance who, despite having bought tickets to see Kelly Price, had a fabulous time at the service in honor of Bishop Rosie S. Oneal's graduation.

Brilliantly "wild" bow design...

I just had to share this one. I created a basket for the 2008 Woman of Substance Award, given anually at Pitt Community College to an outstanding faculty or staff member who has impacted both the campus and the community through her service. The program theme this year was "Express Yourself: Women's Art, Women's Vision." So, my task was to design a gift that embodied free-willed self-expression. My favorite part of the design hands down was the bow. In incorporated bold colors and prints to produce a "wild" bow that picked up on the colors of the journals, gourmet snacks and other gift items in the basket. The only thing better than stepping back to view the finished product was the look on the recipient's face.

What an idea...

Okay. mabe I'm a little late with this. Apparently a lot of other people have known for some time what I just realized yesterday after viewing a blog created by Erica B--blogs can be really cool. Prior to Erica's I'm not sure I had seen a blog quite so fcused and well done, all (or at least 95%) of the entries all pertaining to one particulat subject. In fact, Erica's blog (dedicated to D.I.Y. clothing design) looked more like an actual website than a blog.

That gave me an idea. In 2006, I started focusing on my writing more and not working so much with my home-based gift basket business, formerly Meidas Touch Creative Gifts-n-Baskets. In April of 2007, I published my first book and gift design truly went on the back shelf. However, you never really lose passion for something that has always been a part of you. I still do the occasional gift basket for pre-existing customers, for events at my church, for community events, and for lucky loved ones.

I thought rather than running a conventional website (since my focus is not on selling baskets anymore), I would dedicate a blog to gift design. I will post my experiences in the biz along with photos of my creations as well as paying homage to great gift designs I encounter by others. My standards are pretty high, so if you see me highlight someone's work, they truly have a gift.

Thanks, Erica, (even if you never see this message) for turning me on to this idea...