At the Studio Door

December 15. Best packaging.

The funny thing about coming from a family that has a tendency to be packrats is that, when you move a lot as we did, you get used to never fully unpacking. Having stuff in boxes in the garage. The things inside are just not essential to your everyday living, and so you leave them boxed to be dealt with later. I had no intention of keeping stuff in boxes after my latest move - I would live as though I planned to stick around for a while.

One of my boxes had some gorgeous porcelain bowls that had never been used. Heck, they'd only left the box they were delivered in once - to be looked at and wrapped right back up in the box for safekeeping through another move. And another. And after this move, I finally unpacked them for good. I remembered exactly what they looked like - delicate turquoise glazing and all - but I'd forgotten that inside their box they'd been wrapped in paper. Not any old packing paper, I'm talking richly textured, seafoam green and flecked with silver, good quality paper. Definitely not the kind of paper you toss aside! The sheets of paper now reside in my collage scrap collection, I know that they will make their way into a piece of artwork someday. One I'll keep for myself, because it matches my bedroom! Now that's a true "gift with purchase".