not pink

When I was 16, I started working part time in a grocery store. We used old fashioned NCR machines to wring up the sales, with rows of number keys that had to be hand entered one at a time. Those old machines could be hand cranked if the power went out, and it actually did a few times in the nearly 6 years I worked there. No such thing as scanners in those days. Cans and boxes were ink stamped with a price and everything else you had to just KNOW. Those machines used a wide paper roll to print the receipt item by item. Near the end of the paper roll there was a bright pink ink to warn you to change the roll as it was nearly empty. But after the bright pink ink there was always several feet of unmarked tape left on the roll. I took to saving those ends and using them as "ribbon" on packages. Now I actually buy adding machine tape rolls for my packages. They're so much fun to stamp or punch or fold into 3 dimensional shapes.

I love making presents but really love wrapping them. I often try to give a hint of what's inside. Here I used strips of the fabric I used for the baby britches laid over the adding machine tape. Then punched out little feet and held the bow together with a heart shaped brad. Of course, I had to emboss little feet on the card as well, which I put on the top of the package sans envelope as a further decoration.

I had lots of fun doing this wrapping job and Mia, the mother to be, was delighted. Nice when people take time to notice.
Oh, and she was happy she got a purple outfit. When she opened it she said, "Not pink!" with a broad grin.