Illustrator and designer Laura Tarrish has created fantastically unique wrapping paper and stationery and will take your commission to commemorate a significant milestone or event at Bridgetown Papers.

She takes photos and memorabilia, along with archived and her own works and creates magical and quite moving collages.

This is not your everyday stationery. This has heart and soul and history.

And that’s all before you’ve even had a chance to write anything on it.

Laura has a beautiful old-fashioned Christmas card and bookmark with a boy with Christmas tree and axe in hand and the definitions of holiday and celebrate to really bring the sentiment home. There is a similar design for a baby girl with a girl in Mary Jane shoes and a wicker pram with the definition of daughter printed as you would see it in the dictionary, pronunciation and all!

I love the Cheers! card with wine labels, and lithographed goblets, corks and intricate drawings and designs. It evokes celebration all in one quick glance.

There is a photo card, which is nicer than any I’ve seen. This one has photos of London printed in blue jean blue with the centre cut out and matted, ready for you to enclose a picture.

And speaking of London, there is a beautiful card with the Queen & King of England, with an old photo of Queen Alexandra, a Silver Jubilee postage stamp and an old card with a list of the sights of London.

And a notebook, file folder and wrapping paper of Queen Elizabeth memorabilia that is quite stunning both visually and emotionally.

Since my Mom’s British and just recently gone back to England for the first time since she was a wee one, these will all get sent to her for birthdays and just because. She’s going to be thrilled! These are really something special that are a part of her history. Can you imagine how that must feel?

She has created beautiful greeting cards out of old memorabilia of cities. The one of New York has a map of Central Park and a ticket stub of the Empire State Building on its front. The Paris and Italy ones are just as evocative. There are also gorgeous notebooks of these designs that would really make extraordinarily thoughtful gifts to someone who has a close connection to these cities and to wrap them in Laura’s thick, fantastic quality matching wrapping paper would just be the perfect finishing touch!

And Laura’s commissioned work is so thoughtful, visually stimulating and so full of personal touches that the next birthday, anniversary or present that I get for someone dear to me, I am going to ask her to create something from the pictures I have and the archives that she has built.

It is really something you have to see to feel the power of what she has created.

So go check it out now.

Because just think – this is handmade stuff from real memorabilia. You can’t just go out and buy it in stores.

Well, just one – Bridgetown Papers.