Sketches from June

So much going on, but still finding time to make birthday / thank you cards, you won't believe how much money I save by sketching my own. Here are some of June's sketches:

Little Red Riding Hood illustration, for a 5th birthday card.


Peanut butter and Cucumber card
For my brother who doesn't really like birthday cards, but he really likes peanut butter and cucumber.


The family portrait thank you card, version number two.
First attempt was destroyed in a four year old's tantrum. But ended up being a nice end of the week shot for 7days.



End of term 'Thank you teacher' card.
Time to move up a year and a new teacher, so I think Miss H needs a thank you. School summer dresses are just the best.



July and August are full on birthday months. So much more to come...

A first birthday present

My lastest fairy painting, a little something for my cousin's daughter. We celebrated her first birthday a couple of weekends ago with a family party. It's nice to be able to give something individual and if they don't like it they can always use the frame for something else.

I also sketched and painted a little bunny card, because I like to try something new.

Preparing for Mother's Day

This week it was the toddler group Mother's Day service. The children are told a Mother's Day story, sing a few songs and then the children collect a small posy of daffodils to give to their Mummy.

Mother's Day is a perfect excuse for me to be creative, so here are the illustrations, gift tag and colouring sheets I put together for the event.

Illustrations

The story this year revolved around all the things that Mummy does for Teddy and so to say thank you he gave her some flowers.  I updated my previous teddy sketch to illustrate, these were then dropped into a PowerPoint and shown on a big screen, as the story was acted out.

Printable Mother's Day Gift Tag

Usually the Mother's Day flowers are couple of daffodils held together with an elastic band, but I though we could make them a little bit more special just by adding ribbon and a gift tags.
A pdf of the Mother's Day gift tag is available to download and print.

Colouring sheets

I also put together a couple of colouring sheets of Teddy and his Mother, just for fun.

Love hearts in love

I haven't drawn for two months. My desire to create vanished or perhaps my brain was busy thinking about other things so there was no room for creativity.

Today, I thought I should at least try and do something. So using a Valentines sketch from last year I set myself a goal to make a little something in illustrator, for no other reason than to prove to myself that my creative ability hasn't totally vanished.

Christmas cards 2010

As a creative person I can't let myself just go out and buy Chrismas cards, I have to make it into a project. Last year I painted individual cards with either a snowman, an angel or Mary.



This year though I tried to make the Christmas card process easier by getting a batch of photos printed and then sticking them onto festive coloured card. I sent these to family and close friends, as most of them have been swamped with my homemade cards.
But I couldn't help myself and as I needed a few more cards, I painted 25 cards of my little Christmas helper.

Going back to the 80s

My friends are celebrating their 40th birthdays next year and asked me, as a favour, to put together their invitation. They requested a Back to the Future front page and then something horrendously 80s on the back.

It's bright and cheesy but does the job, they were pleased and I got to use a Back to the Future font.

Snowballs

What do you get when you cross a pom pom and a paper snowflake?



Answer: A simple Christmas decoration.

Using large sheets of white tissue paper, I followed the Martha Stewart instructions for making pom poms but before moving onto Step 3 (separating the layers) I cut into each end of the strip, just like making a paper snowflake.

Top tip: don't cut too far towards the middle as the paper just rips when separating the petals out.

I use shirring elastic to hang them up as it gives them a lovely bounce when they are caught by a breeze.

So our first Christmas decoration is up and our house is full of large and medium sized snowballs all bobbing along. What can I make next?