More Birthdays

It seems that birthdays only exist to coax some creativity out of me! This is a card made for my sister, reminicent of others I have made in the past. There is something about this style of drawing that soothes me. It's alot calmer than the stuff I usually find myself doing. The image of the figure hanging by it's foot is a piece of old college work made using an OHP. One of my favourite projects from the course. And the numbers are extremely old letraset - hence the crispy texture.

Mel Stringer

Back in May I made my first purchase on etsy; a couple of hand-illustrated zines from Mel Stringer's Little Shop. I've been meaning to post about them, as I enjoyed them so much. I've been following her blog for a little while now, and her drawings are so delicate and beautiful and moreish (strange word, but it's true).

'Telephone & Me' and 'Make It Better' by Mel Stringer

Then, a couple weeks ago I received a lovely little parcel containing an exciting assortment of goodies.
At the time when I bought the zines I think she was a bit swamped with everything, and as a result she was a little behind on orders. So she sent me this parcel as an apology! I was so shocked and touched! It's such a nice gesture. I think everyone should go give her a visit and some love for being so kind and generous.

Birthdays

It's been a while, and I have lots to blog about, but I won't do it all at once.
For now, I'll just post a couple of birthday cards I've made for people recently.
I quite like them. They were really nice to draw. I like the simplicity. They're much more delicate than my usual.

[model: Arnie, my mum's adolecent kitten] - [materials: black biro + cartridge paper]

Tortoises

I feel bad that I didn't make my nan a card this year, so I'm thinking of painting her a big portrait of one of her tortoises. She has three - Errol, Jerry and Tom. I might do all three.
I think she'll appreciate that. I feel I need to make her something.

 Birthday cards I made my mum (left), and my nan (right) last year:

Birthday Goat

My sister celebrates her birth today, 23 years on.

I made her a painstakingly time-consuming friendship bracelet.

I've recently taught myself the childhood trade. It's fun for the first hour, but I literally spent ALL day yesterday knotting thread.

Only slightly tedious.

I also made her a card. This morning I remembered I hadn't made one, which is ridiculous as I always make one! How could I forget?

So, in about 2 hours I came up with something with such second-natured focus that I surprised myself a little.

And an envelope!

I was proud of myself, to say the least.

We are big fans of the goat.

My new years resoloution was to give peoples' gifts on time.. her presents are still in the post - I ordered them yesterday, but the card's the most important, right..? She's happy.

It's also my nan's birthday on the 27th, so my daddy and I have combined skills for her present.

It's a fox skeleton, bagged and boxed, ready for assembly.

My nan loves puzzles and foxes, so.. in a very ironic and slightly sadistic way, we combined the two for the perfect gift. It's all clean and hygiene. Organically treated, actually.

My dad sorted the fox and I designed the packaging.

Oh, the fun we have.