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Friday 17 January 2014

New design...

As promised, a preview of my new design. I really need to have someone take professional photographs but these will have to do for now...


Day Invitation
I'm going to call it 'Emma' after the beautiful bride I designed it for...

Purple rose & antique brass heart
I have a design I'm working on to compliment it... that one's called Aisha.


The flower is made from an old copy of Pride & Prejudice.


Is the birdcage too much?


My favourite part of the design is the frame - it's embossed!


So good we'll look from a different angle!


The evening Invite is a little simpler and just A6 in size.


I kept the finer details though!



I'll put the right details in just as soon as Emma emails me with them!

So that's it! What do you think? Of course, if the happy couple aren't keen then I'll go back to the drawing board and do a redesign, but I think I'm going to try this one in my Etsy shop and see if there's any interest.

As always your comments are more than welcome!

Nikki x

Wednesday 15 January 2014

A Change of Direction?

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm working on a new design. My best friend's daughter is getting married this year and asked me if I'd help her design her invites.

Well... weddings are my thing so I jumped right in there with all my questions just to be stared at blankly. Apparently not everyone understands the difference between 'Save the dates' and 'proper invitations'. Nor had she the first clue about when to send them, how many she needed or exactly what she needed to put in them.

When I asked if she had any idea of what she wanted I got another blank look. "Can't you just make something I'll like?". O M G !!!  No client brief, no colours, no lengthy descriptions, no help whatsoever! Eventually I prised the words 'girlie' and 'different' from her. It was a start, I suppose.

When I asked what she did have planned it all sounded quite traditional, the nice hotel doing a sit down meal, the white dresses, the wild flowers in pretty arrangements... then she showed me the cake...

How cool is this cake?
She isn't having a Day of The Dead theme but she loved the cake and said that is just summed them up! So I started on an invitation design that could stand next to that cake...

There was much gnashing of teeth, pulling of hair and mopping of brows. There was an occasional 'I can't do this' and the odd 'ohh that worked'.

The design I've (almost) come up with is nothing like the one I set out to make! It seemed to take on a life of it's own and, when I stopped trying to make it something it didn't want to be, it all came together in a pretty, grungy, delicate, feminine and dark way.

Tomorrow I have to send her the samples. I'm so nervous you'd think it was my first job! I don't know how commercial a design it is but I think it could stand beside the cake without being embarrassed. I just hope she likes it.

After they see it I'll post photos and welcome opinions. For now you'll just have to look at my beautiful Emma and her lovely girlfriend Aisha - don't they look so happy?

Good luck my darlings!

Nikki xx