MAWWIAGE

The Stag Do was done and dusted. Now, with a few weeks to go until the nuptials, I could focus on building and buying various decorations and gifts for the wedding itself.

The Card


I’ve posted before about my “trilogy” of handmade greeting cards, which the couples received for their respective weddings. Above is the card I made for the newest newlyweds…
A pen drawing coloured in with watercolour paints, based on Potter Puppet Pals, writing (with a quick quotes quill) and… sysadmin stuff (a phone, displaying a monitor, displaying a skull and crossbones). Also featuring their cat in the middle.


I drew it out in pencil on A5 paper, then (to make things more complicated than necessary) scanned it in and moved elements around in Photoshop. I also roughly digitally coloured it.
Then I printed the lines out again at A6 size, with higher contrast, and traced it onto my watercolour postcards via the light box.

Oh Boy!

A couple of friends had their first child this week – a baby boy – and there was much rejoicing.

This card came together around Easter-time, hence the theme. The main decoration is felt, with pen for the eyes and mouths. Kids love felt. Lightly concerned that kids love to eat everything too, considering UHU binds it together. I rounded the corners at least.

The process of construction was roundabout…

Christmas Colours

Last year my Christmas cards were store-bought with a doodle drawn inside. This year my own watercolours are on the front!

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Each card has a different picture; I’m particularly pleased with how the animals (drawn from reference) came out. The pics are applied to the front of each card with a gold backing, and a bit of gold ribbon in a tiny classic knot.

Busy Bee

It’s my dad’s birthday this weekend. He’s been retired for a few years now, but is always up to something, he’s not the idle sort. For the last couple of months he’s gone to meetings about bees. He’s bought a bee-keeping suit, but there’s no hive in the garden… yet.

While mum considered digging Bizzy Buzzy Bumbles out from the attic, I made this. The inside reads “Dad-Bee Birthday!” (there’s a reason I didn’t write “Bee-Day“).

Dad-Bee Birthday Card
Yes, Dad has a moustache. No, he doesn’t have wings.

Hand-drawn then coloured with crayons, the bumble bees are raised from the card slightly on paper blocks. The day before gifting it, I happened across a YouTube tutorial to make wiggle-springs for cards: I carefully prised Dad Bee off and re-applied him with one of those installed!

p.s. Admins: I’ve added a captcha plugin for comments. Should help.

Matrimony Triptych

May 4th 2013 starred the third wedding i’ve attended in six months. I mentioned these upcoming nuptials when showing off the last wedding card i’d crafted… you can see where this is going.

Turner's Card
Being Doctor Who fans, Mr Turner’s holding a Sonic Screwdriver.

As the Turners had been raving about Matilda the Musical, their card is in the style of Quentin Blake, famous for illustrating Roald Dahl’s children’s books. Like the time I made that Master System cover, it was interesting to actually try and reduce proficiency, making lines sloppier and slipping some colour outside them.

Commitment, Salvation and Diction

I’ve reached that age bracket where a lot of my friends are getting married. I made a card last winter for one couple who got hitched, and yesterday another pair tied the knot!

I’ve known Mr West for almost a decade, and the now Mrs West for nearly as long, so they most certainly had to have a homemade card too. This one is also a pen and watercolour work, yet there’s no imitation of famous artists this time around.

Wedding Card for Mr & Mrs West
Deciding the inscription took some time.

This duo of feelies will likely become a trilogy, as there is one more wedding next month. The occasion is on May the Fourth, so stay tuned to see if I infringe on any Star Wars copyrights.

An acquaintance (who is already wed, for those keeping score) is branching out into his own first aid / CPR training business, and he knew I was the guy to hit up for a logo. Research showed that this kind of company always seems to use a combination of lovehearts, heart monitor lines and first aid crosses for it’s identity, so this one took a bit of a think to make more distinct. There was a heap of back-and-forth communication involved: Getting it down to case designs, then the decals, the colouring, selecting the font and word arrangment…

Save Someone logo - highlights of progress
Just some of the options exchanged by email.

Bandaged circulatory pump

I told you last time that I had to prepare for Valentine’s Day… my friend’s birthday. As it was her 30th, there was actually a really good surprise party that weekend, but that’s beside the point.

I genuinely didn’t have anything planned for this year. About a week before the 14th, I decided to wear this felt badge/brooch from Made By Millie on the day itself (which was spent at work) – It’s like those stereotypical sailor tattoos, a heart with a banner across, only it says CAKE instead of MUM.

Made By Millie CAKE brooch

That’s where the idea came from: Rather than another round of cards like people got last year, this year the gifts would be a variant of that heart. So:

Valentines 2013 Heart Badges
There was also DANGER, which didn’t make the photoshoot.

Imitation and expansion

In the last couple of months i’ve got into the work of Scott C., particularly his Great Showdowns series.

This is Akira vs Tetsuo.
This is Akira vs Tetsuo.

Also, a friend got married last weekend – the same one that received the social butterfly, if you’re keeping track of such things.

The card I handed to the groom at their reception sports a cheery watercolour of the newlyweds in Scott’s style. I haven’t used watercolours in a long time, so it worked out nicely for a “first go”!

Groom, if you have lost the card, I will tell Liam Neeson that you took his daughter.
Groom, if you have lost the card, I will tell Liam Neeson that you took his daughter.

Scott’s gonna have a table at the Thought Bubble comics convention next week: I’ll get him to sign my copy of his new Great Showdowns book, and maybe get to show him the above!

So, “expansion”? Regular client and friend Final Boss Fight – The video game news site has grown into a whole network! I didn’t brand A to Play (playthrough videos), and Pixel Gaiden (editorials) was straight-foward, but AutoFire (news feed) had a little journey. Observe:

The joypad buttons say "FBFN", as in "Final Boss Fight Network".
The joypad buttons say “FBFN”, as in “Final Boss Fight Network”.

The top one was pretty unintelligible at small sizes, while the second one (originally with a red backing) looked like it should be hung outside a fire station. To give each site different colours, blue and purple came into play. Then it moved into the same frame-size as the main site and editorial logos, and finally, by request, pixelated to match the existing hub logo.

A bunch of other assets were cooked up too – a couple of CRT TVs, favicons, and a few pics to replace the stock ones on the network hub, including a quick shot of my games shelf and a Store image.

New FBF assets, October 2012
Pixel Gaiden is a Phoenix Down quill and Minecraft paper, by the way.

There’s one more logo, but the site’s not live yet so it’s still under wraps. It’s not pixular, I promise.

Random ending: I updated the mobile phone icon on my Contact page, because I haven’t used a phone with those things called “buttons” since 2010. The old one was a Nokia 3110c – It’s now an Orange San Francisco II.

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