New Email Signature 2012

I'm putting this up for practical reasons (to see if I can get it to work from here). It's something to look at though :) Should look neater than my old "logo" type signature. Hopefully all my social media will have a crisp theme running across them all.

Don't mind these, they are buttons for the new blog... Hopefully they will work.

So thankful!

Esther Orridge 2012

This week I've been thinking about lots of things that I take for granted. I thought it'd be a good exercise to write out things I'm thankful for and make some form of graphic with it. Here's what I did today. I've used some new fonts that I've found about the web. What are you most thankful for?

In the right FRAME of mind

Esther Orridge 2012

Esther Orridge 2012

For a while now I've wanted to make some prints to frame for in our new house. Here are the first two that I did today. My wonderful husband has just put them up for me (I don't do DIY because I'll break everything). The Cake themed one is for my kitchen - I LOVE to bake. And the Joshua 24:15 one is now in the hall by the front door. What do you think? :)

Scripture Print Design

Esther Orridge 2012

My sister asked me to design a print to frame for a friend's birthday present. She requested the scripture Psalm 46:10 (NIV Bible) as this is their favourite scripture. So after a few colour amends this is the one she chose and framed. The frame she had already was perfect and complimented the colours exactly. This is a tester for future things I think :) Watch this space!?

First Framed Print Design 2012

Esther Orridge 2012

I've been looking for something to buy for our close friend's baby's dedication and really struggled. I didn't want to get them something that would either be useless or added to a pile of trinkets. So I bought a frame and designed them a print. I used a neutral colour scheme so that if it is put in the baby's nursery it would compliment it and not be "in-your-face". I hope they like it and it will encourage them in the future!

House Warming Invite 2012

Esther Orridge 2012

After been in our new house for over a month, we have finally got around to having our house warming party! So as usual I jumped at the opportunity to design the invitation! This is what I came up with and we got printed. Can you guess the theme?

Vintage Baby Shower Invitation Design

Esther Orridge 2012

It's always baby season now at our church and here is another baby shower invitation I designed for a friend. She loves the vintage style so I took that on board and made this. I've not put it up before now as the Mummy-to-be only found out when she arrived at my house what was happening. The guests seemed to like the invite and it serves it's purpose. I plan to use this design again in the future. It was weird seeing them on people's mantle pieces :) Exciting to see my own work out there! Woo!

Booklet Design

Esther Orridge 2012

Esther Orridge 2012

I was recently asked to design a booklet for a Youth conference that has been put on this past week and hosted at my church. It was a good challenge as I'd not made a booklet from scratch before. Using a few skills I'd learned on placement I was able to produce this all by myself. I was given the copy, a form to put in it and 2 logos, but told to do whatever I wanted with it all. As I was limited for time I decided to keep it simple but crisp. They were printed and used this week. Each delegate received one as their guide for the week.
It's just a shame that it has to end. It's been so amazing and exciting! Thanks to everyone who came. It's been a brilliant week.

Happy Birthday Steph!

Made for You by Me! 2012

Here's a card I made on Sunday for a relative who is turning 9 years old. She's a fab girl and I hope that she's having/had a wonderful day! Happy Birthday Steph :) x

Quick Cards!

Made for You by Me! 2012

Made for You by Me! 2012

Made for You by Me! 2012

These are some last minute cards I made last week. I am supposed to be on card duty at our Harvest Group (mid-week church group) but unfortunately I lost all the cards I was given for the job during our house-move! Ooops! So as the Harvest Group year comes to an end I wanted to make sure I at least got the last one's to the birthday people on time. So I rustled these up for the birthday people! I also made a "Thank You" card for our Harvest Group leaders for the whole group to sign and show how much we appreciated them. They've been fantastic and fun this year :) I've really enjoyed it.

Becky's New House!

Made for You by Me! 2012

Becky has officially moved house! And what a lovely house it is. Wow! I made this card for her last week. I think she liked it :) I liked it and it's given me an idea for the future... I seem to be getting a bit quicker with making cards now, I seem to have a good idea of the final outcome before I start. That's hopefully going to continue as each card used to take up to 2 hours to make. Yes. I don't rush. That's why they are special. I don't "just make them" but put my heart into each. Even if it's a 'quick' make I still plan it out and make sure it's finished well.

"Baby Bell" Baby Shower Book

The baby shower was a success! Everyone went home happy and full of cake. That was the plan! And most of all I think AlliBell enjoyed it too!
Here's the baby shower book that I've just given to her (couldn't put it up before now because it was a surprise!) I didn't want to just stick an invitation on the front so - because I had so many left over - I decided to make it a bit funky, used an invite as a stencil and then spray painted it! I hoped that this would reflect Alli's creative/rock side. It didn't turn out as crisp as I'd have liked but there were no second chances with it. It was a "now or never" type of moment. Ha! The book is from Paperchase! One of my favourite stores. I always feel happy in that store!
Well, inside there were greetings, words of encouragement and advice for the parents-to-be. I also re-wrote some of the relevant things that happened during the shower for her to remember. Last of all I finished it off with a few photos and a copy of the invitations.
I hope that she likes it and enjoys reading it now and in the future :)

Happy Birthday Abigail!!

Well today my sister and I turn 22! 7/7 is a good day. I made her this poster for her bedroom. I thought I'd keep it bright and bold so she could see it clearly. I personally need this reminder ha! I hope that she likes it as she did request it a few months ago. Happy Birthday Abigail! :) x

Congratulations Tom & Suzie!

Made for You by Me! 2012

Well I think that the Baby season has officially started at church! There's babies being born all the time but I think that the new line of pregnancies has just started to roll! I made this card for a couple who've just had a son (their first child). I wondered when I'd be able to use that stamp again :) I think it worked well here. Not too much detail but hopefully not too much layering either?
I wonder who will pop next? The adventure of life continues...

Bake Sale!

Well it's been a while but I thought I'd update you on what's been going on since we had our internet connected at the new house! Yeay!
This weekend was as busy and eventful as ever. Never a dull moment... I was asked to lend a baking hand with the Cathedral Mice bake sale on Sunday. So I had a baking session on Friday to make my contribution; Cornflake buns. Mmmmmm!
I also made a big Victoria Sponge for the long awaited baby shower that I've been planning with a friend called Al, for another friend called AlliBell. I designed the shower invites earlier in the year. If you've not seen them see here! I'm really proud of them! Unfortunately I didn't get chance to take a photo of my baking work. The party went really well and the Mummy-to-be gave us her compliments. That's what it's all about!
There's lots more to post about but I can't until the events have passed so watch this space :D

Father's Day!

Made for You by Me! 2012

For the first time I've printed a 'design' and featured it on a hand made card! I used a free font and adapted it to make it a little bit less plain but still crisp. I hope he liked it!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Made for You by Me! 2012

I don't like buying cards for family now if I can help it so here's the card I made for my dad for his birthday. I tried to keep it simple compared to previous years.

Ladies day, oh what a day it was!

Well they are only quick photos but they still prove that they are real. The Ladies Day 2012 was a success and brilliantly planned. The designs I'd done were appreciated too which was really encouraging! I didn't get a photo of the finished Pin Wheels but the team that put them together did them really well. they added 2 A3 size wheels to compliment the small graphical one. They were great table features.
They also asked me to produce slides to inform the ladies of the workshops they could choose from throughout the day. I've added one for you to see.
Overall I was asked to design and produce; a double-sided pin wheel design, 4 x menu cards, 1 x drink card, 5 x slides for the big screens (including the previously posted advertisement slide),
and 2 x A3 posters for the registration area.
I really enjoyed this project and was able to exercise a lot of skills and points that I've picked up on placement. I was more aware of how long things took and about continuity and spacing.

Colourful Quotes

Esther Orridge 2012

Esther Orridge 2012

For a while now I've wanted to make some quotes into graphical pieces. I wasn't sure how I'd do it but this shows my first attempt. A friend came out with a good one this week which was "I love epic!" and immediately I wanted to create a graphic to capture this forever. Each quote I have in mind has a specific story or meaning behind it. They are quotes from people that have impacted my life in some way or that I just have to record somehow. The top one is from the wife of a Pastor who is connected with my church. It's one of the quotes I try and live by because when I'm tired my attitude can stink!!
I also have another typographic idea up my sleeves but as with this idea I'm not quite sure how or when I'll be able to do it. So when I figure it out I'll pop it up here for you to see...
P.s I have no idea why it keeps changing the colours when you click on the images. If you have any ideas I'd appreciate the heads up please :)

Happy Birthday Dee!

Esther Orridge 2012

Made for You by Me! 2012

Well it was my wonderful placement boss's birthday this week and I wanted to get her a something to celebrate. I've got bored of buying the same presents so I'm trying this year to make them a lot more personal and tailored to the one I'm buying for. I've banned myself from buying ornament type presents from now on (unless absolutely necessary).
So over the past few weeks I've been listening to my boss and trying to figure out what I could get her. The idea I came up with was a cheese board. Simply because I had asked her what she likes to snack on when she wants some "me time" and she said she prefers cheese over chocolate (I gasped at this ha!). However at this time of the year they are near non-existent!
As usual, if I can't find something I'll try make it myself. So deciding to make it a personal cheese selection for 1, I came up with this hamper-style idea. I decided against the cheese "board" because a) they were stupidly priced, b) it would have been too heavy to carry around, and c) I wanted to do it a bit different.
I wanted to go for a funky but slightly vintage look with the wrapping. I used scrunched up brown paper to pad out the inside/bottom of the bucket and wrapped everything individually to give it a little bit of a fun-factor. The ribbons added more colour (this reflects her colourful personality) and  made the card to explain what it was all about.
The top image shows my finished, personal cheese selection/hamper for 1. Complete with crackers and a "Star Bar" which is her favourite chocolate bar (in case she wants a break from cheese).
The bottom image is the card that I made for her too :)