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.

New Placement Project

My latest design project at cherry gorgeous (placement) was to re-design the save the date cards into a DIY version. So after a speedy project (compared to the last one) they have now gone live and they are ready for production. Woo! I'm really happy with how this project went and I feel like I'm getting more up to speed with things. Let's see if they sell now :)

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 :)

Say cheese!

Esther Orridge 2012

Last week I was introduced to a brand new cheese from the Sainsbury's range. I'm not a massive fan of cheese but this one is just so fabulous it's irresistible even for me! I bought some for treat time and a box of Ritz biscuits to compliment it! Mmmmm!
Yorkshire Wensleydale with clotted cream & strawberries! Ooooh!

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 :)

Presents!

I always think it's kool to jazz up your presents with a personal touch. I wasn't sure what the deal is with baby showers regarding gifts and cards so this time I've just made this little bear to write the greeting to the mummy-to-be. It's also a good way if you want to keep the designs neutral. If you can't find anything, make it. I think it's much more personal. Although this isn't the most ground-breaking one I've done, I still hope she likes it :)

Baking Adiction

Well I've had another baking craze for the past 2 weeks. Both my husband and my workplace have benefited from this though ha! However tonight there is another baby shower that I've been invited to so I've freshly baked some treats for everyone. I only bake now when I know they will all be eaten (otherwise I will eat them all - seriously!)
These are a few from the 3 batches I made. Each seems to be better than the other as I'm trying to work out the best way to prevent the choc-chips sinking to the bottom and pealing away with the case. Please let me know if you have the answer :) I'm just experimenting at the moment and seem to have a good consistency at the moment. Let's see how they go down tonight! Yum yum!

Personalised Invitation Design

Esther Orridge 2012

Well here's the finished, printed and sent out invitation that I designed for a very close friend of mine. She is having a baby later this year and I have been given the privilege of co-co-ordinating and co-hosting her baby shower.
I was given the exciting task of making the invitations. This HAD to include a reference to the Mini Babybel Cheeses because the Mummy-to-be has the last name "Bell" (the baby is already nick-named "Baby Bell"). So it had to be this!
They have gone out to about 20 of her friends and family.
I'm so happy with the result of this design. I think it's one of the very few pieces I'm proud to present on here :)
And a bonus was that the Mummy-to-be loved them!! Wooo!

Doodle Pebble

Esther Orridge 2012

I got bored last week (don't normally have time to) and found a few slate pebbles laying around the house from a trip to Whitby last year. So I decided to see how my line drawings would look on it. Here's the first I've ever done. Thought it was interesting - more than just on a piece of paper??
Was hard not to smudge the pen though and also keep the technique as I would when drawing on a flat surface!