The Continuing Adventures of Bad Daughter

Yet again I wasn’t a particularly good daughter when it came time for my mother’s birthday (and my sister’s birthday too). I managed to get a cold/flu which rendered me rather exhausted. I was definitely not up to creating the usual birthday cards. I grabbed the nearest offcuts of card to hand and put together two tiny “card-lets.” These are slightly larger than actual size:

For my sister, a flying SuperFutureRoboCat:

and for my mother, this little monkey face:

 

At the moment I seem to be going through a phase of not finishing pictures because every attempt I make doesn’t quite seem right. It’s a bit of a block, exacerbated by how much seems to be going on in recent weeks.

I’ve been a little on the quiet side, haven’t I? I’ve been spending far longer than one should reasonably expect on a project.

Before Christmas, a family friend asked whether I would be willing to take a photograph of the local area for them. I put off the “commission” for so long, as I lacked both a decent camera and confidence that I could produce anything worthwhile. In May I plucked up the courage to give it a shot (unintentional pun for you there), and set out on a mission to try to photograph the Thames estuary. It took about three trips at varying times of day, with varying light and varying tides, until I had a shortlist to send.

This was the first time I have attempted anything like this, so this is what I have learnt:

• Fiddling around with camera settings in public is awkward
• Pairing up a photograph with a mount and a frame is a very complicated business - lots of maths involved
• Materials will be more expensive than you have anticipated
• Glass cleaning wipes will leave the frame looking streak-tacular
• Cutting a mat requires patience, experience, specialist (and expensive) equipment, lots of spare mount board and several days. Overall, it is probably better to get the mount and aperture cut especially for you, or buying a frame with one that fits your photo in the first place.

Anyway, I finally finished it all this morning and the picture has been passed along now:

Framed and ready to go:

A closer look at the original:

If by any chance someone else should be interested in a copy(?), I might put it up on etsy at some point.

Bringing things a bit more up to date…

A few weeks ago it was my sister’s fiancé’s birthday. I settled upon the idea of a zombie party for his card. I am not accustomed to drawing humans, let alone living dead ones. But there you go:

For Easter, I set myself a new project. I had bought a silicon chocolate mould with the intention of making fancy chocolates, but after a failed attempt I had to consider ways to utilise it so that the money wouldn’t go to waste. Cake. I baked little heart-shaped cakes in the mould, in various flavours, coated them in chocolate, decorated them and boxed them up for my family. Firstly, we have the chocolates themselves:

Then, there were the boxes. I was distinctly lacking in the appropriate craft materials, but I made the best with what I did have. Each person was given a selection card so they could pick their own. The box was inspired by vintage and retro packaging:

A closer look at the cover:

BAD DAUGHTER

… and bad blogger. I am not particularly good at updating, just as I am not an especially prolific artist-type. Although, my mind seems to be a busy, buzzy hive of ideas at the moment, which end up jotted on scraps of paper on my bed side table. Maybe someday they will come to fruition. At the moment I am gearing up for Easter, which is quite time-consuming (going to be doing some making and baking).

Anyway, back to my main point… This is one of my most recent pictures - a Mother’s Day card. I was a bit of a bad daughter and she didn’t get the card until the day after. Oops! I think she appreciated it though, as it remains on the mantelpiece even now.

(I still have a fondness for stripes)

I come forth soliciting your advice. Lots of you, whom I admire, have considerably more experience in this field than I do, and I hope that you might indulge me by offering a little feedback. My relatives have been suggesting that I begin printing and selling my card designs for years now, and I have seemingly relented. As I have mentioned, I am a relatively unsure sort of individual, and so I am questioning this enterprise on various accounts:

• Firstly, the name - Quaint Fancies? Good? Bad?
• Banner - any good?
• But, most importantly, do you think that anyone would even buy my artwork (in card format)? How can I improve and amend them? Samples:

(All my designs are coming out exceedingly twee recently)

I would be incredibly grateful for any kind of advice that you could give to me.

Thank you xxx