Honestly
Posted: January 28, 2013 Filed under: Bridge to Terabithia 8 CommentsI’m trying not to talk TOO much about various art-ish projects on the blog, because I am hoping to make money off of them eventually . . . and I don’t want to sound like I’m begging you to buy stuff.
Good disclaimer?
Guys, I’ve been working hard lately on figuring out what I want to do with my shop, and it’s unbelievably fun and exciting. I spent a while thinking about birthday and shower invitations – what originally got me started with this whole thing – and had trouble deciding what sort of designs would be likable (and easy to sell). Then I decided, I’m doing this for me – so that I have something I enjoy doing. If I make money, even just enough to keep my supplies stocked, hooray! But I lost interest in the idea of pandering to customers. So I sat down one night last week and designed a baby shower invitation. The next day, I designed a birthday party invitation for Jarom. (I’m going to try screen printing it and IT WILL BE AMAZING.) The next night, I completely designed and finished an invitation for Evan’s birthday party.
Most of the designs I came up with don’t actually involve any watercolor. They’re more . . . hand-lettered, and less painterly. I think I’m fine with this because I still have a lot of ideas for watercolor text and watercolor name art in particular. But I love the lettering aspect. Doing our graduation announcements last year was stressful but gloriously fun. (And stressful. Very stressful.) I think my stuff looks pretty awesome.
Here’s where I sort of want your mostly-honest opinions. Like I said at the beginning, I’m not trying to get you to buy stuff. I just want validation that these are legitimately interesting things that other people might buy. (Of course, I’m happy to do work for you guys, too.) The more time I spend looking for similar invitations and art on Etsy, the more I feel like there isn’t anything quite like this – and then I wonder if it’s because no one is interested. (Although, given the hideous nature of 80% of the stuff on Etsy, maybe that’s a good sign.)
Right, so, these are the things I’ve been coming up with lately. If you were having a party or bridal/baby shower, would you like these? I know I have a lot of polishing to do, so maybe you could base your opinion off the potential awesomeness here.
Bad scan of the sketch for Jarom’s birthday invitations. Needs a little work still.
Sketch of baby shower idea. I always mess up on vertical spacing.
Watercolor of baby shower idea. The only waterproof pen I had on hand was a Sharpie, which didn’t work well. I think I’d leave the “It’s a boy!” in white and redo the registration note. I was trying to tie in with the other cursive, unsuccessfully.
![Evan's birthday invitation. Since it's going to 3- and 4-year-olds, I don't care much about fixing any [minor] flaws.](https://hilleries.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/kangaroo2a.jpg)
Evan’s birthday invitation. Since it’s going to 3- and 4-year-olds, I don’t care much about fixing any [minor] flaws.
Jarom
Mika
hilleries 
I love your hand lettered stuff. The graduation announcements were so unique and awesome! Evans birthday invites are adorable too.
Thanks! Fortunately Evan thought the kangaroo invites were awesome, otherwise I’d have to come up with a new idea. More work = thumbs down.
After looking through others, I think you need to show the world what’s truly amazing…and that’s yours. i think they are so talented and creative. I like the blue baby shower one better than the clear. It makes me jealous I don’t have a baby to use you with. I think you should sell them!!!
The clear baby shower one was the sketch I started with, I definitely like it best with some color added :)
Mika, they’re good. And sell-able. I like Jarom’s and the blue baby shower invites the best. The only thing I might negotiate with you if I were to buy these for a shower (which, look at that, I will need in a month or so!), is adding in some little graphic. An umbrella or a bird or some small, mod thing – especially if my shower had a theme. Other than that, they are pretty awesome-sauce.
Yes! I’ve been thinking about how nice it is to have graphics – and trying to figure out what works best, what I can actually draw, etc. So far I’ve come up blank. Maybe I’ll do some donut-themed ones for myself as a sample. Start with what you know, right?
The baby shower invite in blue jumped off the page. Super cute! I especially love the way you did the lettering “baby shower”. I love that style, but can never find a font like it on computer programs… Also, I liked the unique style of the kangaroo– what a fun idea. I agree with the remark about needing some embellishments in addition to the words. Keep up the great work!
I spent a while practicing the fake calligraphy, mainly looking at expensive fonts you have to buy. That’s probably why you can’t find it . . . people want to charge you lots of money for it. Sad! Any suggestions on embellishments, or would it depend on the theme?