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Thursday, February 15, 2007

holiday cards...

I usually send out holiday cards for new years...however, the last couple of year's have been busy - travel, work, moving etc. So i decided that this year I just had to send out cards... however I missed the new year holiday ... so this meant i had to send out valentine's day cards! It has been so much fun. In the past, I had designed my own cards -- but i knew that this year I just couldn't do it so I contacted one of my favorite local artists, Todd Karam to see if he could design my card -- and he said yes.

I met Todd at our December ArtReach event -- he also designed the new artReach logo and was one of our December artists. The picture below is of him with one of his pieces that I purchased (the one with the birds on it right next to his shoulder).

Todd was just a dream to work with -- we actually got this card designed with one sample - he just nailed the concept from the get-go. We then did a round of reviews on text and color and things like that. I think it took 3 weeks to go from our first conversation to printed product.

Below is the card he designed (along with some of my notes) -- I absolutely LOVE it - -i think it captured the sentiment of good vibes but not too much romance that I wanted (i mean afterall i am just a little bit of cynic right? i can't be all warm fuzzies! - i must have some edginess -- even if it is wrapped up in morkie cuteness).

So what was the core concept? Well, I wanted "love birds" -- i have just been into birds lately -- three of my new pieces of art have birds on them...! And I wanted something that reflected the northwest -- and had some color and cheer to it. I didn't want a card that was sappy -- it needed to be fun. Todd captured this with a "Northwest rock-and-roll screen print" and wazzam we had a model to go from. We based the front cover text on the Beatles song "All we need is love..." but i was worried it would be sappy...

I really loved the sun setting in the back. Originally it was a darker color but i wanted something brighter and more cheery.

Figuring out the text inside the card was HARD. I have to give mad props to my cousin, Jasmine, who was a huge help sharing her wit and charm to come up with the right text. The addition of chocolate was key.

The back of the card might be my favorite because of the cuba-cut-out. This was all Todd's invention and it is just perfect. Cuba is a 4 lb. dog. She's nothing but ridiculous -- and the cut-out just nailed that silliness.

Ok, i'm in London and it is close to 3 am. I need to sleep! Happy Valentine's Day to all my beloved readers! Email me if you want your own Cuba cut-out!