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  • Snail Mail – Torch Age Birthday Collage

    age-birthday-collage-web

    **Warning: Profanity is used in this post**

    I finished another piece in my “Snail Mail” series.  It is another birthday card, as someone close to me had a birthday this weekend.  Not all of my snail mail will be for birthdays, or even for special occasions.  The person that I created this for was not particularly excited about their birthday, so this design seemed fitting.

    age-birthday-collage-web3I painted watercolor onto watercolor paper and cut them out.  I played around with their placement before gluing them down for the final collaged composition.

    age-birthday-collage-inside-webThe base of the card was once again, (like the last card I made for my Grandpa) made out of junk mail cut up and glued together.  I really enjoy the tactile feel of the layers of paper, as well as the hint of “homemade” style it gives it.  To me it is a way of expressing thoughtfulness.  The time I spent making this card was time I spent thinking about this person. I’m not usually a huge fan of profanity, but I wasn’t so sure that this is even considered offensive, and, well it seemed fitting.  My apologies if anyone is offended.  I really enjoy a little snarkiness.

    age-birthday-envelope-webSince the card was homemade and not a standard size, I needed to make an envelope to match.  I found a manilla folder in my stack of documents that need to be shredded and made the envelope out of it.

    age-birthday-collage-envelope-web2I had a lot of fun decorating the envelope using prisma colored pencils and some brand new micron pens.

    envelopeI had a lot of fun making this card.  Stay tuned for more “Snail Mail” 🙂

    age-birthday-collage-web2 copy

    Amy DeCaussin specializes in Illustration.  View her work here, amydecaussin.com.

    For illustration, image licensing, agent representation,

    and other creative projects contact Amy: amydecaussin@gmail.com.

  • Snail Mail – My Grandpa’s 90th Birthday

    I am starting a new series in my blog called “Snail Mail.”  I will be posting about different handmade cards and stationary projects that I will be sending to people who are very special to me.  This series serves several purposes.  It allows me to express love towards people who I care about deeply.  It also serves as a wonderful place of inspiration for illustration.  This project definitely embodied that and I had a lot of fun doing it.

    Today is my Grandpa’s 90th birthday!  We currently live far away from my grandparents, so I am unable to celebrate with him.  I wanted to send him a special card.

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    The base of the card is made completely from upcycled materials.  I took some junk mail and cut it to size.

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    On the inside of the card, I covered up miscellaneous words with the interior design of an envelope and an excerpt from the church bulletin taken from this past Easter Vigil service.  The dismissal music seemed fitting to my Grandpa’s personality as he can be a bit rebellious.

    grandpa-card-3

    On the inside, I wrote a personal note to my Grandpa from my husband Cam and I.

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    And I wrote a little note on the back too…

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    Since the card was made entirely from scratch, I did not have an envelope to match, so I made the envelope out of another page from the church bulletin.

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    The front of the card design was first sketched out in my sketchbook.  There, I played around with the color composition using colored pencils.  For the final piece, I painted different layers of watercolor paper and collaged them together.

    90-card-design-web

    From the different patterns, I also created a bolt fabric design sample to put in my portfolio.

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    This was a really fun project and I can’t wait to create more “Snail Mail!” I hope that my Grandpa enjoys his card and that he has the happiest of 90th birthdays.  Check out the invitation I designed for my Grandparent’s 65th Wedding Anniversary Party.

    Background floral pattern featured in these photos is designed by Silvia Dekker published in Flow Magazine’s “Book for Paper Lovers,” given to me by Illustrator Rebecca Green.

    Amy DeCaussin specializes in Illustration.  View her work here, amydecaussin.com.

    For illustration, image licensing, agent representation,

    and other creative projects contact Amy: amydecaussin@gmail.com.

  • You Baubble Believe it!

    giftware, design, colorful, illustration

    This design was created for the gift market.  It was part of the “Make Art that Sells” course with illustration agent Lilla Rogers.

    Amy DeCaussin specializes in Illustration.  View her work here, amydecaussin.com.

    For illustration, image licensing, agent representation,

    and other creative projects contact Amy: amydecaussin@gmail.com.

    ©Amy DeCaussin All Rights Reserved.