Here is the scoop on this years design. I was toying around with a couple of designs this year. One was a pop-up with a winter scene and a window as if you were looking out your window to the snow and landscape outside. I wasn't sure about this design since I had done a pop-up way back while I was in college and I didn't want to repeat myself. I drew a couple of pictures and even made a few mock prototypes to see how the design would look. But in the end I felt that I did not have the energy or time to work out the logistics to be ready for Christmas. I was trying to take on too big of a project and I am glad now that I realized this and made the change before I got in too deep.
My second choice was a sketch of a cartoon character I have created years back called 'WIGGI'. I love him and would love to play around with him and I thought he would make a good come back this year but that too was not quite right. I was hurting for a idea to come to me and decided to get out some of my Christmas ideas and sketches to get in the holiday spirit. Basically, I thought that some of my designs might spark some light bulbs going off in my mind. I became smitten with a drawing that I had done years ago, back in 1988! I never used the drawing because of the size and format of it. It was in a long rectangle and I was thinking of how I could get it to fit a card format. Needless to say, I kept going back to this drawing and asking myself, "how can I turn this idea into a card?' Well one day, a few weeks ago, it hit me like a spark and then a mini MIND GIGGLE! I thought, "I can put it into a regular envelope and make the card a really long rectangle. I never thought to design a card that was so long and narrow. I guess I thought it wouldn't look right, but I knew this was the perfect format for the design that I was so in love with. BINGO. That is how I came up with this years design.
After printing out a mockup of the design, I decided to do the drawing in a different color than the black line drawing that it was created in just to add some festive appeal to it. I thought a wine color would look really pretty and print the drawing on an ivory card stock. I knew it was going to be a long rectangle and I thought I could add a colored card stock underneath the ivory and cut the top part shorter to reveal the color underneath it. I also, got a Christmas punch and punched out the corners to add a little extra bit of a 'sneak peek' to reveal more of the wine color below. I made a couple of mockups and I was going to add a 'jute' cord so it could be hung anywhere, but in the end I decided to leave it be. One day, I was in a dollar store and found some lovely ivory colored envelopes that were the perfect size. It was as if they were there just waiting for me. They were in a spot that I would normally not have even looked at. "Could it be?" I thought as bent down and I snatched them up off the shelf. And they were only... one dollar for 25! Could things get any better? I'm on easy street. I quickly purchased them and brought them home to see if they were the right color. They were great. They were so pretty. I was on a roll. The color was perfect and they had an expensive feel to them. I knew I was moving in the perfect direction. All the planets were aligning and I was smooth sailing. Life was easy... But then, and with a big thud everything came to a halt. Where was I going to put the message on the front and what was it going to say?
I struggled for days with the sentiment writing on the front and inside. I wanted to play around with the vintage look of the drawing and then add something funny inside. I thought the surprise inside would be fun and maybe unexpected. I only had a little space to put the type, so the wording had to be short and to the point. No fooling around. I had to say what I wanted to in as few short words as I could but I came to a stand still. I couldn't move in any direction. I was stuck. What to do? Days were going by and no closer to a idea. Would I get the cards done on time? I was so getting anxious and worried. How could it be? Everything was going so great. UGGHHH!!! My mind hit a blank. An emptiness. Nothing. Nada. I thought I was surely out of ideas. Who was I kidding? I was creatively 'toast'. But then... just when I thought my card design was to be scraped and never see the light of day, the idea flowed out from my pen. This process took a couple of incubating days and when I just let my mind 'relax', the idea came to me. I was saved. I was rescued from the creative wall that was staring me down while being so relentless. I took a breath and knew that I narrowly escaped the doom of an idea that was a 'flop'. a 'failure', a 'trash can' wonder. The tide turned and out of the 'fog' and 'storm' was an idea that I was proud of and something I felt was exactly how I imagined it and wanted it to be. "Christmas, I thought, is here!"
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