This is Merry Christmas to Daniel, my friend who has just moved to a new posting in South Africa. An avid photographer, Daniel has already been to a number of game parks but hasn’t yet seen this elephant.
Also I wish all my readers a wonderful holiday, I thank all those who have participated in «View from the Zoo» and, finally, I’ll be back in January 2009!
Audrey, my daughter who is still in Europe, sent me these lovely stamps as a birthday gift. Firstly, the very modern looking stamps from Luxembourg that celebrate their status as one of the European Capitals of Culture of 2007 and which displays the caribou or elk which was part of their logo. The other cheerful set hails from Ireland, illustrated by Steve Simpson, is a series of happy patchwork animals intended for greetings such as thank yous, love notes and congratulatory messages. Steve describes the very interesting design process on his website.
I put togther my birthday tea party invitation (it says «come and celebrate my
5(0) years with me») with animals that I had drawn recently. Except these guys thought they were posing for a five year old’s celebration - until my main monkey came in with the zeros that were missing. The design challenge : to find a look that was adult and masculine using funny animals. The party theme was inspired my my preschool mad hatter tea parties I had with my friends, complete with little dishes and tiny tea cups. However today, instead of water and crackers, there will be real cucumber sandwiches and homemade scones topped with whipped cream and jam. Yummy!
More great news! My designs are now available as greeting cards, business cards and stickers on moo.com, a dynamic young printing company based in London, England. You choose the designs you want, mine (preferably), someone else’s (I am in very good company) or even your own (your travel photos, for example), drop and crop them on the products you want and place your order. I love the quality of their printing, their range of products and their choice of artists (besides me!). Even the packaging of the cards are neat.