Name Picture

We were invited to go to a christening yesterday, and I was scratching my head about what to give as a gift. 

I thought the traditional items (you know - a silver item, or a china dining set, for example) were, well - too traditional - and not really useful in this day and age. 

We were only invited one week before the event, and I didn't have a great deal of time to think about it.  When a friend suggested a name picture, that was the very thing and off I went! 

The images I found on the internet didn't really inspire me and I wasn't tempted to buy anything I saw.  So I decided that as I happened to have a *few* materials around, I would make a picture myself! 

Making more than a few amendments along the way, here is the final version. 



I happened to have a frame around the house (from an intended project some years ago!) and decided to use it here.  I used my Cricut alphabet (Opposites Attract) with the shadows for the letters.  The shadows were coloured using Promarkers, as were most of the animals. 

I originally kept the letters white, but it was too minimalist and not bright enough for a 6 month old boy, so I used scraps of patterned paper for each letter.  The grass was cut with a Sizzlits decorative strip die.  Handily enough, I had recently purchased the Cuttlebug baby animals set of dies when they were half price in the Papermaze fire sale - they proved more than their money's worth in this project!

I started off by colouring in the animals with the Promarkers - but if I were to do another similar project, then I would cut everything out using the individual coloured card.  It would make the project much more laborious, but I think worth it in terms of the quality of finish.  The Promarkers are great, but when the item is quite small, you are reliant on the quality of your colouring in - and it is very easy for my hand to slip when colouring in detail.  The eyes pop using Ranger black enamel accents - it is great stuff, but very hard to control the amount of enamel that comes from the bottle!  I had to redo several of the animals when they ended up with black all over their heads, rather than just the eyes.  I had to sit up late several nights in order to get it finished, but I hope the recipient's family like the picture and appreciate that it was handmade especially for their son.  In my mind, not bad for a first attempt I think!