LEO THE LION BOY BIRTHDAY INVITATION

I designed these Leo the Lion birthday invitations for a special little guy a few months back. I think it's kind of fun they went with the whole "Leo the Lion" theme and embraced it whole heartedly. Leo's mum is a friend of mine and she had a pretty solid idea of how she wanted them to look which makes my job a whole lot easier in many ways. Also they planned for no gifts, so they wrote a little blurb on the back as an alternative for guests to donate to a charity gift catalogue if they preferred. I really love that idea for small children when they truly don't need too much in the way of toys. Don't you?
I think this mangey guy turned out pretty cute in the end!

Contact Jordan(at)polkadotprints.com.au for personalised or custom designed stationery. 

PEPPA PIG PARTY STATIONERY & SUPPLIES

I designed this Peppa Pig themed stationery for Ellie's 3rd birthday earlier this year. Like many girls, she is a huge fan of peppa and her muddy puddle jumping family! She'd been requesting a Peppa Pig cake for quite a while. : )

Here are links for the Peppa Pig invitation, sticker, mug, paper plate, swing tag, gumboot button, birthday badge (she LOVED wearing this for her birthday dinner!).

I'm really excited to start sharing some stationery collections and party supplies I've been designing for Zazzle. From stationery, stickers, swing tags, paper plates, badges, I have designed matching collections for popular party themes and they are personalised and printed for you, then conveniently shipped to your door.

FREELANCE GRAPHIC DESIGN :: BEAUTY PRODUCTS PACKAGING

Last week I shared a freelance graphic design project I did for Watoto. Today I'm sharing a packaging design project I worked on for them. It was for Living Hope, an arm of Watoto that rescues women from widowed, in poverty, robbed of dignity, and gives them hope, empowerment & meaningful employment.

The women in Uganda have started farming Shea nuts and are making their own Shea butter - 100% pure mind you! But they needed to get it out of Gulu and into the world. So they are in the process of creating their own beauty line. First product off the rank was the pure Shea body butter. I was asked to design the labels for the tins of shea.

They have a strict Living Hope branding and also there are many restrictions on labelling within the beauty industry, so it was something different design style for me but a good challenge. Also because it is going to be sold globally with the Watoto children's Choir, it had to be translated into a number of different languages, with country specific information, liaising with each countries printers etc. A mammoth task and real team effort!
I am available to freelance for you too! If you need graphic design work from logo's, packaging to brochures, flyers & annual reports, please don't hesitate to send me an email! 

Canadian Thanksgiving in Australia :: Packaging & table setting

It was months ago now, but I was looking through my photos and realised I hadn't even loaded these pics off my camera, let alone share them with the world.

One tradition we have kept alive from our time in Canada is Canadian Thanksgiving (a little earlier than the USA equivalent). So back in October, we invited some good friends over, had a potluck with turkey, roast and all the sides and celebrated all we had to be thankful for.

When all the food was eaten and all the kids were quietly watching a movie, the grown ups all sat around and each shared something we were thankful for, and something we were praying and hoping for the year ahead. People really shared heart stuff and it was a great night. And that's what it's all about. When hosting an event, it's always the people over the food. The stories over the styling. And the conversation and being present, over the perfectly folded napkin.
I am looking forward to sitting with the same bunch of people next year and hearing how their plans and dreams have come about.

We truly do have a lot to be thankful for. I'm thinking we should start a movement here in Australia to get this thanksgiving business on the national holiday list! Beats halloween any day : )


Sources: 
Give Thanks gold foil wall poster
Plate circle & box labels - email me
Leftover Boxes

BRISBANE FREELANCE GRAPHIC DESIGN :: WATOTO ANNUAL REPORT

This year I feel a new love for freelance graphic design work. It's my 'trade', so to speak, and it feels really comfortable to be doing more of it these days. It also provides a great opportunity to work on bigger projects (than stationery) and partner with some great organisations & businesses.

We finished up this Annual report for Watoto later last year and I'm really happy with how it turned out. It's something i've done for the past few years for them, but last year I had a bit more creative freedom and we mixed it up just a little. We made it a square size, and added pages to take advantage of some stunning full bleed images (how can you not smile looking at those gorgeous faces?!).
I love the African animal collage on the front to make the year, and the full spread map is another favourite page. We just did a short run of a printed version for key sponsors and donors and then created a full online 'magazine' version for all those interested in Watoto. An annual report is always a big job, but it will be a great tool throughout the year for anyone wanting to get an overview of what they do and the impact they are having. Looking good Watoto!

And don't forget, I am available to freelance for you too! If you need graphic design work from logo's, packaging to brochures, flyers & annual reports, please don't hesitate to send me an email!

HAPPY NEW YEAR AND TAKING ON NEW GRAPHIC DESIGN JOBS

Well, it's a little late, but consider this my official hello for 2015!

I kind of fell off the blogging wagon by the end of last year. I was still around on social media and consuming blogs, but just didn't have the same joy and sparkle I did from earlier last year. I really needed to just bunker down, grieve, spend time with family, and just do my freelance work in my own time and without any expectation that it had to be blogged about. Just take the pressure off. That's hard in this industry, when you feel like you're being left behind, but for the first time ever, I didn't even care. A sure sign I needed a break! : )

I was still working, just for some regular clients and not taking on much new...B U T...I'm now back!
I feel refreshed, I feel more like myself again, I feel inspired and energised to get back in my creative zone and design again and in new ways. I have the mojo back folks, and it feels good!

I will share over the coming weeks, some of the projects I worked on last year, that you haven't seen yet. As well as a couple of family birthdays that I'd love to share. I can't wait to get this year off the ground as I gear up for all the new projects. If you would like a quote on graphic design work, stationery, printing, or web design, in Australia or around the world, please shoot me an email and we can get you in the game for 2015!

Image from Honey & Gold

INSPIRATIONAL FOIL WALL ART :: HONEY & GOLD SHOP IS OPEN

I'm excited to let you know that as of last week, the Honey & Gold online store is officially open! Yay! While cliche, it has indeed been a dream coming true! One that many of you made happen. The heart of this project is to have faith-based inspirational foiled wall art that is both beautiful and meaningful. I encourage you to check it out and maybe you'll find a gift for a friend who needs encouragement today (or something for yourself!).


Image // Marnie Hawson & Bianca Virtue for Honey & Gold

BOUTIQUE BAKING LOGO & BUSINESS CARD

I love it when a job comes along that you really love, that suits your own aesthetic and just gels with you. Boutique Baking's logo and stationery was one of those jobs. Kate had a specific font in mind, so we worked with that to create her logo and then went on from there to design stationery, stickers and Facebook images.
The business cards were my favourite. Printed on a really nice card stock, they look and feel lush (said the paper geek!). You can follow on her baking adventures here.

If you own a business that needs a logo, or need business stationery & promo material designed, feel free to shoot me an email for an estimate.

VIKING & DRAGON PARTY :: LEVI TURNS SIX

Last month we celebrated Levi's sixth birthday with a viking & dragon themed party. It was his first 'friends' party, with his friends from school and not just our own family friends.
I designed & sent these viking themed invitations to all the boys in his class, I sewed some 'hiccup' style viking vests, and Dave got all 'man crafty' on me and made all the weaponry for the boys. (We had a laugh at how much he got into it, staying up late doing party prep - quite the role reversal!!).

I kept food simple, buying some and making some, knowing they would likely just play the whole time anyway (which they did!). The hero of the food was indeed the cake. I saw this viking helmet cake on Sweet & Saucy, and given the transport was impossible, I set out to make something similar but with buttercream (yum!) and not fondant. I was impressed that I got the horns to stay up!!

It ended up pouring down rain, but was still such a fun morning. The boys had to 'earn' each piece of their weaponry with each game. There was sheep launching, dragon fire defending etc. The 'dragon killing' game was the most fun, with hatchets and balloons, and could have gone on for longer had we had more dragon balloons blown up...lesson for next time!

It was a really fun day and the boys totally go into it. Happy birthday handsome boy! xo

Sources: Invitations // Stickers //  Treat Bags // Game Ideas // Cake Inspo

See Levi turn; Two | Three | Four | Five (?? missing somewhere??) - I can't believe I have a six year old!

HONEY & GOLD POZIBLE CAMPAIGN UPDATE

I woke up this morning and saw that the crowd-funding campaign for Honey & Gold had gone over the $3,000 mark. Wow! Thank you, thank you, thank you, to everyone who has pledged. Seriously, I am so excited over here!
I am getting more and more confident that this dream will actually become a reality. Amazing. There are only three more days to make a pledge, so I hope you will head on over and be part of this 'heart project' of mine.

If you're catching up on this and want to know what it's all about, you can read the story here.

Thank you friends x