Every year since I started this crazy company I've been doing some sort of handmade ornament for my clients and vendors for Christmas. I know, it's not really politically correct, but I love Christmas ornaments and I think a large majority of other people do too.
This year I had been talking to a local pottery artist in Greenville and decided it would be great to work with her on this years ornament. Her name is Lily Stratton and her website is http://www.lilypottery.com/. I did a sketch and told her to add her own little touch - after all she is an artist. After a couple of little tweaks of color and minor design changes the final outcome is the porcelain bird above. It turned out amazing.
After I decided what I was producing for the ornament it was time to turn to the actual design of the card and package. Since the great illustrator Charley Harper died last year I wanted to do a tribute to him in his style - which really works great for letterpress. So the next step was to find the perfect person to do the letterpressing. Having worked with Porridge Papers in Lincoln Nebraska a couple of times I contacted them. After some plotting on how to best setup the file to letterpress correctly the job was sent to Nebraska to return as a beautiful set of cards. One card was then applied to a aluminum CD tin and the bird was inserted along with the Christmas card and some tissue. Overall it was a daunting project for a little gift for clients, but every year I hear how much these gems are loved.
Out of all the items I design and produce my Christmas ornaments are the ones that make it out of storage every year and back on to a beloved tree. I can only hope that they will be around long after I'm gone. To check out ornaments from past years check out my website under the misc. section of the portfolio section.
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