I love Halloween – especially pumpkin carving. In the last few years I’ve invested in some more “pro” tools and elevated my pumpkin carving game to new heights.
2023 The Mandalorian: Grogru
I designed this template.
2022 Disney Cinderella series
My friend Tara Duffin and I teamed up for this project. She did the shoe and Fairy Godmother pumpkins based off of stills from the Disney animated film.
I carved the carriage from a template available online.
2021 Lord of the Rings series
The One Ring of power template took a LONG time to carve, but looks really cool. It was difficult to get it deep enough to let light through.
The White Tree of Gondor and it’s seven stars.I designed this Bag End Hobbit Hole template myself.
The mini book format for party invitations is an economical wonder. With one piece of paper printed on one side, I can make a mini book with three spreads and a cover. The trick is to cut the very center of the paper, but only 1/2 the length of the paper, then fold according to instructions. Below is an example of what the “to be printed” layout looks like.
all things uk party, 2013
This party invites of All Things UK was for my 30th birthday, and to celebrate my second trip to England (summer 2013). I did have this invite professionally printed for a nicer look, but cut and folded them myself. I deem this one of my more accomplished invite designs.
A small 3×5″ envelope was used for mailing. Paper map inserts were put under the flap to fancy-up the envelopes. Total run of 50.
Alice in wonderland birth-tea party, 2010
I think this is my favorite birthday – a big mad-hatter Birth-tea Party to celebrate my 27th in Wellington, NZ. It was inspired by the live-action film remake of Alice in Wonderland, although I also adore the classic Disney animated version. All participants had to wear a hat, and I converted my flat into a garden backyard ready for all sorts of tea time fun.
This is the final print layout – note the A4 paper change, hence this version is slightly smaller than the other two examples on this page.
afternoon tea menu, 2019
This mini book format was used to make individual Afternoon Tea Menus for a friend Mother’s Day Tea Party. Each guest could then take theirs home as a memento of the afternoon. Tea graphics are from iStock Photo.
From the journal of Michelle Quinn, “On the 15th the next Doctor Who special was released (The Waters of Mars). It has been at least 6 months since the last special. A group of about 15 of us gathered around their big screen in Miramar to view it. I brought my Doctor Who Visual Dictionary book to geek out about and share. It was good times.“
In the archives of my Photoshop Doctor Who mucking around was some images of my friend Jarom Sidwell having fun pretending to be The Doctor.
This is from the next year, 2010, and my friend James playing at being in the Doctor Who universe.
This event is not nearly as sad as it sounds. No actual orphans were involved. It was an invite for several friends and expats in New Zealand who were not going to be, “home for the holidays,” to band together and enjoy the Christmas celebrations.
The invite is in the shape of an Air New Zealand boarding pass, with Christmas lights added to the Cabbage Trees on the boarder. Below is a digital explanation of the process of creating this invite:
This invitation is based off of an old piece of sheet music, which had the most wonderful typography for the word “Christmas,” already in place. It was an interesting exercise to try and match the established fonts with new ones to keep the invitation’s fonts looking congruent.
Invites were printed on A4 paper, and stamped with a wax seal.
Before there were Smash Books, there was a travel diary. This was my first travel book, and it was a gift from my good friend MaReesa. It was a very appropriate bon voyage gift for my first trip this part of the world. This trip was very memorable as I was helping my friend Charlotte move from Seattle to Leeds, England. This “helping” involved a three week holiday before she started her graduate program. I was coming from Wellington, NZ.
Book The Art 