Animals on the walls

When I cleaned out Maddy's room last week, the walls ended up looking pretty bare. We've had a quilt hanging in her room for the last year or so, courtesy of my mom, and she's got a couple of shelves of toys way up high, but the room still seemed pretty empty. Taking out a crib and boxes of clothes will do that, apparently.

Maddy has always loved animals. Her curtains and quilts are animal prints. Most of her stuffed toys are animals. She's a very animal-friendly kid. I've been trying to come up with something I could make her for a few months now that not only took care of her love for animals, but was educational at the same time.

I've mentioned before that I'm a graphic designer by trade, but haven't been really doing any design since I left my job last winter. Lately, design's something that's been popping up in my head more and more frequently. So I decided to take that need and apply it by making something for Maddy.

These prints are OOAK (one-of-a-kind, for those not in the know... I wasn't in the know until just recently, so don't feel bad), completely original, home-printed... I have a kick-ass (for me, anyway) Epson Artisan 50 printer that I picked up on sale last winter. I love this printer for what it can do for me - clear, crisp lines, beautiful colours... it the perfect printer for my needs. I used Epson's Premium Presentation Paper in Matte, which is perfect for what I'm planning on doing with these prints - frame in simple wooden frames behind glass/plastic/whatever I can find that doesn't look like crap. I'm a big fan of Epson, from the printer to the ink to the paper... the prices are really decent and the quality is amazing.

These prints turned out so well I'm debating selling them - not these ones specifically, but a short-run of maybe 10 sets (there are 2 prints/set - I could have put all 26 animals on one page, but it would have been really crowded, and I'm using 8x11 sheets, so yeah...). I'll be sure to announce if/when I put these up for sale and where (again, more on that later).

That nagging voice in my head that's been demanding more design work has been quieted for now, but I'm sure it'll be back, with a vengeance, soon. And based on this project, I'm pretty sure I'll listen to it and do some more design stuff.