![Commissioned Handmade Birthday Cards](https://cdn.natashabarr.com/blog/wp-content//2012/03/March_Cards_Commissoned.jpg)
Well I wasn’t expecting to be posting about cards this early in March but things have a way of turning what you say around ^^;. After posting about the last couple of cards, a friend of mine asked me to create not one but TWO new pieces for an upcoming birthday party. How could I refuse a friend’s request ^_^?.
I had a really short turn around to create and send off these cards. My friend liked the 22 star illustration I did last february and wanted something similar. I try to not do the same thing twice so instead of just copying the old one, I sketched out a concept for a diamond shape with pattern work around the outside. The cards also needed the birthday girls’ names included.
![Commissioned Handmade Birthday Cards - Original Sketches](https://cdn.natashabarr.com/blog/wp-content//2012/03/March_Cards_Commissoned_Original_Sketches-880x660.jpg)
I spent the next morning drawing out the main pattern during work breaks. Since I needed to turn these out quickly, I decided I would do the same pattern for both but colour them differently.
![Commissioned Handmade Birthday Cards - Original Pattern and first tracing](https://cdn.natashabarr.com/blog/wp-content//2012/03/March_Cards_Commissoned_First_Transfer-880x615.jpg)
![Comissioned Handmade Birthday Cards - Second Tracing](https://cdn.natashabarr.com/blog/wp-content//2012/03/March_Cards_second_card_traced-880x470.jpg)
![Commissioned Handmade Birthday Card - Typography names](https://cdn.natashabarr.com/blog/wp-content//2012/03/March_Cards_second_names-880x330.jpg)
![Commissioned Handmade Birthday Cards - Names now traced onto cards, ready for colour](https://cdn.natashabarr.com/blog/wp-content//2012/03/March_Cards_Commissoned_3rd_Transfer-880x425.jpg)
![Commissioned Handmade Birthday Cards - Watercolour painted](https://cdn.natashabarr.com/blog/wp-content//2012/03/March_Cards_watercolour-538x880.jpg)
My hand was really cramping up by this point but I stuck to it for my favourite part – inking!
![Commissioned Handmade Birthday Cards - Final Cards](https://cdn.natashabarr.com/blog/wp-content//2012/03/March_Cards_Commissoned_Finished_Cards-880x498.jpg)
The final cards came out great, they arrived on time and they seemed to go down pretty well ^_^. I’m kinda chuffed with myself about the typography for the names as well, they turned out much better than I anticipated. Another card to do this week and then I think my wrist will need a break for a bit ^^;;.