Can I ask a favour of you?

{We just can't understand why the land here is going so cheap.}

{We can't understand why the land is going so cheap here either.}

I have a favour to ask of you… do you mind if I pick your brains, so to speak? I’m thinking of making four gift cards, printed in full colour and about 15 X 10cm in size… how does that sound to you?

At this very moment, I have a small white dog at my feet, a white and furry house guest here until Sunday, and I was wondering what four collages I should pick… care to help me with the process? At present I seem only to be able to think of keeping said house guest, Wilbur, and the cats, Omar and Olive, comfy. That and the order for 1,000 A7 scribblers. 200 down, 800 to go, the mind boggles at the amount left to do. Tomorrow the courier comes to collect the 200 thus far cut, glued and wrapped. Three boxes packed to capacity; such a small dent in the order. So, as I seem incapable of thinking of little else but placating canines and felines, and cutting small fabric covers, do you think you could lend me a hand? I’d love to know what you think.

As I can only print four different designs, here are a few to choose from… just pick your top four or mention a favourite and leave a message in the comments section, or wing an email my way (gracialouiseAToptusnet.com.au), whichever you prefer. I’d love your feedback on this… I am sailing on an inky sea without the aid of a torch on this one. These little mock-ups aren’t exactly in proportion either, but with night falling about the ears, you get the general idea.

{Please click to enlarge.}

You’re also welcome to suggest an alternative image too, if one doesn’t take your fancy. Head across to flickr and you’ll find many collages and works from this year and the last. Thanks, friends, this is a really big help. And, I promise, there will be a little something in it by way of thanks.

Wilbur, has come to stay for a short spell, and when not slumbering on the couch, belly up, he is remarkably mobile and can get up quite the speed when let loose in the park in the leash free zone. Free to converse with other hounds of varying shapes and sizes, he’s settled in to the area with ease. Whilst Omar has failed to acknowledge the temporary addition to the roost, Olive is behaving every inch like a deer caught in the headlights. When she does finally decide to move, a little, it’s slowly, slowly, creep, creep, and in a peculiar sideways crab scuttle. To this Wilbur casts a sleepy eye in her direction before being pulled back under to dreamland.

{Wilbur takes in the local surroundings.}

In between walks with white dog, and life in the factory of hammer & daisy, there has been the fortuitous arrival of yet another piece of snail mail. From Babelfish, in Manchester, came a book on Eugène Atget’s Paris (thanks, Crust Station ♥). It couldn’t have arrived at a more perfect time as Louise and I set to work on two large collaborative drawings for a group exhibition. We have been given, for the exhibition, two books by Molierè, Le Bourgeois gentilhomme (The Bourgeois Gentleman) and Le Médecin malgré lui (The Doctor in spite of himself), and now we have the perfect source book for watercolour scenes. A different century perhaps, but scenes of the Jardin des Tuileries and the facade of Saint Julien le Pauvre take us a little closer to French pockets than strolling to the local supermarket with a white dog leading the charge.

{This will do nicely.}

{Are you the one for me?}

Comments

[Julie]

I like F!

[louise]

My favourite are a, c, e, g and w... oooh w for wilbur is not included is it?

[shari]

my favorites are b, c, and e. cards sound like a great idea!! and a post full of birds. can't get any better than that.;) m is on her way to melbourne with a tiny hello from me. xoxo

[lottie]

grache, I love b, d and g! best of luck with your factory. lottie x

[liz]

an excellent idea, my two favorites are d and e (love the negative space with all the little things to look at)

what a sweet houseguest you have! i'm not the biggest fan of little dogs, but that one... he wins my heart. good luck with all your work!

[risa]

yes cards! it's fun to see what other people list as their favorites! mine are a,e, and h. no one else put h so far but i think it would be an excellent card to send to a friend overseas...like the otter is looking out and missing him/her. :)

[julie]

oh great..my faves are a, b, f and these two...http://www.flickr.com/photos/gracia_louise/543731859/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gracia_louise/344538275/in/set-72057594068257592/

i love these new collages too!
good luck with the next 800 scriblers and enjoy wilburs energy :) xxx

[maditi]

they´re all great - I love b, e, f & h best!!! a is of course an all-time-favorite :)

[Vanessa V]

A, B, E, F

Oooo, that was a tough choice. But for cards, to make people happy and or to be able to fit in for any occasion, that is a fun mix. But, who am I to choose? I love everything you do! xoxo
Hi Wilbur, be good for auntie....

[Tiffany]

Wilbur is just so darn cute!

Okay, I really like c. f. and h. but I also really like "No cause for alarm, I'm just passing through" and "A charm in your hand for a coin in the pocket"

That's my two cents! :^)

[Brydie]

a, d, e and f.... they are the ones i vision as cards. d and e especially {i was going to say g also but thought that might have been toon many of a similar layout. But I enjoy that layout especially for cards.} Ohhhh Wilbur, you must be Buster's twin. Butser is my parents little westy at home. Oh so cute! Hope the cats are calm....

[comfies]

for cards i love b,g and h. also for consideration:

(it had to be said, it reminded them of home)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gracia_louise/469610826/in/set-72057594068257592/

(we thought we knew a great deal, but really we knew nothing)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gracia_louise/426489241/in/set-72057594068257592/

(a fine balancing act went unnoticed..)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gracia_louise/505674002/in/set-72057594068257592/

oh i don't know, there are so many that would make lovely cards. you can't go wrong.

[Sue]

C, F and G if I had to choose though they are all beautiful images,

Sue

[elaine haby]

Can't choose .... love them all...

[Eunice]

i like them all. i really can't choose. it'd depend on most fickle of moods...if you had to ask miss mood right now, it'd pick h, for soul searching and wanderlust. or e, for scavenger hunting and finding little treasures to satisfy said wanderlust.

i also vote for a pretty please pretty please with maybe tiny little bergs piled on top of each other for anything with polar bears?

[mariannealice]

I want A, B ,C and E! Love them all but these are the favourites! Good luck with the scribblers!

[erin scissorhands]

i love: b, c, g and h the most! even though they are all lovely :)

wow, 1000 scribblers?? you must be a busy gal. good luck with the rest of them!

[Marsha]

i like them ALL! but a, b, and c are my faves (with c being my most favorite).

wilbur is so adorable - how do you get any work done with such a cutie pie around? i'd be so distracted!

[cruststation]

I love all your work, it's so hard to choose but here goes -b,g,h, really love the bottom two + http://www.flickr.com/photos/gracia_louise/564569095/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/gracia_louise/281824109/
Happy the book arrived in perfect time :)

[Fliss]

hey gracia, you ARE busy!!!! animals to look after and a huge order! WOW! great idea with the cards...i love them all but i especially like b, h, e and 'i had laid a present at your feet' and the temptation from your flickr collection.

[Kylie]

gracia, for my faves it has to be a, b, c, and f!

how lovely they would be as cards?!

Kylie
x

[amisha]

oh... so difficult to choose! i like a, b, d, and f... and h has a piece of my heart as well, but that is 5. a hard decision indeed.
the h+d order sounds like a tremendous amount of work... good luck!! and enjoy having cute little wilbur around to assist :)
xo

[Lola is Beauty]

B and C! x

[tommy]

My favourites are a, b, f, g. Wilbur is charming...

[gracia]

WOW! Thanks, all… such a big help you all were!

Thank you to all those who swung by and left a comment on my blog and to all those who emailed, it really was, as I mentioned, a huge help. It also afforded Louise and I the chance to make up a little tally as the results came tumbling in. A hand drawn table of wonky black lines, hastily scrawled numbers and all on a rather scrappy piece of paper by the keyboard. Lists, graphs and tables; I’m a sucker for them.

So, would you like to see the results? Here goes:

A) 16
B) 22
C) 15
D) 9
E) 17
F) 16
G) 11
H) 14

Hmm… looks like I’ll have to get a quote for six cards instead of four, don’t you think? I can’t wait to get these cards created; it has been something I have been toying with for a while now. In the next batch of cards, depending on how these go, we’re planning on doing some with LJ’s watercoloured animal chums on the front. Rest assured, Eunice, those polar bears will make their debut sometime this year. I’m also going to request of Louise a card littered with rosy-cheeked quokkas and possums.

Thanks Julie, Comfies, Tiffany, and Crust Station too, for listing a few other personal favourites. It’s been so very helpful and fun to see which ones people fancy. I’ve, not very surprisingly, tallied those too.

I’ll keep you all posted on the cards and thanks again everyone. Best get back to the scribblers, the floor is covered in fabric… a swathe of Amy Butler’s duck egg wallpaper fabric is covering the couch and beneath that Liberty gems and plenty of fabrics with a variety of spots and stripes. The cats are loving it... they are also loving Wilbur’s absence. It’s an all feline house once more.

More soon… I have much to tell next posting for today we caught up with Marsha ( http://marsha-penner.blogspot.com/2007/06/i-did-it.html ) and her friend Sara... in MELBOURNE! Woo hoo!

see you,
g xo

[simple me]

I think I'm too late but even if I wasn't I wouldn't be able to choose. I just love all of them.
Wilbur is such a cute. they have so much fun playing in an open area and I know the picture of slumbering on the couch, belly up. I see it everyday ... exposed :)

[fanja]

oh dear, how late am I? Good, my favourite ones seem to be the most popular.. well done Gracia, they're all beautiful, i can't for them to be done. i'll try not to miss them!

[shona]

You make it so hard- they are all so good- I'm going with a,b,f,h

[eireann]

oh, make E! make E!

[Karen]

OH, I am late posting my two cents but my top three is A, D & G...

[Claire]

Gosh that dog is too cute. I love the owls. I voted on flickr. :)

[Kim]

f, g, h and b - 'though it's always hard to choose!

This is so exciting - please let me know when they are available. I would so love to share your georgeous images with someones special.

We love our postcards from If we stand very still - and the sun bear!

Will the cards be ready by September?

All the best

[Marieke]

D,E,A,F is what I would say but actually I like them all! x

[gracia]

Wow!

Thanks, Paula, Fanja, Shona, Eireann, Karen, Claire, Kim and Marieke.

Not too late at all, and such a big help!

Thanks, again.
g xo

(Oh, and Kim, with a bit of luck they’ll be ready by September, if not sooner. The perfect paper has been found and a good quote from our trusty printer has been received so it is full steam ahead, so to speak. I’ll keep you posted. So happy to know that both my postcard collages and Louise’s sun bear magnifique are in good hands.)

[tongue in cheek]

A deck of cards with these would be perfect; The owls are like the queen of hearts to me.

[Caty]

c, d, e, f

But love them all!

[gracia]

Thanks, you two.

This really has been most helpful for me. The cards are now at the printers and I get to check the proofs this coming Friday. It's at the exciting stage as it all comes to fruition. The right envelopes have since been sourced so now it is full steam ahead with 500 of the favourite four images. A, B, E & F... just incase you were curious.

see you, grache xo