Celebrating 100 Years of Terry and Jeanine

This September, my dear friend, Jeanine turns 40. Her husband, Terry, turned 60 in February. To celebrate these milestone birthdays, the dynamic duo has chosen to celebrate this achievement in style -- with a 60-40 party. The theme? A casino-like party that will surely be remembered fondly for years to come and discussed at all of the major holiday gatherings. You see, Jeanine is not only my friend, she is also family.

To help out with the event, I have been asked to design and be responsible for the invitations. Immediately, the king and queen of hearts came to my mind. Gambling is a way that Jeanine and Terry often like to relax and spend time away together. Cherokee is often their city of choice, having spent many a weekend there with Lady Luck. What better way to capture this couple than as king and queen of our hearts?

I used a real set of cards to help me with the physical layout of the design. Once I had my placement mapped out, I began sketching the couple using a candid family photo. Slowly, the design began to take shape.

King and Queen of Our Hearts

Finishing Touches

Once I completed the design, I began to use a combination of water color pencils and regular color pencils to add dimension and color to the design. I'm pretty happy with the results. Now to mail off the invites and keep track of all of the RSVPs...

What a difference color makes!

"All of us have bad luck and good luck.
The man who persists through the bad luck --
who keeps right on going --
is the man who is there when the good luck comes --
and is ready to receive it."
- Robert Collier