Some of the greeting cards in my line started with a similar design and were later revised. My "Tea Party" teacup greeting card with wisteria blossoms falls in this category, making it one of the longest running cards in the line. The idea came from seeing a gorgeous wisteria vine blooming beside a florist shop I had delivered an order of cards to.
I created the original design in 1996, which is when I illustrated most of my paintings using a Rapid- O-Graph pen to outline most of the artwork and watercolor painted the rest of the design. This card design was painted at the actual size the final card would become, and I only painted the front of the card while leaving the back white for the black text with my business name, the cards name and number, and all the copyright information.
After it's initial printing in 1996 it was reprinted again in 2000, as the requests for it did not slow down. When that stock ran low I figured it was time for an update. Learning it didn't cost much more to print the back side of the card I began painting the entire surface.
For the revised version I painted the artwork at 150% larger, added a trellis behind, used less ink, more gold detailing, slightly change the shape of the teacups and tea pot, and recreate softer wisteria blossoms.
It's fun to look back every now and then to remember where we began to encourage us in evaluating what lies ahead. For me, God has always been my guide even in directing my business.
