Playing Santa

For the past 3 years I have been lucky enough to be able to participate in a gift exchange with a great group of online friends and peers. We each sign up, include a little bit about what we like, don’t like, favorite colors, art preferences, etc. Each year the group gets a little bigger, the exchange item choices broaden and the fun grows.

gift wrapping is my favorite part

 

This year my giftee is a fellow designer I was fortunate to meet just over a year ago at a conference hosted by CafePress. Jen Funderburk is the owner, operator and inspirational motivation behind LekkerDesigns.com… one of my all time favorite design shops since I began with Cafepress. I’ve always appreciated the clean images combined with a twist of attitude, it’s like Suzy on the surfer seashore selling snazzy seashells filled with mini shots of your favorite flavor with a retro swizzle. – wink – Always a good time when one browses the Lekker Shops!

Now, the idea behind this gift exchange is: send a design gift, something from your own shop/collection or something the recipient might be fond of. I have always taken this opportunity to design specifically for the recipient for this occasion; an item that can’t be purchased by anyone else so its truly a one of a kind. So with that in mind, I was a bit worried about coming up with a design Jen would like. I tend to create fluffy cutie patootie meets Barbie’s little sister with a lollipop… ya know, sometimes ooie gooie and perhaps overly smilie – dontcha think? Some people just aren’t that fluffy.

however …

“Lekker” is dutch for tasty, enjoyable or delicious – I can grasp that, so I grabbed a pile of critters and ran with an idea – I plowed forward regardless of my worries… and here’s the result.

The 2007 lekker thoughts Journal

 

“notes of inspiration and greatness”

The hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil monkey manget
to post those evil reminders on the fridge

and a teeny tiny original JGoode penguin charm

 

I love the holiday season. For me it’s not about the gifts and the shopping or the parties or the food… it’s about the people and the giving and the potential for an unexpected grin – or 5. – speaking of, I sent this gift with no note of the gift exchange – leaving Jen to wonder why I sent the package, ha! silly me… sometimes Santa forgets too I’m sure.

 

[tags]holidays,occasions,jgoode,gifts[/tags]