{three cheers for three years}

Today marks three years since our wonderful wedding in China. And to celebrate three special years together, we've immortalised ourselves onto china! 

Inspired by Donna Wilson's Meg and Beardy plates (which I wrote about here), we loved the idea of a more personal set, that we can eat off or hang on the wall as we fancy. I found Porcelaine pens on sale at the craft shop, and we used two plain white plates that a previous tenant had left in Justin's apartment many years ago. Nice.

Yes, this is Justin writing me a card in front of me. I've accepted that this is how he works. At 8:30am on whatever birthday, anniversary or celebration it might be, Justin runs to Walmart to pick a card. And then writes it while I watch!

We sketched out our designs for the plates on paper first.

And set about trying to make the silly pens work. We shook. And shook. And shook. We pressed. And pressed. And pressed. The brown worked well, for a few minutes. The black never really got going. And the red was only good for giant uncontrollable splodges. I'm not very impressed with Porcelaine.

But, we persevered, and really enjoyed it. Especially the splodging of cheeks!

Here's a photo of us for reference. I was drawing Justin as he was three years ago, i.e. with the facial hair. More of a Goatee than a Beardy. He was drawing me after a day of sunbathing, I think -- hence all the freckles!

And, just because I gave RoboPanda such a bad rap last time I mentioned him, here he is looking sweet. In truth, he's one of the funniest presents Justin's gotten me. And probably the most talked about. (But no, I don't want the big Mama Panda version, as Justin sometimes threatens to buy me!)

Thanks to all those who were there to celebrate with us in Beijing, and to all those who've helped us grow stronger over these last three years. We love you!

{finer china}

Justin and I will have been married for three years next Saturday. And this year, we're switching it up a bit, and taking a break from the whole trying to surprise each other with presents thing (which, let's face it, can be pretty stressful for everyone -- poor Justin worrying that he'll get me something I don't like, and poor me worrying that I might be opening another RoboPanda. Go on, click on it. Yes, he really bought me that.)

So, what we're doing this year is starting a collection. I got very inspired by all these lovely hand-drawn plates, and thought that the fact that we were married in China the country meant that we can have china the plate as our little theme every year. (Rather than having to find something leather for our third year, as tradition would have us do!)

Meg plate and Beardy plate, by Donna Wilson

Blossom and Bill tray, by Isak

Summer Pizza Plate by nitchii

Bear plate and Wolf plate, by jimbobart

Nestled Mini-Dishes by baileybowls

So, I offered Justin the choice: we could treat ourselves to a fun designer plate from the selection above, or we could have a go at drawing our own. (I'm not sure which option I was hoping he'd choose!) 

He picked making our own, and so that's what we'll be doing during one of Tilly's naps next Saturday. We both love the idea of recreating Donna Wilson's Meg and Beardy, but as portraits of each other. I love Beardy's beard, so might be painting an earlier, hairier version of Justin. We'll see. 

We'll be sure to show you the results!