Eloise draws what she finds in the grass — the caterpillar on page one of her notebook is from when she was five. Two worlds answer that: one catalogues the meadow, one puts you down in it.
The brief did not describe a party. It described a child — one who has kept a bug journal since she was five, has been asking for the meadow two years running, and was entirely clear about what she would not accept.
The caterpillar she drew on page one, aged five, would make a perfect invitation motif.The hidden heart of the brief
“A page from a beautifully illustrated children’s book — the kind where things are drawn with careful lines and left with space to breathe.”Eloise’s own words, from the briefing · held as the standard for every design decision
meadow green · sage · warm terracotta · botanical · honest · childlike wonder · Texas autumn · pressed flowers · natural · joyful
Eloise
Eloise Fontaine is turning seven.
She would like you in her meadow.
Precision, wonder, and the careful eye of a seven-year-old who knows exactly what she’s looking at.
The suite is treated as a series of naturalist specimen plates — the kind found in a Victorian field guide. The caterpillar from Eloise’s bug journal, page one, age five, is the central motif: fine pen-and-ink lines and the quiet authority of someone who has watched insects long enough to know where the segments go. Around it, pressed oak leaves, a ladybug at rest, a bee caught mid-flight.
The paper is cream, the lines are careful, and every element earns its place. This is the suite that says we took her seriously — because she is watching.
“A guest opens this and thinks: someone made this for a child who actually pays attention. The drawings have the quality of something observed, not imagined.”
What we will never do — Eloise was clearThe world seen from grass level, at that October afternoon angle of light.
The suite captures the meadow itself — the thing Eloise has been asking for two years running. Loose, painted, warm. Live oak branches arch overhead; the October afternoon light filters through in terracotta and sage. The caterpillar is in the corner, on a branch — a discovery, not a specimen. You have to look for it.
Eric Carle’s colour world, bold and warm, with the restraint Eloise would demand. Not a cartoon: a painting you might frame after the party is over.
“A guest opens this and feels warm before they’ve read a word. Not a garden party invitation — a small piece of the meadow itself, sent through the post.”
What we will never do — Eloise was clear
A · The Specimen Study
B · The Meadow Hour
The Meadow Hour was approved. Three pieces put you in the grass before you have arrived.
See the finished suiteField Notes from the Meadow
A field notebook come to life — illustrated as if Eloise herself observed and drew it, with the serious attention of a seven-year-old naturalist who knows what she’s looking at.
Wonder — the specific kind that comes from lying in tall grass and finding something alive.
“The caterpillar she drew on page one, aged 5, would make a perfect invitation motif.” The invitation is her journal entry, made beautiful.
Every child’s favour tag carries a different drawing — caterpillar, ladybug, bumblebee, oak leaf — so no two bags are the same. Eloise approved all four.