Melissa and Kwesi met in Ghana where she was teaching school. For their certificate, they asked for spring flowers and Adinkra symbols. Adinkras are West African symbols that are seen on houses, walls, etc. The one at the top of the arch means unity. The ones at the bottom of the certificate mean wisdom and knowledge (the ones on the left, right and middle) and devotion and patience (the moon and star).

Samantha and Karl wanted a leafy arch with oak and maple leaves. They also asked for a forest floor with spring wildflowers. These included ferns, strawberries, lilies of the valley and Virginia bluebells. There are closeups of the arch and the forest floor below.

Amy and Kim wanted their certificate to look like a watercolor painting that they had. The painting itself was fairly vertical, just a few trees and rocks. Steve was able to add to it so that it could go across the top of the piece.

 Sarah and Mark wanted a simple certificate with some scroll work at the top and decorated initials.

Below is a detail of the initials.

This couple were married in Bayfield, Wisconsin. They wanted the Apostle Islands across the top of their certificate. These islands are near Bayfield and the couple loved this view of the area. They also wanted some flowers to decorate the bottom of the certificate. Below are details.

Detail of the islands.

Detail of the spray of flowers at the bottom of the certificate.

This couple were married in the Fall and wanted oak leaves in a swag with Fall colors.

See below for a detail of the leaf decoration.

Sherril and Robert were cerlebrating their 25th Wedding Anniversary by renewing their vows and had their guests sign this certificate.

Eleanor and George wanted gingko leaves in a swag across the top and small sprays dividing the different parts of the text. They had two ceremonies and needed space for two groups of guests to sign.

Detail of the swag of gingko leaves at the top of the certificate.

This couple loves travel and vintage travel posters. They wanted the old planes and map to show this. Each of the initials has a north arrow in it as decoration. See details below.

This next couple were married in Williamsburg, Virginia in the Wren Building at the College of William and Mary. They wanted this historic building shown on the top of their certificate. They also wanted stargazer lillies, irises and other flowers in a swag. I tried to give the whole certificate a Colonial style. They had family members sign between the single flowers located just below the text and the rest of the guests signed below them. See below for details.

The flowers in the swag.

The Wren Building at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, where the couple was married.

This couple wanted a simple floral arch at the top and a spray of flowers across the bottom of their certificate. They asked for Colorado mountain wildflowers like indian paintbrush and columbine. I found some others to use like swampmilk, and the others shown in the close-ups below.

Details of the flowers in the border and spray.

This couple wanted mostly greenery with little oranges, or clementines woven in. They are avide bike riders and wanted to include a tandem bicycle. They asked if I could draw an older bike from the 1950's, 1960's era. I found a picture of and old bicycle but it was not a tandem. I drew it longer and added another seat and handle bars to make it a tandem.

Scroll down for close-ups.

Allison and Paul both like William Blake and wanted their certificate to look like one of his illuminated poems. Blake wrote a poem called The Lamb which he decorated with a tree like this. Blake wanted to revive the style of the old illuminated Bibles. He printed his own books decorated with hand colored prints of his decoration. The Bookhand style of lettering seemed to go well with it. Scroll down for a close up of the initial O.

Initial O with William Blake's joyful child.

This couple was married on July 7, 2007, and wanted 7/7/7 in their design. Their birthdays were the same date: March 12, or 3/12. There are 3 and 4 iris blooms on each side, 3+4=7 and 3x4=12. There are 7 mature dandelion blooms. So we have 7 iris and 7 iris and 7 dandelions also the 3 and 12 for the birthdays. I also painted 1978, the year both were born, in green in the background, but it got lost in the leaves of the flowers. You might be able to see it if you stare at it long enough.

The detail of the irises and dandelions. Oh, yes, they wanted the bee and the butterfly too.

You may not think of using apples as a decoration element on a certificate, but this couple did. These are Granny Smith apples scattered in with the many flowers. These include hot pink gerbers, light pink gerbers, hot pink spray roses, white wax flowers and green roses. The green apples have just a blush of pink. The initial letters are pink also.

See below for details of the apples and flowers.

Ian and Molly wanted Celtic knots in the corners and flowers making the rest of the deoration. This double swag frames the wording and the signature area at the bottom.

See below for a detail of the corner.