Guy Shield & Elizabeth Hutchings

I love drawing as much as I love my (now) fiancee, so when it came to popping the question to her late last year, I saw no other option than to think creatively and use my craft to come up with a secret illustrated message to pop the question. We decided to go away to to Bali for two weeks over her birthday. So, with two weeks before we departed, I started a series of 'random' images, so when she saw me working on them, it wouldn't look suspicious. I spent a lot of time planning the way the drawings would work, so when they all joined together, in a fold-together bridge, it would spell out the message! I worked day and night leading up to our departure, and fortunately for me, she didn't suspect a thing!

It was really hard keeping my excitement at a low simmer and maintaining the secret for the first half of the holiday. I'd picked up the ring 2 weeks before we flew out, and kept it hidden out of sight (and mind, almost) until we packed. When the day came around, I was a nervous wreck. At around 2pm in our hotel room, after drinking a beer at a nearby bar, I'd laid the extended piece, unfolded across the hotel bed. I hid the ring underneath the envelope behind me and I asked Liz to fold it together to match the structure in the diagram on the cover.

Naturally, with my luck, this didn't quite work and she quizzically held one end in hand and said she didn't get it, so I awkwardly fumbled around with the piece, slowly assembling it together. As I pulled the two ends together to keep it stable, she read the final message and put her hands across her face in shock in shock.

From behind me, I smoothly took the ring from underneath it's hiding spot and got down on one knee and told her I want to spend the rest of my life with her.

The following 5 seconds felt like an hour of free-falling, fumbling for the parachute chord, my heart was in my throat as I waited for a response. Then, and only after telling me off for being so cheesy and proposing to her in Bali of all places, she said "of course"!

The full series of images (and extended version of my story!) can be seen at http://guyshield.blogspot.com/2009/11/thats-when-joe-henfiled-will-propose.html

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