Christmas Tree Card

For: My very favorite Bopp Family

Occasion: Christmas

For this card, I decided to feature a nontraditional tree, closer to the "Charlie Brown" variety. What makes this card really neat is the texture I added to the white background. It didn't show up on the scan, but there's a very whimsical, swirly design indented into the white paper.

On the inside, a simple "merry christmas" in my very best cursive, and the invisible whimsy that makes this card unique. I wish you could see it! I guess you'll just have to have a little Christmas faith and take my word for it.

Danish Hearts Christmas

For: Mormor
Occasion: Christmas

Among other things, the Danes are pretty well-known for their woven heart decorations (baskets, ornaments, etc). After trying to actually do a traditional weave for about an hour, I decided to leave that to the Danes and make a paper cut of the iconic image instead.

And then, because the first one was so fun, I did it again!

Christopher the Christmas Card

For: Christy
Occasion: Christmas

Christy's favorite Christmas movie has been the immortal classic Christopher the Christmas Tree for as long as I can remember. It's about life, love, accepting your place in the universe and, of course, hope for mankind. Here's Christopher at the end of the movie with his best owl friend Hootie.

One of the supporting characters in this tale of Christmas philosophy is a beaver. He says "Fuddah, fuddah, fuddah, I love you!" to the evergreen protagonist, and it's become a joke between Christy and myself.
It's true, though: I do fuddah, fuddah, fuddah love her.

It's a Wonderful Christmas Card

For: My Dad
Occasion: Christmas

My dad's favorite Christmas movie is the classic It's A Wonderful Life. Here, we have the front of the Bailey Bros. Building & Loan Association. I actually paused a YouTube clip to get this view, because I'm a stickler for accuracy!

And on the inside, it's Jimmy Stewart, running through the streets of Bedford Falls with a renewed sense of the Christmas spirit:
"Merry Christmas, you wonderful old Building and Loan!"

Window shopping

For: Amy
Occasion: Christmas

This image reminds me so much of Amy! A little girl peaking in the window of a toy store, excited to see what presents Santa might bring. My sister's enthusiasm for the holidays is often contagious, and I hope I captured that with this card!

Mrs. and Mr. Claus

For: Mom
Occasion: Christmas

I just love the idea of Mrs. Claus being a supportive and wonderful wife to her famous hubby. And, in this picture, they are super in love (you can tell because of all the floating hearts!).

And, growing up, I always thought Mom was a "Mrs. Claus" figure. Merry Christmas!

Elf Christmas

For: The Kansas Walshes
Occasion: Christmas

The Kansas Walshes are in town, and I decided to "elf" them for their Christmas card this year. On the top left, it's Uncle "Wacky Mistletoe" Jim next to his wife, Aunt Mary. In the front we have JP and his brother "Happy Sugar-Socks" John.

I had fun tearing the edge of the papers for this design, though it is pretty precarious business: I draw first and then tear--there's always a chance I'll rip right through the picture!
It has been a pleasure having the Walshes stay with us, and I hope they don't mind the elf names I've given them.

A few Christmas designs

For: The Webbs

Occasion: Christmas

A hand-cut snowflake on all kinds of blue paper with the simple message, "let it snow."

For: Carole, Richard's wife
Occasion: Christmas

A polka-dotted present tied with a bow and a "Merry Christmas!" wish.

"Knitting" you a Merry Christmas

For: My cousins Tommy and Traci
Occasion: Christmas

My cousins are master knitters, and they even have their own knitting business! (Check it out: http://lapinknits.webs.com/) Here they are as knitted snow people. If you feel so moved, please click on this card. I drew each stitch individually because I'm a stickler for authenticity. Tommy's hat even has some knit-perle alternation going on!

On the inside, with more individual stitches, some hand-knitted letters in alternating red and green. The knitting needles make the "X" for the abbreviated, much easier to knit "Merry Xmas" greeting. I don't think I'll get to see these wonderful people at Christmas this year, but I hope they have a great holiday.

'Twas the birthday before Christmas

For: Jill, Jackie's sister
Occasion: her birthday

Jackie asked me to make a card for her sister, Jill, whose birthday is always being overshadowed by Christmas. That was the only requirement for the card--I had to represent how Jill's birthday was more important. On the front of the card, Jill has sneakily hidden all the Christmas decorations in the closet. The calendar on the wall shows that it is the 23rd, and the red circle means something special is going on today.

On the inside, and appropriately so, there's birthday decorations and a cake! I hope she has a great birthday and that Christmas didn't steal her birthday thunder this year.

Guinness birthday

For: Charles
Occasion: his birthday

Charles has recently moved to Ireland, the lucky man. In honor of that transition, I made him a birthday card shaped like a Guinness pint. It's my first non-card shaped card--a big day for Debbie Dots, I assure you. 


The inside of the card read the simple Irish blessing, "Sláinte." I miss Charles so much, and I am so envious of his current whereabouts. It's in my five year plan to get out there and see him. I hope his birthday was great and he enjoys the motherland. 

Hot Sauce Birthday

For: Uncle Jer
Occasion: his birthday

My uncle makes his own hot sauces--they are amazing and have been known to make people sweat (if not cry a little). This is a drawing of his hottest sauce, 808 naga jolokia. 

You can learn all about his venture here: http://www.bigfatshotsauce.com/

(OooOoOooh! Looks like there's a Christmas sale!)

On the inside of the card, Uncle Jer is nonchalantly  lighting his own birthday candles with the hotness of his sauces.

I thought of this design concept over a month ago, and I was so happy I got a chance to make the card a little early for his surprise party. He was definitely surprised, but his guests were able to try the full array of his sauces--so we all sweat and cried a little.

Doodle Card

For: Aunt Katy
Occasion: her birthday

My aunt Katy is just wonderful and has had a ginormous influence on me growing up. I struggled with what to do for her card, in part for that reason. Every now and again, I find that these important people are elusive, and so their cards are difficult to conceptualize. I decided to doodle. Tucked into this design, among the hearts and stars, is a cooking pot, a book, an amber ring, and a sail boat. It's like "I Spy!" Did you find them?

On the inside, I decided to mimic the doodle from the front. I really like how the swirlies mimic the design of the background paper--and I did my doodling before I chose the paper--how cool!

Anyhow, I love my aunt very, very much and I sincerely hope we get to hang out a lot this winter break. She's a great role model, and I just can't even express how happy I am to have her in my life.

Library Card

For: Aunt Glor
Occasion: her birthday

My Aunt is pretty much the hippest and coolest librarian there ever was. In honor of her hip awesome-ness, her birthday card is interactive!, a Debbie Dots first. The plaid pouch has a "camouflaged" arrow pointing up to the red tassel on the "date due" card. The idea is that you pull up on the tassel, pulling the card out of its pouch.

The card that you pull out has all kinds of "Dec 15 2010" writing meant to look like date stamps, just like the ones that tell you when your books are due. There is a stamp in the middle of the card that reads "Happy Birthday!"

And on the inside, the card reads "And Many Happy Returns!" Get it? It's her birthday, and you return books to the library! The date stamps now have future December 15ths on them, like Dec 15 2014, Dec 15 2082, and Dec 15 2110!

My aunt just got a job at the library just a few blocks from Greg's Mom's house, and I am so excited to go visit her every day this winter break!

Christmas Mandala

For: Theresa
Occasion: End of Semester/Holiday

Because Theresa has an awesome holisitic wellness orientation, I decided to create a holiday mandala for her card. The mandala is an ancient sacred art form that is used in Buddhist and Hindu religions (that's where I know it from at least!). "Mandala" means circle, so in the spirit of the season, I did a round up (Bah! Pun intended) of various holiday decorations.

And on the inside, a simple wish: "May you find all kinds of beauty this holiday season."
I definitely felt myself relaxing as I made this card. Om.

Zoom in on the mandala to see all the details!

Snowboard Birthday

For: Sarah Bopp!
Occasion: her birthday

Sarah, apart from being a wonderful and fun person, also loves to snowboard. So here she is, in her winter gear, ready to hit the slopes. Her coat is white and green in real life, and her snowboard has an interesting pattern on the bottom, which almost kind of looks like the paper one here. 

On the inside, she's getting some serious air over the snowflake hills! This card was super fun to make, and I previously had no idea how tricky it was to make a little snowboarder. Anything for Sarah though!
I hope she has a wonderful day, and I am seriously looking forward to our ski/snowboard trip in January!

Jersey and Pennant Birthday

For: My cousin Paul
Occasion: his 5th birthday

My cousin Paul comes from a long line of intense baseball players, but he might take the cake for serious MLB hopefuls. To honor his dedication, a paper-cut, personalized jersey and a ball and bat--all the basics for his breakout performance!

On the inside, team-colored pennants reading "Happy Birthday." I hope Paul's birthday is a home run!

The Office Birthday

For: Aunt Kat
Occasion: her birthday

Kat is a pretty big Office fan, and so she may recognize this hilarious scene from "Michael's Birthday" in Season 2.

Toby: Who brought in doughnuts?

Michael: Somebody got doughnuts for my birthday!

Toby: Happy Birthday!

Michael: You didn't know it was my birthday. 

Toby: I guess I forgot.

Michael: Well I guess I forgot to give you a doughnut.

On the inside of the card, the iconic "The Office" button has turned into a "Happy Birthday" button. This card was a lot of fun to make--and I had never realized how hard Michael Scott was to draw! 

I hope Aunt Kat has a wonderful birthday, and she gets everything she wants--doughnuts or otherwise. 

Birthday Wine

For: Kiera
Occasion: her birthday

Kiera is a major wine enthusiast who left the confines of central Illinois for Wine Country, aka California. We all miss her a lot, but who can blame her? Do you have any idea how many wineries there are out there?

I decided to feature a red wine that is so red it's purple. I had a lot of fun picking out the backgrounds and paper colors--I wanted the card to look "swirly" so the background is a sort of French floral in muted purple and red tones. In order to mimic the "swirliness" of the background, I cut the edge with swirly scissors for a swirly trim and put a faded red paper on the inside of the card so it would show. Swirly, swirly, swirly. 

On the inside, a simple "Happy Birthday!" with the various swirly backgrounds. I really like this card, which works out pretty well because I really like Kiera.

I miss her a lot and hope she has a wonderful birthday!

Chinese paper-cutting

For: My aunt Joan
Occasion: her birthday

My aunt spent a lot of time in China last year. The Chinese are pretty famous for their paper-cutting, so I thought I'd give it a whirl for her birthday card! 

Here, we have a girl with ribbons coming out of a lotus-type flower. I x-acto knifed it out of a paisley paper--tricky business, I tell you what! It took me a long time too, but I think it's definitely worth it. (Anything for my aunt Joan! Gawwwwe.)
On the inside, a simple cake cut out of the same paper. My aunt is a truly wonderful lady, and it was really fun to see her over Thanksgiving. She made all kinds of delicious dishes for our festivities, and provided Christmas-themed entertainment (including Christmas song quiz that about kicked my butt).
Anyhow, I hope she has an excellent birthday and I really appreciate all the support she has given me over the years.

Paper Birthday Cake

For: Quam
Occasion: his birthday 

Quam is a master of origami, so I figured I would make his birthday card paper-based (using paper cuts as opposed to pen sketches). 

You may be thinking, "Then why didn't you make an origami-themed card?" The answer is I didn't want to. I wanted to make a plaid cake with jumpy candles. I think it looks fantastic and I won't be convinced otherwise. 

Quam is currently teaching English in Austria, a German-speaking country. Quam is also a master at speaking German. You may be thinking, "Then why didn't you write 'Happy Birthday!' in German?" The answer is that I did, but then I wasn't sure it was right, and after a half hour of trying to figure it out on the interweb (there's a lot of dialects, apparently) I decided to use English. He is teaching it, after all.

I got to talk to him on his birthday, which was lovely, and I can't wait to see him next month when he's stateside for a bit.

Serendipitous Danish Plates

For: Mormor (Greg's grandmother)
Occasion: her birthday

Mormor has a variety of Danish plates that are displayed in her kitchen and hallways. I thought it'd be fun to use plates in her card, so I looked up a bunch online. I found one that I really liked, so I based the front of the card off it. In the original, the people had butterfly nets, but it's her birthday! so I made them into balloons.

I showed my design to Greg and he said it was really familiar and he'd seen it before--it's hanging in her hallway! My brain nearly exploded, but I could not be happier with that happy happenstance.

The inside plate is the commemorative 2010 birthday plate with the same characters from the front with a lovely cake. This card was an overwhelming success, and at the party I discovered that not only is the plate on the front of the card in her hallway, it is also the November plate in that particular series. Whoa. 

Mormor is a truly wonderful lady and just so sweet. I hope she has a fantastic year!

Heart Puppy Birthday

For: Rukiyah
Occasion: her birthday

It is no secret that I love Rukiyah. A few weeks ago, I was supervising one of my students' workshops, and while we were debriefing, somehow we started talking about just how wonderful Rukiyah was. I agreed wholeheartedly, and then had a "Debbie fit" full of inexplicable laughter.

I was laughing because, in thinking about how awesome Rukiyah is, the following phrase had run through my head : "She makes the heart puppies fly around." 

I felt I owed it to my students to explain why I was losing it, so I told them the thought. And then I told Rukiyah about it (I figured she should hear it from me first). 

This card features one of the "heart puppies" and his Rukiyah-induced flight. She is a truly talented individual, and I hope she can be my HR lady some day. 

Birthday Blossom

For: Leslie
Occasion: her birthday



Last year, Leslie did a number of representations of flowers for a class that we had together. When I was thinking about what to do for her card, I knew I would make a flower of my own for her. If I remember right, the flowers she had drawn looked like water lilies, so I tried to have my flower resemble them (though it's got a stem). I decided to use a different patterned paper for every layer of petals in the blossom, all with browns, pinks, and oranges. It also has a sweet 3D effect.



On the inside of the card, the flower has blossomed! I could not be a bigger fan of this metaphor, and how perfectly it unfolded in Leslie's card. She is a really wonderful person, and it has been a pleasure to get to know her. I am sure she is going to continue to blossom in her very bright future.

Dr. Quinn Medicine Birthday

For: My Win
Occasion: her birthday



Winokur (-Biegen) loves the show Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman (and I totally agree! People who don't like it are just afraid to embrace their inner Mike). Therefore, on the front of this card I water-color penciled the main buildings and offices in town. I then burned the edges of that image to make it look extra old time-y and Western-y. The calligraphy "My Win" is supposed to make you think of "Dr. Quinn" because they rhyme! And it sets up the inside, so remember it for a few more moments.



Here's Mike and Sully with a slice of cake! The text "magnificent woman" is supposed to be like the second half of the show, "Medicine Woman." Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman <= My Win Magnificent Woman. I'm not sure how successful this gimmick was, but I like it.

It all works on another level because we call each other "Woman" pretty frequently. As in, "Happy birthday, woman!"

I love Win so much and I am pumped to go visit her and Adam in a few months! She's such a nurturing mentor/friend. I'm really blessed to have her in my life.

Shooting Star Birthday

For: My cousin Maddie
Occasion: her birthday



Maddie has a wonderful spirit and a truly kind energy. I spent a lot of time thinking about how I wanted to capture that for her card. I ended up using this classic star with lots of celestial dots as the tails. The bottom of the card has a wavy patterned cut, so the patterned background from the inside would show through.




On the inside, the star picked a direction to shoot in and shared its birthday message with the entire universe. I decided to write "Happy Birthday" in dots because it has been a while since I've used them, and I got a little dot happy. I think it looks neat.
The patterned paper is more visible here, a two-tone paisley that mimics the flow of the stars.

I had lots of fun making this card, and I hope Maddie's birthday is--dare I say it--out of this world.