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.