Cheerio Birthday

For: Claire
Occasion: her birthday

Claire once saw a shirt that had a British Cheerio saying, "Cheerio!" by way of greeting. It is a hilarious concept, and so I featured it in her birthday card.

On the inside, the Cheerio has lost its top hat and replaced it with a party one. He's standing atop his own exclamation: "I say, it's your bloody birthday!"

Claire is just a wonderful person, and I can't wait to be back in Denver together!

Chili on Top Birthday

For: Uncle Jer
Occasion: his birthday

My uncle is the master of all things hot and spicy, and so for his birthday card I created a cupcake with a pepper on top. It probably packs some heat, but I'm sure it doesn't compare to the awesomely hot cheesecake he brought to Christmas!

Did I mention how cool he is? You can check out his hot sauce company here.

Red Elephant Christmas

For: My CCP White Elephant
Occasion: Christmas Reunion

My CCP cohort had a Christmas get-together (Thanks for planning/hosting, Kathleen!) and I made a card to go along with my gift. As the card features an elephant, it was pretty obvious that it was from me. And my dear Rukiyah picked it!
It was lovely to see everyone and I can't wait until the next reunion.

Tree Pose Christmas

For: Karly
Occasion: Christmas

My friend Karly is a major yoga buff, so for her Christmas card I drew her in tree pose, holding a star over her head and wrapped in lights! It has been so great getting to know this girl in Denver, and I am pumped to attend her yoga studio a few times in the new year!

Rowlf Christmas

For: Christy
Occasion: Christmas

Christy and I are big fans of The Muppets, and Rowlf is both of our favorites (in large part due to this song). Her card features Rowlf playing his piano and singing a Christmas remake of "Show Me a Rose" that goes "Show me a peppermint, and I'll show you a moose in a hat!"

I hope my twin has a very giggly Christmas.

ASL Christmas

For: Amy
Occasion: Christmas

Amy has started sign language classes, so for her card I spelled out her name in hands! The front of the card has the signs for A, M, and Y.

On the inside, I made the signs for M and C, which is the abbreviated version of "Merry Christmas!" I'm very proud of all the hard work Ames has put into her class and hope it goes great in the new year as well.

Rube Goldberg Christmas

For: Mom
Occasion: Christmas

My mom loves Rube Goldberg machines, so for her Christmas card, I created a mini-tree chucking device. Santa hits a golf ball into a funnel to get the magic going, and with various tubes, punching gloves, bowling balls, and lacrosse racquets, the tree goes flying.

I hope she gets some fun contraptions to play with under our tree!

Canoeing Christmas

For: Dad
Occasion: Christmas

My dad is an outdoorsy canoe-man, so for his Christmas card, I created a scene in which Santa delivers gifts in our family's famous green watercraft. Ever in tune to the needs of aquatic safety, Santa is wearing his own bright orange PFD.

I can't wait to go canoeing with my dad on the first of the year!

Guitar Christmas

For: JP
Occasion: Kris Kringle

My family does a Secret Santa gift exchange for Christmas, and this year I got my cousin JP. As he was not able to join us in Chicago for Christmas, I made a card to go along with his gift! He's in a band (lead vocals and guitar), so I tied a bow around his calligraphied stratocaster. The words are all guitar-related, which makes the entire card pretty sweet.

I wonder if JP will know I was his Secret Santa.

Home Holiday Card

For: The Currys
Occasion: Christmas

For the Currys' Christmas card this year, I drew a textured version of their farm in Windsor. This is a view from the back of the house (Christy sent me a pic for accuracy!). There's snow on the ground and the sun is setting, and it looks as cozy as the place is in my memory.

On the inside, in my swirliest font, the text reads "there's no place like home for the holidays." I think the Currys are just wonderful, and I wish I could make it down to see them. But I'm sure I'll see them in the Spring at graduation!

Hanukkah Candles

For: My Biegens
Occasion: Hannukah

My lovely Biegen family has been such a support to me since I moved to Denver (there is no unconditional love like that of a long-time friend and a 9-month-old!). For their Hanukkah card, I watercolored a menorah in blue, then ripped it out and put it on a lime green background for pizazz.
I love them all very much and can't wait to see them in a few weeks to start off 2012 with some fun adventures!

Cooking Birthday

For: Aunt Katy
Occasion: her birthday

My aunt is an amazing chef, so I decided to feature various cooking tools and ingredients on her card. Pots, pans, mixers, flour, salt, pepper, and lots of other stuff all in greens, pinks, blues, and yellows. The overall effect is updated '50s, and I love how it came out.

I hope she has a great day, and I can't wait to see her soon!

Christmas Name Tree

For: Viewpoint support staff
Occasion: Christmas

Toni, Derek, and Rachel are rockstars at my internship site. They're always there to help me out in a pinch, so I wanted to thank them with a Christmas card. I stacked their names in order of number of letters to make a tree, added a star, and hung some lights--ta-daa!

Reading Birthday

For: Aunt Glor
Occasion: her birthday

On the front of the card, a young girl reads a book in some flowered grasses. I wonder who she is? The stripes for the background of the card was one patterned paper that I cut apart to add some stripe-y flair.

On the inside, the mystery girl is revealed: it's my aunt, of course! She has a party hat and she is reading a book called "Happy Birthday." Just like the text reads, I hope she "[has] a great day!"

Helicopter Birthday

For: Grandpa Jerry
Occasion: his birthday

My grandpa really likes RC planes and helicopters, so  his birthday card this year features one of his favorite toys. Whether it could actually fly, I really like how the helicopter looks--particularly the blades of the twirly part.

Once the helicopter is in flight among the clouds, the "Happy Birthday" banner is unfurled and sharing its wishes with my grandpa. I hope he has a wonderful day and gets some new toys to play with!

Watercolor Christmas Card

For: Viki
Occasion: Last MIM of year

Viki is the staff member who gets everything ready for our Memories in the Making (MIM) watercolor group. We use lots of neat watercolor techniques with our dementia patients, so I made her a Christmas card using one such neat technique: rubbing a candle on the paper so when it's painted, the design comes through!

It's been great working with Viki, and I can't wait to see what our group does in 2012.

Nursing Home Christmas Cards

For: CCNH Therapeutic Arts Group
Occasion: Last group of the semester

I run an expressive arts group at a local nursing home for my internship, and I decided it was about time we made some cards together. I brought in pre-folded card stock, background papers, and shiny snowflakes to aid the creation process. The group went pretty smoothly, and if nothing else, a few grandkids are getting some special handmade cards this year!

Camera Birthday

For: Sarah
Occasion: her birthday

Sarah is a photography aficionado, and so for her birthday card I drew an old-fashioned 35 mm orange camera. It's got a goofy smile if you look closely enough!

On the inside, with the same papers and font as the front, the text reads "Smile it's your birthday!"
I hope Sarah has a great day and that this year brings lots of picture-worthy adventures!

Congratulations, MSW

For: Terra
Occasion: Graduation

Terra graduates this weekend with her MSW from the UofI, and so for her card, I announced her new status to the world in big orange and blue block letters! The text reads "Terra Kern, MSW."

On the inside, a simple "Congratulations" wish with the most famous block letter of them all.

I miss Terra so much and am so proud of everything she has accomplished--and will accomplish!

Flower Thank You

For: Grandma and Grandpa Walsh
Occasion: Thank You

My grandparents have recently been very generous with me, and so I wanted to thank them in my own small way. These flowers were made out of a celery stump-turned-stamp and some water colors. I x-acto knifed the shapes and then glued them down with some floral wire as stems. This card was a lot of fun to make, and I think the effect is pretty neat!

I love my grandparents very much and can't wait to see them in a few weeks!

Swirly Birthday

For: Aunt Kat
Occasion: her birthday

For Kat's birthday card, I wanted to try to convey how relaxed and groovy and calm and nice she is. After a bunch of sketches, I ended up cutting petal/tear drop shapes in blue. Pretty relaxed, groovy, calm, and nice, eh?

On the inside, I cut "Happy Birthday" into the deeper blue to lay over the lighter blue that could still be hidden when the card is closed. Pretty complicated, eh?

I think it all looks very nifty, and I hope Aunt Kat has a great day!

Baseball Birthday

For: Paul
Occasion: his birthday

Paul is a big baseball fan, and he is six years old now! Therefore, I drew him a cake out of six baseballs and with  six candles. The papers used in the card (green background, swirly brown, and the reds and blues) are meant to emulate the all-American sport.

On the inside, my birthday wish for Paul: "hope your birthday's a ball!" All "o"s have been appropriately made into baseballs.

I hope Paul had a great day and that he can get back out there first thing this spring!

Chocolate Cake Birthday

For: Uncle Jim
Occasion: his birthday

For this card, I decided to play around with chocolate! Brown papers and a brown cake (a Debbie Dots first, actually). A fun feature of this card is how the "i" in "Uncle Jim" actually is one of the candles!

On the inside, the cake has been cut and Uncle Jim is all set to have his slice! He can't talk until he finishes it, or his birthday wish will not come true, as per the Walsh family tradition.

I hope he had a great day!

Eagle Birthday

For: Chris
Occasion: his birthday

Chris really likes the style of the American Southwest, and so for his birthday card, I sketched a very intense eagle wearing a not-so-intense party hat. Keeping all the colors in the yellows and oranges really helps this card pop!

Quirky Plant Birthday

For: Aunt Joan
Occasion: her birthday

My aunt Joan is hilarious and quirky and fun, and so for her birthday card I created an image of her watering a plant that has grown in the shape of a J--which I think is hilarious and quirky and fun! I particularly like how her curly hair turned out. The entire design smacks of whimsy to me.

I hope she has an awesome day, and I hope to see her again soon!

Thanksgiving Turkey

For: My funny family
Occasion: Thanksgiving

I was not able to go home for Thanksgiving this year, so I made this turkey card to take my place at the dinner table. I decided to use lots of different papers for the turkey's feathers, and I think the bold shapes look neat.

I miss 'em, I'm thankful for 'em, and I hope they have a great celebration!

Hello Kitty Birthday

For: Rukiyah
Occasion: her birthday

Miss Rukiyah is a big Hello Kitty fan, so I decided to feature the infamous cat for her birthday card. She's wearing a red and pink outfit and so the background papers are pink and colorful to match.

On the inside, Hello Kitty has a party hat on and is so excited that it's Rukiyah's big day! For such a simple figure, she really can be very expressive!

I miss Rukiyah so much and hope she has a fantastic day!

Passport Birthday

For: Leslie
Occasion: her birthday

Leslie has become something of a world traveler, so I decided to create a passport for her birthday card! The front features a simplified version of a United States passport.

On the inside, the card opens up like a real passport and has some of her traveling information:
"United States of America
11171988
Happy Birthday
Surname/Nom/Appellidos
Mendoza
Given names/Prenoms/Nombres
Leslie"

In her passport photo, Leslie is wearing a party hat. The stamps that she has collected from various countries include hearts, stars, and my name in Chinese, as those are the stamps I have. Leslie has been to China, though, so I think the effect is neat.

I hope Leslie has a great day and has some exciting adventures this year!

Creative Birthday

For: Maggie
Occasion: her birthday

Maggie is a wonderful intern who I met at a computer training for work. We don't work together, unfortunately, but we do grab lunch every now and again and wonder aloud about the bizarreness of our jobs. She is a very creative, intuitive person, and so I set out to make a creative, intuitive image! There are four circles dissecting a whimsical tree that all meet together for a diamond "Maggie" nameplate in the middle.

I hope she had a great day, and it was fun (as always) to process at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant!

Proud Cupcake Birthday

For: Win
Occasion: her birthday

Win's favorite cupcake is the snickerdoodle one from  Denver's own Big Fat Cupcake. She likes it so much because a) it is delicious and b) it has no frosting! Her card features one of the famed cupcakes pointing out its lack of frosting and being very proud about it. And it should be proud, because it's delicious.

On the inside, the cupcake is literally doing handstands over the other frosted cupcakes. The text reads, "Hope your birthday is as sweet and unique as you!"

I was in cahoots with some friends and managed to get Win a snickerdoodle cupcake for her birthday! They only make them on Saturdays, but the coordination was totally worth it. I hope Win has an amazing day!

Whimsy Tree Birthday

For: my cousin Maddie
Occasion: her birthday

For Maddie's card, I created a fun fall tree with a little girl hanging out with her owl friend. To me, this image captures Maddie's spirit, which is overwhelmingly friendly and fun. The background paper mimics the colored leaves on the trees, which I think is pretty neat!

On the inside, one of the tree branches has a birthday cake resting on it, and the candle flames look just like the colored leaves. The branch reads "Happy Birthday!"

I hope Maddie has a wonderful day!

Owl Birthday

For: Alyssa
Occasion: her birthday

Alyssa loves owls, and so here is a drawing of her very own birthday owl. His name is probably Herbert, he's very wise, and he's wearing a party hat.

On the inside, Herbert found some balloons that are  lifting him off his branch. I love how nonchalant Herbert looks about his upcoming space travel.
The text reads, "Alyssa, hope your day is a 'Hoot!'"
I miss her so much, and hope she didn't mind the owl pun!

Birthday Presence

For: Theresa
Occasion: her birthday

Theresa is into all kinds of meditation, yoga, and holistic good-for-you activities. Here she is meditating on her yoga mat. (I think the paisley background helps set the tone for enlightenment.)

On the inside, she's in Virabradrasana or Warrior II with the birthday paraphernalia of a party hat and gift. The text reads, "wishing you all kinds of 'presence' on your birthday!" Oh, yoga jokes.

I miss Theresa so much and hope she has a great birthday!

Hawaiian Shirt Birthday

For: Uncle Jim
Occasion: his birthday

My uncle has a pretty excellent collection of Hawaiian shirts. I decided to create one for his birthday card this year! The tag reads "Uncle Jim." The card opens in the front just like a real shirt.

When you open the shirt, you find a happy birthday message! I tried to make the pattern look like the wrong side of fabric that one might find on the inside of a shirt.

I hope my uncle has a great day and that he wears something quirky!