Happy Candle Birthday

For: Uncle Joel
Occasion: his birthday

Uncle Joel always gets my most literary birthday cards (A Gatsby card last year and a Shakespeare one before that), but in trying to come up with Uncle Joel's birthday card this year, I could not shake the image of happy candles. So happy candles he gets!

I hope he had a great day and has all kinds of happiness this year!

Wedding Cake

For: Tom and Kelly
Occasion: their wedding

For Tom and Kelly's wedding card, I created a watercolor three-tier wedding cake. It features a tiny bride and groom on top and a "Kelly and Tom" banner on the middle tier. The background papers and orange and red with a glittery blue feature paper. And I picked those colors because...

...they were featured in the invitation!

The wedding itself was beautiful and I was so honored to be invited to the big day!

Smiley Birthday

For: Domi
Occasion: her birthday

When I thought about what I wanted to wish Domi for her birthday this year, all I could come up with was a lot of happiness! The best way to convey that is with lots of little smiley faces and her name in bubble letters. 

I like the overall effect of the card and hope Domi looks like these little guys every day this year. 

Floral Birthday

For: Aunt Marilyn
Occasion: her birthday

For Aunt Marilyn's birthday card, I wanted to feature a flower. I ended up tracing a sketch in Elmer's glue and then watercoloring the spaces that were left. I then traced the glue lines with pen to give the image some more depth. The overall effect was pretty neat and I really like how it turned out--the feel is pretty cool!

I love Aunt Marilyn and hope she had a wonderful birthday.

Evolution Birthday

For: Jack
Occasion: his birthday

I got to see Jack recently at a family gathering, and we all were reminded of a funny thing he said about Christy's fiance: "Nathan is a more evolved version of me!" Playing on this idea of evolution, I created a watercolor of the evolution of Jack as the birthday boy.

This card concept was so fun to think through, and I hope Jack had a great birthday!

Alpine Lake Birthday

For: Adam
Occasion: his birthday

Adam is a native Coloradan and loves hiking and all things mountainous. For his birthday card this year, I wanted to try my hand at watercoloring an alpine lake, which happens to be one of my favorite mountainous features. This lake is based off one near South Arapaho Peak, and I think it turned out lovely.

I hope Adam had a great day and is able to go on lots of adventures this year!

Thankful Card

For: Karly
Occasion: Moving Away

Karls moved back to California last week, and in order to honor the amazing impact she's had on my life out in Denver, I wanted to make a card that was from myself and her two roommates. Karly hosted "family dinners" every Sunday, and part of that tradition included "thankfuls." Each member of the table would share what they were thankful for and the others would cheers to it. The four glasses here are the four of us, with glasses from the 1440 kitchen.

I am going to miss Karly more than I can say, and I hope California is ready for her bright and wonderful spirit.

Data Birthday

For: Elly
Occasion: her birthday

Elly is a big Trekkie, and I wanted to feature her love for the show in her birthday card this year. I am not super familiar with the show, but I do remember watching Star Trek with my mom every now and again. Data was my favorite character, so I wanted to paint him and found this great card online that I adapted for Elly's big day.

It was fun to relive this piece of my nerd past, and I hope Ells had a great birthday up at camp!

Lady Justice Birthday

For: Sandie
Occasion: her birthday

For Sandie's birthday card, I morphed my favorite Social Work and the Law professor into Lady Justice. This time, the scale is tilted in her favor, due to a delicious birthday cake. Her toga and blindfold are orange and blue to represent the University of Illinois.

I really like this card and I hope Sandie liked it too!

Bronco Birthday

For: Aunt Mary
Occasion: her birthday

Aunt Mary went to school in Denver and still considers it her hometown. She is also a huge Broncos fan, so to honor our common geographical bond, I created a retro Broncos logo updated with some birthday flair.

I hope Aunt Mary had a great day and is gearing up for the next football season!

Hello Yellow

For: Whoever
Occasion: July's card from the Universe

One of my new year's resolutions for 2013 is to create and anonymously send a card to someone who could use a pick-me-up each month--I'm calling it "cards from the Universe."

For July's card, I didn't have any nominations, so I created this lovely little yellow "Hello!" card and left it on the sidewalk, in hopes that whoever needs a little push in my neighborhood would be drawn to it, pick it up, and be motivated to start accomplishing their dreams.

This card was fun to make and I got to practice my Xacto knife lettering, which is a valuable skill for cardmakers to hone. 

Have a friend who could use a card from the Universe? Find us on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DebbieDotsGreetingCards and message me your suggestion!