Rhino Birthday

For: Uncle Jer
Occasion: his birthday

For Uncle Jer's birthday card, I created a cartoon rhino with party hats covering his horns. I love this card so much, I wish I could recreate it for everyone in the Debbie Dots universe (alas, you all get your own unique card each year!). If anyone was gonna get this card though, it had to be Uncle Jer. Look at the rhino's nonchalant little smirk--that's got UJ all over it.

It was great to see Uncle Jer over Christmas, as always, and I hope the next year is an awesome one. 

And this rolls Debbie Dots into year 6, folks! It's the New Year's Resolution from 2009 that just wouldn't quit. 

Dancing Birthday

For: Claire
Occasion: her birthday

For Claire's birthday this year, I wanted to make a card that would capture her free spirit and general loveliness. I ended up recreating this image with a girl dancing to the beat of her own tambourine. Claire is such a magical presence in my life and I am so glad I got to see her over the holidays. I hope her year brings all kinds of exciting adventures--it should be a big one!

Speed Skating Christmas

For: Dad
Occasion: Christmas

My dad has taken up speed skating, and we went in on a skin (the official speed skating uniform) as a gift for Christmas. To play off the gift, I created what may be the only speed skating reindeer in the world wearing his very own skin. I am tickled about this card, and am so glad Dad enjoyed his gift so much! Can't wait to see him race some day.

Twin Reindeer Christmas

For: The Twin

Occasion: Christmas

I'm really big into face-smushing cards for The Twin lately (see this birthday card for evidence) and she even asked me if her Christmas card this year would feature a face-smush. Well, it did! This card has us transformed into reindeer and wrapped up in the same scarf. We look so peaceful with our antler ornaments. I really love how this card came out, particularly the subtle swap of colors on the reindeer. It was so great to see The Twin over Christmas and I can't wait to see her in February!

Video Game Christmas

For: Nathan
Occasion: Christmas

Both Mike and Nathan like to play video games, so when I was trying to think up ideas for Nathan's Christmas card, Mike suggested I do a video game card! He came up with the game concept of Santa dropping presents into houses for points. I went with his vision and created this bright game scene with Santa at the controls. I love love love this card and am so pumped that Mike is a brilliant card concept designer.
It was fun to see Nathan over Christmas and to play Kirby's Epic Yarn with him!

Ice Cream Christmas

For: Ames
Occasion: Christmas

Amy really does not like the cold, so to help her celebrate a toasty Christmas, I recreated a fun beach scene with a little girl eating a snowman ice cream cone. I used my fancy colored pencils and love how the card turned out! It fits pretty well with the hoody I got her too--wanna make sure she is nice and warm this winter!

Hug Christmas

For: Mike
Occasion: Christmas

Given that Mike and I were going to spend Christmas apart this year, I wanted to make him an elaborate card to show how much I care! I created this sweater card that folds over with a red mitten showing.  When you open the arms, a message appears:

"It's Christmas--HUG ME NOW!" Mike and I had a nice time celebrating our mini-Christmas before I went to Chicago and he liked the sweaters I got him as a gift. None of them were quite as elaborate as this one though!

Quilt Christmas

For: Mom
Occasion: Christmas

My mom has a history of making awesome quilts, so to honor this talent, I made a Christmas tree quilt design! I looked up some tree quilt patterns and did my best to translate it into watercolor. The star on top is a friendship star quilt block, and I think it gives the entire card a quilty look! It was great to see momma over the holidays and I would love to see another quilt project in the works soon. 

Puppy Christmas

For: The Currys
Occasion: Christmas

To send the Currys Christmas wishes, I created a watercolor of the ubiquitous Roxy puppy with reindeer antlers and a Rudolph nose! The card itself has a crafty look, which I think is appropriate given Becky's fantastic ability to make Christmas decorations. I hope they had a wonderful Christmas and am counting down the days until I can see them!

Christmas for the Keanes

For: The Keane family
Occasion: Christmas

I've gotten to spend so much time this year with Michael's family that I wanted to make them all a special card in lieu of either of us being able to see them over the holidays. After days of sketching ideas and talking it over with Mike, we decided on a design where I am building him into a snow man.

The photos below capture the process for making this series of nearly-identical Christmas Cards.

I feel so blessed to have met Janet and Dan; Jack and Dotty; Dan, Jeannine, Danny and Riley; Corrine, Ben, Maggie and Charlie; and Alli and Mark this year! I wish them all the very best holiday season and a happy new year!

Road Birthday

For: Charles
Occasion: his birthday

Charles moved to Ireland about 4 years ago, and I am so hoping one day I can make it out there to see him! To honor his epic move and the day of his birth, I created a series of rolling hills with a road to tie in "may the road rise to meet you," which happens to be one of my favorite Irish blessings. This design feels really similar to something I created in art class in elementary school to help learn perspective--still works after all these years!
I miss Charles and hope he is doing well.

Cake Birthday

For: Aunt Katy
Occasion: her birthday

For Aunt Katy's birthday, I created a cartoon of myself (note the curly bun) bringing a big playful cake to her party! I wasn't able to attend the party, but I hope it was a lot of fun. I love Aunt Katy and can't wait to see her soon at Christmas!

80 Birthday

For: Grandpa Jerry

Occasion: his birthday

My grandpa turned the big 8-0 last week, so to help him celebrate, I made an oversized card with some of my shiniest paper! I cut out the numbers with my Xacto knife and used different shades of green (and one yellow!) to fill in the numbers. I am bummed to miss the party, but hope Gramps has a good time celebrating!

Bert and Ernie Birthday

For: Aunt Glor
Occasion: her birthday

Aunt Glor has a stuffed Bert and Ernie that sit on her desk at work and occasionally we get greetings from them. It always brightens my day, so I wanted to deck out the duo to help celebrate Aunt Glor's big day! I used pen and colored pencil to create the Bert-hday image. I love Aunt Glor so and can't wait to see her at Christmas!

Illini Basketball Birthday

For: Mark
Occasion: his birthday

Mark is a big Illini Basketball fan, so I made him a basketball card with the quintessential block I to help him cheer on the boys in orange and blue. I hope Mark had a great day, is enjoying the Christmas season. Fingers crossed I'll get to see him and the Curry clan in the spring!

Peaceful Birthday

For: Aunt Kat
Occasion: her birthday

Aunt Kat is a massage therapist and helps people relax for a living, so I wanted to create a card with a sense of peace to help celebrate her birthday this year. I ended up watercoloring a candle with some metallic swirlies for some added tranquility. I love how the flame turned out, and I hope Kat had a very serene day!

Lego Birthday

For: Paul
Occasion: his birthday

I am obsessed with The Lego Movie, so I wanted to try my hand at drawing a traditional Lego man to celebrate Paul's birthday. It was an ambitious watercolor, but I think it's fairly recognizable! My favorite feature is the peg as the pom pom on the hat. I hope Paul had a great day, and everyone should rent or Netflix or Redbox The Lego Movie for some non-Christmas movie perfection. 

&And Many More Birthday

For: Uncle Jim
Occasion: his birthday

When it came time to design Uncle Jim's birthday card, a wave of chic simplicity came over me and I decided I wanted to doodle an ampersand. This sleek card was the result of that instinct, and I love how it turned out! I'm excited to see Uncle Jim and the Kansas clan over Christmas, and of course, I hope he has many more birthdays!

Piece of Me Birthday

For: Aunt Joan
Occasion: her birthday

Aunt Joan is notorious for sending hilarious birthday cards, so it occurred to me I should try to give her a piece of her own medicine! I came up with the quote "You want a piece of me!?" in my own brainspace, then fatally googled it to see if it existed in birthday card form. It did, so I created my handmade duplicate to celebrate her big day. I hope she is having a lovely Fall/Winter, and I'm bummed I won't be able to catch her on her visit to Illinois over the holidays.

German Birthday Wishes

For: Quam
Occasion: his birthday

After four plus years of originally thinking about doing a German language birthday wish for Quam (see my rambles in the early blogosphere here), I finally got up the courage to pull it off. And I think it was worth the wait! How fun is this hand-lettering? I really like how the circle ties together the black and white text with the colorful background. And I really like Quam, so all is right with the world. I hope the birthday was grand, and I hope to see Quam over Christmas in Chicago! 

Candle Cupcake Birthday

For: Leslie
Occasion: her birthday

To celebrate Leslie's birthday, I tried my hand at candle drawing and created this fun "Happy Birthday" cupcake message. I am really digging how the frosting turned out on this cupcake! I hope Leslie had a great day, and it was nice to catch up with her over the annual "address email." 

Danish Bike Ride

For: Stephanie's friend
Occasion: her birthday

Stephanie has a friend who just did a bike ride across Denmark to celebrate her 80th birthday, and she asked me to make her a card. I created a funky image of a lady riding her bike in blues, a la the Danish plates that friends of mine have had. It sounds like the card was a big hit, and I can only hope that when I'm 80, I'll be biking around the world too!

Cat Get Well

For: My friend's mom
Occasion: Get Well Soon

My friend's mom has been a real pro fighting cancer for the last few years, and I wanted to send a card to let her know we're all rooting for her. I saw a card similar to this online and thought it was purrrrfect, as her daughter is a cat fanatic. I went with a pink background to reference the breast cancer, but I really like this card because it's a lot of fun (i.e. not a bummer).  

As always, I hope she's doing well and that this card added a little fun to her day.

Kindred Spirit Birthday

For: Winokur
Occasion: her birthday

There's a little book called "Kindred Spirits, Forever Friends" that Win got me for Christmas last year that really captures the special connection she and I have. For her birthday card this year, I decided to paint the women on the cover who resemble the two of us. I love Win with all my heart and wish we got to see each other more often. I hope we can get together soon to celebrate her birthday! 

Squirrel Birthday

For: Maddie
Occasion: her birthday

I was in a Fall mood when it came time to create Maddie's birthday card, so I featured a happy little squirrel surrounded by autumn leaves. Maddie strikes me as a very playful lady, so I think this card does a great job of wishing her a November birthday--sent it off just in time before the snow started falling in Denver too. I hope she has a wonderful year this year!

Hedgehog Birthday

For: Daissy
Occasion: her birthday

For Daissy's birthday card, I painted a happy little hedgehog holding a birthday sign! I really like the detail of this guy's hat and little spikes. I hope Daissy had a great day and I'm so pumped that she's such a successful lawyer now in Chicago!

Fall Rumble Birthday

For: Alyssa
Occasion: her birthday

I got to see Alyssa briefly over my birthday weekend in Chicago and it was really great to see her and her beautiful home! She shared a story with Mike and I about how her dance team had risen to the occasion of a rainy game and literally rolled in the mud to keep the performance going. I loved it so much that I did a fall-themed interpretation of the dance for Alyssa's birthday--she is featured in a playful watercolor with lots of leaves stuck in her hair. I was imagining her as a little girl dancing away and enjoying the fall weather--I hope she had at least this much fun on her birthday!

Art not War Birthday

For: Theresa
Occasion: her birthday

Theresa recently finished her therapeutic arts certificate, and so to honor the accomplishment, I created a birthday card with a message that I feel is very "Theresa." The watercolor features a bird lifting the "a" out  of "war" and lifting it to complete "art." I am really excited by how this card turned out and hope Theresa is finding time for making art this year!

Whale Birthday

For: Uncle Jim
Occasion: his birthday

For Uncle Jim's birthday card, I wanted to paint a whale so that I could wish him "a whale of a birthday!" This little guy does the job with his party hat tied on so that the ocean waters don't wash away the party. I've always struggled a little with making water look water-y, so I was happy to create the opportunity to practice.
I hope Uncle Jim had a great day and that he's excited to be a grandpa next year!

Pinhole Birthday

For: Tom
Occasion: his birthday

For Tom's birthday card, I decided to use a technique that is new to the Debbie Dots world! I used a thumbtack to create a million-billion little holes to create the letters of his name. I back-lit this photo so that everyone in the blogosphere would be able to see the attention to detail.
I freaking love this card, and I freaking love Tom, so I'm glad he could be the first recipient of this fun technique.

Flower Window Birthday

For: Lidia
Occasion: her birthday

I like to try to do funky things for Lidia's birthday cards, and this year I thought it would be fun to create some fun cutouts in the card to accentuate the art. I'm always associating Lids with flowers, so I created a watercolor of this pretty purple one (I'm always associating purple with her as well) and cut out a diamond in the blue card stock. This was a fun card to make and I think I should do more in this style!
I miss Lids so much and hope she's having a great time out in Boston!

Mandala Birthday

For: Laura
Occasion: her birthday

Laura is an OT working with kiddos, so I thought for her birthday card I'd create a playful mandala! My thinking was that since she is sometimes teaching little ones to hold crayons, I wanted to emulate the beauty of child art. I figured the natural calming powers of a mandala might be fun too!
I hope Laura had a great day!

Paper Anniversary

For: Christy and Nathan
Occasion: their one year wedding anniversary

Nathan and The Twin have been married for an entire year! To help celebrate their trip around the sun together, I played up the "paper" theme and created a background of definitions that read "first wedding anniversary." I used orange and blue papers for Illini and their wedding colors and carved a C, a heart, and an N into the middle heart.

I love these two so much and am so glad they have kept the knot tied for a whole year. 

Cabin Birthday

For: Conor
Occasion: his birthday

Conor is pretty much always traveling the world and having adventures, so I was not at all surprised to hear he was in Iceland when I asked for his address. To celebrate his adventurous style, I created a funky cabin tucked in the woods. It seems very Conor-y to me, and I hope he's having a great time wherever he is in the world!

Hippo Birthday

For: Marie
Occasion: her birthday

Marie is the most creative and wonderfully bubbly person I have ever met--short of creating an entire universe in a card to celebrate her brilliance, I decided to use my colored pencils to draw a French hippo smoking a cigarette and wearing a hat. I hope it lived up to what I was hoping for and that she had the very best birthday possible!

Birthday Flower

For: Aunt Sherry
Occasion: her birthday

To celebrate Aunt Sherry's birthday, I wanted to work on my sketching and create a stylized flower--I think this did the job! The message around the flower reads "Happy Birthday Aunt Sherry" and "Sto lat!," which is the Polish happy birthday greeting that we sing in our family. I hope she had a great birthday and is ready for 100 more!

Aspen Wedding

For: Sofi and Paul
Occasion: their wedding

Sofi and Paul got married at a beautiful outdoor ceremony in Vail last weekend and the aspen decided to stick around for the wedding! We had such a great time celebrating and meeting Sofi and Paul's family. I loved the Serbian dancing, and the food with Paul's hookups was so amazing. It was a wonderful Colorado wedding, and I hope the happy couple is having fun honeymooning in Hawaii!

Circular Thank You

For: Stephanie and Buz
Occasion: Thank You

For Sofi's wedding, Stephanie and Buz let Warren, Mike and myself stay overnight in their town home in Vail. It was so great to have a beautiful place to come home to after a wonderful evening at the wedding and to not have to pay Vail Village prices for a room. I hope they enjoy the wine we left with the key!

Owl Birthday

For: Krystina
Occasion: her birthday

Krystina is a big advocate of education, so for her birthday card I created a very learned owl to help celebrate. I love the look of this little guy and how the colored pencil turned out.

I miss Krystina so much and hope she is doing well out in Cali!

Bengal Birthday

For: Johnson
Occasion: his birthday

Justin is a big Cincinnati Bengals fan, so to help celebrate the big day (and a tie with the Panthers) I created a watercolor of the logo. Paired with an orange background and my most masculine black and white glitter paper torn by a bengal paw. Had a great time at Justin's birthday dinner and I hope we have Sunday family dinners more often!

Mountain Bike Birthday

For: Warren
Occasion: his birthday

Warren is an all-around mountain man, so for his birthday, I created a mountain on a bike! I'd seen an image like this before and it struck me as very Warren, and I think it turned out great. The background card stock is orange--his "signature color."

Had a great time on his birthday hike, and I can't wait for number 76!

Twin Birthday

For: The Twin
Occasion: her birthday

The Twin and I are basically the same person, so for her birthday card I did just that! We are hugging each other so tight that we became one--you'll notice that our orange and red shirts morph into one and we have 4 feet to what appears to be one communal leg. This card makes me oh-so-happy, and so does The Twin! We had a great time giggling through our birthday half-marathon and I can't wait to squeeze her face again.

Owl Birthday

For: Uncle Greg
Occasion: his birthday

For my Uncle's birthday, I created a watercolor owl with some pen sketch detailing. I saw an image of a colorful owl online and thought I would try my hand with some adaptations. I think it turned out pretty well and I'm a fan of the imperfect line border surrounding the image--5 years of making cards and I've never done that before. I hope Uncle Greg tries something new this year too!

Bridget Birthday

For: Bridget
Occasion: her birthday

For Bridget's birthday card, I created a watercolor splash with the text of her name in white traced with pen. The B is swirly for some contrast. I really like to colors of this card and hope Bridge had a great day!

Warhammer Birthday

For: Mike
Occasion: his birthday

Mike plays Warhammer and has started painting the figurines again! To honor this creative and awesomely nerdy hobby, I swiped one of the men and took him to my studio to create this watercolor. I changed the skull on top of the banner into a birthday cake and added a "Happy Birthday Mike" message. I love Mike oh so much and had a great time celebrating his birthday. I can't wait to see when the entire army is finished!