Blue New Home

For: Alli and Mark
Occasion: New Home

Alli and Mark just bought their first house in Summit, and to celebrate, I did a whimsical version of their home. It's playful and fun while still demonstrating a fair attention to detail. We wish them many happy years and memories--can't wait to come see the place!

Hip Get Well Soon

For: The Twin
Occasion: Get Well Soon

The Twin had hip surgery recently, so to usher in a speedy recovery, I drew her a skeleton of hips telling her "You'll heal up just fine!" Below, I borrowed a line from Shakira to offer them some reliability: "These hips don't lie." So far, The Twin is doing just great and I'm happy to help out and watch Gilmore Girls while she recovers. 

Fox Birthday

For: Alyssa
Occasion: her birthday

For Alyssa's birthday card this year, I created a watercolor of a classy fox that I paired with a background of similarly colored shapes. I loved doing the shading on this little guy. And it seems like foxes are becoming the next owl in hip animal illustrations, so I was excited to be on trend for one of my chicest friends!

Hanger Encouragement

For: A Friend
Occasion: Encouragement

Someone close to me recently got some discouraging news, so to send along my good vibes, I created this card featuring a hanger bent into a "hang in there" message. I used my metallic marker with some colorful accents to give it some shape; unfortunately it's hard to make out in the photo on the dark background. I'm sending good luck to the card recipient and all who may need it!

Flower Birthday

For: Theresa
Occasion: her birthday

Theresa is a fabulous inspiration, support, and guide to so many who have been fortunate enough to cross paths with her. For her birthday card this year, I created some flowers and used my fancy colored pencils to do some shading. I think it came out beautiful and I hope Theresa had a wonderful and relaxing day. 

Camera Birthday

For: Uncle Jim 

Occasion: his birthday

My uncle is a photographer extraordinaire, so for his birthday card I did a happy doodle of a camera and a lens in party hats. Since I used a green background, I decided to only use greens to color the design for some monochromatic fun. It was tons of fun to draw and I hope Uncle Jim gets to take some great shots this year. 

Snorkel Cup Birthday

For: Tom
Occasion: his birthday

Tom is one of my favorite people, and as such, he gets some of my most interesting cards! This year, it's a snorkeler in a slurpee cup floating a "Happy Birthday" sign. What a weird idea, right? I had fun playing with light blues to be the water and the straw on the light blue background of the card. I miss Tom so much and I hope everything is going well in Wisconsin!

Fly Fishing Birthday

For: Johnson
Occasion: his birthday

Johnson has been big into fly fishing this year, so to celebrate his birthday I created an illustration of a fly fisherman doing his thing in the glow of the mountains. The colors of this card really knock my socks off--so rich on a light blue background! It was awesome celebrating with Johnson and I hope he gets plenty more opportunity to fly fish this year. 

Goat Birthday

For: Lidia
Occasion: her birthday

Lidia often jokes about goats, since apparently there are a bunch of goats in Albania. After all her cards, it didn't occur to me to feature a goat until this year! He's super colorful and wearing a birthday hat on one horn--he's all ready for the party! It was so great to see Lids so close to her big day--I can't wait for the wedding this summer!

Watering Can Birthday

For: Daissy
Occasion: her birthday

Daissy is a force of energy and passion in her day-to-day life. To help celebrate the birthday, I recreated this image of a woman growing flowers in her hair. Something about it really spoke to me, and I hope Daissy enjoyed it too!

Ironman Triple Birthday

For: Chris
Occasion: his birthday

Last year, Chris completed the half Ironman in Hawaii and the Triple Bypass (aka 120 mile bike ride over three mountains that I also did). To honor this ridiculousness, I imposed the elevation map of the bike ride inside the Ironman symbol.

And, since it's a birthday card, I made a removable party hat for the guy. Chris is seriously the best, and I hope his day was equally amazing!

Beard Birthday

For: Marie
Occasion: her birthday

Marie is a lover of beards and all things quirk. To honor that delightful combination, I created a drawing of an old man writing "Happy Birthday Marie" over and over again on his beard. This card. It's basically everything that could ever be perfect for her birthday. I hope it was a great one!

Birthday Birdie

For: Krystina
Occasion: her birthday

To help celebrate Krystina's birthday this year, I created a peaceful little birdie poised on some flora. I love the look of this card--particularly the yellow tips to the leaves! Krystina is a total rock star, and I hope she has the most incredible birthday imaginable!

Mountain Man Birthday

For: Warren
Occasion: his birthday

To celebrate Warren's 77th birthday, I did a watercolor of him in decked out in all his orange hiking hear and hiking up a mountain. We had a great time hiking Mount Bethel on the big day, and, no surprises, Warren beat me and his daughter up to the top with no trouble at all. Here's to another trip around the sun. 

Swimming Bear Birthday

For: Aunt Sherry
Occasion: her birthday

Aunt Sherry has learned to swim and is now amazing at it! To help celebrate her birthday this year, I created this adorable little bear in swim gear getting ready to dive. I love how playful and fun it is! Aunt Sherry is such a cool a lady and I hope she has an amazing year. 

Colorful Birthday

For: Laura
Occasion: her birthday

To celebrate Laura's birthday this year, I created a bright watercolor of several bars in a chevron-type pattern! I love how the colors bleed into each other  and just look pretty cool. I hope Laura is enjoying fall and is looking forward to another amazing year. 

Many Thanks

For: People Who Needed to be Thanked
Occasion: Thank You

I had the occasion to make several thank you cards recently, and I figured I should post them for all to see!