Chic Lady Birthday

For: Lydia
Occasion: her birthday

For Lydia's birthday card, I did a watercolor of her (à la a 1970s illustration style) featuring her long beautiful hair in a side braid. I cut out the watercolor and put it on a simple green cardstock. I am really digging this design, and hope Lydia has a great birthday!

CrossFit Birthday

For: Aunt Sioux
Occasion: her birthday

Aunt Sioux is basically a CrossFit champion, so for her birthday I tried to imagine what a birthday-themed CrossFit logo might look like. I came up with this guy lifting a barbell with birthday cakes on the end. Of course, he's wearing a birthday hat, too. Aunt Sioux is the freaking coolest and I hope she enjoyed her spa day celebration!

Rat Birthday

For: Jess
Occasion: her birthday

For Jess's birthday card, I drew an illustration of one of her rats all decked out for a birthday party wearing a hat and having its own little cake! Look how fun this drawing is! And the shadow adds a little somethin' somethin', if I do say so myself. I hope Jess has an incredible birthday and is looking forward to a summer of awesome adventures!

Planet Ring Birthday

For: Ceci
Occasion: her birthday

For Ceci's birthday card, I did a watercolor of her balancing on the ring of a planet and holding a balloon. I love, love, love me some whimsy, and this design hits the spot. I hope Ceci has an "out of this world" birthday and is enjoying springtime in Illinois!

Robot Birthday

For: Goober
Occasion: his birthday

For Goober's birthday card this year, I drew him a picture of a robot holding a piece of cake and calling out "Happy B-Day, Goober!" in a metallic robot-y voice. Goober's into the cool nerdy stuff, and for me, that includes space age robots. I hope he had a great day and is looking forward to a summer of fun!

Air Balloon Birth Day

For: Twin, Nathan, and Baby Adam
Occasion: Adam's Birthday

My sweet nephew Adam joined us all today, and to celebrate his literal birth day, I made him this card after a recovery nap. His nursery is air balloon-themed, so I drew him in the basket of a big ol' balloon; I featured his long, long fingers, bright blue eyes, and cute little head. I love Adam William so much I can't really handle it! 

Bonne Fête Birthday

For: Janet
Occasion: her birthday

Janet got to celebrate her 70th birthday in France, and so to celebrate the occasion, I created this metallic colored card with the French salutation, "Bonne fête" which translates vaguely to good holiday in France, but is often used as "Happy Birthday" in French-speaking Canada, AKA where we visit from The River in upstate New York! I hope Janet had a fantastic time en France pour son anniversaire. 

Sushi Birthday

For: Christina
Occasion: her birthday

Christina is basically the coolest lady that I know. She's been all over the world and back again and is just so interesting! To celebrate her birthday, I did a collage using an old magazine and created a sushi feast! The words on the white print serve as the rice, and then the fish is all cut from different prints of paintings. So awesome. Anyhow, Castelli rocks and I hope she has the very best birthday!

Dachshund Birthday

For: Alex
Occasion: his birthday

Alex's dog Woody is the coolest little dachshund in town. To celebrate Alex's birthday, I drew a funny picture of the pup stretched out and wearing a party hat! I am tickled pink by this card, and am so glad Alex liked it. Here's hoping the duo have a great day!

Animal Band Birthday

For: Terra
Occasion: her birthday

Terra was in the Marching Illini in college and played the trumpet, and for some reason I link her with bunnies in my head. Given that her days are spent among a swirl of children's toys for her baby girl, I could not shake the idea of an animal band for her birthday card. It's so, so silly, but I couldn't help it! I hope Terra has an amazing 30th birthday and that she gets to have all kinds of fun this year.

Hand Print Mother's Day

For: Mom
Occasion: Mother's Day

In kindergarten, we all made our mothers prints of our hands using some kind of hardening agent and paper plates. We got to color that hardening stuff with our mom's favorite color, and I was horrified to find that they didn't have MY mom's color of choice: orange! I was forced to make due with pinkish red; I made quite the scene, as I recall, to the point that the teachers went out and bought orange coloring so that when Twin arrived for PM kindergarten, the same display would not occur. I love my mom, and would happily cause another ruckus to ensure that she gets her favorite color goop.

Mommy Sloth Mother's Day

For: The Twin
Occasion: Mother's Day

Twin's motherhood is imminent (come on, baby!), so to celebrate her journey thus far into being a mom, I did a drawing of a mommy sloth hanging upside down with a baby in tow. I can't wait to meet my little nephew, and hopefully his big entrance will be soon--Twin's gonna crush being a mom, and I can't wait to see her do it!

Mother's Day Ice Cream

For: Janet
Occasion: Mother's Day

For Janet's Mother's Day Card this year, I featured some funky flavors of ice cream to pay homage to the best tradition at TIP: The Guzzle! Dan and Janet arrived at the Thousand Islands today, and I hope they are able to hit up the little ice cream place soon!

What's Up Doc PhD

For: Uncle Vince
Occasion: Congratulations/graduation

Uncle Vince CRUSHED his PhD defense, and in lieu of being able to go to the party, I sent along this Bugs Bunny card. Paired with the classic "What's Up Doc?" Bugs is casually leaning on a wall, munching on a carrot. I had a lot of fun drawing this one, and am particularly pleased with the silver outline around the character to break up the gray, which I am also very pleased with. I hope Uncle Vince had a great party and is basking in all the glory of a job well done!

Gin and Tonic Birthday

For: Jess
Occasion: her birthday

For Jess's 30th birthday, I did a watercolor of a gin and tonic with lime. Her husband informed me this is her favorite drink, and I had a lot of fun figuring out the shading on the glass and the ice cubes. Jess's birthday party was the most fun I've had in a minute, and I'm so glad we get to call her a friend!

Feather Birthday

For: Lexi
Occasion: her birthday

Lexi is a free spirit, and somehow has gotten linked with birds in my mind; to celebrate her birthday this year, a beautiful, multi-colored feather! I really love how this turned out, and am as ever surprised that it's my first feather card. Lexi is a ridiculously cool person, and I hope she continues to crush is in Chicagoland.

Cake Wreck Graduation

For: Chas
Occasion: Graduation

Chas-ington graduated with his Master's in Counseling, and we'd had conversations about how it can be a little anticlimactic at the end of a grad program: you do a presentation, turn in some papers, and then it's over? To capture that feeling, I made Chas an "anticlimactic cake" that reads "Congratulations Chas! and a diploma underneath" as though the cake decorators misunderstood the directions. For this hypothetical, gluten-free masterpiece, I wanted it to feature a picture of a diploma, but they wrote it out instead. It's pretty high concept, but Chas got it--that Master's brain, I tell you. Here's to the future!

Bird Birthday

For: Aunt Lauren
Occasion: her birthday

For Aunt Lauren's birthday card, I did a drawing of this colorful little birdy! Some people get connected with certain ideas in my head, and it appears that Aunt Lauren is birds and flowers--I think that's a pretty good association! I really like this little bird (look at that navy blue shading for depth!) and I hope Aunt Lauren is having a wonderful spring and got to enjoy her big day.

Catcher Birthday

For: Luke
Occasion: his birthday

Luke is a catcher for Millikin's baseball team, so for his birthday card this year I did an illustration of Luke in his catcher's getup. Millikin's colors are mostly blue, so I gave him a blue hat and catcher's helmet to go with his blue pants! And look at how sweet the leg guards turned out--awesome right? I hope Luke's season wraps up well and that he has the best birthday yet!

Cupcake Birthday

For: Aunt Kelly
Occasion: her birthday

For Aunt Kelly's birthday card, I did a pen sketch of this beautiful cupcake! I mean, look at that frosting detail--how cool did that turn out? I used oranges, pinks and yellows to color in the design, and I really could not be happier with how it turned out. I hope Aunt Kelly has a great birthday and gets to celebrate with her own tasty treats!