Guitar Birthday

For: Brian
Occasion: his birthday

To celebrate Brian's birthday, I did a caricature of him with a guitar and a backwards hat--basically, the quintessential Brian look! I am so pleased with how this turned out and was so happy to get to celebrate with him and the crew on his big day. 

Deer Birthday

For: Shylee
Occasion: her birthday

Shylee is big into the outdoors and Colorado living, so for her birthday card I did a watercolor of a sweet little deer with a party hat on! I paired it all with an earth-tone striped background, and with the blue I think it's just delightful. I hope Shylee has a wonderful birthday and is looking forward to another year of adventure. 

Plant Birthday

For: Leia
Occasion: her birthday

For Leia's birthday card, I was feeling pretty fancy wanting to try out some paper cutting to make potted plants! Leia is such a nurturing person, I thought the metaphor was lovely. I hope she had an amazing day and can't wait to see her again soon!

Mermaid Birthday

For: Maggie
Occasion: her birthday

Maggie is a big fan of mermaids, so for her birthday this year, I had some fun paper cutting one of her very own! I grew the scales on the fin and used other patterned papers to help with he other details. I think this turned out really cool, and it was so fun to see Maggie so close to her big day!

Wedding Tangle

For: Mike
Occasion: Our Wedding

I made this card for Mike to open as he was getting ready for our wedding -- it features us tangled up in a hug and holding hands. This card pretty well captures the calm and love I feel when I'm with Mike, and I was so happy to be able to create this image to express how I felt before walking down the aisle. I love my dear husband so much and am looking forward to whatever comes next for us. 

Wedding Thank You

For: Our Parents and Officiant
Occasion: Our Wedding

To thank our parents and our wedding officiant for their incredible efforts in getting our wedding together, I made three simple thank you cards using our wedding colors. Words and cards can't really express the gratitude we feel, but we have to try, don't we? It was all incredible and could not have happened without their incredible love and support. 

Our Wedding Invitations

Mike and I officially tied the knot! Here are scans of the originals that I used for our invitations.

Here's the front:

And the back: 

And the RSVP card:

I loved creating our wedding invites, and am so pleased with how well they set the tone for our wonderful celebration. 

Birthday Flower

For: Aunt Julie
Occasion: her birthday

To celebrate Aunt Julie's birthday, I did a watercolor of a whimsical flower in a simple glass vase. I have really enjoyed getting to see her a few times this month, and I hope she had a wonderful birthday--it was so great to celebrate with her at the wedding!

Hello My Name is Baby Card

For: Alli and Mark
Occasion: the birth of their sons

Alli and Mark had twins! Babies Ryan and Cole are so adorable and we are so excited to be Aunt Debbie and Uncle Mike over (and over!) again. To welcome them to the world, I made watercolor "Hello my name is" stickers with their names on them. It works on a few levels, because the babies are new to the world and introducing themselves to us, and since they're twins, they are in for lifetimes of name mix ups! (It ain't so bad, little guys.) We can hardly wait to meet them this summer. 

Ski Bunny Birthday

For: Sofi
Occasion: her birthday

To celebrate Sofi's birthday, I did a watercolor of a bunny on a ski slope in a party hat! It is wearing goggles and appears to be having a great time (AEB the "Yipee!"). I added some patterned ski slopes in the distance to make this card super fun. I hope Sof had a great birthday and has gotten some skiing time in recently!

Running Birthday

For: Danielle
Occasion: her birthday

To celebrate my spirit niece's 8th (!!!!) birthday, I did a fun watercolor of her running--look at all that movement! Danielle is quite the racer these days, so I included a bib number with her birth month and day on it. I am super pleased with how this card came out, and I can't wait to celebrate with her on the dance floor next week! 

Absurd Birthday

For: Adam
Occasion: his birthday

Adam issues me challenges for his birthday cards. This years challenge? The Absurdity of Life. I had to think about it for several weeks -- 

Eventually, I landed on this concept: a fly in pursuit of a birthday cake just moments before being is fly-swatted into oblivion. Because, absurdity. 

I'm glad Adam enjoyed the card; he said I passed the test. Who knows what next year's challenge will bring!?

Palm Tree Birthday

For: Bri
Occasion: her birthday

Bri just went on an awesome trip to Bali, so to celebrate her 30th birthday, I did a neat watercolor illustration of a palm tree--I'm hoping it will help her remember the calm and relaxation from vacation all year round. Bri is such an awesome friend--I'm wishing her all the best this year!

Austen Birthday

For: Amy
Occasion: her birthday

Ames was way into a Pride and Prejudice series recently, and since I heart Jane Austen, I thought I'd feature her in Ames's birthday card this year! She's sitting at her writing desk, busy working on the opening lines of the book--I did a funny update of the iconic line to read "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a dear sister who is celebrating a birthday must be in want of a card." I hope Ames had a wonderful day!

Heart Flower Thank You

For: The wonderful ladies in my life
Occasion: Thank You

I've had lots of friends and family be so nice to me in advance of the wedding, so to thank them for their gifts and care, I made a bunch of these cards that feature flowers in the shape of a heart! I think it was the perfect way to capture how my heart is blooming with love as we gear up for the big day -- can't wait to celebrate with everyone soon!

Jack of Hearts Birthday

For: Grandpa Jack

Occasion: his birthday

To celebrate Grandpa Jack's 97th birthday, I did a drawing of a Jack of hearts playing card! I paired it with some chevron papers cut in the shape of cards to help fill out the deck. We love Grandpa Jack so much and hope he had an incredible birthday--on to the next one!

Dinger Birthday

For: O'Shea
Occasion: his birthday

O'Shea is a native Coloradan and always seems to be at a baseball game during the season--to celebrate his big day, I did a funky drawing of the ridiculous triceratops Rockies mascot named Dinger! I updated his hat to fit the birthday theme, of course. I love how Dinger's just peaking up onto the card. Here's hoping O'Shea had a great day and the Rockies do some good stuff this year!

Singing Birthday

For: Julie
Occasion: her birthday

Julie is an incredible singer, so to celebrate her big day, I did a cartoon of her lost in song! The drawing features her signature hairstyle and I just could not be happier with this likeness. I hope Julie had an awesome day and is looking forward to all kinds of fun adventure this year!