Pickleball Birthday

For: Dan
Occasion: his birthday

My father-in-law has gotten into Pickleball recently! To celebrate his birthday this year, I created a drawing of a pickleball smashing into a birthday cake on the court. Look at that frosting and those candles fly! I had a (pickle)ball conceptualizing this card and I hope Dan enjoyed it, too. Here's hoping there's lots of fun matches this year!

White Floral Birthday

For: Lila
Occasion: her birthday

To celebrate the wonderful Lila's birthday, I used my new white pen to create a prairie floral scene on a striking red background. I really like how this turned out and look forward to more white pen experiments (watch this space!). It has been such a treat to meet Lila and get to see her so many times over the past few years--she's a Keane family rock star, and I'm happy to know her!

Cow Birthday

For: Jeremy
Occasion: his birthday

To celebrate Jeremy's birthday, I did a marker drawing of this inquisitive cow in a party hat! I love the angle on this little guy, and the stripes in his spots. It reminds me of an ice cream company out in Denver and is super playful and fun. I hope Jeremy had a great birthday and has a wonderful year!

Plague Doctor Birthday

For: Uncle Brian
Occasion: his birthday

Uncle Brian is a quirky, interesting guy, so for his birthday card, I did a colored pencil drawing of the plague doctor with a metallic silver mask, but added some birthday touches with a party hat and festive balloon. It's a weird card--I'll grant you that: I just couldn't get the bird mask out of my head and decided to go for it. I hope Uncle Brian had a great birthday and is looking forward to a year of health!

Mandala Birthday

For: Chas
Occasion: his birthday

Apart from being just a wonderful human, Chas is also a meditation teacher! And, once upon a time, he and I had a similar teal sweater. Therefore! I drew him a teal monochrome mandala to help ring in another year of connection and attention to breath.

Leela Valentine

For: Mike
Occasion: Valentine's Day

Mike and I have started watching Futurama, so for his valentine this year, I came up with this joke based on Leela's one eye! The eye, heart, and U all add up to a clever "I love you." I adore Mike and am so grateful for all his help while I recover!

Elephant Valentine

For: Adam
Occasion: Valentine's Day

Adam loves elephants, and is particularly happy to video call Auntie Twin when she has a stuffed elephant with her! For his valentine, I did a happy elephant with a heart tail carrying a heart in his trunk. The ground is covered in hearts as well! I love my little nephew and hope he got some candy yesterday!

Tennis Valentine

For: Christy and Nathan
Occasion: Valentine's Day

Twin and Nathan love to play tennis together when they can, so for their Valentine this year, I did a drawing of the two of them playing together. I love this whimsical style and feel like I captured the happy couple pretty well! Nathan is in blue and has his knee braces and Twin is in orange and ready to go! I hope they had a wonderful Valentine's Day and get to play some matches this summer.

Heart Cake Valentine

For: Amy and Alex
Occasion: Valentine's Day

Amy and Alex are big fans of baking shows, so for their first valentine together, I emulated the illustration style of the Great British Bake Off's awesome illustrator! I drew a heart-shaped cake for them with a raspberry filling and lovely piping around the top. I hope they had a wonderful celebration!

Bird Test Valentine

For: Mom and Dad
Occasion: Valentine's Day

One of my recovery cards from Dad featured a test with two birds -- the idea was to find the hidden heart shape between two birds. When my dad was explaining the card to my mom, apparently he couldn't stop laughing! So for my parent's valentine this year, I re-created the bird heart test and hid in so many extra hearts on the birds. I hope they had a wonderful Valentine's day!

Many Hearts Valentines

For: Katy & Sioux; Glor & Vince; and Grandma
Occasion: Valentine's Day

My wonderful relatives got together and had a card-making party to make me so many get well soon cards to help me heal from my surgery! To thank them for their endless kindness, I made them Valentines that featured as many hearts as I could fit in. The hearts are even made of little hearts! I love my family so, so much, and am so grateful for their love.

Space Birthday

For: Dylan
Occasion: his birthday

For Dylan's birthday card, I did a retro-style space kid with a jet pack coming across a birthday cake in the vastness of the universe. The look of this card is so fun, and I hope Dylan had a wonderful birthday -- bummed to miss the party (and the Portillo's!).

Boating Birthday

For: Ben
Occasion: his birthday

Ben loves to drive the boat when we're all together at The River, so for his birthday card I did a bold sunset on the water broken up by the waves of the boat. I think this card looks so cool, and I hope Ben has a wonderful day!

Hockey Birthday

For: Danny
Occasion: his birthday

Danny got a sweet street hockey goalie set-up for Christmas, and had an awesome time at the Rangers game we all went to together, so I created a brightly colored hockey goalie card for his birthday this year! I think it looks really cool and can't believe he's now a teenager. I hope he had a wonderful birthday!

Orange Mandala Birthday

For: Jeannine
Occasion: her birthday

For Jeannine's birthday card, I wanted to play with mandalas as a way to capture peace, and went with orange as the chakra of creativity! This was was so fun and intricate to doodle -- I went through with lighter orange colors to fill in some shapes for a really neat mono-chromatic look. (Click on the picture if you want to see more detail!) I hope Jeannine had a lovely day and that this year brings lots of orange chakra alignment and joy. 

Cheetah Birthday

For: Uncle John
Occasion: his birthday

I made my uncle this spotted Cheetah card for his birthday for reasons I don't exactly recall now. It was the first card I attempted while recovering from surgery and was on lots of drugs. I do really like that I matched the spots of the cat on the Happy Birthday message though. Here's hoping he had a wonderful (and memorable) birthday!