Baby Houses Birth Day

For: Baby Owen
Occasion: his birth day

My sweet nephew Owen was born last week! To celebrate his birth from a far, I made him a birth day card that fits with his Harry Potter themed nursery--the four house mascots, baby-style! The Gryffindor lion has a binky, Ravenclaw's baby bird is in a diaper, the Hufflepuff badger has a bottle, and the Slytherin snake has a rattle in its tail. They all have big cute baby eyes to boot! And given that Owen's name is 4 letters, there's just a delightful amount of symmetry here. I added some shadows on the letters and then put the classic 6-pointed stars in the sky. I adore my sweet baby nephew and have loved getting to watch him on video--I hope if first year of life is full of magic, and I cannot wait to snuggle the newest muggle!

Skate Deck Birthday

For: Brian
Occasion: his birthday

To celebrate Brian's birthday, Mike had the idea that I create a series of skate boards that all shared a continuous image. I decided to go with it, and landed on a neat geometric mountain scene! I think it turned out really neat--my closest reference is ski board art, and I am a big fan of the art on boards genre now! I hope Brian has a great day and is having fun during these strange times.

Mountain Birthday

For: Leia
Occasion: her birthday

For Leia's birthday, I did a watercolor of abstract mountains with a huge moon peaking up from behind! The dark sky shows some shooting stars and there's a little silhouetted tree-line in the foreground. Leia is a truly delightful human. And given that their mountain trips have ended for a while, I hope this whimsical rendition can tide her over for a while!

Unicorn Birthday

For: Maggie
Occasion: her birthday

To celebrate Maggie's birthday, I did a watercolor of a stylish unicorn and placed it on top of a whimsical gel pen background of stars and clouds and polka dots! I am so happy with how this came out (particularly the clouds!) and hope Maggie has a wonderful day.

Papercut Mountain Anniversary

For: Mike
Occasion: Our Anniversary

To celebrate our first wedding anniversary in the traditional paper style, I did an elaborate paper-cut of mountains featuring a heart with our initials in it, trees, and flowers. I then pasted in a swirly purple sky, blue mountains, a pink heart, and a floral pattern. This was so much fun to make and took some time to make happen. I love Michael so much and have enjoyed the journey of the last year--here's to many more!

Palm Tree Birthday

For: Aunt Julie
Occasion: her birthday

To celebrate Aunt Julie's birthday, I did a papercut of a palm tree (with coconuts!) in front of a ocean scene and sunset. I am playing around with this new style, and hope Aunt Julie liked it. She loved her time living in Florida back in the day--I hope this brought her right back. 

Bird Tree Birthday

For: Sofi
Occasion: her birthday

For Sofi's birthday card, I went with an outdoorsy pattern featuring some crosscuts of trees that little birdies are hanging out in. There is one bird (bottom left) that is wearing a party hat! I love how this card turned out and I hope Sofi had a wonderful day and is getting to enjoy some mud season weather.

Baking Birthday

For: Danielle
Occasion: her birthday

Danielle turned 9! She's interested in cooking and baking, so to play off the theme of her birthday party (behind the scenes at Panera--how awesome!) I came up with this bear character mixing some batter and wearing a sweet chef hat. I adore my dear spirit niece and I hope she had a wonderful birthday.

Banjo Birthday

For: Quam's Friend
Occasion: that guy's birthday

Quam asked me to make a birthday card for his friend Ezra. He gave me lots of info about to choose from and I landed on the banjo hobby! I had started playing with a marker style while doodling during surgery recovery, and used that to sketch out this happy banjo traveler to help celebrate the big day. I'm always happy to make cards for friends of friends!

BJJ Birthday

For: Adam
Occasion: his birthday

Adam has gotten really into Brazilian Jiu Jitzu in the past few years, so for his birthday card (first without a specific theme challenge, I might add!), I did an ink sketch of two dudes battling it out in a match over some blue watercolors. To be honest, I had to do lots of googling to figure out what BJJ can look like, and I think it's pretty neat-looking. I have no idea who's doing better right here, but I hope Adam crushes it this year.

Thinking of You Leaves

For: Sarah
Occasion: Just Because

To check in on Sarah-Dear and float some thoughts her way, I came up with this multi-colored leafy doodle! I had a great time playing with this one and I hope it brightened up Sarah's day. Being home is a great excuse to make art for friends!

Space Birthday

For: Cole
Occasion: his birthday

To celebrate Cole's first full trip around the sun, I did a paper cut of these happy planets on a background of stars in gel pen. I am particularly pleased with the 1 constellation to help mark the occasion! I hope he had a great birthday and that his next trip around the sun is even more amazing than the first!

Bear Birthday

For: Ryan
Occasion: his birthday

Ryan turned a whole year old today! To celebrate the big one, I did a paper cut of a happy bear holding a balloon (with a big 1 on it!) and wearing a party hat. I love how playful this card looks and I hope Ryan (or more likely, his parents) enjoyed celebrating the day. 

Birthday Pup

For: Bri
Occasion: her birthday

Bri just got an adorable dog named Kyle! To celebrate her birthday, I featured the pup in watercolor wearing a party hat and chilling on some pretty paper. Look at that sweet face! I hope Bri had a wonderful birthday and is looking forward to lots of exciting things this year!

Geometric Portrait Birthday

For: Ames
Occasion: her birthday

For Amy's birthday card this year, I simplified her iconic look to some simple shapes in bright paint! I am particularly pleased with how her hair turned out and that classic Ames grin. I hope my big sis had a wonderful day and is super psyched for the next year!

Painted Flower Birthday

For: Julie
Occasion: her birthday

To help celebrate Julie's birthday this year, I had a Debbie Dots first! I painted with acrylic directly on some teal card stock and created this beautiful Asian-styled flower in red, yellow, and orange and paired the flower with some teal leaves of varying opacity. I had a wonderful time creating this card, and I hope it provided Julie a moment of relaxation from her many studies!

Mountain Birthday

For: O'Shea
Occasion: his birthday

For O'Shea's birthday card, I played with my new white pen and made a mountain scene, and then added some puffy clouds and a sun with geometric rays, AND THEN I wrote "Happy Birthday" all over the ground! It's a pretty decent card for a Colorado native--I hope O'Shea had a wonderful birthday and is looking forward to lots of adventures this year!