Birb-day

 For: Claire
Occasion: her birthday

To celebrate my dear Claire's birthday, I drew this sweet bird in a party hat looking all adorable. I love when people refer to birds as "birbs" and just wanted to spread some playful joy for the big day. I adore my Claire and miss her so! Here's hoping she has the very best year yet.

And with that, my dearest Debbie Dots community, we wrap 2024! Some highlights include passing the benchmark of having made 2,500 individual cards in the card-making reign. I cannot even wrap my mind around that number, but it does fill me with so much love!

Thank you all, dear humans, for sharing your love and light in all the ways you do. Here we go for a beautiful 2025!

Running Birthday

 For: Riley
Occasion: her birthday

Riley is getting into running these past few years, so for her birthday card this year I did an illustration of her running among a lovely cloudy background! I love this illustration style with bendy and rounded features! Riley is such a fantastic human and I hope this year brings her everything she's hoping for!

Cake Signal Birthday

 For: Uncle Jer
Occasion: his birthday

To help Uncle Jer celebrate his birthday, I did a playful take on the bat signal, but replaced it with a cake! I love the dark night and city-scape that makes the yellow card stock pop. It was so great to see Uncle Jer over the holidays and I hope he has an excellent birthday!

Jingle Bell Rock

 For: Michael
Occasion: Christmas

Michael took a geology course recently and had such a good time with it that I was delighted to make him a sweet little rock holding jingle bells. Look at how earthy and wonderful this design came out! I had such a good time learning about Colorado's rich geological heritage and look forward to whatever learning is coming our way in 2025!

Turtle Dove Christmas

 For: Adam
Occasion: Christmas

Adam's card features a festive take on the Mario characters Koopa Paratroopa! These flying turtle things struck me as the perfect way to play on the Christmas classic of two turtle doves. I worked so hard on this card and am so proud of how it turned out. Being with Adam over the festive season has been so fun!

Rainbow Snowman

 For: Owen
Occasion: Christmas

Sweet Owen loves rainbows, so for his Christmas card this year, I did a collage of a snowman in the coolest matching rainbow hat and scarf! I love, love, love how this card turned out and have had so much fun being with O this Christmas!

Improv Christmas

 For: The Twin
Occasion: Christmas

Twin is an extraordinary improviser! For her Christmas card this year, I did an illustration of an audience shouting out suggestions for a holiday improv show: cookies! lights! and Santa! In improv, these suggestions are called a "get" so the joke is "I hope  you GET everything you want this Christmas!" I adore my twin so and had such a good time with her leading up to the holiday. 

8 Bit Santa

 For: Nathan
Occasion: Christmas

For Brother Bear's Christmas card, I did an 8 bit Santa illustration à la Mario! I this this turned our really fun and love the boxy snowflakes. Nathan is so kind to open his home to us so often. I hope all his Christmas dreams come true!

Frosty Christmas

 For: Mom
Occasion: Christmas

My mom is a big fan of all the classic Christmas cartoons. For her Christmas card this year, I did a bright illustration of Frosty! I am so excited that she got all the Rankin/Bass shows on DVD and hope she watches them to her heart's content!

Papa Christmas Tree

 For: Dad
Occasion: Christmas

My dad is an amazing grandpa and often balances his grandsons on his legs like this! To make the image full of holiday cheer, I gave Adam and Owen a string of lights and Papa Bill a star on his head. I love the monochrome of this design and am so happy to get to see all three of these beloveds play together this Christmas!

Muppet Christmas Card

 For: Amy
Occasion: Christmas

Amy rightly loves Muppet Christmas Carol, so for her Christmas card this year, I did an illustration of Gonzo and Rizzo! I love, love, love how this card came out and had so much fun making it. I hope Ames has the very best Christmas ever!

Batman Christmas

 For: Alex
Occasion: Christmas

For Alex's Christmas card, I did an illustration of the classic "Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg!" I love how grumpy Batman is about his odor! It's so fun to get to see Alex a bit this Christmas.

Menorah Moose

 For: The Biegens
Occasion: Hanukkah

To help the Biegens celebrate Hanukkah this year, I dreamt up a moose with a menorah as antlers! I am so delighted with how this card turned out and hope they have a wonderful celebration of light together this year.

Skating Christmas

 For: The Families
Occasion: Christmas

The annual Christmas card to spread cheer to relatives near and far features Mike and me ice skating! Mike is spinning around and round and I am, as always, laughing at his antics. 

It's always so fun and such a process to make these cards! Definitely kicks off the season for me, and is so much fun. 

I hope everyone has the best holiday ever!

Running Christmas

 For: Mollie
Occasion: Christmas

Mollie is my best Colorado running pal, so for her Christmas card I drew this hilarious joke of a snowman chasing his carrot nose. The speech bubble reads "my nose is running!" I have so enjoyed running with Mollie again and can't wait for a lovely winter mountain adventures. 

Christmas Tree Collage

 For: Marie
Occasion: Christmas

I love this card, and knew Marie would too! I made a Christmas tree collage out of front range landscapes and am just delighted with the earthy feel--I used my earthiest green marker to make a fun font pairing of a "Merry Christmas" wish. I was so happy that Marie enjoyed this card so much!

Christmas Window

 For: The Mungers
Occasion: Christmas

I made a snowman peaking in the window! The window itself is shiny cellophane, so the shine you see in the picture is real. I  had so much fun creating this card and I hope my Munger family has a great Christmas trip!

Snowman Collage

 For: Sarah
Occasion: Christmas

Sarah is a connoisseur of cards, so I wanted to make her Christmas card extra special! I created a snowman out of an old book page and scarf that spells out "merry" to set the stage for a Merry Christmas wish! I love how sweet this looks and hope it helps her have a jolly holiday! 

Punctuation Christmas

 For: Jennifer
Occasion: Christmas

To help Jennifer kick off the holiday season, I did a punctuation joke: what looks like a period in quotes is doubling as Rudolph! It's just my kind of humor and I hope she has had a great time getting ready for Christmas in Oregon!

Everything Christmas

 For: Jackie
Occasion: Christmas

This is the happiest string of lights I've ever drawn! Paired with a festive "Merry everything!" wish, I love how this card turned out. I hope Jackie and fam are enjoying Adam the Next's first Christmas!

Cactus Christmas

 For: Theresa
Occasion: Christmas

I loved getting to see Theresa on her property in the desert this summer! To help her celebrate the winter holidays, I created this sweet little cactus dressed up in Christmas tree garb! I love the gold details and the shadow on that the cactus makes (even the garland lines!). I adore Theresa so and hope she has an amazing Christmas!

Mountain Christmas

For:  Lexi and fam
Occasion: Christmas

I had the best time creating this beautiful mountain scene for my dear Lex! Purple mountains majesty against a star-filled sky and a lovely alpine lake--is there anything more Colorado? I cannot wait for the family to move back and hope they had an awesome holiday season so far!

Latte Christmas

 For: Leia
Occasion: Christmas

To help Leia celebrate the holidays, I drew her the most festive holiday drink I could imagine in the funnest monogramed mug! I adore my coffee dates with Leia and hope she had the best time in the UK!

Santa Anchor

 For: Mark and Becky
Occasion: Christmas

To help Mark and Becky celebrate the holidays, I drew a sweet little Santa-as-anchor with H20 as the Ho, Ho, Hos! They have a few boats now and this aquatic theme is just too fun! I hope they have had a lovely holiday season.

Pickleball Birthday

 For: Aunt Katy
Occasion: her birthday

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Aunt Katy is an amazing pickleballer! For her birthday card this year, I did a watercolor of a cute little gherkin ready for a match. Look at how sweet he is! I hope Aunt Katy gets the chance to play lots of games this year!

Bird Birthday

 For: Aunt Glor
Occasion: her birthday

Aunt Glor recommended the most wonderful book about birdies to me recently, so for her birthday card I made a watercolor of a sweet little colorful friend in a party hat! I loved painting this card. I love Aunt Glor so and hope this year is full of lovely moments of peace and joy!

Popcorn Birthday

 For: Mark
Occasion: his birthday

Mark is a true connoisseur of popcorn, so for his birthday card I did an illustration of a classic movie-style box with a punny phrase: "Have a poppin' birthday!" I adore my Twin-law so and hope we get to cross paths some time this year!

Face Mask Birthday

 For: Aunt Kat
Occasion: her birthday

Aunt Kat is a queen of all things skin care, so for her birthday card I did an illustration of her relaxing in spa robe and a green mask! I love this card design and hope she is pampered today and all year!

Cake Excuse Birthday

For: Paul

Occasion: his birthday 

For Paul's birthday card this year, I used some block letters and glitter pens to share this message: "You are the best excuse to eat cake!" The E in cane leads into an illustration of a slice of cake and it's all very birthday festive. I hope Paul has an awesome birthday!

Banner Birthday

For: Uncle Jim

Occasion: his birthday 

I used brown craft paper to make this simple banner pop! It reads "Happy birthday Jim!" I will admit it felt strange to leave "uncle" off the banner, but I wanted to give it a try! Anyhow, I hope he has the best day ever and enjoys some tasty treats to celebrate the day!