Graduation Glasses

 For: Elly
Occasion: Graduation

Ells both has the coolest glasses AND graduated with her Master's! To celebrate both cool facts, I did an illustration of Ells in a cap and gown with her fantastic purple hair and her glasses reading "Congrats Elly!!!" I think this card is the most fun and I hope she is so proud of all she has accomplished!

Hat Graduation

 For: Riley
Occasion: her graduation

Riley graduated college! To celebrate this monumental achievement, I did an illustration of a Michigan State-colored mortarboard and tassel with the fun text of "that hat tho." It's so cool I can just barely stand it. I hope Riley is super proud of her hard work and ready to take on her bright future!

Computer Congrats

 For: Tom
Occasion: Congratulations

Tom-Tom graduated with his master's in fancy computers, so to celebrate the momentous occasion, I did a super simple illustration of an old school computer with a happy graduate on screen! I am so impressed with Tom and his perseverance all these years. I wonder what he'll get up to in his free time now!

Hawk Graduation

 For: Riley
Occasion: Graduation

Riley is a high school grad, so to celebrate her awesome achievement, I drew her alma mater mascot with a mortar board. Look how serious! I hope Riley had a great senior year and is looking forward to her time at MSU!

Cute Grad

 For: Jaimie
Occasion: her graduation

Jaimie has worked so freaking hard to get her Master's, and so to celebrate I did a watercolor of her in a cute graduation outfit raising her diploma in victory. It's been impressive to witness her dedication over these past few years, and I had so much fun celebrating with everyone on the rooftop. Here's hoping her future is super bright--we know it will be!

Graduation Sun

 For: Erin
Occasion: Graduation

Graduating during a pandemic while working in healthcare more than full-time, while momming and keeping the wheels on? Are you kidding me? We had to celebrate this incredible achievement with the cutest sun collage and a glittery mortarboard cap. I hope Erin is super pleased to have checked the degree off the list, and can keep on kicking butt!

Orange and Blue Graduation

 For: Lydia
Occasion: Graduation

Lydia "walked" for her graduation ceremony in May, and so to celebrate the wrap on her coursework, I did a vibrant gouache painting of a cap and gown in orange with some nifty embellishments! I am really pleased with how the painted lettering of "congratulations!" came out and love the little heart on the cap. Lydia's future is so bright I can't hardly wait to see what comes next!

Graduation Holler

 For: Leia
Occasion: her graduation

Leia got her Master's in Speech Language Pathology! What an amazing journey it's been. I am beyond impressed with Leia's persistence and I am excited to see where she lands. But first, let's all shout "Congrats, Leia!" and she can assess us. Hooray!

Poop Graduation

For: Lids's colleagues
Occasion: Graduation

Four of Lidia's doctor pals are wrapping up their GI fellowship! She asked me to make them some poop-themed graduation cards (it is a GI fellowship, afterall), so I adapted the ever-present poop emoji to have a graduation cap and be nestled up in a toilet paper roll (which seemed timely, given 2020's mass TP hysteria). 

It's always fun to make cards for friends (and friends of friends!) 

Yearbook Graduation

For: Jack
Occasion: his high school graduation

To help Jack celebrate his graduation from high school, I took a page out of my own high school experience by illustrating a page of senior portraits. This one features Jack prominently in his cap and gown with the quote "what a long strange trip it's been." This is definitely not the graduation Jack was probably expecting, but we are all proud of him and excited to see what's next!

Chalk Congrats

For: Eileen
Occasion: Graduation

Eileen totally crushed it and graduated! To help her celebrate this amazing accomplishment, I created the brightest happiest card I could using watercolors over a masking fluid where I'd written "congrats" in a cool, chalky font and sketched out a diploma and a mortarboard. Times are definitely tough for the class of 2020, but there is still much to celebrate and I hope Eileen is very proud of all the work she put in.

Smart Cookie Graduation

For: Mike
Occasion: Graduation

Mike graduated college! To celebrate this incredible achievement, I did a watercolor of a chocolate cookie and paper cut a mortarboard and tassel for it to wear. I am so, so, so proud of Mike for sticking it out and bringing home the BS!

Graduation Cap

For: Brenda
Occasion: Graduation

Brenda recently graduated with her MPH, and given how amazing that feat is while working full time, I wanted to celebrate with her! I cut out a polkadot mortar board and created my own tassel out of threat and stuck it to the card. I love how the card turned out, and I was so delighted to get tea with Brenda when she was out in Denver recently. Can't wait to see what's next for her!

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!

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!

Graduation Jump

For: Jody
Occasion: Graduation

Jody graduated with an MPH, so to celebrate this awesome feat, I drew a cartoon Jody jumping for joy at her accomplishment! I love how this card turned out and had such a good time at the graduation party today. I hope Jody is able to relax a bit before she starts saving the world!

Happy Child of the Future Graduation

For: Lydia
Occasion: Graduation

Lydia graduated high school and has wisely decided to go to the University of Illinois! By way of congratulations, I created a card featuring the Alma Mater. When I went to UofI, she was green, but has since been restored to her brilliant bronze; I liked her better green, so I did a mix of the two! I love how my silver colored pencil resulted in a metallic look. The inscription on the statue says "To thy happy children of the future, those of the past send greetings." I love the idea of being a happy child, so I reveled in the chance to feature my favorite phrase. Lyds is gonna have the best time and I can't wait to hear all about it!

On a Roll Congrats

For: Elly
Occasion: Graduation/New Job

Elly is CRUSHING it lately, so to celebrate the impressive duo of graduating from college and getting a job for next year, I created an illustration of her standing on a sweet roll (like you do) combined with the text "You're on a roll!" Which she is, in the literal sense of the card and the idiom as applied to her life. I'm so proud of Ells and can't wait to hear how St. Louis treats her in the fall. 

Smarty Pants Graduation

For: Jada
Occasion: her graduation

Jada completed her Master's in forensic psychology, so to congratulate her on her accomplishment, I made her a card! it features a pair of white pants (not unlike a pair she owns) and the note "congrats, smarty pants!" I am so proud of Jada for all her hard work and I can't wait to see what she does next!

MSW Letters

For: Karly
Occasion: her MSW graduation

Karls is one of the most bubbly and wonderful people I know, and now she's a fellow MSW! To help celebrate her accomplishment, I created these gum drop people. The yellow one is wearing a mortarboard and holding the letters of her new degree and the little orange guy is looking on, impressed: "DAAAANG! Look at all those letters!" I'm so proud of Karls and had such a great time seeing her while she was out in Denver!