6.29.2010

Woody Allen is a creep.

For: Zach May
Occasion: his 21st birthday

Zach is a pretty intense Woody Allen movie buff. I figured it'd been a while since I'd drawn Woody Allen, so I might as well give it a shot.




I think this is creepy. But I had to come up with a way to introduce the following image:




Woody Allen flashing his boxers! (What else?)

It's a DVD cover (and also the image used for the Woody Allen section at That's Rentertainment). Kinda weird, but also kind of fun.

One important thing to note: I don't think Zach or Woody Allen are this odd.
So, happy birthday, Zach!

6.22.2010

Cosmic quotes and birthday balloons

For: my friend Anna
Occasion: her fabulous birthday

I was reading a book earlier this summer (Succulent Wild Woman) and I came across a quote that smacked me across the face and said "Anna Hoffman" to me. How perfect that her birthday was a few weeks later and I could use it in her card!



On the front, I created images from the first part of the quote: "Perfect peaches, lilting street musicians, a butterfly landing on your shoulder" (Sark, 74).


And I created a few more on the inside:"children wearing pajamas in the daytime, old women on benches laughing" (74).

What made this quote really speak to me (in honor of Anna) was the fascination it seems to portray for a disparate cross-section of life. Anna has an awesome variety of interests and a real zest for the quirky--I thought this was a good way to convey my appreciation of those qualities.

For: My cousin, Eileen
Occasion: her birthday

Eileen reminds me a lot of myself when I was younger. I decided to make a card that I would have liked (and, quite frankly, still do!).



A totally new take on balloon letters! The inside had "Happy Birthday!" in more balloon shapes. I think it's a really interesting idea, and I hope to work on some ways to perfect the technique!

6.20.2010

Father's Day

For: My Dad
Occasion: Father's Day

Plain and simple, I love my dad. He is calm and collected, and I am proud to be his daughter. For this card, I focused on an inside joke between us. We want to circumnavigate, or walk around the perimeter of, our hometown, the Great Lakes, and a variety of locations because we think it would be great fun--and who are we kidding, it so would be!

The inside of the card read: "Thanks--you've saved me from a lot of walking. Happy Father's Day!"

This card represents a break in the trend of my cards for this holiday. Since I was 8 years old, my Father's Day cards have featured, or complained about, the lack of a comparable holiday for kids--something I adeptly titled "Kids Day." Even last year, I made mention of it--though I did so begrudgingly, knowing it was expected and, quite frankly, ridiculous. And this year, with this card, I almost made it without the expected reference.

That is, until I tried to put the "Debbie Dots" insignia on the back of the card.


Maybe next year.

6.15.2010

Some sporty birthdays!

Today is two of my friends' birthdays! Here are their cards:

For: Kathleen
Occasion: her birthday




This wonderful young lady is going to USC in the fall to study physical therapy! I thought it would be hilarious fun to use people letters, and have them playing sports and stretching. So here we have soccer and tennis players shaking hands in an "H" and a super flexible guy stretching into a "K!"


The "happy birthday" greeting is a similar story: a surfer and a fencer are making each other's acquaintance in the "H" and the "B" is doing a pretty radical yoga pose. Kathleen is going to be a fantastic physical therapist, and I miss her and wish her all the best in what promises to be a very accomplished career.


For: Nathan Curry!
Occasion: his birthday



Nathan golfs! This card reminds me more of my older style in that I made the image out of paper instead of using a pen sketch. I think it looks fantastic though.



Wah-wah. Cheesy golf puns. But, that's what you get when you're friends with me!

I hope both these wonderful people have a fantastic birthday!

6.06.2010

A wholly holy birthday

My cousin Kathy is a cloistered nun-to-be, and it's her birthday soon!

For: Kathy, a.k.a. Sister Cora Marie
Occasion: her birthday



This card was a unique challenge for me, and there were a few pieces I had to consider as I made it. First off, Kathy can only receive three letters a month, and I was not sure if a greeting card would count as a letter. Also, I figured the card should be appropriate with a religious theme, given her career choice and current setting (not the occasion for a stripper card, folks!). And finally, I was not sure if I should call her by her nun name or the name I grew up knowing her by. So I went as religious as possible, following what I hope are the rules.



Being a relatively non-religious sort (I prefer "spiritual," thank you very much) I figured this was a fairly nondenominational birthday wish. Making this card got me thinking about her life choices, and I definitely admire her passion and dedication. I am really excited to see her in August for her official nunning ceremony!

5.31.2010

Memorial Day Weekend

Busy with a birthday, a graduation, and a bachelorette party, this weekend saw a lot of cards!


For: My cousin, Lydia
Occasion: her birthday



Lydia's got some pretty sweet style, so I thought a little vintage music might be a fun feature in this card. The record is called "Hey Lydia!"



And since it's her birthday, the record plays "Happy Birthday!" How fun is that?

For: Sarah, Greg's sister
Occasion: her high school graduation



I'm a firm believer in positive praise--what better way to mark an accomplishment than with a bombardment of encouragers?



That's the thing! One word just doesn't cut it. I'm excited to see where this wonderful young lady goes in her future.

For: My Win
Occasion: Jen appreciation party

The flower on this card is a representation of one she made for me out of pipe cleaners during a pretty rough patch of mine in high school. I still carry it with me--it was a very simple gift, but indescribably appreciated. To put it simply, Win is my life force. I am going to ball my eyes out at her wedding in a few weeks.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

5.26.2010

Volleyball B-Day!

For: my aunt Sioux
Occasion: her birthday



Sioux plays and coaches volleyball, so here she is, about to win the game. (Fun fact: this gym is based off my memories of my middle school gym, colors aside). She has the number 27 on her jersey because her birthday is the 27th.
But wait!, a carefully trained eye will find that there is something a little off with the ball...


It's actually a cake! And, Sioux totally served it right into the corner--perfect placement, despite the cake-y consistency. Her team wins the game, and she gets an awesome birthday (and some of the cake may be able to be salvaged, too!).

To be honest, this card cracks me up! I love that the cake has the volleyball lines on it. I came up with the inside idea first, and did quite a few sketches of what the front should be. It was great fun to make.

5.19.2010

Many Thanks!

I graduated this past weekend, and my parents threw me a party at my house at school. Despite my embarrassment at such a fuss, I truly appreciated everyone coming down (or up!) to help celebrate this transition in my life.

I got to make quite a few cards, so I thought it would be fun to explain my process.

For: my wonderful family and friends
Occasion: Thanks!


When I am privileged enough to make a lot of cards all at once, I try to use my supplies as economically as I can. In this case, it meant getting two cards out of each sheet of paper. As you can see, that meant the card on the left was a side-fold and the right a top-fold. They end up being the same size, but I waste much less card stock. There was a little piece left over from each sheet, however. Here's how I used those:



By gluing the paper scraps over the names on some of the store card envelopes I had gotten, I was able to reuse the envelopes, save paper, and keep my costs down.



For the design of the card, I knew I wanted to accomplish a few things: First off, I wanted to make all the cards with the same design. Second, I wanted the design to look a little stately and academic, to be reminiscent of graduation pomp. I also hoped that each card could be detailed enough to require a little special effort. To satisfy all these requirements, I came up with this design: a scroll with a little plant life behind it on a yellow-orange with light blue. The UofI is an ag school, so the foliage seemed appropriate; the cards' colors are just off the school colors as well.

I think these cards came out great, and it was a fun challenge to be mindful of cost and supply! That college degree is already coming in handy--problem solving, for the win!

5.14.2010

Hats off to the class of 2010

Comin' at you with high distinction and a Bachelor's degree in paper crafts, it's graduation card time!

For: Greg
Occasion: Graduation



Greg now has a BS in statistics! I am so proud of him. Because he is pretty epic at all things math, the owl in this card is drawn on a Calculus textbook answer page I scanned (since Greg now has all the answers!). I think it's such a cool idea--it may be one of my favorite cards.

For: Kelly, Tom's girlfriend
Occasion: Graduation



Kelly went to the University of Iowa, and she is super interested in journalism and health. Tom told me her dream job would be to work for a health magazine of sorts, so I drew the Iowa hawkeye on a gray-scaled page of an exercise magazine! The hawkeye has a mortarboard, too.

Tom was such a good sport about this--I had the idea, and basically told him I was going to make it for her! Woops--definitely more fun than studying for finals.

A sincere congrats to the class of 2010!

5.12.2010

Mother's Day: Glee edition

Ryan asked me to make his mom a (belated) Mother's Day card!

For: Ryan's Mom
Occasion: Mother's Day



Turns out Ryan's mom loves Glee! So I found out what her favorite characters are and put them all in the "Brady Bunch" style grid. There's Kurt, Sue Sylvester, Finn, and a special guest star Ryan "RaRa" Jameson!




I did some research (I don't watch the show because I'm indescribably lame) and saw that some of the ads have the characters doing the "Loser L" to spell out Glee. I figured it'd be fun to have all the regulars do that, and have Ryan's L be part of a special "I love you!" for his mom.

This card took a while to complete--it was hard to draw all these faces, let alone two times. But, I am pretty pumped about it and I can't wait to hear how it's received! (I also think I need to start watching the show.)

5.08.2010

Momma's day...

For: my mom
Occasion: Mother's Day



This is my first attempt at a calligraphic Japanese lotus blossom!



And here's my second attempt!

My mom is spending the day before Mother's Day (today!) in Champaign helping with her students' state science fair competition. We will get to meet up for lunch (in a half hour!) and I can give her her card on time. I hope she likes it--I know these events can be very stressful (especially on the teacher) so maybe she'll be able to find some of the peace and quiet of the flower.

5.05.2010

My CCPs

The Counseling Center Paraprofessionals (CCPs) are my amazing group of talented and wonderful friends who have inspired me, and challenged me to be a better person. We had our closing ceremonies today, and I made everyone cards.

For: my fellow CCPs
Occasion: end of program



I made 18 of these cards. The summery sun is for those who are juniors; the "Block I" diploma cards are for those who are graduating from the UofI. I love all of these people very much, so naturally the cards were filled with mushy sentiments and threats about staying in touch.

For: Kiera, our Graduate Assistant
Occasion: end of program



Kiera is starting her internship out in California, so I used a beach scene with "Thanks Kiera!" written in the sand. Some rocks make the shape of a heart, and then "your CCPs" is written in the sand as well. Since she is going to Cali, we pooled some money and got her a nice necklace and earring set, along with a gift card to Penneys so she can stock up on some beach wear/business casual clothes!


For: Theresa, our instructor
Occasion: end of program



Theresa had mentioned, casually, that she has wanted a kindle for quite some time. We gave her a gift card that she could put towards her eventual kindle purchase! Fun details on this card: the page is loading 19% (there are 19 of us) and it's on page 09-10, which is our class year. (Also, the correct number of buttons, the logo, a battery symbol and network bars, but who's counting?)

In short, I love my CCPs, and I'm going to miss everyone more than I could ever write.