Outta This World Birthday

For: Uncle Tom
Occasion: his birthday

For Uncle Tom's birthday, I created a space scene featuring a fun little astronaut out on a summer night's flight. I love using my colored pencils on a solid background  for some extra pop--in this card, the silver on the gray just makes me so happy. I do hope Uncle Tom's day was outta this world and can't way and hope to see him soon!

Fireworks Birthday

For: This year's stranger
Occasion: Grandma's birthday

Each year in honor of my grandma's birthday, I make a card for someone I find in the phone book that has a name similar to hers. This year, I couldn't stop thinking about fireworks and how much Grandma said she liked them; I have vivid memories of one evening of fireworks spent with her, and that was what was flashing up in my head all week leading up to her birthday. Therefore!, I tried my hand at watercolor fireworks, and here is the result with some added glitter papers for extra pop. Ultimately, I'm really pleased with the look of the card and hope the recipient was happy to get it.

Andy Warhol Birthday

For: Zach
Occasion: his birthday

For Zach's birthday, I adapted a sketch I had seen a year or so ago in a collection of Andy Warhol's sketches. It reminded me of Zach at the time, and then when his big day came up, I remembered how I'd been reminded, and decided to feature the sketch in his birthday card! I added some birthday pizazz and other details to help jazz up the card. I miss Zach and hope he's enjoying his summer of grad school.

Here's the aforementioned original Warhol:

Birdie Hello Birthday

For: Eileen
Occasion: her birthday

Still amazed at how great the colored pencils look on black paper, I was so excited to have another birthday pop up where I could try out some different techniques! Lady Eileen is the recipient of this bright and playful card. I hope it helped brighten her day, and I can't believe she's headed out to college in the Fall! I wish her all the best and miss the entire Walsh-Rock clan.

Corny Birthday

For: Becky
Occasion: her birthday

Becky is the best Twin-law anyone could ask for. She's a big bundle of smiles and laughter and just wonderful to boot. For her birthday card, I decided to use corn as the feature and thought I'd see how many puns I could come up with. Behold: Two corns holding a sign that says, "We ear it's your birthday!" and a little corn who painted the sign saying, "Aw shucks! I spelled it wrong."

I laughed and laughed making this card, and I hope Becky did too!

Fancy Flower Birthday

For: Anna
Occasion: her birthday

Anna's birthday is on the first day of summer, which is right around the time I realized how FREAKING SWEET my colored pencils look on dark cardstock. Behold, a floral bundle for one of the sweetest and artistic ladies I know. I hope all is well in Iowa, and I miss Anna so!

Father's Day Specs

For: Dad
Occasion: Father's Day

I felt like doing something different for Father's day these year, so I made my dad some DAD glasses! I made a card-shaped case that reads, "It's easy to see...you're the best dad around!"

I love my dad oh-so-much, and I hope he had a great day!

Ancient Mythos Birthday

For: Nathan
Occasion: his birthday

Nathan developed a super fun board game that is called Ancient Mythos. It features the Olympians AND some hand-illustrated art by The Twin and I! I got to create all the Olympians, and I based Apollo and Aphrodite off Nathan and Twin; these two characters were called upon to help celebrate Nathan's big day in his birthday card this year! The card was a hit, and the game is an even bigger one. I can't wait till I get my own copy!

Bike Bird Birthday

For: Kathleen
Occasion: her birthday

Kathleen is a really lovely person, and I admire her for all sorts of reasons! We were emailing recently and talking about self-care (my fave), so I thought I'd feature that in this year's birthday card. This illustration is perfectly my idea of who Kathleen is, and pays homage to the bike she had back in college! I hope she had a lovely birthday and is enjoying the start of her summer.

K Birthday

For: Katelyn
Occasion: her birthday

Katelyn is a dear sweet friend of mine. For her birthday card, I decided to use polka dots to create the basic shape of the letter K. I connected the middles of these dots, which ended up given the letter an artsy and sciencey feel. I really like how this card turned out, and I hope Katelyn is feeling connected in all kinds of ways.

White Coat Congrats

For: Lidia
Occasion: her graduation from Med School

Lidia is such a rock star--she just graduated from Rush Med and is headed out to the east coast for her residency! To mark this awesome feat, I created an awesome card! Here's the front:

Doctor looking cool with her white coat and stethoscope, giving the world a thumbs up.

Lift that arm, and you see the other hand holding a bouquet of flowers, along with the "Lidia Spaho, MD" embroidery that's stitched into the coat.

Open both arms, and you get a great big "Congrats!" I am so, so, so unbelievably proud of Lidia, and I can't wait to hear how things go out East. 

Sunflower Birthday

For: Karly
Occasion: her birthday

Karly is a veritable ray of sunshine, so to celebrate her birthday I created a very detailed sketch of a sunflower! I love how the image turned out and is so perfectly matched with the background paper. I had such a blast seeing Karls in Denver last week and hope she continues to own her brightness in the coming year. I miss her spirit already!