Mountain Arrow Birthday

For: Bri
Occasion: her birthday

For Bri's birthday card I was feeling arrows. And mountains. And the ocean. My new Sharpie collection said "Yes, please!" and this is what I came up with. I am a big fan of the purple mountains with the red sun coupled with the rolling waves and its little beach with palm trees in the background. I am also a big fan of the teal cross-hatch sky. I am just a big fan of this card. Which is delightful, because I am a pretty big fan of Bri! I hope she has the best year yet and I hope I get to see her a bunch. 

Painting Garden Birthday

For: Amy
Occasion: her birthday

For Amy's birthday card this year, I did a watercolor of her painting in a beautiful spring garden. I love her classic Amy blue hat and matching blue striped dress. And how cute is she, painting a flower while surrounded by flowers?! I hope Ames has the most spectacular day and that her year is full of artistic adventures. 

Donut Wedding Shower

For: The Future Mr. and Mrs. O'Shea
Occasion: Wedding Shower

Jess and O'Shea had a super fun donut-themed wedding shower, so to help celebrate, I created this sweet card featuring clouds raining donuts! I am pleased as punch with how this card turned out. It was a super fun shower and I can't wait for the wedding in 42 days!

Jim Beam Birthday

For: Grandpa Jack
Occasion: his birthday

Grandpa Jack is 96 years old today! To celebrate that incredible milestone, I did a sepia pen sketch of his favorite drink--Jim Beam. I paired the bottle with a floating "Happy Birthday" wish in the background. We're so looking forward to our visit in a few weeks, and I hope Grandpa Jack has a wonderful day and gets to unwind with a drink or two! 

Chinese Lantern Birthday

For: Julie
Occasion: her birthday

To celebrate Julie's birthday this year, I created these tiny Chinese paper lanterns with my very best folding skills. The black is all in marker and then I glued the edges of the folds down to the card-stock. (Given that it's 3d, I created a rig for the envelope so the folds wouldn't get crushed in the mail!) I paired the lanterns with a "Happy Birthday!" written in a Chinese font I found on-line. Julie is so awesome and such a great friend to my sister; I hope she has a fabulous birthday and year!

Snowboard Birthday

For: O'Shea
Occasion: his birthday

For O'Shea's birthday card, I did a watercolor of him snowboarding down a mountain. I painted a big shadow on the hill, and man, I'm really digging it (Okay, so I might be on a bit of a shadow kick lately). O'Shea is a seriously great human being, and I hope he has the very best birthday yet!

Skiing Birthday

For: Dan
Occasion: his birthday

Behold, this ski card. It features watercolor paper that is torn to represent the tracks Dan is making in the fresh powder, and I put a blue patterned paper underneath to really help drive that idea home. And  how fun is the little shadow of the skier! This card brings me such joy, and I am so glad that Dan found it delightful. It was inspired by a Newsweek cover from 2013, but man, do I like my version a lot. I can't wait to go skiing again with my future father-in-law!

Cake Shadow Birthday

For: Uncle Brian
Occasion: his birthday

For my Uncle Brian's birthday card, I drew inspiration from a short snowshoe I did in Silverthorne a few weeks ago on a bluebird day. The shadows of the trees were so compelling that I took a bunch of pictures and couldn't get it out of my head for days. For the card, I thought it'd be a lot of fun to feature these shadows, and then have a giant cake shadow just off-screen. Look at how cool this is! Uncle Brian is one of the coolest, so I'm glad he got a neat card this year. 

Olympics Birthday

For: Jeremy
Occasion: his birthday

I adore the Olympics! Such competition (and such anxiety--eek!). Long story short: there's a lot of Olympics-watching going on in my house. And, given that Jeremy's got a month-old baby, I figured there might be some late-night feeding and rocking going on with the soft glow of the TV featuring some events too. I really like the playful snow leopard holding up the rings in his party hat. My favorite feature of this card is probably the beige shadowing on the yellow. It's the little things! I hope Jeremy (and baby Levi) have a great day. 

Meditation Birthday

For: Chas
Occasion: his birthday

Chas is a meditation teacher and a pretty groovy guy besides, so for his birthday card this year, I created an illustration of him meditating. I love the hair and the yellow aura that surrounds him--it almost looks like he's meditating! Chas has been a great friend and colleague, and I hope this year unlocks all kinds of inner peace for him. 

Pregnant Valentine

For: Christy and Nathan
Occasion: Valentine's Day

Christy and Nathan are pregnant with my little nugget nephew, so for their Valentine this year I did a watercolor of the happy couple loving on Twin's baby belly. I am a ginormous fan of the idea of a maternity sweater with a big ol' heart on it for Valentine's Day. This card...look how happy and cute they are! I am so pumped that after all the weather's attempts to keep me away I'll get to see the expecting parents this weekend!

Wages Valentine

For: Michael
Occasion: Valentine's Day

This card concept came to me right before I fell asleep, and I am so, so, so glad I remembered it the next day. I mean, there has never been a more Mike Keane card than this one. It reads, "Baby, unlike American wages since the 1970s, my love for you will never stagnate." (That's a labor/economics joke, guys!) There's a graph featuring a pretty steady line of middling pay and then a line of love that is on the up and up and slashes through a heart, just like Cupid's bow. If we can't get paid because of a rigged capitalist system, at least we've got love to see us through, right?