Hiking Birthday

 For: Jaimie
Occasion: her birthday

For Jaimie's birthday card this year, I did a watercolor pen sketch of her on a solo-hike in the mountains! I love the bright colors and how the snowy white space of the mountains balance out the brightness. Jaimie is such a ray of sunshine in the world and I had so much fun painting at craft night the other day. I hope she has an incredible year! 

Confetti Birthday

 For: Rukiyah
Occasion: her birthday

Rukiyah is one of the most colorful people I've ever known, so for her birthday card I used all the colors I could think of! "This calls for confetti" is done with so many colors in each letter that are each outlined in white for some extra pop. And then the dark space has lots of little glimmers of glittery joy to tie it all together. I hope Rukiyah is doing amazing and has a fantastic, wonderful, amazing birthday!

Kitty Birthday

 For: Jennifer
Occasion: her birthday

Jennifer got a sweet little kitty that she named Alice! For Jen's birthday card, I drew the sweet little muffin with my colored pencils and I love how the darker gray cardstock helps add some dimension to the white fur ball! This card was so fun to make and I can't wait to meet little miss some day. It was so fun to see Jen in CO right before her big day, too!

Cupcake Collage Birthday

 For: Win
Occasion: her birthday

For Win's card, I made an awesome collage with lots of different paper designs that add up to this excellent cupcake with pink frosting and a right excellent candle and flame, if I do say so myself. I hope Win had a lovely day and was able to celebrate with some tasty treats!

Get Well Check In

 For: a dear friend and relative
Occasion: get well soon

Someone I adore to the stars and back is undergoing cancer treatments, and I've found "get well soon" or "you're stronger than cancer" type cards don't strike the right note for what I want to communicate. To capture my sentiment that we are all here for every piece of this stinky situation, I drew a heart made of all the different feeling faces my brain could come up with to complement the "However you feel..." message. I hope this card struck the tone I was going for and that they feel the love as they get ready for all the treatments.

Get Well Soon Potion

 For: Twin
Occasion: her procedure

Twin loves board games, so to wish her well on her upcoming procedure, I made a healing potion card like you might see in a deck-building game! It features a beaker of purple healing liquid and has a moderate cost with the benefit of sweet relief. The instructions are to use this card after any surgery or procedure. I fancy myself quite clever for this one and am glad Little Twin is doing so well!

Mountain Card

 For: Rosemerry
Occasion: her birthday

For Rosemerry's card this year, I did a beautiful abstract mountain scene with my beloved Prismacolor colored pencils that really help everything look magical! I used painter's tape to block off the edges of the design and just put rocky cliffs where I wanted to and flowy sky and all kinds of colors. I love how this looks and I hope to use this style again often--it's so fun to create art for one of the most prolific and vulnerable artists I've ever met (or may even exist!). I hope Rosemerry has a magical year.

Sweater Weather Birthday

 For: Maddie
Occasion: her birthday

For Maddie's birthday card, I drew the most wonderful cozy sweater with hands and face juuuuuust peaking out of the comfort! I added in a party hat and "Happy Sweater Weather" on the green background. I just love this design and I hope Maddie had the coziest birthday ever!

Trick or Treat Halloween

 For: Adam and Owen
Occasion: Halloween

To help my dear nephews celebrate the candiest of all the holidays, I drew some candies (with metallic wrappers) that read "Trick or Treat". I love how this card turned out and cannot wait to hear all about the candy they collect in their epic costumes! A safe and happy Halloween to all!

Seal Thank You

 For: Jennifer
Occasion: her birthday

To thank Jennifer for being an incredible host for my trip to Astoria, OR, I did an illustration of this sweet seal with a "Thanks!" message in the background. I love the PNW subdued blues of this card! I had so much fun visiting with Jen and hiking around and exploring her new city--I can't wait to go back again soon!

Floral Birthday

 For: Alyssa
Occasion: her birthday

To help Alyssa celebrate her birthday, I did a lovely illustration of wildflowers on top of a teal watercolor wash! I really appreciate the simple beauty of this card and hope Alyssa's year is filled with more of the same!

Manzanita Birthday

 For: Theresa
Occasion: her birthday

Theresa loves Manzanita trees, so for her birthday I got out my cray pas and tried to do an abstract design of the beautiful tree in a heart-shape in the Southwest! I loved trying something new (and knowing that Theresa is here for all kinds of art as an expressive arts therapist!). Where it got silly is that I forgot to take a picture of the original, AND THEN the original card got lost in the mail (temporarily)--so I tried to replicate the design from memory, resulting in this little friend below:

WHAT A FUN EXERCISE, Y'ALL! Look at how different these two cards are! Completely different color palates, spacing, backgrounds and foregrounds -- my gosh, I loved it. The original card turned up before the second was received and I just so appreciated that Theresa unintentionally was the facilitator of this art experiment!