Oscar-worthy Birthday

For: Joe
Occasion: his birthday

My friend Joe is the biggest movie aficionado I have ever known. He has memorized a big list of Academy Award winners and nominees from forever ago until now. For Joe, film is serious stuff.

Therefore, the iconic Oscar statue! I continued the silhouette of the Oscar to the top of the card to give it an interesting shape: the yellow that you can see is the inside of the card. I like the big bold shapes of this design.

On the inside, more bold shapes and lines along with the appropriate, themed message: "Have an award-winning birthday!"

And I hope he did.

Architecture Birthday Cake

For: Jackie
Occasion: her birthday

Jackie is an architecture student, and so for her card, we have the blueprints of a birthday cake. I made my own graph paper (if you look closely, you can see it!). The measurements on the cake are 22, 1, 30, and 11. As luck would have it, Jackie turned 22 on 1-30-11--what a coincidence!

On the inside, my very best attempt at an architecture joke: "Hope your birthday 'measures up!'" Jackie is a great friend and a talented architect, so I hope her big day was all she hoped it would be. 

Birthday Pie

For: My cousin Lydia
Occasion: her birthday

My cousin is a culinary genius: at Thanksgiving, she made the family seven or eight (it may have been nine) different pies! All by herself. I was so impressed with this feat that I had to feature pies in her birthday card this year.

On the inside, one of the pies has a birthday candle in it, all ready to be wished over. My wish for Lydia is that she has a wonderful year full of good recipes and even better food!

You say tomato; I say birthday

For: Grandma
Occasion: her birthday

My Grandma Carol grows many of her own vegetables. For her birthday card this year, I thought it would be fun to give her her own seed company: Carol's Garden Seed Co. operating out of her hometown, Chicago. This image is a representation of a seed packet for Grandma's Tomato.

On the inside, a vegetative birthday wish: "Hope your birthday grows into a great year!"
My grandma is an excellent gardener, a wonderful lady, and a true inspiration to our family.

Mountain Thank You

For: Win and Adam
Occasion: Thank You

Greg and I got to spend a lovely weekend visiting Denver, mountains, and our good friends Win and Adam. I knew we were going to make a trip up to the mountains, so I decided to try to depict them with calligraphy!

And, because I was in a calligraphy mood, I did my very best "thank you" on the inside. We had a wonderful trip, and I am really excited to move out there in the summer. Adventures await!

Dickensian Birthday

For: Grandpa Walsh
Occasion: his birthday

My grandfather is a big Dickens fan, and so here is my cartoon rendition of that great author. He is busy writing The Pickwick Papers, and has just found out it is my grandfather's big day, hence the "It's your birthday?" in my scrawliest cursive.

"A glass of wine in honour of this happy occasion!" This is a quote from The Pickwick Papers, as you may have pieced together. I particularly like this image because Dickens's mustache has perked up and is smiling a little. Some jolly good Victorian era fun.

The Squid Birthday

To: Uncle Vince
Occasion: his birthday

When at a family party a few weeks ago, a group of us were talking about wanting to have nicknames. Seemingly out of the blue, my uncle had said, "I always wanted to be 'The Squid'." He went on to explain that he wanted to be "The Squid" with someone else, meaning that he and another would be referred to as "The Squid" collectively. I readily volunteered.

And that's why this card features the coolest looking squid I've ever drawn and some squid like lettering. I hope half The Squid has an excellent birthday.

Christmas Tree Card

For: My very favorite Bopp Family

Occasion: Christmas

For this card, I decided to feature a nontraditional tree, closer to the "Charlie Brown" variety. What makes this card really neat is the texture I added to the white background. It didn't show up on the scan, but there's a very whimsical, swirly design indented into the white paper.

On the inside, a simple "merry christmas" in my very best cursive, and the invisible whimsy that makes this card unique. I wish you could see it! I guess you'll just have to have a little Christmas faith and take my word for it.

Danish Hearts Christmas

For: Mormor
Occasion: Christmas

Among other things, the Danes are pretty well-known for their woven heart decorations (baskets, ornaments, etc). After trying to actually do a traditional weave for about an hour, I decided to leave that to the Danes and make a paper cut of the iconic image instead.

And then, because the first one was so fun, I did it again!

Christopher the Christmas Card

For: Christy
Occasion: Christmas

Christy's favorite Christmas movie has been the immortal classic Christopher the Christmas Tree for as long as I can remember. It's about life, love, accepting your place in the universe and, of course, hope for mankind. Here's Christopher at the end of the movie with his best owl friend Hootie.

One of the supporting characters in this tale of Christmas philosophy is a beaver. He says "Fuddah, fuddah, fuddah, I love you!" to the evergreen protagonist, and it's become a joke between Christy and myself.
It's true, though: I do fuddah, fuddah, fuddah love her.

It's a Wonderful Christmas Card

For: My Dad
Occasion: Christmas

My dad's favorite Christmas movie is the classic It's A Wonderful Life. Here, we have the front of the Bailey Bros. Building & Loan Association. I actually paused a YouTube clip to get this view, because I'm a stickler for accuracy!

And on the inside, it's Jimmy Stewart, running through the streets of Bedford Falls with a renewed sense of the Christmas spirit:
"Merry Christmas, you wonderful old Building and Loan!"

Window shopping

For: Amy
Occasion: Christmas

This image reminds me so much of Amy! A little girl peaking in the window of a toy store, excited to see what presents Santa might bring. My sister's enthusiasm for the holidays is often contagious, and I hope I captured that with this card!