Tree Stump Record

For: Conor
Occasion: his birthday

Conor is off on another world-wide adventure, so to celebrate his birthday (or whatever day he returns to his parents' home to pick up his mail), I created an aerial view of a tree stump being played as a record. This idea is so cool to me--the grooves of the record are the rings of the tree--what an interesting song it would be! I hope Conor is having a wonderful time biking through Asia, and that this year brings all the adventure he can hope for. 

Fairy Birthday

For: Maddie
Occasion: her birthday

Since Maddie's birthday is so close to Halloween, I figured featuring a cool costume was in order! I created a lady with butterfly fairy wings standing in a field of flowers. I really like the look of this card, and hope Maddie has a wonderful year!

Cupcake Birthday

For: Alyssa

Occasion: her birthday

For Alyssa's birthday card, I had a little fun snooping on her Pinterest boards for inspiration. She is all about geometric patterns for home decoration, and I saw sketches of little cupcakes on another board: voila! A watercolored painter's taped background with a playful little cupcake and a swirly "happy birthday" greeting. I really like how this card came out, and I hope Alyssa had a wonderful day!

Art Dance Birthday

For: Theresa
Occasion: her birthday

Theresa is a holistic wellness lady, extraordinaire! She has recently gotten into expressive arts and movement in her healing practices as a psychologist, and I thought her birthday would be the perfect time to have a little expressive arts fun of my own! My idea was to capture "movement" (using art, of course!), and I am super pleased with how this turned out. What a wonderful opportunity to honor someone I've learned so much from. I hope she has an unbelievably fantastic year! 

Balloon Birthday

For: Lidia
Occasion: her birthday

For Lidia's birthday card, I created a watercolor of lots of balloons! I love how delicate the overlap of the colors are. The thin black of the balloon strings also makes me very happy. I love Lidia so and hope her birthday was spectacular!

Painting Birthday

For: Daissy
Occasion: her birthday

Daissy loves to paint, so for her birthday card, I did a watercolor of her all ready to go to paint up a storm! I had so much fun with this one, and love how happy she looks. I'm also so proud of Daissy for all the kick-butt work she is doing as a lawyer in Chicago!

Denver Nuggets Birthday

For: Johnson
Occasion: his birthday

Johnson is a big Nuggets fan, and he also has a ginger beard. Lo and behold, the Nuggets had this little mascot in the mid-seventies while in the ABA. Oh yes, the universe planned out this birthday card a decade before Justin was even born (and some thirty years before his beard). I could not be happier with how this card came out, and had a great time catching up with everyone at the recent Denver Family dinner!

Hanging Lamp Birthday

For: Krystina
Occasion: her birthday

Krystina is super passionate about helping kids get to college, so for her birthday card, I played on the idea that she "lights up the way" for her kiddos to get to where they want to go. Look at all these fun lamps! Krystina is such an inspiration to me, and I hope nothing but the best for her always!

Wedding Cuties

For: Amy and Eric
Occasion: their wedding

Amy and Eric are one of my very favorite couples, and they went and got married! To celebrate their fantastic love for each other, I created this watercolor of them in their wedding finery underneath a "congratulations" banner. It looks so wonderfully like them that I giggle every time I look at it. I love them dearly and hope it was a wonderful day! Also, check out Amy's awesome travel blog here!

Flower Face Birthday

For: Marie

Occasion: her birthday

Marie is (or was, in middle school) a big fan of Rene Magritte, the artist who is famous for obscuring the faces of his subjects with various objects. For her birthday card this year, I created a lady holding up a bunch of flowers for a similar effect! I love how the bouquet came out (thanks, micron pens!), and like the overall design of the card. I hope Marie likes it and had a lovely time running the Chicago Marathon on her birthday--what an accomplishment!

Heart Anniversary

For: Sofi and Paul
Occasion: their anniversary

Sofi and Paul got married last year, and to help them celebrate the paper anniversary, I created a card featuring a fun wordy background. The text is the definitions of three words, "one," "year," and "ago." I love this design, obviously, and also love how I got to use the colors that stand out most from their wedding: a cerulean sky with golden aspen leaves. I miss them both and hope they enjoyed their anniversary!

Word Tree Wedding

For: Jeremy and Stephanie
Occasion: their wedding

My cousin Jeremy got married this weekend, and to help them celebrate the start of their life together,  I created this neat little card with a tree cutout from a book page. The branch has a string (a real string!) with two hearts wrapped around it. Paired with some green grass, blue clouds and a swirly "Congratulations" script, the card has a very fun feel. I wish them both a lifetime of happiness together!