Patisserie Birthday

For: Lids
Occasion: her birthday

Lidia spent her honeymoon in France this year, and given our French connection that goes all the way back to middle school, I used the opportunity to make a whimsical French bakery with lots of bright colors and tasty treats in the window for her birthday! There's a cake with her name on it and the little blue puppy is eyeing that tasty pie. I love Lids so much and hope her birthday is amazing!

Chicago Beach Birthday

For: Daissy
Occasion: her birthday

Daissy is completely incredibly. She's so passionate and successful that every year I am completely blown away by her. To celebrate the big 3-0 this year, I did a simple watercolor of Chicago's Oak Street Beach in hopes that she gets to take some time to relax and celebrate just how great she is. I love this card, and particularly how the sun reflects off the clouds. Here's to Daissy, and another year of crushing it!

Gondola Birthday

For: Richardson
Occasion: his birthday

Because the plan is to ski a bunch with Chris and Elly this year, I created a fun design for Chris's birthday card featuring a brightly colored gondolas headed up the slopes! It looks a little Dr. Seuss-y, which is probably appropriate, given that there are two little Richardsons running around now! Little details on this card that make me giggle are outline of little Chris and Elly in the first Gondola and then Mike and I following close behind in the yellow one. Chris is the freaking best and I hope he had an amazing day!

Ski and Snowshoe Birthday

For: Conor
Occasion: his birthday

Conor lives in Colorado now, and I'm so excited to go on all kinds of adventures! For his birthday card this year, I created an illustration of Conor decked out in gear in the style of a 1970s vintage ski poster I had seen during my unending quest for vintage ski posters. I really love how this card turned out and am tickled pink that the entire thing is on a bright orange paper. I hope Conor had an amazing day, and I can't wait to hang out soon!

Camping Birthday

For: Johnson
Occasion: his birthday

Johnson gets particularly psyched about his birthday card every year, so I wanted to make sure he got a winner. I have a plastic circle in my studio that is just hanging out on my desk; for this card, I traced the circle and then did the mountain forrest camping design inside. I love how sharp this card looks with all the different kinds of lines. I hope Johnson had the best birthday and is ready for another year of fun in the mountains!

Happy Cat Birthday

For: Marie
Occasion: her birthday

Marie has a couple kitties now, and to celebrate her birthday, I wanted to draw the happiest cat I could come up with! Enter this little guy in a party hat with a present and delirious with joy on his birthday. I hope Marie and the cats had a wonderful birthday!

Donut Birthday

For: Aunt Sherry
Occasion: her birthday

Aunt Sherry is one of the hardest working women I know--I really don't know how she does it all! To celebrate her birthday this year, I created a watercolor of a donut chillaxing in a "Treat Yourself!" cup of coffee. I love the colors of this and how playful (yet sophisticated!) the entire design is. I hope Aunt Sherry had the best day and got to relax and have some fun!

Destination Birthday

For: Warren
Occasion: his birthday

Warren has a saying for when we get lost on hikes: "I never get lost; I just investigate alternative destinations." This is the quote that inspired me for his birthday card this year (I thought of this card concept while trudging through some willows the week before his big day). I love this caricature of Warren (it looks just like him!) and had lots of fun celebrating the big 7-8. 

C is for Christy Birthday

For: Christy "The Twin"
Occasion: her birthday

To celebrate my very lovely twin, I created an illustration of her with a big ol' smile, wearing one of her favorite shirts, and with a cake and balloons to celebrate her birthday. I love this idea of a children's book explaining the alphabet, even more so in Twin's case since her initials are C.C. I heart my twin so much and laughed and laughed when she sent a picture of her holding the card and wearing the shirt. I hope this year treats us well!

Watercolor Flower Birthday

For: Bridget
Occasion: her birthday

For Bridget's birthday card, I created a watercolor floral background wrote a "Happy Birthday!" message in a fun font on top. I hope she had a great birthday and that her year is fun and bright!

G Birthday

For: Uncle Greg
Occasion: his birthday

To celebrate Uncle Greg's birthday, I decided to do a watercolor of a lower-case G. G is a fascinating letter from a typography standpoint, and the lower-case G has a lot of different variations--google image it if you don't believe me! As I was thinking about Uncle Greg and what to do for his birthday card this year, I got stuck on this interesting idea and couldn't get away from it--good thing he's got two Gs in his name!

Boss of Dancing Birthday

For: Sarah Sot
Occasion: her birthday

In college, we had many a dinner party to watch The Office. I once did an impression of Michael Scott's dancing on the Booze Cruise, and it cracked Sarah up. To celebrate her birthday this year, I made a card of Michael doing the dance and paired it with a quote from that episode: "Sometimes, you have to just be the boss of dancing." I had the most fun possible visiting Sarah in Seattle over labor day and hope that this year brings her the best of health and happiness!