Heart Plant Birthday

 For: Claire
Occasion: her birthday

To celebrate my dearest Claire's birthday, I made a mixed media collage of a sweet little heart plant in a stained glass bowl on top of a funky table in front of an open window. I really just love how this card came out, and it really captures my hopes and dreams for Clarity in this next year. Here's hoping we all have a lovely 2022!

Friendship Bracelet Birthday

 For: Riley
Occasion: her birthday

To celebrate Riley's birthday, I did a watercolor of friendship bracelets! Riley has a lot of talent making various woven or banded jewelry, and I am so pleased with how this painting turned out. I hope Riley had a wonderful day and enjoyed her Oreo cupcakes!

Dinosaur Birthday

 For: Uncle Jer
Occasion: his birthday

There's a cheeky little dinosaur that has starred in both Uncle Jer's and Aunt Kat's stop motion birthday videos I made for them, and he made an appearance in this year's birthday card, too. Look at how spunky the dinosaur is, sneaking into the photo as well! I had fun trying to get the purple and shine right in this drawing and think it was pretty close. I hope UJer had a wonderful day and was tickled to see the dino again!

Candy Keane Christmas

 For: Michael
Occasion: Christmas

Candy canes are my new favored Christmas motif, given the pronunciation of our last name, and so to celebrate some holiday love, I made Michael a card featuring two shiny candy canes in the shape of a heart with a festive green bow. Look at that white gel pen shine! This has definitely been an unusual Christmas, and I hope Michael and I get to properly celebrate the holiday together for years to come--if the fates allow!

Link Christmas

 For: Adam
Occasion: Christmas

For Adam's Christmas card, I drew the cutest little Link I could from The Legend of Zelda game series. Instead of a sword, he's got a candy cane and a festive Santa hat to boot! I love how this card turned out, and I so enjoyed seeing my small bud for the Christmas prep and play for a few days. I'm glad he likes his Auntie Twin -- I like him so much, too!

Snowmint Christmas

 For: The Twin
Occasion: Christmas

I created this little character, Snowmint, at the request of The Twin over the summer when I was recovering from surgery and looking for crafts to do to help me recover. She said she loves snowmen and peppermints, and so I combined the two and needlefelted the original Snowmint, then made her Snowmint II (pictured lurking in the background here) and featured the happy guy(s) in a watercolor for her Christmas card. Twin says Snowmint is her favorite part of Christmas, and she is just the sweetest twin. I had so much fun doing some holiday prep and holly jollies with her little family before the big day. 

Blippi Christmas

 For: Owen
Occasion: Christmas

Baby O loves Blippi (and dresses up as him on many video call, to my delight!), so to help my favorite little guy celebrate Christmas, I did a gouache painting of Blippi with a festive orangeish Santa hat and scarf to match the iconic glasses. I was so happy to see my little bud for a bit this season and play and snuggle while we could!

Gingerbread House Christmas

 For: Amy
Occasion: Christmas

Amy made an elaborate and beautiful gingerbread house, so for her Christmas card this year I made an elaborate and beautiful gingerbread house card! This was my first house shape that I've ever made and I love how the white pen shows up on the brown card stock. This card is so festive and I hope Ames has a lovely time celebrating the holiday at home!

Nutcracker Christmas

 For: Dad
Occasion: Christmas

For Dad's Christmas card, I did a watercolor illustration of a nutcracker with a big ol' Christmas wish in his mouth. It's a "Merry Christmas" wish that just won't crack! I love my dad so, it was great to see him, and hope he's enjoyed a wonderful holiday season!

Sugar Cookie Christmas

 For: Mom
Occasion: Christmas

My mom has carried on the tradition of painting Christmas sugar cookies with frosting every year since forever. We have been known to get really creative with the shapes (the snowman has been both a lightbulb and Alexander Hamilton, for example); however, this cookie is straight out of a classic decoration style with a purple icing hat, scarf, and broom. A few simpler cookies adorn the sparkliest baking sheet you've ever seen in this festive card. I hope Mom has been enjoying the season!

Sled Christmas

For: Nathan
Occasion: Christmas

For Brother Bear's Christmas card, I watercolored an old-timey sled with some festive packages tied in bows. The sled is heading down the hill (that I imagine to be the little sledding hill right by their house!) to usher in some holiday cheer. I just adore Nathan and have had so much fun seeing him this holiday!

Ghosts of Tsushima Christmas

 For: Alex
Occasion: Christmas

To help Alex celebrate Christmas, I wrote a haiku and paired it with a wintery scene à la his favorite video game, The Ghosts of Tsushima.  "Stars, snow this night / Frozen breath sings in the wind / Light Christmas spirit." As far as I know, there isn't a wintery scene in the game (when Mike played it, he let me pick the haiku lines!), but I hope it is a festive take on his past-time!