Veronica's Cards

Is that one of the coolest drawings ever?!  This year, Veronica, a friend of our boys, made personalized Christmas cards for everyone in our home and hand delivered them. (Be forewarned, this is a very photo-heavy post. Click on any photo for a larger image.)

My husband and I knew we would be receiving one of Veronica's fabulous drawings, because our eldest son told us she wanted to know what our favorite animals were. Honestly, it took me over a week to finally decide rabbits and frogs were two of my favorite creatures.

Who knew a frog could make such a lovely Christmas card?  Just check out the details.  The poinsettias are gorgeous!

I had no idea another lovely drawing would await inside the card.  (I did my best to hide the portion of the message she wrote at the top of this photo that I was unable to crop out - her card is not at all blemished.) Veronica admitted she researched various quilt patterns on-line before making this card.  The details all amaze me. I love that the frog is holding the needle in its mouth, letting me know he (she?) is hand quilting.  The candlestick holder is simply amazing. The facets in the glass and reflections are fantastic. I love the holly, too!

Imagine my delight to find yet another drawing on the back of the card!  All of these colorful frogs were hopping around on yet another quilt.  Every time I look at the card, another detail catches my attention.

I LOVE that Veronica named the quilt "Snow Frogs" and added the name to the quilt.

This picture was taken at an angle, to capture how Veronica added "Veronica's Cards" to her drawing.  I failed to notice the frog was catching a snowflake with his tongue until I looked at the picture.  How fun is that?

My husband said giraffes were his favorite animal.  If you click on the picture, you should be able to read, "Got that reindeer swag," on the giraffe's sweater.  (We all joked around at the idea of actually getting a sweater onto a giraffe.  Can you imagine?! We all love it in this drawing.)

Through my boys, Veronica learned my husband also enjoys playing golf.  Here is the drawing inside his card. The giraffe is thinking, "A two in one trip. Nice!" From behind the giraffe, someone is asking, "Hey!! What happened to the tree at the Ninth Hole?!!"  Too funny! Personally, I love the argyle socks.

The back of the card is fabulous.  There is no doubt this giraffe is at the north pole (even without the green North Pole sign.) I adore the pattern on the scarf and love the leg warmers!

I also love the details on the sign.  Too fun!

Last year, I discovered my eldest son's favorite animal was a white tiger when I saw his Christmas card from Veronica (which is not pictured here.)

Every summer, the high school drama club does face painting at two local celebrations to raise funds for a field trip to the Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon.  This past summer, Monkey came home with this fabulous white tiger Veronica painted on his cheek. (Monkey has been my eldest's nickname since he was about two-years-old.  My hubby had been out of town and bought him a stuffed monkey and made up a Funky Monkey song.)

This is the inside of his card.  This past year, he decided he wanted to drink tea.  My hubby and he have sampled several loose leaf teas and created quite the tea habit.  As for the pose of the tiger, every time I see it I wonder if Veronica was picturing my son as the psychiatrist he aspires to become.  I just love it.  If you click on the picture, you may be able to see some of the details on the china tea cup and saucer, too.  I believe the top hat may have been inspired by a print my son owns of Mr. Tiger by Lora Zombie.

The back of this card was inspired by Meepo, a character from the game Dota 2. (I hope I am getting that right...) It is a game my boys sometimes like to play.

Again, the little details are hidden within.  There are 8 of these little fellows and each sports the name of one of Santa's reindeer (without Rudolph.)

My youngest son (nicknamed as Mutt - only on this blog, really), has loved dogs - beagles in particular - since he discovered at a very young age the story behind his favorite stuffed animal.  The day he was born, his aunt took his big brother to the gift shop to pick out a stuffed toy for his new baby brother.  Monkey chose a stuffed beagle that Mutt later named Ruffy.  Mutt always liked Ruffy, but when he learned it was a gift from his big brother, Ruffy became his very favorite stuffed animal.  (In fact, Mutt admitted a couple of years ago that cats would probably be his favorite animals if it were not for Ruffy.  His big brother inspired his love of dogs.  Due to my horrible allergies, he will not own either while living at home. Poor kid!)

These playful beagles are so much fun!  I love the patterns on the wrapping paper and the bows the puppies are wearing.

The drawing inside the card is fabulous! This is a Christmas gift my youngest would LOVE to open someday.

Again, the details are amazing!  The bow on the puppy's head is too cute! The gift tag reads, "To Short Stack From Guess Who".  (My youngest knows he is one of the shortest young men in his grade, and does not mind the nickname at all.  Although, with his current growth spurt, I wonder how long it will fit!)

Here is another close up of the gifts drawn inside the card.  I just love the wrapping paper and the bows.

The back of the card is entirely too cute.  By the tail wagging, this pup is enjoying his candy canes!

The details on the gift box are one of my favorite parts of this card.  I love Veronica's sense of humor and the unique way she labels each of her cards.

It was such a treat to receive personalized artwork from such a talented young lady for Christmas. Veronica, thank you for these wonderful cards and for your permission to share them with my on-line friends.