I had the best time making Valentine’s Day cards for my family this year!

Trying to come up with ideas recently, I started thinking of what I could draw as a greeting card for each individual family member. Which led me to thinking about how full and crazy and amazing our life is right now.

A full house, if you will.

And then boom. Of course, full house Valentines! With everyone as custom playing cards illustrations!

I wanted to challenge myself with a project that could make awesome use of my line drawing skills and give me some practice in that hit and miss vintage printing art style I love so much.

But also. When inspiration comes knocking, you can’t really ignore it.

Queen of Hearts – Joy loves boba / milk tea, Hello Kitty, our cat Henrietta, gardening, and playing the violin! I had the best time creating this really crazy long hair of hers.

Queen of Diamonds – My mom in law Carole. One of the things I love about this custom playing cards illustration style is how much visual info you can pack in! Take a look at the royalty in any classic deck of cards, and you’ll see a billion patterns and bits and pieces all jam packed together. What better way to showcase Carole’s love of a sunny day on the porch, her cat bff Anthony, coffee from Queen Bee and planning for her tiny house? Plants, flowers, books to read and most importantly Jesus, this queen of diamonds really shines!

Queen of Clubs – me. I have this ridiculously huge red gardening hat Josh got me ages ago before Phil was born, and I figured I should pair that with my favorite tuxedo t-shirt. Our cat Sue is peeking over my shoulder ready to head butt me a million times at the end of the day, and I have all my favorite creative outlets at the ready. Art, reading, playing music, planting things… Then gangs all here and my glow in the dark glasses are ready to party with em!

King of Hearts: Josh is obviously the no brainer choice for my King of Hearts. Because duh, Valentine’s Day. His best buddy Griff gets so close he could be kissing you at any moment. Josh is known for his stellar beekeeping skills, his penchant for Coke (the drink guys, the drink) , and his excellent aim.

And also. Can I share how fun it was to draw this beard?

King of Diamonds: Phil rounds out our Full House valentines with all those special things that remind me of our boy. This kid loves the band Sabaton the absolute most! He’s got his snake with him, and Ash is just so proud of the mouse he’s about to eat lol. There’s M&Ms sprinkled around, and Phil’s rad clarinet in the background.

What do you think of my custom playing cards illustrations? If you’re ready to hire me to create some for you, head over to the contact page and give me a shout.