Val's Pals are drawn with the intent to portray moments of celebration, joy, laughter and sorrow with loving humor and in a form familiar to all -- the simple stick figure. The stick figures in this collection of cards were born of a high school art assignment that stuck long after more technical lessons had come and gone. They may be simple but the message they deliver is both humorous and heartfelt.

There is not much variation in Val Pal land; sometimes stick figures get a nice trapezoidal body, sometimes they don't. They are given hair and clothes primarily to add colors other than black and white to a design. Generally, the designs are based on personal experience so the stick figures tend to be me, with real or fantasy hair and easy to draw clothes. For fans of Ed Emberley, there's some holiday designs that should look familiar. His books underscore a basic point: drawing and coloring are fun and do not have to be difficult to be effective. Hopefully these figures add some chuckles to your day!

The cards are grouped by commonly used categories: birthdays, holidays, congratulations, thank you and sympathy, just for fun and invitations. For months without popular holidays, I introduce some of my own that I think are relevant. Congratulations covers new additions to the family, the home, and the workplace, and thank you and sympathy cards are grouped together under "Empathy", that valuable quality of being able to reach out to others in gratitude and understanding. Cards for fun should be just that - fun and good for sending a smile - and the invitations cover gatherings from baby showers to Thanksgiving dinners to Halloween parties and more.

Over the years I've noticed people prefer viewing or downloading the card images to buying individual cards so it's not worth the bookkeeping of offering individual cards for sale. However, if you would like to purchase cards, there's a variety of sampler packs you can select. Cards are printed on heavy duty cardstock with archival inks for a smooth, rich matte finish.