I love this time of year and the feelings it captures, and I especially love pulling out all of my favorite greeting card supplies to get festive, creative Christmas card ideas! Whether real or decorative, 'tis the season for bright, sparkling tinsel, fresh snowflakes, and magic in the air. There is something unique about giving people you love or care about a handmade Christmas card.
Everyone seems to love the extra attention to detail, the personalization, and the artwork that goes into crafting a handmade Christmas card. So, every holiday I purchase Cheap Joe's Goof-Proof Blank Greeting Cards. It's one of my favorite products from Cheap Joe's because it comes with everything you need for custom greeting cards. The set includes 5x7 high-quality card stock blanks, plus matching envelopes. What makes them goof-proof? Each card has a cold-pressed watercolor paper that can be attached to the card itself, this means you don't have to worry about making a mistake while printing or painting directly on it!
Each greeting card also features a gorgeous deckled edge. If the white isn't to your taste, they also come in various colors, watercolor papers, and card sizes.
For years, I've enjoyed hand-painting art for everyone on my Christmas card list using the Goof-Proof cards. However, my list kept growing year after year, and I found it more challenging to get them painted and out in time for Christmas.
I finally discovered different Christmas card ideas that could help me create unique art and save me from longer painting sessions as my list grew. And now I'll share it with you!
Paint One, Print Many
I came up with an idea to make it a little more joyful and productive to send cards to everyone while ensuring they are still handmade and one-of-a-kind. I create one large artwork I want for the Christmas cards; then, I get them printed as a photo matching the cards' size and quantity. After that, all I need to do is mount the artwork onto the Goof-Proof cards themselves. Everyone gets a new piece of artwork to keep each year, and I can get the cards out in time for the holidays!
This year, I was inspired to paint a local bull named Koda. Koda is a registered Red Limousin breed, an ancestor of the present-day Mimousins, which can be red like Koda or black. The Red Limousins are believed to be the same as those depicted on the cave walls in Lascaux, France, and left behind by cave dwellers thousands of years ago. Since it made sense that such a handsome beast was the subject and inspiration of the artist's muse for a very long time, it might as well be mine too!
And, of course, wouldn't it be natural for Santa Clause to want only the very best transportation when delivering gifts this year? Not only do the reindeer get a much-needed break, but a Limousin is also already perfectly festive in red!
So how did I carry out my Christmas card ideas this season?
1. Supplies
Before I began painting, I made sure that I had all the materials I would need to start my Christmas card creations. Here are the supplies I used:
Cheap Joe's tracing paper is a reliable and heavy-duty budget-friendly option available in many sizes. This transparent paper is perfect for quickly and accurately transferring a design, a sketch, or trying out different ideas before committing to one in a painting, scrapbooking, card-making, or any art project.
My father was a carpenter, so I became very familiar with carpenter's pencils early on and throughout my life. However, it wasn't recently that I thought of the idea of using one to help transfer patterns or drawings. The wide lead in a carpenter's pencil is perfect for marking the back of any pattern in graphite, then place your transfer paper down and draw over the design with a dried ink pen. Picking up excess graphite during the transfer is easy too with a kneadable eraser, just shape it into a log and roll it gently across.
Dried Ink-Pen or Stylus
This is an old trick I have been using in my art for a long time. I never throw away an ink pen when it runs out. I mark them with colored tape to identify their empty, and when I need a stylus-like tool to press on transfer paper, I grab one of my dried ink pens and use that to draw.
Kilimanjaro 300lb 15x22 Watercolor Block
The Kilimanjaro 300lb Original Bright White watercolor block was the perfect size for what I needed for my design. I love using 300lb watercolor paper so that I don't have to worry about warping or buckling when using a lot of water.
While you don't necessarily need these specific brushes, as my skills grew and I became more and more familiar with watercolors, I chose Cheap Joe's Kolinsky Sable Brush Set as my main watercolor brushes. Genuine sable brushes are a dream to work with, holding quite a bit of water and able to make many different thicknesses of brushstrokes.
Masters Watercolor Tray
You might be surprised just how phenomenal this Cheap Joe's Masters Watercolor tray performs! This tray is incredibly affordable and comes with suitable wells in different depths. Small circles, medium-sized squares, and larger-sized circle-shaped wells allow me to mix my preferred liquid watercolors in the deeper wells, allowing them to stay wet longer, yet give me all the space needed for mixing.
Dr. Ph. Martin's Hydrus Liquid Watercolor Set #1
When it comes to the ultimate payoff in vivid, bright colors, I find few watercolor pan palettes can compete with Dr. Ph. Martin's liquid Fine Art Watercolors. Watercolor liquids are very fluid and ready to use without activation by water if you choose. Additionally, they are extremely rich in pigment as they are concentrated, so you only have to use a few drops. The twelve most popular colors are included in set #1, and from those colors, you can literally mix nearly every color you need from this.
Did you know that Janet Nunn, an award-winning watercolorist known for her use of bright color and unique blending techniques, loves using Dr. Ph. Martin's Hydrus Watercolors, too?
Now that I've got my supplies ready, it's time to paint!
1. Pattern or Outline
I needed to create my pattern or outline in pencil to get started. For this, I turned the original photo of handsome Koda into a black and white photo and then printed a color copy so that I had a reference. Next, I used my carpenter's pencil and transfer paper to create a design on my watercolor paper and then blocked in other details, such as Santa's Sleigh and lightly marking the ground. For any graphite lines that seemed too dark or heavy, I lighten them by rolling my kneadable eraser over them.
2. First Wash
The first thing I do is lay down my first watercolor wash. A watercolor wash refers to a layer of color that can be somewhat transparent and applied over a more significant amount of space. For this first wash, I am painting wet (paintbrush wet with water and paint) on dry (paper is dry) and laying down a foundation color for Koda.
The second wash is to build up more color, and I begin applying a wash to Santa's Sleigh and the bag.
Third wash and the colors are starting to really stand out and make the image more three-dimensional.
I apply the fourth wash to Koda and a second or third to Santa's sleigh while using a finer brush to add the small details to Koda's wreath and harness and then begin to block in the shadows on the snow using very little Phthalo blue and more water on my brush.
I take a moment to check my work and add any last-minute details, such as widening the rails on Santa's sleigh and putting finishing touches with more minor details, and voila! My painting is done!
3. Photo Finish
Once I finished and let my painting dry completely, I took several photos of it in natural light until I found the perfect one. If you don't feel like doing so, you can always take your painting to a printing place to get photos printed for you.
I chose to make my own, then selected the photo I loved the best, added my text and border then sent it off to my local Walgreens for printing.
The last step was to mount my photo to my Cheap Joe's Goof-Proof Blank Greeting cards with Joe's Stick-it-to'em Adhesive strips provided in the set, and I was done! All that was left was to slip the cards into the envelopes, address them and send them off.
10 More Christmas Card Ideas
I spent some time wondering what else I could create with some 4x6 140lb watercolor paper blanks I had and decided to try and make some extra unique art gifts that could be included within the greeting cards. Here are 10 of the ideas I came up with for the additional material that may inspire you this season!
1. Bookmarks. Splash on some colors or draw shapes, patterns, and small landscapes and cut the paper half lengthwise, creating two bookmarks. Use a hole punch at the top and attach any leftover ribbons, twine or string.
2. Recipe cards. Decorate a 4x6 blank with seasonal colors or decorations, hand-copy, and share a special Christmas recipe with a friend or loved one.
3. Photo Mat. Decorate a 1-inch border around a blank, cut out the middle, and use it as a custom photo mat or frame for a special shot.
4. Puzzle. Paint a picture or message and create puzzle lines on the back of the blank, then using a sharp craft knife, cut apart and let them reassemble.
5. Ornament. Design an ornament that can be cut out, or cut it out beforehand, and add a ribbon so that it can be placed on the Christmas tree.
6. Message. Handprint an inspirational message or memorable quote. These can be folded up and placed in a jar for later encouragement or treasured for the meaning throughout the year.
7. Magnet. Whether you handprint a special quote or a cute seasonal image or decoration, include a magnet or cut it out and create a Christmas magnet for them.
8. Color Page. Outline an image with waterproof safe ink or pencil with holiday motifs and leave it blank to be colored in by the recipient.
9. Gift Tags. Draw, paint, and shape Christmas gift tags for the recipient to cut out and use on their gifts.
10. Paint. Create a miniature painting for your Christmas card recipient to hang in their home and enjoy year-round.
What's great about all of these Christmas card ideas is that they are a fun and safe activity for the kids to get involved in! If you run out of paper or adhesives, Cheap Joe's conveniently sells both individually for convenience. With all these new ideas and inspiration, you'll have your Christmas cards ready in no time and give a gift that can be enjoyed all year.
I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and enjoy creating your Greeting Cards!
Welcome to Cheap Joe's Sketchbook, a place where artists can gain creative tips and ideas for their next art project. This art blog will inspire you to try new mediums across the art spectrum while gathering knowledge on different painting techniques.
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Welcome to Cheap Joe's Sketchbook, a place where artists can gain creative tips and ideas for their next art project. This art blog will inspire you to try new mediums across the art spectrum while gathering knowledge on different painting techniques.