Christmas Card of a northern climate.

Artistic Christmas Card

“A good conscience is a continual Christmas.” Benjamin Franklin

I’ve been working on a Christmas card to send out to my brother and sisters and my children. It turned out to be a good experience and though not perfect, I thought the card turned out pretty. I love nature and log homes and miss the change of seasons and hopes of a snowy Christmas season. So, I incorporated all that into my card.

Christmas Card of a northern climate.

I first did a watercolor of the scene using a few different sources for the idea. I decided to make the scene at dusk so chose violets, cerulean blue, aquamarine blue, rose, deep bluish green. For the snow, I left the white of the paper show through. A punch of red, green, pink brought attention to the young girl pulling a sled full of gifts. I used a variety of browns and ochre for the wooden building parts. Shadows in the windows were made mixing the blue and violet colors mirroring the purple dusky tones of the shadows and mountains outside. In order to emphasize the two Christmas trees, I painted the interior in those windows an ochre like the room was lit. Deer were added to emphasize the natural beauty and a peaceful setting. The buck appears to be watching the girl coming up the drive. I don’t know if you can see it but there is also a little bunny in a snowbank above the drive.

After I did the watercolor, I scanned it into the computer and reduced the size to 5″ x 7″ and printed onto card stock. I added some sparkly to the snow using Ranger “Stickles” glitter glue. Next, I worked on the inside salutation area of the card. I drew a little design based on portion of a wrapping paper I had in my craft supply. I colored it with Blick Studio markers.

Interior of card

The sentiment is in speedball acrylic green ink. The little bird and evergreen branch emphasizes the nature theme. After the inks dried, I finished off the outside of the card with some reflective silver ribbon. Below are some details of the design of the girl with the sleigh and the Christmas decorations on the railing.

Details Girl and sleigh and rail decorations

The sparkles I added show up on the photo as white specks. You can also see the window shadows treatment.

Closeup detail of house.

Here you can see the different colors I used for the wood in the house. Details of the two Christmas trees show the decorations and the sparkle I added to give it pizazz.

This project got me into the Christmas spirit. I ended up making 5 cards. The outside of the card was quick to print and finish, however I haven’t figured out how to print onto the interior of the card. So, I drew and colored  all the interiors. Another challenge was trying to get the ribbon to stick to the card. I  used two different glues and smashed the card between books. The ribbon was adhered when I mailed the cards. Hope they remain intact. I’ve got to experiment and see how to print on the other side. It is a matter of placement, I guess. 

I hope you enjoy this project and even try to make some pretty cards yourself. Many people use the online method of sending cards, but I still like to receive beautifully crafted cards in the mail.

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