Yuletide Whispers

Since I have recently created a collection of new cards for the festive season I thought it would be nice to show the process of how I made them. I always love to see all the sketches and thoughts that go into making a finished product, and I think it is more and more important these days to appreciate the process in all you do and not just the end result.

I start by making endless scribbles and basic layouts, which turn into more worked up drawings to be scanned in...

I also decide on all my text. For my Christmas designs I decided to hand draw my lettering. I usually make this up as I go, with the overall look I want in mind. The font here is quite simple, with some fancy swirls and delicate lines.

When all the seperate elements of my designs are drawn and scanned in, I arrange the images and text using Photoshop. For these cards I fought my urge to paint and used a selection of textures I had to 'fill in' areas of colour. Some of these backgrounds I keep in a big folder on my computer include scanned in gold leaf, fabrics, brown paper...all sorts! I love experimenting with collage and resisting my use of painting forces me to be a little more creative and deliberate about colour.

Each design then needs to be arranged in the right format for the printers. This usually means Jasmine gets a headache! I struggle with pdf's and bleeds for a few hours and then...voila! All ready to send off :)

I use Printed.com for printing at the moment as I love the card choices they have. For me it has to be textured, watercolour style paper every-time in all that I print!
When they arrive, I fold and package them up with envelopes all ready to sell. I love little details, so I add star cut outs and confetti to my designs, so each one has been hand finished.

I hope you enjoyed that little insight into my process :) My cards are onsale here online and for those that live in Cornwall, at Inhabit in Truro.