A Greeting Card tutorial for the perfectly hand-painted birthday card!
A Step-by-Step Tutorial
Looking for a thoughtful, handmade touch on your next birthday present to friend or family? There's something undeniably special about receiving a handwritten card, and painting it yourself goes the extra mile.
Whether you're painting something for a family member or a friend, it's the perfect way to share how much you love them, by taking the time to create something meaningful that they will treasure forever.
Today I'm walking you through each simple step of creating a hand-painted birthday card, so that you can make your next gift extra special. I've included pictures with each step to make the process easy and approachable, even for beginners!
Materials to Gather Before You Start:
- Blank watercolor paper and envelopes (or use my watercolor DIY notecards here)
- A set of watercolors
- A pencil and eraser
- A waterproof fineliner pen
- A small paintbrush (usually size 5 or 6 round brush)
You can browse all my favorite supplies here.
Step-by-Step Make Your Own Watercolor Birthday Card:
Step 1: Choose your message
Decide if you'd like to add a message to the front of your card. Sometimes it can be nice to simply have the artwork on front, without any words, for simplicity's sake. Most often, adding a 'Happy birthday!' or 'Celebrating You Today' can add a personal touch to your note.
Write the wording on your card in light pencil, using a ruler to help align the words if needed. The lighter the pencil marks, the better, so that they can easily erase off after you ink the lettering later on.
Step 2: Sketch your design
With light pencil again, sketch the outline of your design. It's okay during this step to erase and re-sketch if you need to, until you get the design exactly right. Just make sure you keep it light, so that you can easily erase any stray marks later on.
Have fun with this! What would your card recipient most like to receive? A birthday cake? A flower? A dog? Personalize the artwork to the birthday gal, and it's sure to be a memorable and special piece of art to receive.
Step 3: Ink the lettering and any outline
Here's the simple part: using a waterproof artist ink pen, outline the design you just sketched. After tracing the outline, ink the lettering (if any) as well, to make sure the words and design stand out on the birthday card paper.
When you're finishing inking, make sure the ink is dry, and gently erase any stray pencil marks. Make sure to get anything you don't want to be seen in the finished product. Once pencil is painted over with watercolor, it becomes permanent, and no amount of erasing will remove the pencil marks.
Step 4: Paint in the design with watercolor
Now it's time for the fun part! With your watercolor paints and brushes, paint in all the design with watercolor. Have fun with this! You can mix new colors, add a fun background, or paint a pattern around your artwork as well.
With your own creative design, you're sure to create a one-of-a-kind birthday card that they can't find anywhere else!
If this is your favorite part, and you don't feel as experienced with the drawing and sketching side of things, be sure to check out my paintable notecard sets. With a pre-sketched design on each, they leave time for the fun part of painting in each design on your own!
Step 5: Let it dry & send it in the mail!
Once your hand-painted card is all dry, you can write a meaningful message inside, and place it in an envelope to send in the mail.
You're all set! Creating your own greeting card is such a thoughtful, therapeutic practice that spreads a little joy to others as well. It's a worthwhile investment to connect with those we love in a meaningful way, and practice watercolor skills in the meantime.
Happy painting!
Caroline Ann