A Printed Christmas

Christmas card designs offer a great opportunity to explore natural forms, experiment with printmaking techniques and have some fun with texture, pattern and atmosphere.

I've created two distinct Christmas card collections over the years, each with its own style and approach to printmaking, but both rooted in a love of flora and fauna.

The Winter Frolicking collection takes inspiration from the wildlife and landscapes around us, playing with the atmosphere of winter hillsides and woodland settings. Holly & Hare features playful hares leaping across a snowy hillside, inspired by the Rutland countryside, with glimpses of water in the distance.

Fir & Fox takes us into the woodland, with morning light streaming between the pine trees. Both designs combine mixed media and monoprint techniques, incorporating botanical prints made using real holly leaves and fir sprigs. Yes, a little blood was drawn in the process!

The Cosy Textures collection takes a different approach. These designs began as linocut prints, with the Cosy Robin being one of the first linocuts I ever created. Christmas Kisses also features a linocut of mistletoe - both combines the bold shapes of relief print with textile monoprint, adding pattern and detail to the robin's scarf and the mistletoe design.

Although quite different in style, both collections share a love of the natural world and the character that comes from creating artwork using traditional, hands-on printmaking techniques.

Both collections have proved popular at Christmas fairs, and they're available again this year through the Eyvi Studio website and for wholesale, including via Faire. 

I hope these designs bring a bit of the natural world to your Christmas cards this year and help you spread some festive cheer.

Wishing you a wonderful, wild Christmas!