Painting Tutorial For A DIY Christmas Holly Card

The holidays are the time for doing some fun crafts and handmade gifts.  This year I got the crazy notion to hand make my Christmas cards.  I must admit that I narrowed my list of recipients as I am short on time. If you don't have the time, you can just make these cards for a few special people.  That said, I did keep in mind that I would be making several of these so I kept it simple.

The first step is to clear a space and gather your supplies.  I already had a pack of blank cards and envelopes from Michael's Craft Store .  I'm not sure how long I've had my set, as I always try to keep some blank cards and envelopes and tags on hand for emergency gift giving!  I used an off-white set that has some speckles in the fiber of the paper, but you can use any kind you wish.

List of supplies I used:

• set of blank cards and envelopes
• pencil
• paint brushes size 5 and 0 ( I used Simply Simmons round brushes)
• acrylic paint: Apple Barrel White and Honeysuckle Pink
                        Delta Light Foliage Green
                        Craft Smart Holiday Red and Sea Mist Pearl
                        Folk Art Inca Gold
                        Martha Stewart Glitter Craft Paint in Cotton Candy
• Tombow Dual Brush Pens in #249, #242, #757

These are just the supplies I had on hand. You can use the colors you have.

I used my pencil to draw a simple holly shape on the front of my card.

I used my holiday red and light foliage green acrylic paint, leaving some of the paper untouched as the highlights.

I used a little of the Honeysuckle Pink on the bottom left side of the berries.  This is an optional step. It adds a little depth but won't make or break your painting if you leave it out.  Then I went in with a second coat of the green for the leaves. 

It's hard to see here but I added some strokes of the Sea Mist Pearl following the directions veins of a leaf would take on the holly leaves.  In person it adds a pretty and subtle shimmer.

I then added a little Cotton Candy Glitter right over the Honeysuckle Pink on the berries, below and to the left of the white highlight on the berries. This will add some sparkle for the holidays.

Now add a bit of white to the highlights on the berries and a few strokes on the leaves.  A little white goes a long way.

After all the paint is completely dry, I outlined my leaves with the Tombow dual brush pen in #249 using the larger brush side.  Keep the strokes light and playful.

I used the Tombow pen in #757 (a wine color) to outline the berries.

Using my smaller brush I painted some Inca Gold acrylic dots and stars scattered around the holly.

I then used the Tombow pen #242 to write my message on the inside of my card and followed up with some more gold dots and stars.

I hope this was helpful.

Happy Holly Days!✨