• Millennial Birthday Card Tutorial

    This artistic, modern birthday card utilizes millennial lingo (“HBD” instead of “Happy Birthday”) to send the best of wishes! You can pair it with a beautifully calligraphed envelope for maximum contrast and a bit of irony. 🙂

    Millennial Birthday Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    I’m sure you’re wondering what on earth a “millennial birthday card” is! Well … it’s a card that reflects the millennial tendency to condense phrases into acronyms. This artistic, fun card says “Happy Birthday” with three letters — “HBD”. (Now that I think about it, it seems that “Happy Birthday” should be “HB”, but my fellow millennials always write “HBD”, so that’s what I’m going with!) If you like the concept, you can follow the instructions below to make your own “millennial” birthday card!

    1. Gather Supplies

    The supplies for this card are blissfully simple — you’ll just need a black gel pen (I like Pilot G2 pens), colored pencils, and a piece of white card stock that has been folded in half (mine is 5″ x 7″ [127 mm x 178 mm).

    Millennial Birthday Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock
    I like using black gel pens, white card stock, and colored pencils to make this birthday card. However, you should feel free to substitute these supplies with whatever you have on hand!

    There are two optional additional supplies you can incorporate into this project: watercolors and a toothbrush (or a paintbrush). You’ll find out where those supplies come into play at the end of these instructions!

    2. Draw Circles and Letters

    Grab your pen and use it to draw three circles on the card stock. Their positioning should resemble the example below.

    Millennial Birthday Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock
    These circles are about the size of a dime.

    Next, use a font style like “Open” to write “H”, “B”, and “D”, respectively, in each circle.

    Millennial Birthday Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock
    Don’t fill in your letters with ink! Keeping them open on the inside will result in more contrast when you add color.

    Once you’ve created the letters, draw four new circles around each of your original circles. It is perfectly fine if these new circles aren’t perfect! The more wobbly the circles, the more whimsical the card.

    Millennial Birthday Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock
    Imperfect circles are actually ideal for this project! They’ll give the final card a more artistic look.

    Finish up by using your pen to draw curved stems coming down from each of the three groups of circles.

    Millennial Birthday Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock
    Notice that these stems are all a bit curved.

    3. Color in the Circles

    Pick out a dark colored pencil and a light colored pencil, then alternate the colors to fill in each group of circles. I chose violet and yellow, but other great combinations would be turquoise and brown or light green and blue!

    Millennial Birthday Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock
    Try experimenting with whatever color combination appeals to you!

    Now, use a couple of different tones of green to fill in the stems.

    Millennial Birthday Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock
    I used three tones of green to color in the stems here, but you’re more than welcome to just use one.

    4. Add Lines and Dots

    This card’s signature look comes from the “sunburst” lines emanating from each letter. To make a sunburst, use your pen to draw several straight lines coming from the edge of the “H” circle. You’ll need to pick up your pen three times to make each line.

    Millennial Birthday Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock
    Picking up your pen three times to make each line means that your lines won’t be straight. Don’t worry about that!

    Work your way around the circle, varying the length of your lines as you go. Your lines won’t be straight, and that’s okay! Imperfection adds to the artistic appeal of the card.

    Millennial Birthday Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock
    Make sure all of your lines are a different length.

    Once you’re finished drawing lines, use your pen to add three solid dots to the end of each line.

    Millennial Birthday Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock
    While I made three dots in this example, you can experiment with adding more dots or less dots.

    Repeat this process for the “B” and “D” circle groups.

    Millennial Birthday Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock
    If you like how your card looks at this point, you can call it a day and send it!

    At this point, you’ve got an awesome card that you can go ahead and send! If you have watercolors on hand, though, you can add a little bit of extra pizzazz with spatters. To achieve that, moisten a light-colored paint. Dip an old toothbrush (or a paintbrush) in the paint, and use your thumb to stroke the toothbrush such that paint spatters on the card.

    Millennial Birthday Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock
    Adding paint spatters helps to fill in some of the negative space. The card won’t look as clean, but that’s not a bad thing!

    And voilà! An artistic, playful birthday card that anyone — millennial or otherwise — will be very pleased to receive.

    Millennial Birthday Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    5. Send Your Birthday Card Off in Style

    The “millennial” birthday card features clean, modern lines and basic colors. Elegant calligraphy with a bit of flourish provides a very pleasing contrast for it! Try using Janet Style calligraphy to make a gorgeous piece of mail!

    Millennial Birthday Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock
    The envelope template provided in Amazing Envelopes for a Latte can help you calligraph an envelope like this one. I use the template all the time!

    Once you’re finished writing the calligraphy, erase your pencil guidelines and add a stamp collage.

    Millennial Birthday Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock
    Janet Style calligraphy + stamp collages = mail art bliss.

    Your delightful “HBD” package is now ready to send!

    Millennial Birthday Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock
    I love the contrast between the elegant envelope and the modern birthday card!

    I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial! If you’re considering creating a lovely Janet Style envelope to house your card, I do have a quick announcement. For the rest of this month, I will be working on an updated version of the Janet Style premium worksheet. I hope to have it finished by August 11th!

    Janet Style Calligraphy Worksheet Preview | The Postman's Knock
    I am making a new version of the Janet Style Premium Worksheet set! If you own the $5.00 version of the worksheet, you will be “grandfathered in” to the next version, which will cost $10.00. The worksheet’s ETA is August 11th!

    Once the new worksheet is released, the cost will rise from $5.00 to $10.00. However, those who own the current worksheet set at the time of the release will be “grandfathered in” to the new set at no extra charge! So, if you’re thinking about learning the Janet, now is definitely the time to get the worksheet. Then, in less than a month, you can enjoy all the benefits of the new worksheet set (intuitive layout, tons of extra practice, new variations of letters) for half the price. Just wanted to give you a heads up!

    Janet Style Calligraphy Worksheet Preview | The Postman's Knock

    If you have any questions — whether they are about the card tutorial or the new worksheet set — please let me know in the comments! Otherwise, have a wonderful weekend, and thanks very much for reading TPK. 🙂

    Warmly,

    Lindsey's Signature | The Postman's Knock