Not Your Average Father’s Day Card Tutorial

Before I begin this tutorial, I’d like to say that this isn’t your run-of-the-mill Father’s Day card. I know that because I was looking for inspiration on Pinterest, and all I ran into were grilling-, fishing-, and toolbox-themed cards. I wanted to design a card featuring elegant masculinity. As a result, this card uses patterns and colors that will appeal to a lot of dads, not just those who enjoy manly pastimes. I hope that you have fun making it!

1. Prepare Your Paper

To start, cut a piece of black cardstock to 8.5″ x 6.25″ (21.6 cm x 15.9 cm). Then, fold it in half to make a 4.25″ x 6.25″ (10.8 cm x 15.9 cm) card.

Next, cut out a piece of 4″ x 6″ (10.2 cm x 15.2 cm) 80 lb. drawing paper.

2. Draw Lines

Once you’ve cut your papers, use a ruler and a waterproof pen to create a series of sets of parallel diagonal lines. It doesn’t matter how close the lines in a set are to each other. Some can be very close together, while others may be farther. The orientation of each set should be varied such that some lines are perfectly horizontal, others slant up, and still others slant down. Using a parallel glider makes creating lines like these a bit easier!

Notice in the photo below that overlapping lines disappear behind other line sets. Try to achieve that same effect when you’re drawing your lines!

3. Fill in the Lines

Once you’ve drawn all the line sets, use the same waterproof pen to make densely-spaced diagonal lines inside a few of a few of the sets.

Then, use the same pen or a black marker to completely fill in a handful of the line sets.

Grab a gray marker or colored pencil, and use it to fill in some of the sets with gray.

Next, find an olive green colored pencil or marker and fill in the rest of the line sets with green.

To finish up the coloring process, use black watercolor (with a high concentration of water) to fill in half of the remaining open spaces on the paper. The result should look something like the photo below:

4. Assemble Your Father’s Day Card

Once the paint is dry, use a glue stick or another adhesive to affix the artwork to the front of the black card. Center the artwork on the cardstock to the best of your ability.

At this point, you’ll want to use a white pen (such as a Sakura Gellyroll) to write a Father’s Day message inside the card.

5. Make the Tag

Once you’ve finished the card portion of the project, it’s time to move on to making a “Happy Father’s Day” tag. First, cut a 2.5″ x 2.25″ (6.4 cm x 5.7 cm) rectangle of black card stock. Then, cut a 2.25″ x 2″ (5.7 cm x 5.1 cm) rectangle of 80 lb. drawing paper.

Next, use George Style Lettering to write “HAPPY FATHER’S DAY” on the white paper rectangle. Don’t skip drawing diagonal lines in the lettering!

Affix the white rectangle to the black rectangle.

6. Make the Sash

Now, cut out two long, skinny pieces drawing paper. The pieces should be about 0.25″ (6.3 cm) wide by 11″ (2.8 cm) long.

Use tape or glue to affix the two thin strips of paper to the back of the “HAPPY FATHER’S DAY” tag. Make sure the strips are evenly spaced and parallel!

Fold the sash around the card. Keep an eye on the front of the card as you are folding; you want to make sure the tag is in the center! Once you’ve centered everything, you can glue the ends of the sash together.

7. Enjoy and Send!

Flip the card over and admire your handiwork. You’ve just made a one-of-a-kind Father’s Day card!

I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial! Thanks very much for reading, and have a great weekend.

Warmly,

This article was first posted in June of 2016. It has been updated with clearer instructions.