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  • Welcome to TPK! This is your first of 2 free articles. For unlimited access to tutorials and articles, join TPK Premium for less than the cost of a latte.

    Top 6 TPK Birthday Card Tutorials

    July 21, 2017

    by

    Lindsey Bugbee

    Birthday Cards, Greeting Card Tutorials, Inspiration, Tutorials, Watercolor

    With every year comes many opportunities to send birthday greetings! In this blog post, you’ll find a list of my six favorite birthday card tutorials on the TPK website. They are all artistic, original, and approachable for a range of artistic levels!

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    Top 6 TPK Birthday Card Tutorials | The Postman's Knock

    A couple of days ago, I celebrated my birthday. On the morning of that day, I woke up and realized: birthday expectations really change throughout the years. When you’re a little kid, your birthday is all about getting lots of gifts. As you get older, though, it’s less about gifts and more about relationships. While cards didn’t mean much to me as a little kid, now I really appreciate it if someone takes the time to send me a little greeting to say, “I remembered your special day!”

    Hand-Lettered Printable Birthday Card | The Postman's Knock

    That feeling compels me to make handmade birthday cards for others on their birthdays. It’s an amazing experience to receive something in the mail that someone spent time and energy making! With that in mind, I have picked out my six favorite birthday card tutorials for you, and I am presenting them here today. Some you may recognize, and others you may not have seen before — but they’re all worth making!

    1. Citrus Watercolor Birthday Card Tutorial

    Citrus Watercolor Birthday Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    The Citrus Watercolor Birthday Card deviates from the birthday card beaten path, which is the basis of its appeal! Instead of the common “Happy Birthday!” greeting, it simply and honestly proclaims, “I am glad that you exist”. The border features a Mediterranean-inspired botanical motif that won’t trip up watercolor beginners! If this card appeals to you, it’s certainly worth a try. All you’ll need is some watercolor paper and watercolor paints.

    2. Hand-Lettered Printable Birthday Card

    Hand-Lettered Printable Birthday Card | The Postman's Knock

    The Hand-Lettered Printable Birthday Card is a life saver if you want to send something quick, artistic, and original! You can just print off the card template, cut and fold it, then color in the letters. All you’ll need for this tutorial is card stock and some colored pencils (or any other color medium — crayons, watercolor, etc.).

    3. Watercolor Initial DIY Birthday Card

    Watercolor Initial DIY Birthday Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    The Watercolor Initial DIY Birthday Card is special because it’s personalized with the recipient’s initial! To make the card, you trace around a letter (which you can use your word processing program to make). Next, you draw the banner and add leaves and calligraphy! The result will be a whimsical, creative birthday card that the recipient will cherish for many years to come.

    4. Embellished Fish DIY Card Tutorial

    Embellished Fish DIY Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    Embellished Fish DIY Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    If you’re tired of the traditional birthday greeting card, try making a card that doubles as display-worthy artwork! The Embellished Fish DIY Card Tutorial includes a template so you know exactly how to cut out your fish, then you can watch a video detailing how to draw on the front.

    5. Artistic Watercolor Birthday Card Tutorial

    Artistic Watercolor Birthday Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    Artistic Watercolor Birthday Card Tutorial | The Postman's Knock

    The Artistic Watercolor Birthday Card has three irresistible features: weight (from collaging papers), sparkle (from gold watercolor), and playful lettering styles! If you’ve got the time and the supplies, it’s an awesome project to create. Feel free to mix up the color scheme and calligraphy styles!

    6. Creative Birthday Card Tutorial: Paper Armoire

    Creative Birthday Card Tutorial: Paper Armoire | The Postman's Knock

    Creative Birthday Card Tutorial: Paper Armoire | The Postman's Knock

    The Paper Armoire Birthday Card is one of my all time favorite tutorials! I love the idea of receiving mini paper furniture in the mail. The doors of the armoire open to reveal a birthday message, which is a fun way to engage the recipient. While the tutorial does include a printable template, it requires some cutting, gluing, and painting, so make sure you have an hour or so to make it!


    I hope that this post will help you out next time you want to help make a friend or family member’s birthday special! Have a great weekend, and thanks so much for reading TPK. 🙂

    Warmly,

    Lindsey's Signature | The Postman's Knock

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About the author

Hi, I’m Lindsey Bugbee, the illustrator, calligrapher, and author behind The Postman’s Knock (TPK). Since 2012, the TPK Blog has been a vibrant creative space filled with tutorials and lessons on modern calligraphy, hand lettering, and illustration. After publishing The Calligraphy Book, I wanted to elevate the quality of content even further—so I launched TPK Premium. You can join here to receive access to some of the internet’s best creative inspiration and project tutorials.

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  1. Nancy Burris Avatar
    Nancy Burris
    March 21, 2018

    I love everything this lady Does. She does it well

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My seven-year-old and I have officially entered th My seven-year-old and I have officially entered the @edward.gorey.house envelope art contest! 🎃 My design leans a bit more macabre, while my son’s is, well, gory. (Venus flytraps are apparently no joke.) Visit the TPK Blog to see my process — I love to start with a Procreate draft and take it from there. 

This is a great little contest, and, while it runs through December, it’s *especially* fun to work on this time of year. 👻 My kid and I both thoroughly enjoyed making our masterpieces! If you find yourself with some time in the next couple of months, make your own envelope ... there will be more than one winner! 🥇

#edwardgorey #envelopeart #mailart #kidsart #halloweenart #halloweenmail #envelope #snailmail #snailmailrevolution
Just added a new lesson to the Beginner’s Modern Just added a new lesson to the Beginner’s Modern Calligraphy Online Course! ✍️ In Lesson 3, you’ll find over three hours of instruction to get you extremely comfortable using the straight calligraphy pen. If you want to learn pointed pen calligraphy, *join us*! TPK Premium members have the exclusive and incredible opportunity to take this detailed course for $5/month. Link in bio for details!

#calligraphy #moderncalligraphy #pointedpencalligraphy #learncalligraphy #calligraphytips
Beautiful autumn leaves outside 🍂 inspire beaut Beautiful autumn leaves outside 🍂 inspire beautiful leaves inside ✨. You can find a tutorial over how to make this stunning bookmark in “The Calligraphy Book”. (Confession time: I don’t actually use this bookmark as a bookmark. It ended up being too pretty to be hiding inside a book! 🙈 Instead, I display it on my bulletin board.)

#bookmark #decoratedbookmark #autumnleaves #pointedpen #finetec #colirofinetec #metallicwatercolor
Which is your favorite? 👻 🍬 ✋ 🎃 Good Which is your favorite? 👻 🍬 ✋ 🎃 

Good news: whichever one you like best, you can learn how to create it in “Spellbound Strokes”, TPK’s Halloween 2025 worksheet set! The worksheet is available on the TPK site as of an hour ago. In it, you’ll learn how to create these fabulous Halloween-themed motifs ... and get plenty of calligraphy practice under your belt in the process. ✍️

For the worksheet link, see my stories today (10/9), or shoot me a DM. Happy Halloween, and enjoy!

#halloweencalligraphy #pointedpenpractice #pointedpen #dippen #halloweenart #macbeth
This is just as relaxing to watch as it is to wri This is just as relaxing to watch as it is to write. 🧘‍♀️ DM me for a link to a (free!) worksheet that teaches you how to write this loopy, modern quote. ✍️

#moderncalligraphy #learncalligraphy #calligraphy #handwritten #writingcalligraphy #pointedpencalligraphy #calligraphyvideo #tseliotquote
🎃 Halloween, TPK-style. ✍️ You can find ins 🎃 Halloween, TPK-style. ✍️ You can find instructions for making all of these project (and more!) on the TPK Blog and in TPK’s Halloween-themed worksheets. 🔗 Link in bio, then search for “Halloween” or just browse the Blog and Catalog!

#halloweencalligraphy #halloweenart #calligraphyprojects #halloweencraft #eleganthalloween
🤭 We’re ridiculous. Here’s the story: every 🤭 We’re ridiculous. Here’s the story: every month, @greenleafblue and I host a live creative coffee chat over Zoom for TPK Premium and G&B Patreon members — and we always include a giveaway. This time, we switched it up and picked the winner with a trivia question we made up on the fly. You can see how that went here!

✨ Watch the full chat on the TPK Blog (link in bio → “Blog”).

✨ Join us for the next coffee chat on October 17th by signing up for TPK Premium! I’m thrilled to announce that @sdionbakerdesign will be our special guest. (Her Patreon members can join, too!) And yes, there will be a giveaway. 🎁

👯‍♀️ Fun fact: Jess and I met as roommates studying art history in Paris + Florence way before The Postman’s Knock or Greenleaf & Blueberry existed. Over the years, we’ve nicknamed ourselves Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum, Lucy and Ethel… you get the idea. That familiarity definitely comes through in our chats.

#artistchat #artists #artsupplies #zoomchat #creativity #thepostmansknock #greenleafandblueberry
After eight years (and plenty of smudges), my chal After eight years (and plenty of smudges), my chalkboard finally got a makeover! This time, sketching out the design was so much easier thanks to my iPad + Procreate. Once the draft felt right, I used a grid method to bring it to life on the chalkboard. 🖊️✨ Curious how it all came together and find instructions for making your own chalkboard quote art? Check out the TPK Blog to see the process! (Link in bio, then navigate to the “Blog” tab.)

#chalkboard #chalkart #austenquote #janeausten #hyggequote #hyggeart #homeart #artforhome #artprocess #chalk
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