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  • Welcome to TPK! This is your second 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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24 responses

  1. Rebecca Thering Avatar
    Rebecca Thering
    July 31, 2017

    Happy belated birthday, Lindsey! 🙂

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  2. Lieve S Avatar
    Lieve S
    July 29, 2017

    Late birthday-wishes from Belgium ! I hope you had a great day.
    I prefer sending (and receiving) real cards as well, for any ocasion.
    Thank you for the generous give-away; good luck to all of us.

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  3. Klare Avatar
    Klare
    July 26, 2017

    Happy birthday, hope you enjoyed it . I would like to tank you for taking the time to inspire and sharing your skills with us regularly. The internet has opened the channels to make it easier to learn and with out people like you sharing your skills knowledge I know I would be at a loss to be able to indulge in an interest I’ve had for years. With my 1st weeks wage at 16 I bought a calligraphy set and tried to work through the leaflet. And gave up. Now in my 40tys and dabbling again . Always been impressed by beautiful vintage hand written letters, scripts , etc . I love the drama and flourishes added to letter forms .
    Enjoy your day

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  4. Dorina D Avatar
    Dorina D
    July 23, 2017

    Happy Birthday and I hope it was a fabulous one. It’s always a great way to celebrate by doing something special. I took all the nieces & nephews to a ball game to celebrate one year. I love your blogs and have to say you’ve been a great inspiration this summer in expanding the use of my pointed pens for more than calligraphy and your tutorials are fabulous and as one who’s only done calligraphy a few years and still considers herself a student of lettering, I can’t wait for the next fun tutorial to continue to expand my horizons. Thank you for being so generous in sharing.

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    1. Lindsey Bugbee Avatar
      Lindsey Bugbee
      July 25, 2017

      Thanks, Dorina! I spent my birthday with my nieces and nephew as well — they have a way of making everything fun! 🙂 So happy you enjoy the website; thank you!

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  5. Moira Avatar
    Moira
    July 23, 2017

    Hope you had a great birthday. Love your work! So beautiful.

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  6. Bette Avatar
    Bette
    July 23, 2017

    Happy Birthday + a few days! The birthday card that was my fave didn’t make the top 6 but I have it in my mind, circle flowers with H B D in their center…. it’s amazing what sticks with you!

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    1. Lindsey Bugbee Avatar
      Lindsey Bugbee
      July 25, 2017

      I am so happy that you liked that one!! 🙂

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  7. Susanne Avatar
    Susanne
    July 23, 2017

    Happy Birthday! Thank you for all your tutorials and great posts and for you generous giveaways and freebies.

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  8. Sheri Avatar
    Sheri
    July 22, 2017

    Happy Birthday, Lindsey!!!! I hope it was wonderful! Thank you for sharing your amazing talent, and for your gracious generosity with the giveaways! Thank you also for your terrific posts, freebie printables, and for the fantastic prices on your worksheets!! You are so sweet!!

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  9. Leslie Avatar
    Leslie
    July 22, 2017

    I hope you have had a wonderful Birthday, Lindsay. Thank you for your kindness and all the great information……..Leslie

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  10. Sharon Hardidng Avatar
    Sharon Hardidng
    July 22, 2017

    Hope you had a wonderful Birthday with plenty of crafting and calligraphy. Sharon
    Woops and Thank you for the Give Away,,, hope its ME, would really love to win them haven’t got an oblique holder and wow what a lot of nibs to play with!

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I love watching project timelapses — like a comp I love watching project timelapses — like a complicated calligraphy or watercolor project coming together in a matter of seconds. A cleaning timelapse, then, is a no-brainer! My friend mentioned that she does these when she needs a little extra motivation to tidy up. I was totally feeling that this weekend, so I made a couple of these. The anticipation of knowing that I’d get to watch the room become neat in an instant was actually incredibly motivating. It’s the little things, right? 😉 #cleaningtimelapse #cleaning #tidyingup #neatandtidy
🖍️ We have a million crayons laying around be 🖍️ We have a million crayons laying around because my kids love to color (right now, their pages of choice are K-Pop Demon Hunter-themed). While I’m always down for some adult coloring, I also love to letter with crayons! In the latest TPK tutorial — link in bio — you’ll learn how to make this cozy ombré wax crayon calligraphy. 🍁 Switch up the color scheme if you’re not a pumpkin spice person! This technique looks great with light blue, dark blue, and dark purple; or light green, dark green, and dark blue. #crayoncalligraphy #crayolacrayons #waxcrayons #adultcoloring #autumnart #cozylettering #handlettering #lettering
A couple of days ago, I posted a clip from Lesson A couple of days ago, I posted a clip from Lesson 1 of the new Beginner’s Modern Calligraphy Online Course (seriously, join us — enrollment is a *steal* at $5/month, and you get complimentary tutorials [that happen to complement the course] — link in bio)! People seemed to like the story in that clip, so here’s another fun story from the same lesson. Sorry, I can’t confirm who the client was! That was a project with an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement). 🤐 Still: a very fun, very cool experience ... I’m grateful that calligraphy has given me cool adventures and connected me to such an amazing community. ✍️

#calligraphystory #moderncalligraphy #learncalligraphy #beginnercalligraphy #pointedpencalligraphy #calligraphy
Lesson 1 of TPK’s Beginner’s Modern Calligraph Lesson 1 of TPK’s Beginner’s Modern Calligraphy Online Course doesn’t actually start with the pointed pen! ✍️ Instead, we ease into it with faux calligraphy and then pencil calligraphy. Here’s a little preview of what the pencil calligraphy lesson looks like. ✏️

If you’ve been wanting to learn calligraphy, join us in this course. It is an absolute *steal* because it’s included with your TPK Premium membership ($5/month - cancel anytime). Once the course concludes in January, you can choose to purchase lifetime access to the videos; or just continue on with us to the next course. For more information, visit the link in my bio!

#learncalligraphy #pointedpencalligraphy #moderncalligraphy #pencilcalligraphy #blackwingpencil #pencilart #letteringart #handlettering #modernlettering #artisticletters #artisticlettering
I’m editing videos for the new Beginner’s Mode I’m editing videos for the new Beginner’s Modern Calligraphy Online Course (🎉 JOIN US! link in profile for enrollment info!!) — and wanted to share this story from Lesson 1. In that lesson, we’ll chat about how to develop your motivation (this story is part of me sharing mine); and we’ll ease into our pointed pen experience with faux calligraphy and pencil calligraphy. Step by step, you’ll develop skills that will serve you for a lifetime ... and surprise and delight those around you, just like my “rent check envelopes” did! ✉️

#mailart #moderncalligraphy #learncalligraphy #storytime #calligraphy #snailmail #snailmailrevolution
Some recipes aren’t just instructions — they’re memories on a page. 💛 I spent some time illustrating one of my favorites, and it turned into the sweetest (literally) keepsake. Calligraphy, watercolor, and a little patience bring the story of a dish to life.

If you’d like to try illustrating your favorite recipe, too, I shared the full process (with helpful printables) on the TPK Blog — link in bio. ✨

#illustratedrecipe #calligraphyart #watercolorillustration #creativeproject #keepsakeart #slowcreativity #handletteringlove #moderncalligraphy #calligraphyinspiration #watercolorart
As much as cooking is an art, illustrating a recip As much as cooking is an art, illustrating a recipe takes it one step further. ✨ In TPK’s latest tutorial (link in bio), I’ll show you how to create an illustrated chocolate lava cake recipe using watercolor. You’ll find helpful PDFs and step-by-step instructions so you can follow along — or use the layout to bring one of your own favorite dishes to life.

Frame it as keepsake art, or give it as a thoughtful handmade gift this holiday season. 🎁

#illustratedrecipe #watercolorart #calligraphycommunity #foodillustration #arttutorial #watercolortutorial #creativeprojects #handmadegifts #keepsakeart #thepostmansknock
✨ One of the most beloved assignments from Lesso ✨ One of the most beloved assignments from Lesson 5 of Hand Lettering 101 was this playful project: design an artistic alphabet where no two letters look the same.

The idea? JUST PLAY. 🎨 I used watercolor and a paintbrush, but many students grabbed markers, pens, or anything colorful on hand. The results were incredible — @adriennelovesletters gave it her own flair, Isabel C. made it three times, and Laura M. created a stunning version too. (You can peek at more inside the TPK Premium Discord!)

If you’re ready to try this project yourself, you’ll find the Hand Lettering 101 eCourse waiting in the TPK Catalog. Just head to the link in my bio to be taken to the TPK website. 💌

#handlettering #watercolorlettering #moderncalligraphy #letteringpractice #creativeplay #calligraphycommunity #artinspiration #calligraphyart #watercolorart #letterlove #tpkpremium #handlettering101
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