Mixed Media Patchwork Collage Style Holiday Greeting Cards

A guest post by Nichole Rae

‘Tis the season for greeting cards and festive creating! For this month’s project I wanted to explore my love for collaging and stationary in a mixed-media project. Together we will take a moment to create what we most need to find this holiday season while creating our own holiday greeting cards.

Here is what you will need to begin:

Blank kraft cards and envelopes (A2 size 4.25″ x 6″)
Misc Paper: patterned paper (holiday theme if you would like), book pages, music sheets, holiday wrapping paper, patterned and solid color tissue paper, printed images of vintage postcards*, printed images of holiday postage stamps*
- {*To create what I most needed to find I used the internet to find vintage Christmas postcards and stamps images and printed them on my home printer. I copied and pasted the image into a blank word document}
paint chip samples {red, green and blue}
glue stick
masking tape or washi tape {holiday colors}
black ink pad
colored ink pad {red, green, gold, silver}
small alphabet rubber stamp set {font will vary}
holiday themed rubber stamps
paper clips {red green blue}
buttons {red green white}
oil pastels/crayons
paper tags {styles will vary}

Begin with a blank kraft card and a few of the papers you collected. I chose a few pieces of tissue paper, wrapping paper and music sheet.

Tear a square or rectangular shape from one of your papers and glue onto your card.

Chose another piece of paper and tear out a square section. I chose to use the snowman wrapping paper pattern. Glue this piece in the open space on your card. We are collaging the card in a patchwork style design.

Note: When I am collaging I glue the bits of paper anywhere on the card filling the blank space. I then add more layers on top of the bottom layer I have created.

Continue tearing your papers and collaging your card surface. You can tear smaller pieces and continue to layer the papers creating a detailed pattern.

After you have collaged your background with paper then use your holiday themed rubber stamps and stamp on top of surface.

Repeat the stamp over the card to create a layered pattern.

I then added a blank kraft tag and stamped on top of it. I chose to have the tag on the left since I had already stamped on the right side and this begins to balance the card design.

I then added a button. I applied a thick layer of glue on the back of the button.

Note: If you have a craft glue, use this or if using a glue stick make sure you apply a thick layer and let it set until dry.

After I added the button I then repeated the previous “HAPPY HOLIDAYS” stamp over the bottom of the card covering the open space.

After you have added your rubber stamps we will then add the last touches with oil pastel and washi tape. To create a thinner piece of tape tear down the middle of tape.

I added one strip to the bottom and then one to the top.

After you have added your tape use your oil pastels/crayons to your card. I love oil pastels because you can smudge them with your finger to blend them. You can also use a few colors together, creating vertical or horizontal lines and blend them. I added a silver pastel next to the maroon color and smudged the two colors.

Here is the completed card {above}.

Gallery – More cards created using the patchwork collage style

Here are some photos from my card collage workshop held a few weeks ago in downtown Fargo.

Create. Be Inspired. Craft

Create what you most need to find this holiday. I wish you all creativity and inspiration this season!

I would love to connect with you, find me at artistnicholerae.com and connect with me via facebook or instagram. Share your projects – I would love to see them!

Nichole Rae is a mixed-media artist who has a passion for documenting her life through art journaling, books arts, photography, honest writing and typography design. She resides in Minnesota and is the author of the book Art Journal Art Journey: Collage and Storytelling for Honoring Your Creative Process.