Handmade Christmas cards inspired by Amsterdam

One thing I’m determined to do every year is produce my own handmade Christmas cards (see last year’s watercolor cards here). This year, I wanted to do something that clearly said Christmas in Amsterdam. When Marlon showed me this photo he’d taken with his iPhone en route to Centraal Station one December morning, I knew I had found the perfect inspiration.

So one morning, with Christmas carols playing on my laptop, I sat down to drew Amsterdam’s distinctive old houses with a metal nib and black India ink.

Forty-five minutes later, I had finished one card (just one!) and wondered if I should have chosen something less… labor-intensive.

I filled in the ribbons with fuschia liquid watercolor, which I also used to handwrite the greetings. I can’t wait to improve my hand lettering with Melissa Esplin’s online calligraphy class, which I plan to start in January.

There are smudges (like I said, I’m not the most precise person when it comes to crafts), but I hope my recipients will accept them in the spirit of handmade charm.

My hand was killing me after four cards (don’t ask me why I didn’t think of just scanning and reproducing one drawing), so this year’s batch of handmade Christmas cards is a very small batch indeed. These babies are limited edition!

I’d love to know what you think of my Amsterdam-inspired cards! Have you mailed out your Christmas cards yet?