How to Make a Greeting Card Using Digital Clip Art and Canva
Plus - an adorable bunny!
It’s a new tutorial!
Every month since February I’ve been making clip art and printable versions of the art for that month’s calendar. Those images are available in sets of files - JPG files in several sizes great for everything from greeting cards to wall art, and also a PNG with no background so you can drop it onto your own background, or use it with no background for things like stickers.
A few people have reached out asking for more info on how to use those PNG files, so I made a tutorial showing how to make an easy greeting card!
Click here to go to the tutorial.
This is a long video because it’s also an introduction to how to use a Canva - a terrific app for making all kinds of great designs. It has a paid option, but everything I teach you uses the free version - no need to upgrade.
Speaking of free, the tutorial includes links to a template you can use to design your card, an image of bare canvas that you can use for your background, and that adorable bunny PNG. More on the downloads below, but first. . .
I’m planning for next month’s calendar. What would you like to see?
Remember, the winner will also be available as a printable and as digital clip art, in addition to the free calendar wallpaper.
I can’t wait to see what you choose!
I’m redesigning the lion pattern so you can also use it to make a lioness, a jaguar, a leopard, or a cougar. To make those jaguars and leopards I needed some spotted fabrics, but none of the spots I had were just right.
I didn’t want to use actual leopard print - I don’t think that would match well with the other fabrics I use for my quilts. What I wanted were some of my playful spots, but with an extra light background and extra dark spots - much more contrast than I usually use in my designs.
That meant designing some new fabrics!
I received my samples last week and I LOVE how they look! I think the spots of different scales will look great together, for larger body spots, smaller face spots, and very small cheek spots. Also, jaguars have spots within spots and leopards don’t, so I think I’ll use that Oh Snap print for the jaguars, and Spilled Cereal for the leopards.
(I learn the most interesting things when I design my blocks!)
I’ll be working on the samples this week, and if everything works out I’ll make these fabrics available in my Spoonflower shop. And I’ll have the new lion/leopard/jaguar/cougar pattern ready next week!
I heard from so many of you who made my peach crisp last week. I’m so happy you enjoyed it too!
I suspect this week’s recipe won’t get quite the same response, but I have to share it anyway. 😂
I don’t really know why I flagged this Kale and Quinoa Salad recipe from Smitten Kitchen. At my very first job (at Wendy’s!) we put kale all around the edges of the salad bar. I remember asking the boss what it was and if people eat it. She literally recoiled in horror, saying, “Ugh, no! It’s just for decoration!” 😂 😂 😂
Of course, this was back in the eighties. Things have changed.
I have since eaten kale many times, and I’ve even liked it. But I never go to the grocery store and say, “Ooooh! The kale looks really great today! What can I make with it?”
But I stumbled across this recipe, and I really trust Smitten Kitchen. And she made it sound so good! Plus I’m a sucker for anything with dried cherries in it, and they sounded great paired with the toasted almonds and the mustard dressing. So I tried it and. . .
It was delicious.
The leftovers were delicious too - maybe even better than day one! I dressed the salad but only added the cherries, cheese and nuts at serving. The dressing softened the leftover kale in the fridge, but not so soft that it was mushy. I don’t usually think of the . . . sturdiness. . . of kale as a selling point, but there you are. 😂
Here’s your weekly dose of awesomeness from the Shiny Happy People group!
Look at the sweet bunny that Mary Jo made with the Beatrice Bunny pattern!
She’s one of the Dress Up Bunch rag dolls so she has access to an extensive wardrobe (seriously - the Dress Up Bunch have more clothing options than I do!), but someone in the group was able to point her to the free pattern for some play clothes to get her started. I love this group so much!
Head over to the Shiny Happy People group on Facebook to see lots more wonderfulness people are making with my patterns—and to ask questions and share photos of your own projects. It’s my favorite place on the internet!
The archives and sale now have their own newsletter every Friday. Last week I was really surprised that this tutorial got more clicks than this free pattern. It was really close, but the tutorial still won!
As I mentioned above, the tutorial for the greeting card includes the PNG version of the bunny with no background, and also the bare canvas background texture.
But you’re a newsletter subscriber so you get more! 🥰
You can find additional background textures here.
Right now that includes a wood grain background and also canvas prepared with gesso, but I’ll be adding more.
You also get all the bunny downloads (the PNG and all the JPGs in different sizes) here.
If you’d prefer to “purchase” the files for free so they’re in your downloads library with all your other Shiny Happy World patterns, you can find it in the shop here. Use the discount code 08122024 at checkout for 100% off. 🥰
Bonus! If you’re a paid subscriber you have access to all the free downloads from the newsletter archives. You can find them all here.
I hope you have a fabulous week!
Best,
Wendi
🥰
PS - We went to see cat Video Fest 2024 yesterday and it was so much fun! It’s exactly what it sounds like - a collection of cat videos! But it’s only available in theaters, so you get to laugh with a group of other people which just makes the whole thing extra awesome. And each theater partners with local animal welfare groups who get a portion of the proceeds. See if it’s playing somewhere near you!