My Frog’s Bucket List greetings card samples have arrived! In my last blog post, I showed you some of my colourful watercolour illustrations that I’d been working on. Just some small, cute additional elements to include in a range of Frog’s Bucket List greetings cards. This month, I’ve been busy using them alongside some of my existing Frog’s Bucket List illustrations to create a few designs.
A Range of Birthday Cards
Eventually, I would like to have lots of greeting card designs for all occasions. However, I’m thinking that it would be nice to start with a range of birthday cards. Birthdays are fun and universal; Frog and Frog love to celebrate birthdays. And they are particularly fascinated with balloons.
I had a look back at some of my old Frog’s Bucket List illustrations and there are a few that would work well on a birthday card. I initially found two to use for a sample greetings card print run. These were ‘Frog’s Birthday Cake’ and ‘Frog’s Birthday Balloons’ (of course!).
For the reverse side of the card, I’m using the participatory ‘bucket list’ idea that I’m including in the book series. For example, in the back pages of Frog’s Bucket List ‘Christmas Fun’, I’ve got a checklist of all the bucket list items illustrated in the book. To continue the theme on the greeting cards, I’ve included a tick box on the reverse of the card. As such, the previous two illustrations have been renamed to ‘Bake a birthday cake’ and ‘Inflate the birthday balloons’.
Frog and Frog like nice achievable activities on their bucket list, they find it rewarding.
Frog’s Bucket List Greetings Card Samples
Birthday cards don’t always have to feature birthday-related activities though. And I would like to include some fun designs based on hobbies and other activities, e.g. gardening, music, art.
So along with the two illustrations mentioned in the previous section, I added a third illustration to have printed as a prototype. It’s a more recent watercolour painting of Frog and Frog planting seedlings in a garden. Very apt for this time of year.
Once I was happy with my designs, I exported and uploaded them into the required digital format for printing and placed my sample order. Exciting!
And this is what they look like:
Each Frog’s Bucket List greetings card will come with a kraft envelope in a biodegradable cellophane sleeve.
These greetings cards are 5.5” square and are printed matt onto a quality 324gsm cardstock. They are recyclable and vegan-friendly, printed using water-based inks on sustainably sourced paper.
This is the design format on the reverse of the card, with the ‘bucket list item’ as described above:
Future Watercolour Birthday Card Designs
Since receiving the greetings card samples, I’ve been inspired to create lots more birthday card designs. Here are a couple of watercolour illustrations that I’ve just finished:
Where possible, I’m trying to use an uplifting colour palette to make them super appealing for a birthday celebration. I love the balloons! (And so do Frog and Frog!).
Next step is to get them scanned in and incorporated onto the greetings card design template ready for printing. When I have enough designs, I’ll also be looking to set up a shop on my website and make them available to purchase online. I’m looking forward to sharing that update with you in the coming weeks.
Trivia Question
Question: How many frogs does one need to draw to ‘complete’ the lifespan of an eraser?
Answer: 654 frogs.
So many frogs.
I started with a brand-new eraser back in summer 2023, just like the one at the top. I can’t remember ever ‘finishing’ an eraser before. I’ve either lost them or they’ve dried out.
Just thought I’d share that with you!
Happy Springtime.