Mary Kate's Journey to Learn How to Illustrate Handmade Cards by Mary Kate Partridge

Introducing My Chosen Progressive Skill

marykatepartridge — 2025-01-28 02:58:23 UTC

The Start of my First Card!

marykatepartridge — 2025-02-11 00:41:33 UTC

One of my friends recently lost a family member and I decided that I wanted to show my love and support for her by illustrating and writing her a card! So, I purchased some new Sharpies and Cardstock for my first card and got to work. I thought about what I wanted it to say and look like and I decided on drawing a 'heart character' holding its arms out to give a hug with the words "Thinking of You." I started drawing with Sharpies but my handwriting didn't look how I wanted and I colored over the lines in my 'heart character.' At this point, I wanted to start completely over and I was frustrated with myself for not being more careful with my illustration. However, I was determined to continue creating and illustrating on this card! I decided to trace over my sharpie with pencil to re-do my handwriting and re-draw the 'heart character.' As I did this, I ended up thinking that my final piece turned out better than I thought after I initially thought I had messed it up!

My First Card- Finished!

marykatepartridge — 2025-02-11 00:44:39 UTC

As I finished, I liked how this card turned out and was proud that I didn't give up and start over. However, I felt like it was missing something. After some more thinking I decided to draw little hearts around the words and 'heart character' which I think is what it was missing! One thing I want to work on next time is coloring in the things I draw neatly as well as doing a better job planning out my illustration while still letting myself be creative with my card! I think next time I'm going to illustrate a card with colored pencils!

My Second Card- Happy (Late) Vday!

marykatepartridge — 2025-02-20 19:41:00 UTC

I'm a little late posting this, but I wanted to share the second card that I made on my journey to being more creative with illustrating handmade cards! I made each of these last week for my students at school for Valentine's Day. I had originally said that I was going to use colored pencils for my next card, but since I was making 26, I opted to use a sharpie and decided to push back using colored pencils. I knew I didn't want the cards to be traditional rectangular cards or the Valentines that you buy at the store, so I decided to make these. I really enjoyed making these, especially since I let myself be creative in the process with making the cards heart shaped and with a heart cut out in the middle. I loved getting to personalize them for each student with the illustration, design, and words!

My Third Card!

marykatepartridge — 2025-02-20 20:32:27 UTC

One of my college friends got a job in DC, so I decided that I wanted to send her a card to congratulate her! I really enjoyed making this card and getting to explore using colored pencils- I haven't used them in so long! I got to try out shading with the pencils and also using a fine point pen to outline what I illustrated!

My Fourth Card!

marykatepartridge — 2025-03-03 04:45:15 UTC

My Grandparents 55th Wedding Anniversary is this week so I wanted to write and send them a card to celebrate! I knew I wanted to draw flowers on it because they always have bouquets of flowers around their house. I looked up different pictures of bouquets and found a few that I liked so I decided to combine aspects of them to draw this one! I decided to use crayons for this one- and I'm so glad I did- because I found that they were great for outlining the flowers and leaves I drew and also gave each of them some 'structure.' Using the crayons, I found similarities in how I could use them as I drew. For instance, the outlining and shading of the different flowers and leaves that I drew was similar from when I drew with colored pencils last time. I also learned a new 'trick'- leaving space in my drawings. I knew I wanted to write out 'Happy Anniversary' but as I continued to draw, I realized I was running out of room. I thought about drawing out a tag from the bow to write the message but wasn't sure I was going to like it. After looking at a few more ideas online, I decided to insert it in. So I left some space between the big blue flower and the bow and stems. When I was done drawing, I drew in the banner with the message and LOVE how it turned out!! I feel like this card really allowed me to express my own creativity with choosing the flowers I drew and with how I drew them. I'm so excited for my grandparents to get this card!

My Fifth Card!

marykatepartridge — 2025-04-01 01:45:52 UTC

I illustrated this card a few weeks ago and just now realized I never posted about it! This is the card I created and wrote for one of the sweet girls back at home that I used to take care of in daycare. She just turned six the week before Spring Break so I made a card and brought it home to give to her last week. Since this card was for a kid, I knew I wanted it to be fun, colorful, and not as 'serious' as other cards. For this card, I really didn't plan much out except for that I knew I wanted it to say Happy Birthday. So, that's where I started. However, I quickly realized that I wanted to make a big deal about it being her sixth birthday so I drew that in big letters with fun designs on the inside of them. As I was writing each word, I also decided that I wanted the 'font' I write in to be different for each so that it made the card more fun and child-like to fit the recipient of the card. This was honestly super fun for me and made me not take the creative process of illustrating this card so seriously! As I thought about what I wanted on the inside, I decided a pop out heart would be so fun and that Bentley would love it. So I did a little something different and cut out a heart and folded up a little piece of paper and glued those inside the card to make a heart pop out and say 'Miss Mary Kate loves you!'. While the card wasn't similar to the ones I've been illustrating, I found that this one allowed me to relax while being creative and to enjoy the process. I also loved how it turned out! This card was one of the few that I've gotten to deliver in-person and Bentley's reaction to the card itself and the heart popping out was so sweet- I think she loved it!

My Sixth Card!

marykatepartridge — 2025-04-01 02:00:01 UTC

One of my friends got into her dream law school, so I decided to make a card to go with a gift my friends and I are giving her! This card is different from what I've created before. I played around with cut outs on/in the card AND a new utensil and I absolutely love how it came out! The Schneider pens were so nice to use and made everything look super crisp and neat- I'll definitely be using them again. This card is one of my favorites and I really enjoyed the process from start to finish of illustrating it!

My Seventh Card!

marykatepartridge — 2025-04-05 02:01:50 UTC

I illustrated this card for Sydney, one of my classmates- turned co-teacher ;) I hadn't originally planned on including this card as one to be part of my journey to learn how to illustrate handmade cards as I was planning on just drawing something easy and quick. However, after I finished it I knew I wanted to include it! When I began on the card, I really had no idea what I wanted it to look like or have drawn on it. I was in a little bit of a creative rut, but I decided to start by simply writing 'Happy Birthday Miss Mills' using a Schneider pen. I stared at the card for a while and wondered what I could do and create with this card that was different than what I had done before. As I continued to stare, I noticed how the words were lined up underneath one another with each row of word(s) being longer than the row before. I then got the idea to make draw a cake around the words so it looks like the words were drawn onto a cake! I used a pink Schneider pen to draw the cake and made the lines of the cake to be thick similar to icing around a cake. I then used markers to draw the candles and sparkles. I was LOVING how it was turning out, but I just kept thinking that something was missing from it- especially near the bottom of the card as I felt that there was too much blank space. This led me to draw an outline of a cake platter beneath the cake. After doing this, I started (and still go back and forth with) regretting drawing the cake platter because it was just felt a little awkward. Regardless, I love this card and will most likely replicate it on future birthday cards! Thinking about if I were to draw this card again, I would start by centering the cake and words within the card to prevent extra blank space. Illustrating this card was such a fun process with getting to discover how I wanted the card to look like while drawing it. It helped me learn that you don't always need to plan out your creativity- just a plan to be creative!

My Eighth Card!

marykatepartridge — 2025-04-17 04:29:59 UTC

Tonight, I finally got to try something totally new and fun for this week’s card! I decided to create a birthday card with watercolors! My cousin's 21st birthday is this weekend and I wanted to make her a card! I’ve seen disco balls used in lots of celebration-themed illustrations lately and I knew I wanted to have one on this card. I also loved the idea of playing with that concept using lots of color- especially since I thought that watercolors would help make this illustration so fun! I started by loosely painting colorful brush strokes all over the page with watercolor. I didn’t have a set pattern in mind—I just let myself freely layer colors like orange, blue, pink, green, and yellow until it felt bright and fun, almost like confetti. Once the paint dried, I outlined a disco ball over the watercolor splotches using a thin black pen. Before I even started on this card, I debated drawing the disco ball outline before or after water coloring but I LOVE how it turned out so I think I made the right decision :) Drawing the lines of the disco ball was a little tricky because I wanted it to look round and gridded like a real one, but I think it turned out pretty well! I also added little sparkles around it to give the illusion of sparkle and light, which helped bring out the “party” vibe even more. I then used my thin sharpie to write the words “Happy Birthday!!!!!” around the ball, which I think made the whole design feel more dynamic and energetic. This card really stretched my creativity in a different way because instead of drawing something super specific or realistic, I got to be more abstract and focus on mood and movement. It felt really freeing to just paint and let the colors come together on their own. I’m learning how important it is to layer different elements—like watercolor and pen line work—to create depth and interest. I’m really proud of how this one turned out and love that it feels playful and unique!

My Ninth Card!

marykatepartridge — 2025-05-08 01:41:09 UTC

A few weeks ago, I made this card for one of my closest friends who got into dental school! I knew I wanted to make her a card to celebrate such a huge achievement and that the card had to feel bright, joyful, and personal. I decided to make a big colorful heart as the centerpiece. I started by cutting a heart shape out of a separate piece of paper and then glued down different scraps of tissue paper on top in layers. I didn’t follow a specific pattern—I just let the colors overlap naturally and tried to balance the mix of bright greens, pinks, blues, and purples. Usually, I would plan it out, but throughout this process, I've learned to let go of worries while creating and to embrace the process! In the end, I love how the tissue paper gave it a textured, almost stained-glass effect! After I finished the heart, I glued it onto a bright pink card base to make it pop even more. Then I added hand-drawn sparkles in the corners with a gold Sharpie and with my black Schneider pen to give it something extra. I finished it off by writing “Congratulations!” along the side of the heart. This card was a really fun way to experiment with layering materials and working more with texture. It also reminded me how powerful it is to use handmade art and how much more special it can make something as simple as a greeting card. I had a lot of fun making this one, and she ended up loving it!

My Tenth & Final Card!

marykatepartridge — 2025-05-08 03:09:00 UTC

For my final card in this semester-long project, I wanted to go out with a bang and create a fun card! I also was struggling to think of who or what to make a card for, and then decided to make one for myself! It sounds cheesy, but I figured I could make a card to put in an envelope and then give to myself this time next year as I finish my first full year of teaching! To celebrate that, I wanted the card to be bright, celebratory, and happy. Before I started making the card, I knew that I wanted to use as many materials as possible since this is the last of the cards I'll make on this journey. I started by drawing a star with a yellow marker and then outlining it with a black marker to give it some depth. I then started coloring around the star with colored pencils shading lightest closest to the star and darkest farther from the star. This created a radiating burst design across the background, and I love how it turned out with the colors blending together around the star. I chose a rainbow gradient because it felt full of energy and creativity—similar to the experience of this whole project! I then added the hand-lettered phrase “You Did It!” in the middle as the message, and I think it really captures the spirit of celebration and accomplishment. As a final touch, I added dots, lines, and shimmer with my Schneider pen to add a little pop of fun to the card. After I did that, I thought that the card needed more, but I wasn't sure what to do. I then thought of adding some glitter on top of the rainbow I had colored to bring everything together and make the card sparkle. What I love most about this card is that it includes nearly every material I’ve worked with—colored pencils, a pen, markers, glue, and even a new material, glitter. It felt so rewarding to use almost everything I’ve practiced in one piece and watch it come together confidently. Making handmade cards has become a way for me to express joy, encouragement, and appreciation—and I’m really proud of the growth I’ve seen in both my artistic skills and my mindset. This card feels like a fitting sendoff to a project that’s taught me so much about creativity and creating! This card is truly a culmination of everything I’ve learned!