asking for trouble

How I Made My Ghost Snow Globe Christmas Cards

This was originally written for my Patreon in 2019 and I’m reposting it here. My personal Christmas card for family and friends featured my Trapped Ghost inside a snow globe! I also then turned it into a printed card for my shop the following year and you can still buy some in my shops.

Ghost Snow Globe Christmas Cards

I wanted this to be a hand-drawn style to match the previous Trapped Ghost drawings from my 100 Day Project. I also wanted to use some of my Snow Day characters so I made a basic line template in Illustrator first. I don’t worry too much about placement or sizing as I can change that later. I just realised I forgot to add the bunny’s pink cheeks to the finished illustration!

Ghost Snow Globe Christmas Cards

I then create a new file in my drawing program on the iPad. I used Adobe Sketch for this as that’s what I used previously but I mostly prefer Procreate now and really regretted it, especially since I ended up re-drawing the Ghost anyway. I could really have done with the drawing assist feature for a perfect circle.

trapped ghost christmas card

I made a guide on SCK recently, on using digital colouring pages, and that’s exactly how I set up my outline drawing as a guide. I mostly used the pencil brush with some rough brushes (Kyle’s are awesome) for texture. I was a bit stuck with it near the end until I removed the outlines, made the Ghost a bit transparent and gave him a paper crown! I think he figured if he’s trapped in a Christmas snowglobe he might as well join in.

Here’s the finished card – the dark blue background didn’t print very well so I changed it to a sky blue instead. I had a pack of mixed red and green cards and just stuck them on with glue dots. My family’s cards were mostly on red with Merry Christmas and I also did a batch of Happy Holidays ones.

kawaii christmas cards

Here’s how the professionally printed version turned out, with the original night sky in a better shade for printing. I haven’t started my personal Christmas card for this year yet but I have a few ideas so better get a move on.

marceline

Hello! I’m Marceline Smith, the designer and owner of Asking For Trouble. I create illustrated stationery, accessories and gifts using my cute characters inspired by Japanese kawaii. This is my business and personal blog where I write about my creative doings, inspirations, travels, Japan trips and daily life. Read more »


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All text, photos and illustrations are © Marceline Smith 2007-2024 unless credited otherwise. You may repost my images with full credit and link. However, do not reproduce full posts without my permission or use my images or writing for commercial purposes. Thank you!

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