Handmade Owl Cards

Niki Owl first appeared as the featured character on handmade greeting cards in 1995. Karin was inspired by her childhood cartoon idols Garfield and Snoopy, and wondered how cool it would be to have her own cartoon character. That’s essentially how Niki Owl “happened”.

Karin was graced by an inspired local community who began to commission cards from her for birthdays, well wishes, weddings and other celebrations. She quickly amassed a large archive of illustrations to pool from, and this archive became the original launching pad for the first Niki Owl website.

In the spirit of the original handmade owl cards, Karin continues to make them for those who want a very special card made to celebrate, thank or inspire someone they care about.

How Niki Owl Cards Are Made

Step 1 – The Concept

handmade owl cards step 1

You place an order online or in person for a Niki Owl greeting cardWe come up with an idea for someone, or receive an order asking us to make one for their friend, family, colleague, or team member. When creating a new personalised handmade card, we think of who it’s for – their favorite things, their hobbies, their profession. We then move on to…

Step 2 – The Design

handmade owl cards step 2

We come up with some initial drawings to illustrate the card before we put ink to paper. We draw out several sketches of how the intended final design should be. If you ordered a card to be created from scratch, we love to surprise you with the final design as well. Once we’ve determined our new little masterpiece, we move on to…

Step 3 – The Creation

handmade owl cards step 3

Karin starts to draw the card with a fine pencil, then add the ink, and erase any pencil lines. Once that’s dry, she moves onto the coloring process, typically using coloring pencils because that’s how she makes Niki’s cute feather effect. When she’s happy with all the coloring process, Karin applies a fine layer of protective spray so that the pencil and pen won’t smudge.

Before it gets sent to you, we scan every card after it’s made so we can keep a record of it in our digital archive.

TRULY Owlthentic

You can tell each handmade Niki Owl card is created by hand by the texture of the pen and pencil colours. As well as the fact that it’s signed by Karin Pinter. Your handmade owl card goes into a nice envelope for you to send off to whoever it’s going to. All you need to add is your loving message and a stamp!

What Niki Owl cards are made of:

All owl cards are handmade with love on acid-free paper. Karin likes to use recycled paper when and where possible, so she’s always looking for the best card stock to suit both the quality of illustrations and her commitment to a healthier environment.

How to Treat your Niki Owl Card:

With appreciation and kindness, please. Some people frame their handmade Niki Owl cards, which is very humbling for us. We truly appreciate our cards being treated as pieces of art, because they are!

If you have any questions about our Niki Owl cards, please email us and we’ll answer as swiftly as possible.