Ever since I was a child, I’ve been making handmade cards for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, birthdays of family members, and so on. I never grew out of it! But through the years, my cards became a bit more… professional? Not sure about that, actually. But I certainly learnt a thing or two! Every year, I share my creations on this blog. And guess what? It’s time for that annual post! Yesterday was the last family birthday of the year, and the cardmaking is now on pause for a for months. Here are my 7 unique handmade cards that I created in 2026, made with quilling and watercolours.

Grandmother’s Day – quilled red flowers

The first card of the year always goes to my Grandma. Grandmother’s Day is celebrated on January 21st in Poland every year. And since my Grandma particularly likes my quilling cards, I never need to choose what technique to use for her cards, It has to be quilling, obviously! In 2026, I went with a fairly minimalistic design. I made a few large red quilled flowers, but then also reached for some paints, to mix it up a bit. I added small painted flowers at the bottom of the card, and used a golden metallic watercolour paint to add some spots in the background. A simple card, but it was well received.

Dad’s birthday – watercolour cupcake

The next big occasion in my family was my Dad’s birthday in March. I always struggle with ideas for ‘manly’ cards! Colourful, floral designs seem a bit more fitting for my Mum and Grandma. This year, my inspiration came from my Dad’s sweet tooth. I decided to grab some watercolours and paint a scrumptious cupcake with a candle. I’ve already made a post about this card! My Dad really liked that card, actually. For this card, I used watercolour paper folded in half as a base. Watercolour paints wouldn’t work well on a regular card base.

Mother’s Day – minimalistic quilled roses

In Poland, Mother’s Day is celebrated on May 26th. This year, I tried to make a card in a slightly different quilling method than I’m used to. Usually, when I make quilled elements for my cards, I make them separately and glue finished pieces onto the card. That way, if a flower doesn’t turn out as expected, I can simply redo it. But for a long time, I’ve wanted to make a card in a line art style, but 3D – with quilling paper strips. The only issue with that technique is that there are no second takes – all elements are assembled on the card itself. But finally, I decided to bite the bullet and give it a go.

I chose to make some red roses. The shapes actually turned out pretty cute! I didn’t make any major mistakes, it all went smoothly. Yet, something about this card still feels off, and I’m not entirely happy with it. Maybe it’s the composition, and putting a horizontal centrepiece on a vertical card? Or maybe it’s the colour scheme and the fact that the flowers don’t stand out enough? Or maybe the minimalistic design is too… minimalistic? I’m not sure. Let me know if you have any ideas!

Still, I put a lot of effort into making this card and I’m sure my Mum appreciated it!

Sister’s birthday – watercolour card with a story

For my sister, I always make cards with a reference to some inside joke or an event we experienced together. This year’s birthday card for my sister was a watercolour picture of some flamingos.

In our hometown, there’s a zoo. It has a herd of flamingos, in an enclosure that can be seen from outside – you don’t need to buy a zoo ticket. If we go on a long walk to the local park, we always walk past that enclosure. Every year, the flamingos spend the winter in a conservatory-style shed, sheltered from the harsh conditions. Understandably, I guess, but we always think that the zookeepers are a bit too conservative. The poor birds stay indoors from October until May. That’s more than half of the year! Every spring, when my sister goes on a walk, she checks if the flamingos are out yet, and she always lets me know. It’s like a game at this point! For comparison, flamingos in the London Zoo were outdoors in February. Winters in Poland used to be harsh, but now the true winter never lingers for longer than a few weeks.

So, this year’s birthday card for my sister featured birthday flamingos stuck in a small, indoor enclosure. For an Easter egg, I added a duck on the roof – my sister loves ducks. Now that’s a truly unique, personalised birthday card!

Grandma’s birthday – flower bouquet

For my Grandma’s birthday in June, I made another floral card with quilled elements, but for once, it wasn’t quilling-first. The foundation of the card were the small flowers that I made with a flower hole punch, coloured paper and beads. I wrote a tutorial for these flowers many years ago, and I still make them for my cards!

For this card, I made a cone out of patterned paper and glued it on a brown card base. I then filled the cone with my tiny flowers, and added some quilled leaves. It’s a really simple design, but I love how it turned out. I made all of the flowers by hand, but you could recreate this design with small flowers bought in a craft store.

Father’s Day – watercolour trophy

For Father’s Day this year, I drew inspiration from the ongoing football World Cup. I decided to create a trophy – a ‘Best Dad’ trophy, I suppose – and put the date of Polish Father’s Day on it with an embossed kind of look. I also added some flowers in and around the trophy. For final touches, I outlined the design with an ultra thin black liner pen. I also added highlights with a white paint pen. I forgot to mention – I painted this card with watercolours. I’ve had quite a phase for watercolours this summer!

Mum’s birthday – watercolour slice of cake

Continuing with my phase for watercolour paints, the card that I made for my Mum for her birthday (which was yesterday, actually) was a scrumptious slice of cake. I’m really pleased with this card! It’s quite detailed, I made good use of some tiny liner brushes that I bought in TK Maxx. I debated what kind of cake to paint, but knowing that my Mum loves summer fruit, I knew there had to be berries on the cake. I also added a little candle, just to make the piece of cake a bit more birthday-worthy.

Final thoughts

And that concludes my cardmaking of 2026! Another year, another set of unique creations. I love writing these posts and looking at my cards from the previous year. Not all of them always turn out perfect, but it’s the thought that matters, and I always learn something with every project. I hope my 7 DIY cards inspired some of you to make your own!

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• DIY