Yuletide or Christmas card with snowy woods mandala and poetry is digitally printed using pigment inks on silky, bright white, acid-free paper. Folded card is 5.25" by 5.25" and comes with a beautifully made, bright white envelope. The photograph of ferns used to create the mandala is printed on the back of the card with the photo location. Message inside, The gentle glow of Yuletide warms the coldest night, is printed in flowing red script. The paper is super smooth, not slick, and takes gel, ballpoint, and other inks well. The card and envelope are packaged together in a plastic sleeve and mailed in a stiffened mailer. Note: orders of one or two cards are shipped USPS First Class without tracking. Larger orders are shipped via the most economical means, which usually, but not always, includes tracking.

Framing. This card is created using high-quality archival materials, such as might be used in a museum. The print is sharp, bright, and frameable. To protect the vibrancy of the artwork, I frame using UV glass or acrylic, and I recommend it. If you use plain glass or acrylic, make sure you hang this sweet, little piece and all your beautiful art away from direct sunlight.

About the art.  The digital collage on this card, titled Winter Woods at Night, was created from this photo of ferns taken at the moist base of a small, wooded cliff along the Trail of the Cedars in Glacier National Park, Montana. At the time I took the photo, a slate-gray American dipper, North America’s only truly aquatic songbird, was bobbing for insects in the adjacent stream.

Finding evergreen ferns in the winter woods is always a treat. An unexpected patch of green in an otherwise subdued carpet of crunchy, brown leaves is very much a promise of slowly approaching spring. Here I’ve tucked a pattern of red baubles amongst the fronds to further suggest the promise of returning warmth and light. This touch of red is also a nod to the holiday season, as reflected in the interior message: The gentle glow of Yuletide warms the coldest night.

About the poetry..The poetry, which I wrote, evokes a cold, winter woodland scene, warmed by the Yuletide season.
Hoot of owl,
Tread of deer,
Softly waning light.
Bare boughs rattled by a gale
That throws its fleecy freight.
Snow sifts down through empty wood,
Gauzy, frozen motes,
In silence settle,
Finding rest upon a verdant berth.

~poetry and artwork created by Linda S. Gribko