Christmas e-cards 2011 - by artists, art galleries and museums

A couple of years ago I did a post about FREE Christmas e-cards by artists, art galleries and museums.  This is an update.  I've been looking to see if the same sites have updated or changed their URL links and also whether more people have got involved with the provision of artists e-cards.

There are lots of FREE Christmas e-cards available - and some of the best are on museum sites!  There are some subscriber services created by independent artists and illustrators - usually working as a small team.

I'm trying to find what I might call "the niche site which has some artistic flair".  Do let me know if you've found any not in my listing.

Liverpool Museums: Vintage Christmas Cards

2011 - Christmas e-cards on UK museum websites

• Christmas e-cards from the British Library - sacred and secular - include some really nice ones.
• Geffrye Museum - Christmas e-cards with a domestic orientation from this museum of the home.
• National Museums Liverpool - includes the general Christmas e-cards.  All proceeds support National Museums Liverpool. The website also includes specific microsites for : 
• Vintage Christmas and New Year e-cards this is one of my favourite sites - it has some really great images
• the Stewart Bale collection (black and white photos of Christmas stores from the 40s and 50s)
• National Museum of Wales - Christmas e-cards  These includes some classic Welsh landscapes - in snow!
• Tate Museums - Tate Kids e-cards

2009 website - no longer in existence

The Victoria and Albert Museum website has been redesigned and, as I've noted previously it appears to have lost a lot of content in the process - including the Christmas e-cards!  Which is a pity as they had some of the nicest ones.

2011 Christmas e-cards USA museum websites

We seem to have pretty much the same situation as in 2009 with not a lot happening in American museums.

• Museum of Fine Art, Boston - Christmas - includes lots of Japanese prints of winter scenes.  It's quite difficult to spot the bit where it says "send an e-card".  Look at the bottom left of the image - underneath "previous"

2011 Christmas e-cards on artist websites

There are some small groups in the UK who have decided to create a cottage industry out of e-cards - however their cards are NOT FREE.  I'm including them this year as it seems to me there's some scope for people to do this ie the market is certainly is not saturated with good quality Christmas cards.

I'm only listing those who have more than one card for Christmas/New Year and have cards that don't make me gag.

• Jacquie Lawson has now been around for a long time and comes up with new cards for every seasonal event.  
• These are her Christmas ecards
• Prices for subscriptions  I used to subscribe for those emergencies when you need to send a card fast but didn't renew my subscription this year as I find there cards a bit too "folksy" and was wondering what alternatives were on the market
• Skyblue Cards - offer animated cards with/without music.  Being scottish they have
• Christmas cards AND
• New Year cards!  I particularly liked their New Year card for an international audience.
• Prices is are very similar to Jacquie Lawson
• Ojolie is a husband and wife team producing online greetings cards.  She's the artist.
• These are their Christmas / Hanukkah cards and lean towards the traditional rather than the modern.  They look more digital somehow compared to Jacquie Lawsons.
• Prices are in dollars and very similar to competitors

Do tell me if you've found any other sites.  Note that I'm not including any which are not artist/illustrator oriented and/or don't have a Christmas section.


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