animals & pets – Page 2

2022-02-01

Fun & Happy Birthday Ecards – Birthday Express & Performers

Circus performers take to the stage, culminating with a contortionist on a giant cake and a big hand-lettered Happy Birthday message. This fun birthday ecard Birthday Performers would also make a lovely invitation for a birthday party. It’s perfect for kids, but suitable for all ages.

Ojolie Birthday Ecard - Birthday Performers — Ojolie Birthday Ecard – Birthday Performers

Birthday Express is a classic birthday ecard set to the Happy Birthday song in a soft version perfect for children – illustrated in great detail in watercolor, this card is sure to be a hit.

The little critters have gone out of their way to celebrate with fanfare. The perfect birthday ecard Insect Birthday Parade to wish anyone – no matter what age – a very Happy Birthday. Set to a gypsy version of the Happy Birthday tune, this cheerful little animation is a fine way to share your message of birthday wishes.

Ojolie Birthday Ecard - Insect Birthday Parade — Ojolie Birthday Ecard – Insect Birthday Parade

Check out our other animated birthday ecards or free ecards.

2022-01-22

Valentine Day eCard and Friendship eCard

Our newest card Friends is loosely inspired by the paper cuttings of Matisse and my love for bold blue — an ode to friendship and love! As I was illustrating this card I was imagining all that I would tell my closest friends, what their friendship and love means to me, and how it just makes everything better! This card is great for Valentine’s Day, thinking of you, love, anniversaries, friendship, and anytime you want to send a little illustrated poetry to someone you simply adore. Here is our collection of ecards for Valentine’s Day and ecards for friendship.

Ojolie Ecard for Valentine's Day and Friendship — Ojolie Ecard for Valentine Day and Friendship

We hope your Valentine’s Day is spent with the important people in your life that make everything better.

Ojolie Ecards offers a big collection of creative and beautiful animated ecards for many holidays and occasions. Check out our other Valentine ecards or the free ecards.

2021-12-12

New & Fun Holiday eCards for Christmas

More new cards for the holidays have been added to our website.

Whether you just absolutely adore flamingos, crave a different kind of holiday card or live somewhere where snow is not ever a part of the holiday season, Fa la la Mingo is a cute tropical Christmas ecard you have been searching for!

Growing up I had the great experience of celebrating the holidays in a few places, where we had to get creative – no pine trees, snow or any of the things I traditionally associated with Christmas to be found. To my great delight, I have since discovered that unusual ornaments have become a huge trend. Tropical birds and flamingos take center stage in this beautifully illustrated jungle card, set to an island tune that will get you in the mood for some real joy and fun, no matter where or how you celebrate.

This winter Christmas ecard, Wonderful Snow Time will inspire you to bust our your ice skates, snow tube or sled, if you are lucky enough to see a white Christmas or get nice snowfall. This card makes for a great season’s greetings and is set to a really upbeat holiday tune that is sure to spread delight. You can also check out all our Christmas ecards and New Year ecards.

We can’t wait to share all our new cards for the winter festive season. If you would like to follow along and see what we create in the studio and how these illustrations go from paper and paint to animation, you can follow us on Instagram as well.

Ojolie’s premium membership for a full year allows you to send all our cards as much as you want. We offer a full 30 day money back guarantee, so there is no risk. You can also sign up for a free membership and send our collection of free ecards.

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2021-12-07

Holiday Anticipation & New Christmas Ecards

At Ojolie our holiday cards are some of our most elaborate productions and holiday planning starts really early. It is always a really satisfying feeling when we get to this point, where we can finally unveil what we have been working on for you. The first cards have been released on our site, with more to come. If you know someone who absolutely loves the build up to Christmas Eve, then Gifts of the Season is the holiday ecard for them.

gifts around Christmas tree - a scene in a Christmas ecard — gifts around Christmas tree, a scene in a Christmas ecard

From the smell of fresh baked cookies wafting through the house, to the joy of decorating them with your loved ones, no detail is left to chance. These little acts of love and care are the gifts of the season that inspired this ecard. We approached making this ecard with the same attention to detail, from visualizing the idea, to carefully hand-painting the elements that come together in the final card. We hope you and your recipients will enjoy it!

watercolor elements for a Christmas ecard

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2021-05-29

Gone Sailing Father Day Animated Ecard

Our newest card, Gone Sailing, created with Father’s Day in mind, is a rich journey illustrated in watercolor for the sailing enthusiast as well as anyone who enjoys summer, the big open seas, or just relaxing on a beach with a cold drink. It can be used for many other occasions, such as birthdays, summer greetings, anniversaries, well you get the point – almost anything.

We have other ecards for Father’s Day. Check them out!

As I write this I am myself about to take off for a short journey, to the mountains instead of the sea, to photograph a very different kind of body of water – a high altitude meteor lake. I hope to get back to writing about it in my blog as soon as I get back to celebrate Father’s Day at our household. In the meantime, I hope you have a wonderful Father’s Day however you decide to celebrate those great men in your life.

2020-12-28

Before We Kiss This Year Goodbye – New Year Ecards

We are happy share a few new cards we created that capture the spirit of this year – a year that is almost impossible to sum up.

We are extremely grateful for your support and the many kind messages we receive from many of our members throughout the year. We will continue to strive to improve and create cards that help you stay in touch with the most important people in your life.

We wish you a New Year of health, happiness, hope and lots of time with friends and family.

Check out our new ecards for New Year below and the entire collection of New Year ecards.

In This Together Fireworks New Year Ecard

We redid our popular card In This Together with fireworks and a Happy New Year greeting. This card was inspired by balcony performances and creative outlets everywhere this year. While there has been a lot of bad news, more than we really have the capacity to process, there have also been amazing display of courage, creativity and kindness.

Let’s Kiss This Year Goodbye New Year Holiday Ecard

Kiss This Year Goodbye sums up how many of us feel – this has been a year many of us would rather forget or fast forward through! This card is also perfect if you did not get around to sending a holiday card yet and are looking for a card that combines both your Christmas and New Year greeting into one.

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2020-12-14

Nutcracker Theme & Dog Theme Holiday Ecards

Our new card Cracking a Tune is a humorous take on a nutcracker themed holiday card, that will put a smile on the lips of your friends and family with a surprising twist. Perfect for everyone on your list, no matter their age. Set to a cracking tune that will even make the nutcrackers bust out of their rigid shells😄

Cracking A Tune Animated Christmas Ecard

The card Leaping for Joy is inspired by Valde, one of my mother’s two dogs. We know there is a little bit of poodle in him, and he is formidable at standing on his hind legs. This little vignette started to take place in my mind after one of his great performances on two legs in hope of a treat. In my imagination, all his friends from the dog park have come to cheer him on as he leaps for joy at finally making a perfect jump on the ice😁 We hope you enjoy sending this as much as we enjoyed creating it.

Last, but not least, is a remake of the Thanksgiving card All Gathered into a new version Festive Gathering where the table is set for this festive season and inspired by holiday celebrations we have shared with friends from different cultures and religions … no matter how you celebrate, this card embraces the comfort of coming together around some great food and company in the spirit of the season.

Wishing you a happy and healthy holiday Season

Check out our collection of beautiful Christmas ecards and New Year ecards.

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2015-12-29

2016 is around the corner!

The joy of creating

Is it that time already? Time seems to be flying by and
before you blink the New Year is upon us.

This usually means reflecting on the year that was and
setting your intentions for the year ahead.

The pressure is on to devise your New Year resolutions; lose
weight, exercise more, spend less, save more, work less, work more, give up
smoking, coffee, sugar etc.

However I wanted to propose a different idea from the common
traditional clichés with this new ecard. A
resolution about committing to the idea of getting more out of life. By this I
mean giving yourself permission to take the time to do whatever it is you
enjoy.

This
is not always so easy in today’s world, where we live in a landscape that
forces us to stay busy, future-oriented and stressed. Sometimes we just
need to build in more moments to breathe. Take in the present and become
mindful of the simple pleasures that we are in contact with every day if we
allow ourselves to become more conscious of them.

When we created this business 10 years ago, our intention
was generate an income and lifestyle that would allow us to spend more quality
time together as a family, focus less on material things, and allow us the
freedom to invent whilst enjoying the process along the way.

Cat naps anyone??

Hence, the creation of Ode to Life ecard.
View the card

More hugs, naps, road trips, fun and moments of joy, love
and celebration. More laughter, dreaming, creating and sipping on hot cocoa.
Taking the time to view more sunsets, smell the scents of fresh flowers, breathe in the zest of life!

Life is for living.
We are working so we can live, not living just to work.
Every moment is a gift!

2016 is the year for dancing!

This card is a compilation of the various animation styles of our favourite designs. Each vignette is intended to make you smile.

These are some of our resolutions for the coming year.
What are yours? What will bring more enjoyment into your life?

There is no better time than the present to set your intentions to invite more bliss into your world and enhance your well-being with the choices conscious you make.

Come join with us in the commitment to make the most of your daily life by building in more momentary simple pleasures.

Taking time out just for you

2015-12-22

12 days of Christmas in a Paper Wonderland

Most people are familiar with the Christmas
song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. To most it’s a delightful
nonsensical rhyme set to music. As I recently discovered, it is a good deal more than just a repetitious
melody with pretty phrases and a list of strange gifts.

12 Days of Christmas Paper Cut Motifs

To give you a brief background on
the history, Catholics in England during the period 1558 to 1829, when
Parliament finally emancipated Catholics in England, were prohibited from any
practice of their faith by law – private or public. It was a crime to be a
Catholic.

“The Twelve Days of
Christmas” was written in England as one of the “catechism
songs” to help young Catholics learn the tenets of their faith and used as
a memory aid.

Today, this famous song was chosen to partner with our very
popular ecard of the same name; the 12 days of Christmas paper cut card.

As an artist it is only natural that I draw inspiration from my own Danish heritage in my work. In Denmark it is common to cut and display paper cuttings in windows all year round, but especially during Christmas. They are also used to hang on Christmas and garden trees across all seasons in the form of paper hearts or stars.

Common Christmas designs include sleighs and reindeer, flora and fauna, nativity scenes, villages etc. Contemporary designs modern silhouettes, cityscapes and famous sayings.

And what better idea than to bring this famously silly series of gifts from the carol to life than in 12 ornaments in a paper cutting window scene.

Scenes from the card displayed in a window

To begin, I created paper cut motifs following the lyrics
of the song. Each motif starts its life as a hand-drawn sketch and then is
scanned and rendered on to the computer as a vector illustration. The digitalized images then come to life in
frame-by-frame animations. Turtle doves flutter, ballerinas twirl, swans glide and
pipers play their flutes in celebration of the festive season.

Detail of four calling birds motif against snow backdrop

Rather than being a static two dimensional setting, I
designed the ecard to have visual depth and dimension. To achieve this I placed the paper
cutting within a window and adding a snowy background, adding contextual depth and dimension, resulting in a dynamic moving picture.

View the Twelve Days of Christmas Paper Cut e-card now.

2015-12-08

Who’s been naughty AND nice?

This year I wanted to develop a theme inspired by our pets
as they are so much part of our families, as our human children are. For this
new Christmas ecard, the idea was to inject a bit of fun into the festive
season using three little mischievous kittens.

Digital kitten engaging with scanned images of water coloured objects forming a rich background

Anyone who has observed cats and boxes (or even young children and boxes), will have seen how they are always more interested in the box itself, rather than what is inside. They like to try to find any way possible to get inside a box, no matter how small or impossible it may seem. There are tons of You Tube videos that play testament to that.

This card is a series of vignettes
of three little playful kittens getting into the Christmas presents which kind
of represents the suspense that we all feel when we see the boxes under the
Christmas tree. They create a bit of mayhem as only cheeky furry creatures can, before finding a perfect cozy spot in a box to snuggle and settle in for
Christmas. I think this embodies the idea of getting warm and comfy for
the holiday season.

The formation of the card involves different elements, using hand painted objects and animated digital characters. After developing the idea for this card, the basic tale is story-boarded.

Next, the elements making up the scene, such as the wrapped presents, boxes and a Christmas tree, had to be sketched, painted in water colours then scanned into the computer via Photoshop. The result is a more illustrated feel and look to the overall card.

Hand painted water colour stuffed elephant toy prior to being scanned

The cheeky kittens were rendered and animated using Adobe Flash, but key frames are usually hand sketched first like traditional animation, so you have more control over
plotting the movements of your characters. The sweet kittens stalk, pounce, climb
and jump amongst a flurry of gifts and boxes in a delightfully natural manner. We wanted to capture the naturally curious nature of these playful
cats.

An inquisitive kitten observes the glistening ornaments hanging on a Christmas tree

Check out the finished product: www.ojolie.com/index.php?ec_id=208

Can you relate to this ecard?

I would love you to share your experiences here about how your pets also enjoy Christmas.

Please feel free to post any pics you have of your furry creatures getting into the Christmas spirit and let’s enjoy the inquisitive nature of our darling pets.