Shop independent: pick these Christmas cards to support designers and makers

Today is Small Business Saturday, a day that comes but once a year, encouraging us to support independents by doing our Christmas shopping with them. It holds a similar mission to Just a Card, a cause that urges us to buy even one greeeting card to help small businesses.

In that spirit, we've pulled together a list of some of our favourite Christmas cards, created by independent artists, designers and makers. You'll be sending your loved ones something bespoke while "doing your bit" for your fellow creatives. Perfect.

Merry Christmas cards by Sarah Neale (The Ink Draw)

Sarah Neale is the talented person behind The Ink Draw, an online shop that sells greeting cards, prints and artworks. The Melbourne artist is someone we recommended to follow on Instagram this morning. Here, we share a pack of four festive cards from her Etsy shop.

Priced at £11.70 for pack of four | Buy the cards

Priced at £11.70 for pack of four | Buy the cards

Merry F**king Christmas by Annika Chicharro

Annika Chicharro hand-makes super cute and funny greeting cards, including Bull-dolph which will appeal to dog lovers everywhere. We especially love Merry F**king Christmas, although the Christmas Log came a close second.

Priced at £2.95 | Buy the card

Priced at £2.95 | Buy the card

OMFG It's Christmas by Victoria Draws

Victoria is a full-time primary teacher in London who loves to craft handmade cards during her spare time. She has dreams to write and illustrate picture books too. Give her some love by purchasing one of her many gorgeous creations via her Etsy shop.

Priced at £3.50 | Buy the card

Priced at £3.50 | Buy the card

Baby Grey Penguins by Hannah Waterman

Hannah Waterman brings you: fluffy baby grey penguins on a greeting card. What more do you need to put a smile on someone's face this Christmas?

Priced at £2.70 | Buy the card

Priced at £2.70 | Buy the card

Christmas Baubles by Morag Perkins

Glasgow-based photographer Morag Perkins has created this beautiful and unusual greeting card for the photography enthusiast in your life, featuring rich purple Christmas baubles in a strip of film. Printed on high-quality cardstock with a semi-gloss finish for deep vibrant colours, and matt inside for ease of writing.

Priced at £2.50 | Buy the card

Priced at £2.50 | Buy the card

Animals In Scarves cards by Sarah Fisher

Based in Southsea, Sarah Fisher makes pretty paper goods, wedding invitations and accessories. For Christmas, you just have to get your mitts on these delightful Animals In Scarves cards, featuring original illustrations of – you guessed it – winter animals wearing scarves. Cute.

Priced at £13 for pack of eight | Buy the card

Priced at £13 for pack of eight | Buy the card

Skating Pigeon by Jessica Taylor

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a festive skating pigeon. Jessica Taylor's cards are from her original illustrations and are blank inside, so they work equally well as greetings cards or notecards. They are A6, 240gsm pre-creased cards that all come with a white envelope, each card has a matt finish.

Priced at £1.50 | Buy the card

Priced at £1.50 | Buy the card

Christmas Greeting Cards by Matilda Svensson

Swedish artist Matilda Svensson prints her own festive artworks onto cards in a small print shop in Malmö, Sweden. We love this pack of three, including rocking robins, sleeping foxes and Swedish forestland.

Priced at £9 for pack of three Buy the card

Priced at £9 for pack of three Buy the card

All I Want by Micky Calf

This laugh-out-loud funny Christmas card by Micky Calf, a Manchester illustrator, is just one of many hilarious creations that you can find on his Etsy shop. From Christmas pugs and Mancunian legends to rude naked santas, this is where it's at.

Priced at £2.55 | Buy the card

Priced at £2.55 | Buy the card

Muscle Sprout card by Katie Abey

Love them or hate them, Katie Abey pays homage to sprouts (yuk) with a gorgeous illustrated Christmas card. The Alfreton-based illustrator and "Hogwarts graduate" has loads of other designs too. Check out Tree Rex.

Priced at £2.75 | Buy the card

Priced at £2.75 | Buy the card

Reindeer Christmas card by Amy Lambert

Amy Lambert is the smiling face behind Copperstone Creative, offering prints, patterns and stationery for all occasions. Support the Huddersfield maker by snapping up her cute Reindeer Christmas Card.

Priced at £2.50 | Buy the card

Priced at £2.50 | Buy the card

Grumpy Owl by Nicola Allan

We all know someone who doesn't really enjoy the festive season... this is the perfect card for them. Courtesy of Nicola Allan, Grumpy Owl will put a smile on that scrooge's face. An artist and illustrator based in Edinburgh, Nicola also sells prints via Etsy.

Priced at £2.95 | Buy the card

Priced at £2.95 | Buy the card

Highland Christmas Cow by Iain Hamilton

Bewilderbeest is the snappily dressed, but slightly baffled creature, that has kick-started a whole series of other drawings, paintings, and creations by Iain Hamilton, a self-taught artist based in Suffolk. We just have to have this Highland Christmas Cow card.

Priced at £2.50 | Buy the card

Priced at £2.50 | Buy the card

Mistletoe Christmas cards by Louise Slater

Louise Slater is a London-based artist who graduated in Graphic Design from Northumbria University, specialising in printmaking and illustration. She went on to do post graduate studies at Goldsmiths College, University of London and taught art and design at several schools and colleges in London. Her greeting card designs are based on drawings and handmade limited edition lino prints, many of which are available to buy, including these stunning mistletoe Christmas cards.

Priced at £10 for pack of four | Buy the cards

Priced at £10 for pack of four | Buy the cards

You Get Stuffed by Little Birds Talk

Little Birds Talk – aka designer Laura Hawkins – urges us to pay some thought to the thousands of turkeys up and down the country with gizzards a quiver at the thought of a Christmas stuffing. Her colourful creations centre on our fine feathered friends, and are guaranteed to put a smile on your loved ones' faces.

Priced at £2.50 | Buy the card

Priced at £2.50 | Buy the card

Merry Christmas from the Upside Down by Alon Avissar

Alon Avissar is a DC-based art director and designer with a passion for history, music trivia, Ninja Turtles and Sriracha. His love of nineties pop culture, proven through his rather nifty website design, is the inspiration behind this series of festive cards, which pay homage to the popular Netflix series Stranger Things.

Priced at $8 | Buy the card

Priced at $8 | Buy the card

Main image: Micky Calf's Christmas Pugs card

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