Christmas in July

It's officially that time of year... when I'm talking about Christmas while everyone else is enjoying summer. 😅

After months of sketching, painting, tweaking colours and moving tiny bits of artwork around my studio walls, my 2026 Christmas collection is finally designed! Before I send it off to print, I wanted to give you a little sneak peek before anyone else gets to see it.

This year's collection has two colourful themes: Winter Woofers and Cracker Magic.

Winter Woofers 🐶❄️

Winter Woofers is all about joyful pups having the best festive season ever. There are dogs skating, snowboarding, zooming down snowy hills on snow tubes, playing in the snow and wrapping up in cosy scarves. I wanted every design to feel fun, colourful and full of personality rather than traditional Christmas scenes.

As always, everything started as pencil sketches before I built each illustration digitally, playing with colours, textures and all those little details that make each dog its own character. (There were a lot of scarves.)

I'm especially excited about how this collection has come together, and I can't wait to see these colourful dogs arriving on mantelpieces this Christmas.

Cracker Magic 🎉✨

The second collection couldn't be more different.

Cracker Magic is my colourful ode to the Christmas crackers of my childhood. Inspired by growing up in the '80s and '90s, it's filled with paper crowns, silly moustaches, fortune teller fish, tiny gadgets and loud snaps. I wanted to capture that feeling of surprise and silliness — the joy of opening something small and finding a little bit of magic inside. Bold shapes, bright colours and playful festive details bring these designs to life, creating a modern collection with a retro Christmas twist.

A Little Peek Behind the Scenes

One of my favourite parts of making a collection is seeing it slowly take over the studio.

My walls have been covered in sketches, finished illustrations, wrapping paper patterns and card mock-ups while I've been figuring out how everything works together. Some designs were finished weeks ago, while others have changed completely along the way.

I thought it'd be fun to share this stage because it's not something many people get to see. Before the finished cards arrive, it all starts with pencil drawings, bits of masking tape and lots of moving artwork around until everything feels just right.

I hope you've enjoyed this little Christmas in July sneak peek! You're the very first to see the new collection, and I'd love to know which design is your favourite.

Now all that's left is to get everything printed...