2021 HOLIDAY GREETING CARD DESIGN CONTEST
Encourage the little ones in your life to get creative and send us their best art to participate in GADA's holiday card design contest...
GADA Canada is excited to invite kids and teens to submit original designs for our next holiday greeting card.
Draw, paint, collage, illustrate, or photograph an original work of art that captures what the holiday season means to you! Your submission can be handmade or digital — however you want to create it.
GADA will select two winning designs to feature on our 2022 holiday season cards and digital messages.
The design entries will be evaluated in two age groups:
11 and under
12+
GADA will select one winning design from each of the age categories. Winners will each receive a $100 Indigo gift card.
Follow the guidelines in the application form and submit your design, along with the completed application form, by January 15, 2022. Email us your questions, if any.
GADA will announce and contact the winners in early 2022.
GADA is thankful to Andrew Kucey and his team from CIBC Wood Gundy for their generous sponsorship of the contest prizes.
Read below, the letter from our first young artist Liz Martin, winner of our first holiday card design contest, 25 years later…
Charming artwork: Liz’s holiday card shows a cat on a mantle, pawing at the holiday decorations in the glow of the fire and a Christmas tree.
A past winner shares how she won...25 years ago!
By Liz Martin in 2021
Twenty-five years ago, at the age of ten, my hand-drawn image was selected by the Canadian Marfan Association, now known as GADA Canada, for its holiday card.
The card featured a mischievous-looking cat perched atop a burning fireplace adorned with stockings and bows and flanked by a Christmas tree with gifts underneath. I vividly remember the effort that went into creating that card using my stash of Laurentian colouring pencils and my mom’s variety package of Regal Christmas cards for inspiration.
That card was legend in my household. Each Christmas we’d receive copies of the card from grandparents and multiple sets of aunts and uncles. Even a decade or longer after I initially drew that image, the association was still sending out that card as part of its annual holiday campaign.
Now, more that 25 years on, the association has a new name and a new identity, and people send fewer holiday cards than they did back in 1995. I’d love to see GADA supporters rekindle the tradition.
As a kid growing up with Marfan Syndrome in a small town in Alberta, this contest was the first time I felt connected to a cause and a community full of other kids just like me. GADA continues to serve as that connector of kids and adults alike with genetic aortic disorders, bringing us together not only to support us through the challenges of our conditions, but also to celebrate our strength and talents. Twenty-five years on, I am still part of this community.
I can’t wait to see the submissions that come in. I hope you’ll encourage the little ones in your life to pull out their colouring pencils and send us their best art!
Liz Martin grew up in Alberta and now divides her time between Kingston and Toronto, Ontario. She and her family members are affected by Marfan Syndrome. She loves to doodle and browse discount bookstores, and she joined the GADA Canada Board of Directors in 2020.
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