Recently, I found an ecard website that offered beautiful, artistic Flash^R animated ecards. Although the Ojolie website has been around for only two years now, their inventory has grown to over 40 ecards. Frederikke Tu is the artist who creates not only the beautiful watercolor artwork but also the Flash animation for each ecard. Her husband Timothy takes charge of the IT needs of the website.

Jingle Bells is my favorite ecard because of the beautiful artwork. The attention to detail given to the horse and bridle is striking and, as the horse gallops over the snowy hills, the snowfall particle animation is beautifully done. Once the sleigh carrying the freshly cut Christmas tree arrives home, Frederikke uses silhouette animation to develop the storyline as the family inside the house decorates the tree. She again uses beautifully detailed artwork in the last scene, as the fireplace and fully decorated tree complete the story.

In the Snow Globe ecard we have another beautifully decorated Christmas tree. As the story progresses, the snow globe becomes one of many gifts under the tree, which is next to a big window adorned with satin drapes. It’s the drapes that caught my eye. They look so real that you can almost reach out and touch them.

Two black cats are the stars in several of the ecards with storylines focusing on what these cats see as they peer through a big window. In the Life in Pink ecard, the cats enjoy watching butterflies float over a summer garden and in Juletide, the summer garden has been replaced with a winter snow. As the cats watch the ice skaters outside, they are joined at the window by two small mice.

The use of silhouette animation becomes the main theme in Winter Wonderland. The animated ballet dancer is very realistically done in both the graceful movements of the dancer's body as well as her costume.

Halloween Frolics is influenced by the vintage postcards that are so popular with collectors. Frederikke has really captured the vintage style of those old collectables in the little girl character, the autumn moon and the surrounding border for the ecard. It's almost as if one of those old postcards has come to life.

Ojolie also has some ecards for more general occasions. If you have ever had a bird bath in your yard, you will enjoy the animation in the Sweet Peas ecard. But, it is the texture painted into the stone bird bath and the beautifully painted flowers that really catch your eye. In Lily, Frederikke captures the iridescence in the hummingbird character that she paints and animates. You can view a preview of these cards on the Ojolie website and, for a small membership fee, send them to family and friends.

Ojolie.com