A thank-you for your church Christmas card designers: the original pencil drawing of the church in snow, scanned in the vestry and printed for the parish, as a jigsaw with your note at the end

Written by the team behind Puzzlify. Puzzlify is our product, so weigh what follows with that in mind. We've tried to make this useful even if you never use it. We're not affiliated with any church, diocese, parochial church council, printer, charity or community organisation.

In a lot of parishes the Christmas card on the mantelpiece isn't from a shop. It's a drawing of the church itself: the tower, the lychgate, the yew by the path, a dusting of snow that rarely falls in real life, and a line inside with the service times. Somebody in the congregation drew it. Often it was sketched in pencil on a cold afternoon from the bench across the lane, inked at the kitchen table, scanned on the vestry printer and sold in packs of ten at the back of church to raise a little for the roof. This short guide is about thanking them.

Here are a few ideas, with an honest look at whether a photo puzzle is a good fit.

What the card designer actually does

Sometimes it's one artist, sometimes a small group, and the job might include:

• choosing the view, and walking round the churchyard three times to find it
• sketching on site, usually with cold fingers, then finishing the drawing at home
• working out how to make a pencil or watercolour drawing print cleanly in one or two colours
• agreeing the wording inside with the vicar and checking the Christmas service times
• getting the cards printed, or printing and folding them in batches
• packing them into bundles with envelopes and setting up the table by the door

Why it's worth saying

The card goes to hundreds of homes, gets posted to relatives abroad and sits on windowsills all December. Almost nobody who receives it knows who drew it. A thank-you that mentions a detail, such as the robin on the gate, the way the light falls on the porch or the fact that the old yew finally made it into the picture, tells the artist their drawing was really looked at.

When to say it

The first packs selling out in Advent is a lovely moment for a quick word. A fuller note in January, when the cards are coming down off the mantelpiece and people are deciding which ones to keep, often lands best. Many people keep the church card.

What makes a good photo

• the original drawing on the artist's desk, pencil and rubber beside it
• the finished card standing on a mantelpiece among the others, lit by fairy lights
• the real view the drawing was made from, the tower against a winter sky
• the table at the back of church with the bundles of cards and the honesty box
• a stack of envelopes addressed to family abroad, the church card on top
• a framed copy hanging in the church hall, if the parish has kept one

Ask the artist before you share any photo of their original work, and follow your church's photo policy. Keep people out of the frame unless they have agreed.

Choosing a piece count

A line drawing with lots of fine detail can be surprisingly satisfying at 80 or 130 pieces; a card on a busy mantelpiece works well at 48.

Note examples

• "Your drawing went to my sister in Canada. She has it on her fridge."
• "You made our church look exactly as it feels at Christmas. Thank you."
• "We've kept every one of your cards since the first year."
• "The robin on the gate made my day."
• "Thank you for the hours behind something we all take for granted."

What it costs, plainly

The preview is free, so you can see how it looks before deciding anything. Publishing the link costs one credit (€3.99), or less per puzzle with a bundle. It's a digital puzzle, not a printed or cardboard one, so there's nothing to post. The person receiving it doesn't need an account or an app; they open the link and your note appears when the last piece goes in. If a card back to them is enough, it is.

Ideas that are not a puzzle

• a handwritten note on the back of one of their own cards
• naming the artist in the parish magazine and on the back of next year's card
• framing the original, with their permission, for the church hall
• asking if they'd lead a sketching afternoon in the churchyard in spring
• buying an extra pack and posting them to people they'd never reach otherwise
• a good set of pencils or a small sketchbook for next year's drawing

Where Puzzlify fits

Puzzlify turns a personal photo into a private digital jigsaw you send as a link. It is not a printed puzzle and not a public puzzle board; only the people you send it to can open it. It is one option among many. It is not puzzlify.io, Puzzlit, Puzzly or Puzzify, which are different things.

If you'd like to try it, photograph the original drawing, the card on the mantelpiece or the real view it was drawn from, choose a piece count and write your note. You can make one here.

Written by the small team behind Puzzlify (info@puzzlify.app). Not legal, copyright, religious, charity law, photography permission or gift policy advice.