The cards are coming, the cards are coming!

Note to self: next year we shall take a family shot earlier in the fall. It's fun to do a photo shoot when we get our tree, but that means the cards can't be printed until sometime in December. Which means they won't leave here and arrive in our friends' mailboxes until dangerously close to Christmas. This year, my fingers are crossed they will arrive in the proverbial "nick" of time. Here are the cards I put together using the promotion Shutterfly kindly offered to me a few weeks ago.  Between these and the Santa hats I made this year, I'm beginning to think it's a Santa-centric year for me!

Santa's Belt Christmas Card

Turn your pictures into personalized Christmas cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Happy holidays!

The Holiday Sprint - Week 1

The 8-week countdown has begun!  It's November, do you know where your Christmas cards are?

In addition to getting the tree up, getting the cards in the mail is high on my list of early December to-do's.  Last year, I broke a very long sabbatical from sending holiday cards, and managed to crank out not only a newsletter but a family photo card, no less!  (That over-the-top effort could explain our weird weather last winter.)

Of course, that means I need to repeat the magic this year; and time is of the essence.  (What does that expression mean, anyway?)

To meet my looming, self-imposed deadline, now is the time to start thinking about corralling our offspring for another family picture.  (If you think getting your toddler to sit on Santa's lap is hard, just wait until you have to get a teenager and two 20-somethings to agree on a date for a family picture!)  Not only that, I need to choose the *perfect* card so I can merge photo with card, spellcheck our names, order enough cards, then sign, seal and deliver to my trusty mail carrier.

Shutterfly was kind enough to send me an offer for 50 free photo cards, which was an unexpected gift (the very best kind!)  And they are offering 20% off all their holiday cards - so what are we waiting for?

Browsing through their huge selection of Christmas cards, it's going to be hard to choose just one - the designs are all great!  I especially like their "story" cards although I'm not sure I can sum up everything in a card...the tradition of the blah, blah, blah letter is just too deeply entrenched.  Most likely our friends will find a flat photo card tucked inside the ubiquitous family update letter.  (Yes, that would be my attempt to sign our names at the bottom, and no it's not legible.)  Hey, at least I don't send you a fruitcake.

Happy countdown!