The Pressure For a Good Picture

Phew! We got everyone dressed and out into the greenbelt behind my folks' house inbetween rain showers on Sunday and got ONE decent family photo for this year.

BEHOLD.

{Andrew is now 6 and Ethan is 2.5}

And it all started when I found those adorable argyle ties at a craft show.



COMING SOON....our 2011 family newsletter!

DIGITAL Christmas cards!!

Have you heard of this?? You order a digital photo Christmas card and the designer sends you a .jpeg that you can upload and print (like a picture) at your favorite place (Wal-Mart, Costco, Snapfish, etc.) AND send in an e-mail!!

So aside from the design (the going rate is $15 on Etsy), you're only paying for the ones you print (and the envelope). So, what, 15 cents each?? 20 cents with an envelope? So affordable! Great for the procrastinators among us, too!

If you know me, you know I prefer to shop from mom and pop businesses, women-owned businesses, small businesses, local businesses, mom-owned businesses, etc.--pretty much anyone besides the big-box retailers! So finding this option on Etsy where most of them are deigned by talented women with their own small business--well, it was calling my name!

Look at some of the designs you can get!! And they won't be like everyone elses who uses Costco and Walgreens! All of them are customizable with your name, of course, but some of my favorites offer customized colors and fonts, too! That is RAD!











I'm thinking we'll send them as an e-mail to about 75% of our Christmas card list, saving us about $20 in postage. The other 25 or so will get the hard copy, many probably hand-delivered! I may even stick with a 4" x 6" size and adhere them to a postcard to save even more on envelopes and postage! Am I brilliant or what??? :) That's all the more money I can spend on baking cookies!!

Here are some of the Etsy shops that had my favorites! Check them out!

If you end up ordering, tell them ProudGrits11 sent ya!

lukecommasara

modascrappers

nounces

simplehappydesigns

swishbliss

lilbeansprout

photocreations4u

Christmas cards

My family doesn't follow this blog so I don't feel guilty about "revealing" my best contender for this year's Christmas card. Costco disappointed me cuz they have a new, bigger size but a lot less designs to choose from. This one in from Wal-Mart and is only 5 cents more each.

I'm thinking we'll dress to match. Maybe my hubby in green, my boy in something neutral and me in pink.



It's very similar to what I've already purchased for wrapping and gift tags so, while hardly anyone will notice my coordinated effort, I'll know and it'll make me happy!!

YES, I love to make cards. I made about 25 of them many years ago for Christmas, complete with three types of paper and silver embossed snow flakes and by the time I finished them all, I wanted to put my head through a wall. Not the stress I want during the most wonderful time of the year!

My Christmas card of choice is the photo greeting card. Want to simplify your Christmas cards this year? Here's my tips.

1. Have a family photo shoot in early November, giving you plenty of time to edit and choose your favorite shots. We've hired the same girl for two years and will be meeting with her next weekend to do our "shoot." Go for a color-coordinated look but it doesn't have to be matchy-matchy. Jeans and coordinating solid-colored shirts or sweaters are nice.

2. Find a card design you love and get that baby printed with your favorite photo(s)! There's a million choices but if you're like me, you want the convenience of "making" it on-line and picking it up from a local store, so look at Walgreens, Costco and Wal-Mart.

3. Have your personal message printed on the card (it's included in the price). Then you don't even have to sign it!! Y'know, "Merry Christmas from the Blah-Blah Family, 2008" or whatnot.

4. Keep track of your recipients' addresses with the label feature on your computer so all you have to do is print those babies out and slap them on!

5. Order more than you need for the people you might've forgotten.

6. Do an assembly-line-type procedure for stuffing them, putting on the address label and adding your return address label. I put a sticker on the back, too.

And there ya go! Once mine are sent and in every one's hands, I'll post the final product!!

Happy Christmas card shopping!

photo op

So I take a lot of pictures and I'm really good about uploading them, e-mailing them and printing them--even mailing them to distant relatives! Ocassionally, they even make it into albums. BUT--I'm afraid they're quite predictable. Even boring. I need to improve my skills, experiment, get creative. So I'm trying.
We spent about four hours at the zoo today with my nephews--here are some of the more "interesting" shots (ie, NOT the subject centered and smiling). The one tip I read recently said to simply try to capture what you want to remember. So when there were moments today that I wanted to remember, I tried to capture the details. Here are the results.
Being a boy in the stream...

peeking down from the tree house (the only reason I knew he was up there was because he was chattering at me)...

checking out the fish...

the cousins trying to spot a turtle...

and a gorgeous rose I couldn't resist.

I had a lot of really boring shots, too. Those are for the grandmas.