Christmas Card Mania!

Bek has asked me recently if I had any Christmas card ideas. For awhile now I have been wanting to scan all my old cards and put them in a Smugmug gallery to save digitally. Her asking motivated me to do it.
I love making cards and used to do it for a business when my husband first started his residency. (Thanks to my sister-in-laws, who paid for my groceries for many years, they were so nice to have me make theirs) I have also been so lucky to live around great photographers who have taken my families photo for me. So here is the list.

The top one is the second year Jeff and I were in New Orleans. I don't remember sending out handmade cards before that, but if anyone has ones I made before 1997, let me know. But I think I just bought them and signed them.
This card idea is great and if you have not done if before it is a great journaling idea. We just wrote down all the things we did that year and then had a running list behind our photo. We took this photo ourselves on timer in our overgrown back yard. We were sitting a $5.00 huge picnic table I bought at a garage sale. We could never use the table because it was so hot to sit outside there.

In 1998, our first daughter was born so her birth announcement was our Christmas card. Back then I thought it was so cool , no it looks so lame. The front had photos of Jeff and I when we were children, the copy I have is missing my photo. They were in little glassine envelopes that I ordered from a company that is no longer in business, but it was a photography company so they were really cheap. this company seems comparable
the front was tied with ribbon and the inside said, "Look what we got for Christmas..."

1999 was our last Christmas in New Orleans. And thanks to Palmer Photography we had some great photos to work with. They were wrapped in red vellum with the words We Believe on the top. I ran out of red vellum and ended using clear on the last few.

2000 was our first year in Nashville. My girlfriend helped me make this red Santa coat for Annie Kate. I love this coat. AK actually wore it as a dress too. My girlfriend took this photo in front of her green door on her time out stool. It had a flap with a glued on button to hold the flap down.

2001 is one of my favorite cards ever. It was the year of 9/11 and I felt like I had to do something with an American Flag. My friend Karen C. took the photo in front of her house. I then scanned it and made a pencil drawing out of it. With a line from a wonderful song by Louis Armstrong. It was my way of reminding myself after all that had happened that year, that our world still is wonderful. I used this awesome silver, metallic paper that I ordered from Paper zone in Seattle

2002 Ok, wait now this may be my favorite card ever. This was the year that Jeff had just come back from an incredible trip from Nigeria and brought back malaria with him. The photo I used on the card is one of his patients giving him a pineapple to thank him (thus my love of pineapples) My friend with Hall Photography also took our photos and so we had to use those too. I love these photos. AK is wearing her cousins dress and bow, who is 6 years older than her. These cards took forever to make and lots of color coordinating and planning. I sent them in a clear plastic envelope.

2003 this year I was behind on getting my cards out so they were Merry New Year Cards. They are dated 2004 but that was because I sent them in January. I should have put 2003. My neighbor Caitlyn took this photo of the girls on her couch and it was perfect for my pink and brown card. It had a brown ribbon wrapped around the card with the photo on top. I also mad some small cards 2"x2" that said "On a personal note" . I had wanted to write a few hand written notes that year. I may do that again this year, I like the idea.

2004. This was the first of two years where I had my photos taken by the great German Photography. I wish I could find the real photo of this because Caroline is screaming her head off. Thus why AK as laughing so hard. My friend Stacy did a little photoshop to fix it. This was all printed on one card with holes punched around the year to loop in ribbon. AK helped me color in the bow on Caroline to Pink with a colored pencil on each one.

2005. This was last year and I loved this card too. My mom had bought these outfits for the girls from Gymboree with this great stripe, bright colors and brown. I sat down one night with the sweater on my lap and recreated the stripes on my computer for the card. (is that so weird)
This was the most matchy card we have done and Jeff was a sport to wear a orange sherbert shirt. Again the photo taken by German Photography with us sitting in the back yard with a white sheet staple gunned to the fence. I can't believe how much Sally Janes hair has grown in one year.

This card was one I made for my parents to send out one year and I had to give it honorable mention. Everyone was scattered all over the country that year so I did a sketch our of each person. Kind like what you would do when one person is missing and then explain why they are missing, but we did everyone and then explained why they are missing. I loved the Buchanan plaid ribbon on the front. If you are Scottish and have a ribbon named after you, it is a great thing to use for Christmas cards. You can click on the photo to see closer. I am probably the only one who really thinks this is funny.

So there is my Christmas Cards past. I am so stressed and excited about what I am doing this year. I have a few days to decide. We have a lot of family coming in town for AK's baptism and so I want to get as much done before they come.

Good luck with your Christmas cards and enjoy the process of sending them out, it is such a great way to think of all your friends this time of year.

Here is my new ribbon contest... 11.5 yards ( to symbolize the size of my huge shoes) to the person that come closest to how many cards I will send out this year with out going over. I am not sure how many I have this year so after I send them out I would count them up and then let you guess. Happy card making!

Question... How do you display your cards when you get them, and do you save all of them?
Last year i started taking photos of them. I display them all over my kitchen cupboards like my sister in law julie, because it reminds me of her. I would love to know what everyone else does.