If you think this is a cheap ploy to showcase my baby’s undeniable cuteness, you are correct. If you think I still have a baby, you are off by eleven years. Sigh. Don’t blink parents….
Finishing up my archive of previous holiday cards. Maybe there are ideas to be gleamed, maybe projects to avoid.
The best part of potato stamping is the cheap tools and endless possibilities. Almost any paint will do and when you’re tired of a design you simply cut it off and create a new one. A great activity to get messy with. No cleaning as you go. If you don’t have paint on your face or in your hair by the time you’re finished, something went terribly wrong.
Any source of cuteness is vital for a successful holiday card. What’s cuter than your kid brother from 20 plus years ago? Or your confused cat? (I know, I know, dogs! But I didn’t have dogs back in my singles days.) Add simple graphics, a trendy font, and a best attempt at broad appeal humor and wha-laa. You’ve managed to make a HUGE number of holiday cards for a MINIMUM number of dollars.
More than a few friends have received these little bookies and cards full of less than average photos. Before digital photography, much of my monthly income was spent printing photos, then scanning them back in and arranging them so that they felt purposely arty.
Pictures of a mini tree wearing purple lights and small plastic toys made for a dynamic card one year, with 4 optional front covers and a page of stickers for your cutting and sticking pleasure. The fact that an entire single-girl evening was spent poking holes thru and threading toys is testament to how much I love decorating for the holidays, at the same time, not buying new stuff.
The sticker stock was courtesy of Creative Type and Graphics as it existed in 1998. When I saw what was possible through high end digital printing, my brains caught afire with ideas for cards and books. I made up projects just to try new options.
The other two cards shown above are copied photos that serve as an envelope. The green and kraft paper project featured photos taken on a solo journey from Texas to Colorado for a cousin’s wedding. The photos inside were selfies taken with family at the wedding.
The black and white piece is little bit Dove Creek on the outside, a little bit NYC on the inside, wrapped in a strip baring either a fictional family photo or me. Once the receiver finally made it into the card, a pile of pictures I’d taken of them would fall out.
Simple photos were (and still are) my go to card through the years. It’s an easy and inexpensive solution for sharing the unbearable cuteness of children and furry critters. I tend to personalize them one way or another – no factory graphics here. Someday I may actually pay a professional photographer. Maybe.
The poem included in the 2007 card:
And finally – the cards that never made it into the mail. Printed, produced and paid for but abandoned nonetheless:
The magenta cat cards with the grouchy green polaroids were made in my apartment in Brooklyn. Designed for a clear envelop to entertain the mail carriers. Out right vanity kept me from mailing the middle card. The mini cards on the far right weren’t centered once printed. A few made it into the hands of a some sweet friends but not to the wider world. Poor planning is all I can come up with.
Whew – with the past ever behind me and now documented I look forward to something unexpected for …. gulp … NEXT MONTH!! Geez – Get going!