Christmas Cards...the process

If you send Christmas cards (as I am sure most of you do...with the exception of my mother...she never has and more than likely never will, BUT if you sent her one last year or the year before that or the year before that she still has it in her kitchen and looks at them often).  Back to my original statement...if you send Christmas cards you know that is it a p-r-o-c-e-s-s.  Picking outfits, having the pictures made, selecting a picture, designing the card, ordering the cards, addressing them, stuffing/stamping, and finally getting those suckers in the mail before December 25th.  In one word...exhausting.

In years past I have really dreaded this entire process and inevitably stressed myself out trying to get it done, but not this year.  No, this year I was determined to enjoy sending Christmas cards, and I am here to tell you that I succeeded!  I found great pleasure in my Christmas card experience this year, and I am here to share my secrets with you. (Actually most all of you probably figured this out a long time ago, but as usual I am the last one to jump on the band wagon.)  But here it goes:

1.  Start Early - I started designing my card in early October, had the pictures taken in late October, ordered them on Halloween, and addressed, stamped and stuffed in November. Done before Thanksgiving!

2.  Design Your Own Cards -  I know this wont work for everyone, but if you are semi proficient in Publisher or Photo Shop I highly recommend this approach.  I shopped all of my favorite Christmas card sites, grabbed ideas and designed my own.  This way I was able to have them printed for much less and in turn was able to order more so I wasn't having to cut down my list like I usually do.  I used printrunner.com and was very pleased with the result.

3. Let a friend take your picture.  Don't get me wrong I LOVE professional pictures.  We have a photographer that we have used several times, and it is such a treat when we have the opportunity to have her take pictures for us.  However it does add a stressful element.  I mean if you are paying 100's of dollars you really want those pictures to be great.  So you stress much more about clothes, the weather and in our case the attitude and temperament of your toddler!  Maybe it's just the stage we are in right now, but having a friend meet us a a park one afternoon was absolutely perfect. Thank you again Emily!!!!

As I said before...I'm sure the rest of you have this figured out, but this worked for me and allowed me to truly take joy in sending them.  I even had time to write a personal note on each one...something I have wanted to do for years!

Thankful that these have been mailed, and that I get to savor spending time with family, shopping, wrapping, decorating, and running to the mailbox every afternoon to see what Christmas cards have come!

July

So does anyone else feel like they blinked and July has come and gone?  I still cannot get over how 30 minutes seemed like an eternity when I was 10 and now a whole month is gone in a flash.  I apologize for the lack of posts...you know it is bad when your own mom calls you out!  So I will briefly catch you up on what we have been up to...and hopefully I will do a better job of blogging regularly.

We were able to spend the 4th of July in Destin with my parents and my sister, Ellen.  I somehow managed to come away with no pictures.  But we had a wonderful time laying by the pool, eating seafood, and Nick got to play golf a few times which made him very happy.  It was a nice trip, just wish we could have stayed longer.

I have been doing a lot of this lately.

I have one more job then I am DONE until after the baby comes!  This next wedding is a special one...my best friends sister, Kate Gladney, is getting married and she asked to to do her calligraphy.  This is actually the first time I have been able to do calligraphy for someone that I am close to.  I am honored that she asked me to help and thankful that I was able to do it.

My Brother PE 770 has not gotten nearly the attention that I want to give it, but I have been able to use it a few times.  My very first attempt was to monogram some dish towels....and for my first try I was pretty impressed. 

The past few weeks I have been desperately trying to get my act together with all of the baby preparations.  So far I have scheduled our child birthing classes, looked at a ton of fabrics

tested many different paint samples

and most recently attempted to begin my registry at Buy Buy Baby.  Here I am testing out strollers (which by the way is a somewhat stressful decision), and as always Nick was a big help.

In other baby news...this Tuesday we find out what we are having!!!  The playing field is pretty well divided at this point.  Several family members are determined that it is a boy while others swear it is a girl.  So all will be known on Tuesday.

The most common question I get these days is "how are you feeling?"  To be honest I really feel great.  My energy is back, and I for the most part I feel perfectly normal.  Now if you check back with me in a few months I may not be singing the same song, but for now I am enjoying the process and trying to savor each step of the process.

Back At It

As usual my blogging has been lacking...however this time I have a (somewhat) good excuse....we have been busy! This is a sampling of what we have been up to the last month!



We celebrated Mother's Day in Camden

Ellen Graduated from Samford

We celebrated by birthday

We attended the Regions Charity Classic see older post.

We attended Robert Hardy's wedding.

I have been doing a whole lot of calligraphy

But the fun doesn't end there....tomorrow we are headed to the beach for a week! Even though the oil will be getting there just about the time we do....we are still thrilled and to be going.

Calligraphy

Somewhere between sewing/upholstery projects, work, and our trip to Savannah I managed to squeeze in a few calligraphy jobs.


Working away

Front page of a prayer book

Rehearsal Dinner Invitations

Calligraphy

Last Fall I took a series of beginner and advanced calligraphy classes. I was able to do a little bit for my own wedding (wedding book names, programs, and a few last minute envelopes), but for the most part I was too busy to do most of the work. Now that life is back to normal I have had more time to practice and work on some samples.

Below are the front and back of post cards I am having printed in order to get the word out. If you happen to know anyone needing calligraphy services please send them my way. I think you will find that for this particular style (copperplate) my prices are very reasonable.

A few samples: