Wednesday, December 8, 2010

picture perfect

A few weeks back, on a wonderful trip out to Chicago I was chatting with fellow bloggers Nappy Valley Mum, Iota, Nicola, ExpatMum and Califlorna about Christmas cards, and a question came up. "do you make one of those 'American' photo cards of your family, and if so, what do your British friends think of it? Is it considered horribly naff?" I confess that I do make such a holiday card. I posted about last years here. It had not, until that moment of conversation, ever occurred to me that this was an American phenomenon, or that it might be considered tacky and narcissistic.

I personally love to receive such cards, or a school photo enclosed in a card, or a even a round robin letter (especially those unintentionally amusing ones!).  Kids grow so fast and we live so far away from friends and family. Thinking back over the years, I realized that I was an early adopter of the concept. Long before there were multitudes of online photo companies offering competing card designs, and before we even had kids, I turned a photo of Geekydog in the snow into a holiday note card using the then brand new "Snapfish" web store.

This year we had a November snowstorm up in Tahoe. Perfect for getting cute seasonal pictures of the children for the annual card, I thought. I was thwarted however by Geekyboys distaste for being outside in it. Thirty minutes of snow play later I had a reel of lovely shots of Geekygirl, and this single sorry picture of geekyboy!

The following weekend, with a little puruasion and some sledding, he adjusted to the snow and I managed to get a couple of decent shots. Then, that same evening, overtired and amped up, Geekyboy slipped in the bathroom and blacked his eye on the side of the tub. Once I realized that he was OK, just very bruised up, my first thought was "Thank goodness I got one decent picture for the card before he looked like a battered child"

Here is a preview of the card I made this year, with the help of the 'tinyprints' website. I put quite a bit of time into selecting the photos and choosing the card, and I have to say I'm quite pleased with the result.


Do you make cards like this? I'd love to do an informal survey!

PS, this is not a sponsored post but I do know someone who works for tinyprints, and I was very happy with their product.

Posted by geekymummy at 9:14 PM
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ABDMama · 747 weeks ago

We do cards like this too. I enjoy receiving them (since they are usually from people I don't see often.). I love that first shot of your kids. The whole card is great!
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followthatdog · 747 weeks ago

I don't make cards like this, but I love getting them. Especially yours! I miss you guys.
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Loz · 747 weeks ago

Love your design but alas I don't do cards now with my kids ranging from 17 to 26. There was a time when I typed up a couple of pages of the year that was and sent them out but I don't know if anyone ever read them.

PS - thanks for dropping by my blog and commenting :)
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iota · 747 weeks ago

I love your pictures.

This is one of those lines I've crossed. I used to like round robin letters, and I could just about stomach it if someone put a photo in. But I thought the whole American cheesy posed family shot, with "Best Wishes from the Manhattan Family" printed across the bottom, was very naff. I've changed my mind though. It IS nice to see photos of people you don't regularly meet up with.

I suppose it's more borderline with local friends. If you see them at school/basketball/girl scouts/church, do you really need a cheesy photo of them sitting by a Christmas tree in their festive clothes, that you know was taken in November in a studio?

We just fail miserably on the whole Christmas card thing. It's some mental block about not wanting to feel far from home at Christmas, I think.
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nappyvalleygirl · 747 weeks ago

I've just done my first ever picture Christmas card! Having always been rather British about them, I am now a convert. I really enjoyed creating it and I have to say that I am very pleased with the finished card - I also hope it will be nice for friends and family to see pictures of the boys. ( I can't help thinking the phenomenon is bound to catch on in the UK soon, too, now that you can do so much with digital photos and the web.) Your cards are really lovely .
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Tasha · 747 weeks ago

I love your card! Beautiful. We have family in America and in New Zealand and get these kinds of card from them, usually with the inside filled with a letter about what's going on in their lives. And I love them. If any of them deigned to write a blog, I wouldn't need the letter so much, of course :) When we lived in Spain for a year, when I was 10, my mum did one - well, she had a photo of the three of us (my sister wasn't born yet) at a fancy dress party and got a gazillion copies printed. She then wrote a 20-page (yes, 20) letter and got it photocopied at the shop below our appartment (we were forever finding things to photocopy, as it was so incredibly cheap). Some people really appreciated it, some people probably shoved it straight in the bin and a couple of people were incredibly offended (because it was photocopied, rather than a personalised individual letter all for them) and didn't speak to her for a year!

We have always done homemade cards and I feel huge pressure to do so every year, despite really not having the time to even write a load of cards, let alone design, print and make them. Fortunately, since computers and our lovely colour laser printer, it's a lot quicker, than making them all by hand. Have a feeling though that this year may be one where no-one gets cards. Just don't have the time.
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Calif Lorna · 747 weeks ago

Well, I did it this year! My friends are getting a card with my two boys on and I have to say, I love them! In fact, as they sat in a pile next to a few normal Christmas cards, I really loved them :)

The top photo of your card looks like something from a magazine, just gorgeous. And I love Geekyboy's photo of being fed up in the snow, that would make a fun card too!

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