Right from the start
Tuesday, October 14, 2008 by Tracey Clark 
holiday session from way back when of dear family friends
Alas! Today we officially begin the great greetings! blog series here at Shutter Sisters. I appreciate your comments when I first mentioned the idea. I love knowing that you can see the value in getting a jump start on the giving season, specifically with your holiday cards. This is going to be fun, I promise.
Here are a few things I would like you to mull over before you begin the process (if you haven’t already…which I haven’t, just so you know).
First, distill your goal. What is important to you when sending your holiday card? Whether it’s to fill everyone in on the happenings of your family, just to get a recent and overdue photo out to the family or to offer a sparkling sentiment, you should focus on that purpose throughout the process. It will keep you focused and on task with your objective.
Starting early will help tremendously in helping you meet your end result creatively and joyfully. Building in extra time for yourself means having more fun with it and allowing for sweet surprises along the way. It also means avoiding rush charges, long lines at the post office, late nights with your address book and unnecessary stress.
Be realistic. The object here is not to take on more than your current life’s picture allows. This is me telling you to give yourself a break. Figuring out what kind of time and money you are willing to spend will help keep you from musing on a photo or card project that will extend your limits. Once you’ve gotten a good idea of how much you are really able or willing to put into your cards this year, you can take a look at the options and how they fit your needs. There’s a lot that goes into creating great greetings. Let me refresh your memory (not because I want to stress you out but because I want to help you decide what you want to do and what you want to delegate): Photography, card design, printing, assembly, addressing, return addressing, handwriting.
Now, here’s the delegating part. Try to enlist help whenever and where ever you can. That is an order. We have a lot on our plates this time of year and requesting a helping hand is for your own good. Trust me. Try to take the list above and save what you enjoy for yourself. The rest can be dished out.
Here’s a few ways to delegated if you so choose:
-Hire a photographer.
I know…that’s probably the one thing this community enjoys doing for themselves but even still, depending on the goal of your card this year, it may be something to consider.
-Buy your cards.
We are a crafty bunch around here but there’s no need to reinvent the wheel if you don’t have the time this year. Pre printed card design has come a long way with every possible style and taste accounted for so unless you are totally dedicated to doing it all yourself, keep this option open.
-Get the photo printed on the card with a design built in.
This is how to avoid hand assembling your photos to your cards which can be a big time saver. Choosing a drag and drop option like some companies offer can be a simple and stylish solution.
-Get your message and/or your family signature printed on the card.
In other words if you don’t have it in you to handwrite “Warmest Wishes from the Smith Family” on 100 cards then don’t do it. Many card companies have the option to personalize your cards for you. It’s sweet. There’s also the option to get your return address preprinted on your envelope too which is super-convenient.
-Have your cards mailed for you.
If you are as organized as I wish I was, you have all of your addresses in some sort of computer address book. Some card companies even will mail your cards for you if you import your address into their system. This would never work for me but dang! I wish it could.
-Hire help.
It’s not as indulgent as it might sound. Enlist your kids, husband, mother or even babysitter to help stuff and put stamps on envelopes. It may sound strange but it has become part of our family routine and my kids actually enjoy it. My husband? Not so much.
When you break it down, you realize that there’s a lot to it. Which is probably why we often get stressed out. Just remember, the purpose of sending greeting cards is to spread a little holiday cheer. The more we can have fun with the process and offer tap into our creative selves and the giving spirit, we will be sharing not only cheer but plenty of love to go with it.
Wanna share your process? Then pop over to our great greetings! Flickr Pool where we can continue our conversation, encourage and inspire one another as we go! Andgrab a button for your blog to help us spread the word about the series.
Reader Comments (19)
http://bravo.unisonplatform.com/~marciesc/index.php?showimage=551
Sandra
Great post and ideas.
I'm just thankful you're getting me to think about this process this early this year! :)
...thinking, thinking...
Perhaps if the thought of hiring a pro photographer doesn't appeal to some, fellow Shutter Sisters near each other could trade photshoots for one anothers families.
http://stephwiese.squarespace.com/blog/
XO
K
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chookooloonks/1951163156/in/pool-greatgreetings
And we'll likely use the same trick again this year.
K.
We don't use this as our holiday card, but every year, we take our Annual Family-Portrait-in-A-Christmas-Ball:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chookooloonks/sets/72157603340647346/
You know, for those who don't take their holiday cards too seriously. ;)
K.
http://blazeyphotography.blogspot.com/2008/10/day-18-self-advertising.html
http://flickr.com/photos/blazeyphotography/2943028542/
Here are some of my tips:
As you know, I am freaky organized, and I take the time in October or November to go through my Address book and email people who I would like to send cards to but don't have their snail mail and ask for it.
I schedule a time to do the photo shoot (I do our own). You'd be surprised how quickly time flies and all of a sudden you are back against the wall.
This year, to save money and trees, I am going to do a photo postcard. I waffled back and forth and even did a post about it back in September (told you I was freaky) and it seemed like the best combination of all my goals: to reach out to loved ones over the holidays, to send a photo of us, to save trees and to save money. And I may actually write MORE personal notes given the nature of postcards instead of the standard "Love, Us."
I like the have my postcards back to me by Thanksgiving weekend so I can start on them over the long holiday. As Declan has gotten older, he now helps us with the stamping and assembly - so it's a real family project.
xo - A
I've lurked on your site for awhile, though as a person who doesn't take many photos, mainly adores looking at them. And there are some great ones here!
I always look forward to making my family's holiday card, but this year I have a new challenge: my husband and I separated this summer and plan to divorce. How do I deal with this in a card without it becoming a total downer? We have two kids and have usually made a card an enclosed a photo of all four of us.
IDEAs? Something clever? I'm all for a little moxie. Or just ignore it?
Any creative ideas to this conundrum are appreciated.