O Christmas Card–New York, NY

…You almost became a Happy New Year card.  I was so busy creating other cards this fall that I made it to early December without even thinking about our own.  Part of my hang-up was that I didn’t love any photos I had taken of my daughter this fall (true, I’m a perfectionist in this regard), as she is SO mobile and quick that it was hard to capture those quick moments, even with a fast lens.  Then in November she developed a love of sticking out her tongue, scrunching up her eyes, and shouting “cheese!”, which didn’t help matters.

Despite the short time frame, I had a lot of fun with the card design this year.  I did find a few acceptable photos (sneak peek below) to use. I also tried a new printing company this fall for all of my clients’ cards and am really happy with the paper and print quality that resulted.  Then there was the stamp debacle.  I always order my stamps online.  Not only is the post office a total nightmare, but it is also guaranteed to have the world’s ugliest stamps.  I have always loved design and aesthetics, so I like my envelopes to be part of the overall package.  While shopping online, I found some perfect black and white stamps of snowy Central Park, but they were $1.10 each…definitely not worth the extra expense.  Instead I settled on these cool red “love” stamps that are probably intended for February 14th but I liked their holiday color and message.  I also liked that they didn’t have Santa’s Sleigh or the Virgin Mary on them.  No offense to either.

The stamps arrived in the mail in early December and I dutifully removed 120 of them from their cardboard/plastic and patted myself on the back for how ahead of schedule I was.  Fast forward a few weeks–I finally receive my cards, and I cannot find the stamps. Anywhere.  I remember putting them “somewhere safe” in case my daughter found them and thought they were her “stickers”.  Turns out they were so safe that they never turned up.  Maybe they’ll surface before Valentine’s Day. Anyway, that’s how I found myself in the end of a loony 16 person line at the post office on December 18th, trying to buy holiday stamps.  25 minutes later, I had advanced about halfway when a kind postal worker announced “if any of you are in line for holiday stamps, we don’t have any.  You can order them online.”  Oh lady.  I did.  So onto Plan C- buy ugly stamps?  Not a chance! I left the line and sent my nice husband to a post office close to his job in NJ.  He ended up with ornaments and a few Santa stamps, which I was happy with.  At least they weren’t flags. Hence why the stamp photo above makes me smile.

Here are some images from Thursday morning’s 4 hour coffee shop marathon to label, write, seal, and stamp our cards–all fueled by a delicious vanilla latte.  I have never mailed my cards so late, but they are now traveling around the country.  Phew.  And it was all worth it, because I love to send real mail and imagine them reaching the homes of my friends and family.  This is the one time of year when we take the time to say hello, give updates, and send love. I enjoy opening our mailbox each day and discovering cards and updates from near and far.  This year, we even found a fun way to display each card (more on that later.)

I’m signing out for a few days to unwind and celebrate the season, but wish you all a safe and happy holiday.  If you had any holiday card challenges or debacles this year, do share in the comments!!