Merry Christmas {2011 Card}

I kept it simple this year, mostly due to very limited funds alloted to spend on Christmas cards this year, but I LOVE the way my 4x8 photo card turned out.....

I planned to do non-traditional colors when I planned our attire for our Fall family pictures and I'm THRILLED with the way they looked on my card :)

It took me FOREVER to do the "subway art," but I really wanted something funky & cool and I'm happy I took the time on it.  I love Christmas cards!

Merry Christmas from the Foshe Family :)

Fall Family Pictures 2010

I try really hard to have our pictures made twice a year right now, since the kids are changing so much--which that's starting to slow down a bit but I still like the different seasons---I like to take pictures in the Spring when everything is green and bright (my pictures in my header are from this past Spring), and I love Fall pictures when everything is changing--and its nice to have recent photos for Christmas cards!

The past several times we've had our pictures done, I have done a "trade" with another photog friend of mine...sweet sweet girl who has done a great job on our photos.  Well, in the Spring she had just found out she was pregnant with her fourth baby--and was due oh...right around Fall photo time--so I knew I wasn't going to be able to have her do our pictures.  Being a photographer in the Fall makes for a super busy life! I got so busy photographing everyone else's family I left almost no time to have our photos made.  I tried to get in with a couple other photogs and finding a time in our schedules that matched was impossible.

I had all but given up on a family shot and was begining to think it would just be the kids on this years Christmas cards when I asked a friend of mine to attempt to take some shots of us----and she did.  Jessica is very handy with her camera and takes LOTS of pictures--I owe her for more than one occasion of photos, ha!

We went at the very end of November down to Devils Den.  I had low expectations--you see my son is the most difficult child on the planet to photograph very active and does not have a lot of interest in sitting still or smiling for photos.  I can usually get him to cooperate for me with BJ's help, but if we're both in the picture....it gets tricky!!

However, Jess took some fabulous pictures!! I "doctored" them up in photoshop and we had some real winners!!    Thanks Jess for taking these great pictures for us, what would I do without you?!

I love each of these for different reasons, but these are my favorites.....

I was VERY pleased, THANKS JESS!!

I got to use FOUR on our card this year-that I designed....and I LOVE it!!

Most of my cards have been sent and those who haven't gotten theirs yet most likely don't read this blog, so I'm going to go ahead and post it :) 

I had a hard time deciding on photos, but this was the end result...printed on a pearlized paper, double sided---and die cut---my most favorite card yet, I think!!

Merry Christmas

As of the last couple of years, I have had a lot of fun doing our family Christmas Card! 

I did not do a card in 2006, Jordan was a couple months old and we did a birth annoucement, not Holiday themed, to my regret, so we chose not to do a Christmas card on top of that. 

In 2007, I LOVED LOVED LOVED our card---this was it.

I remember REALLY struggling for that family picture!! (I took it on a self timer and and a tripod, J was at that age where she did not want to sit!!!)  I loved this card for so many reasons.  I did not fully design this card...I used a template and tweaked a few things on it.  At the time, I thought it would be hard for me to find another card I loved as much....hahahahaha

Last year, we had H at the end of October.  So I decided, as I should have with J, to combine our Christmas card with his birth announcement.  I have an "idea" folder on my computer for cards, crafts, home decor, etc... and I saw a card a while back that had this verse on it from Dr. Suess, and I FELL IN LOVE.  I held on to it for a while, hoping I would have an occasion to use it....and what better occasion, than such a special gift!!!  I LOVED the way it turned out digitally.  I did not execute the printing as well as I should have...I have learned a lot about printers in the past year...but it turned out pretty good still.  I designed this one fully myself.

I had hoped to do a Family Picture on this card, but we just didn't get any made and I didn't think I could do one of self timer and a tripod this time..ha ha ha ha...so I got some of the kids and it worked out with the verse!!!

Here it is.

I really loved that card, and thought, for sure, I would not love next years card as much as this one.  And this one will always be special to me...of course.

But this year, I REALLY loved our card.  I printed a couple different versions (paper wise) because I couldn't decide...so not everyone got the same paper, but everyone got the same card.  I had one batch printed on Metallic paper, with UV coating....one on just straight Press Cardstock, and some on just Metallic paper, no uv coating, and those were my favorite.  The design is not super traditional, the prior years were pretty traditional in colors, etc... but this year I went a little outside that...not far...but a little and I LOVED IT.  I did not design this card fully either...again, used a template and tweaked a few things.

We had some great family pictures taken by a photog friend of mine, so I was so happy to be able to use 4 pictures on our card this year!

It was 5x7 double sided...here is the front.

and here is the back...

I usually send out a little over 150 cards...this year I tried to cut our list down a bit...and I did some, but not much! I just LOVE sending out Christmas cards!!  I'm already looking at what I want to do for next year!

Do you send Cards? Photo, traditional??  As I looked through my cards I've received this year, I wondered how traditional card companies are doing at Christmas now that photo cards are so in and easy to do! I still get a few of them, but only a handful..not many at all!  I LOVE getting photo cards!!

Which do you prefer?

Merry Christmas, from the Foshe Family!