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my gift to you

i got y'all a present! it's the season of giving, you know, so i thought you'd like a little prezzy.

aren't i sweet?! 10% off orders placed by 12/5. new year's cards too. if you want 10% off, order by 12/5. it's too easy! hurry! there's not much time left before the holidays are here. 

if you needa take a look see at some cards to get the wheels'a turnin', check out this post, or this one, oh, and this one, or the ol' website. or maybe you have an idea whatcha want? ready...go!

and, since we're talkin' gifts...you've bought all yours, haven't you? ugh, don't tell me - i haven't bought one darn thing. and, i need to start, so they'll get here on time! maybe those crazies who finish shopping in july are onto something. who'm i kidding? never gonna happen. ok, we were talking about gifts, so...

gifts under $25 (except the custom artwork)

custom photo desk calendars

the online workshop (aka etsy shop)

and, if you don't see something here, but you've got it in your mind, let's have a little chat about it.

happy holidays! merry christmas! happy new year! feliz navidad! happy hanukkah! season's greetings! whatever you celebrate!

you gotta know when to fold 'em

it's no big secret around these parts that i do love a folded card. and, i try to convince everyone to order them. i've prolly tried to convince you. they're awesome - and they generate oohhs and aahhs aplenty whence received. (i've been watchin' downton abbey)

so, you can imagine my excitement when not one, but two of you lovely peepsies ordered folded holiday cards! woo to tha hoo! and, y'all, those cards were so dang cute. and, creative. now, before you say 'modest much?', i can say they're dang cute and creative, because the only thing i did was put idea to paper. 

let's take a look...

see how they changed the lyrics to a favorite christmas carol to fit the haps in their lives? uh, cute! and, baby boy tucked into brightly colored christmas balls? uh, double cute! and, how instead of the 2-pg, front and back, 8 pt font christmas letter (yawn), they highlighted monthly events? cute! cute! cute!

let me just put this out there - when professional pictures are involved, it's hard to mess up the card. now, when you special order paper, then it's printed and cut wrong, that could maybe mess up the card. but, i wouldn't know anything about that. and, these pictures? awesome! they could be models! and, i seriously wanted to trade mama's boots for the cards, but alas... she had ideas, and i ran with them - in our shoes with tidbits from the year for each family member - love.it.to.death!

and, on the back, a take on the lululemon manifesto trend. i daresay (downton abbey, again) celebrate with vino is my fave! you're not surprised, are you?

the mother figure decided she wanted in on the folded action this year. at first i told her no, because i already had something in mind for her. but i started movin' the design around and realized i could make a folded card work. and, voila... (or, viola, if you're like me)

now, when it comes to middle sissy's cards, i like to push the envelope. it doesn't do wonders for the old pocket book, but my ulterior motive is that bunches of peeps will see my logo and come'a orderin' something of their own. (secret's out)

since i had some special paper left over, i decided on a funky fold. middle sissy wanted to focus on what i call 'the scripture of 2011' - glory to god in the highest. so, we did a take on that for the front, and featured the full scripture on the back. and, we filled it with pictures and pictures, because they went sans-letter this year.

in full disclosure, middle sissy's card, and my personal card were printed the 19th of december, scored and folded at 35,000 feet, and put in the mail on the 21st of december! you know what they say about the cobbler's children's shoes...

which leads me to the cobbler's card. to say that i run out of steam by the time i'm ready to design my own maybe might be the understatement of the century. i might whine so much, i resemble a 2-year old. but, once i get it together!, i can usually pull a rabbit out of the hat.

we were lucky ducks to have had perfeshunal pictures taken this year, and, man, they made designing the card easy! a little list of bright spots, and done. i even got a few compliments!

since i don't see my addiction to folded cards waning anytime soon, and, since our card has been folded 3 years in a row, i'm really gonna have to pump up the volume next year! sheesh - i better start brainstorming now!

a dream come true

heading back to NM/TX usually throws you a curve ball in the ol' weather dept. you may have sun, you may have snow, there's definitely gonna be wind. well, i hoped and hoped this year for a white christmas, and looky what i woke up to this mornin'!

SNOW! my dreams of a white christmas come true. now i don't have to feel guilty for sippin' hot chocky in front of the fire staring  out at that beeyootiful white stuff.

merry christmas to you, my three readers. i hope all your holiday dreams come true, and santa brings you a blanket of the white stuff too!

see ya in the new year!

starting to see a pattern here

as the last of the year's holiday cards fly out of the workshop, it always seems like i notice a theme, and this year is no different. last year everyone wanted snowflakes, year before that - bright, modern colors.

well, this year, the theme was...patterns.

i've had requests for plaid

argyle

chevron

and whimsy (read polka dots mixed with stripes!)

and, that's what makes custom so very fun. when someone has an idea, and you can make it come to life. stay tuned for more creative cards i was requested to whip up this year. man, you guys make my job fun!

if you're still wanting to order cards, you're not too late (yet). we can do a new year's card, or you can order a digital print over on the etsy workshop that you can print wherever you wanna.

k - gotta run! there are only 10 days til the fat man comes!

it's beginning to look alot like...

i'm gonna let you in on a little secret...nuthin' lights a fire under my patootie faster than house guests. it maybe might be the only time i clean, but i'm not tellin'. after our "family" of 12 thanksgiving dinner, some dear (cheesy word, but packs a punch) college friends paid us a visit.

so, that meant the decor had to go from this:

to this in less than 12 hours.

but, i thrive on a challenge, and that was the fastest decorated tree on the planet, i'm sure.

so, yes, it is beginning to look alot like christmas around here. tree's up. outside lights are up. and, designs are flying out of the workshop. and, this little elf is feeling so, so blessed. y'all bring a tear to my eye every time the email bell dings. the support is overwhelming - thank you will never be enough.

let's see what's brewin' this year, shall we? you've got your humorous

you've got your adorable pictures

moving announcements

party invites

and, the corporate persuasion

that enough to get your creative juices flowing? need more inspiration? order up - it's less than a month 'til christmas. i know. I KNOW!

instant gratification

so, sometimes i hear: custom is too hard. i don't want to think that hard. i can't afford custom. well, i'm here to tell you custom is not that hard, it doesn't require you to think that much, and yes, you can afford it.

now, even though i've said all that, i know some of you are still skeptics. so, looky what i did! i created some ready-made designs, just for you! the only decision you have to make is what pictures to use.

merry stripes:

peace love joy:

warm wishes:

swirls:

you know all my designs are double sided, so you can use it to show more pics of your cutey-cute kiddos, tell all your peeps the goings-on of 2011, write a holiday rap, you name it.

to order yours, click on the image to head to the etsy (work)shop. of course, if you don't want to go through all that, we can chat. or, maybe you realized custom is the way you want to go? well then! let's chat about that!

that time of year

are you in denial that the holidays are about 2 months away? i know it's not even halloween, but once that rolls around, the holidays just keep comin' at us. so, i decided to put this together to get the idea juices flowing.

best part about custom? it can be whatever you want it to be. it can be small, large, do double duty to announce other exciting news, and the list goes on. here, see for yourself:

if you're lookin' for a flat card, all my designs are double-sided, which make them perfect for a short christmas letter.

or, maybe you want a folded card

but, maybe you have lots of pictures and want a TRI-fold

how about no pictures, and a save on postage with a postcard

you could announce your new baby's birth

or a sweet boy's birthday

and, when you're done with the family card, how 'bout one for the biz?

that enough to get those juices flowing? of course, the sky's the limit. whatever you can dream up, we can do it.

check out the site for more ideas later this week and have a super great weekend! i'm heading off for a 2-day trip with mr. man, and i know baby brother's going to arrive in that time, because that's just how murphy's law works in this family!

My Designs Around the Web

Some of my clients featured the cards I designed for them on their blogs, so I thought I'd show them off here, too.

Many of this year's designs were made easy for my by the amazing photos my clients used. I know it's not always in the budget to have professional photos taken, but man, they're purdy.

Anyway...

(futurecoug.blogspot.com)

(valleygirlviews.blogspot.com)

(theiowafarmerswife.blogspot.com)

All 3 designs used the back for a short Holiday letter. The Larsens did a cute bulleted list of 2010's highlights.

I'm sure you know, but the third card's my sister's. The card was a tri-fold, and we used 12 pics of Sweet P (one for each month of 2010). It's crazy to see how much little girl has grown. Sniff. Sniff.

Now, if you didn't send holiday cards out in December, what about New Year's cards? I think if you get them out in January, you're good. Or, there's always Valentine's Day.

I always say: a little sunshine in a mailbox brightens anyone's day.

15 DAYS??!!

Can you believe there are only 15 days left until Christmas?! What tha?! Really, where does the time go?

Well, around here, the time has been going to creating holiday works of art for you all. This is just a sampling of what's been riding out of the workshop on Santa's sleigh.

And, I'm here to tell you, it's not too late. You have a few more days to order Christmas cards, and if you just can't get your stuff together for those, you have plenty of time to order New Year's cards. Oh, and one more thing - if you want to make your card do double duty, I've done a baby announcement/holiday card and a 1st birthday/holiday card this year.

So, order up your cards by December 16th, or the sleigh's leavin' without ya!

OK - back to it. I see an elf slacking on his ribbon duties.

Happy Holidays!

'Tis the Season

I love the holidays! With all its tradition and goodness, it just caps off the year with happiness, doncha think?

I'm quite proud of myself - I got all my decorations up over Thanksgiving weekend. Now, in my family, that was always the tradition. The girls would decorate the tree and hang the stockings, and our dad would be cursing the day on a ladder hanging lights outside. The Griswolds had nuthin' on our house! So, I'm glad to keep up the tradition.

On top of decorating, the workshop is working overtime, and I love, love, love it. I thought you'd all like a little spice of what's gone out. I'm feeling very colorful and fun this year - I'm attaching myself to lots of pinks, reds, turquoise and lime.

So, tomorrow is December 1st ... what are you waiting for? Order up your cards. You know they're totally custom, done the way you want them, and turn around is less than a week.

Have you hung your decor? Decked your halls? Trimmed your trees?

This & That

I know you've all been checking back every day since my last blog because you couldn't wait to see what I did in November & December. Oh, you haven't been checking back every day? Not even once? Well, thanks, I guess a girl can dream...that there's anyone out there...that someone besides my sister reads this thing...

Wait, what were we talking about?

Oh right - how busy those elves were designing holiday cards. Well, without further ado, here are a few of my favorites. To check out the rest, check out my portfolio.

Dreaming of a White Christmas

Right now, I'm listening to my Holiday Music, and watching the rest of the country be covered in a blanket of white. It's Antartica cold here (maybe not, but still less than 20 degrees), but we have yet to see any of the white stuff. Oh well. A girl can dream.

So, are you dreaming of a white Christmas? Do you have some white on the ground there & think a picture of the family frolicking in it would be THE best card to send out? Well, send me that picture, and let's get it on a card!

Remember, the deadline to order Holiday cards is December 18th.  If you want New Year's cards, you have more time.

And, did you know that all my cards are double-sided? So, whatever size you choose, you can do one pic, or 20, and you can give everyone a glimpse of life at your house with a 'mini' Holiday letter. Or, if you've just had a baby or are recently engaged, do double duty by giving them all the deets on the card.

Need inspiration? Voila...