I've let the past two years go by without sending out Christmas Cards…
and that makes me really sad.
This girl used to be the "queen of holiday cards" because I would design them myself and come up with really cute themes every year. Everyone looked forward to them and anticipated what I would come up with next.
And...life got busier and I just got burnt out on coming up with something new and frankly didn't have time to breathe let alone sit down and design a card.
Besides that, my life circumstances changed in the middle of all of that and…well…so…
it just didn't feel the same anymore.
But THIS year…thanks to my friends at Shutterfly…
and their Perfectly Personal™ Holiday Cards…
I got some GORGEOUS Gold Foil printed cards to send out this year!!
Before the hustle and bustle of the Holiday Season - which is almost unheard of for this girl. *blushing*
They have a HUGE selection of Holiday Cards.
I chose the Happiest Holidays Christmas Card - a beautiful but simple flat card with rounded corners. I LOVE how pretty the gold foil pops off of the photo.
Shutterfly made the process of creating Holiday cards SO simple.
I picked my favorite photos from our recent Field of Dreams photo shoot and then chose cards that would work with the layout of the photos.
For this card, I had the option of choosing a photo for the front and then I was able to include a smaller square photo on the back to include with the personal note you can have printed for your family and friends.
For the back of our cards I came up with
"Wishing you the Happiest of Holidays and a New Year filled with lots of love and laughter."
And you can choose from a wide range of fonts to match your style - love that!
I didn't even realize what I wrote went so perfectly with the "Happiest Holidays" on the front of the card until I actually received them in print from Shutterfly. I love when that happens!!
But wait…it gets better...
Coordinating envelope stickers and personalized postage too!!
I went with the Enchanted Frame Sticker and the Gallery Photo Personalized Postage Stamp and love them both. I chose to use the same photo for both but you could totally use a different image for the card, postage, stickers and they even have Address Labels too!! I personally LOVE this Snow and Sparkles Address Label.
Now…I do have to confess.
I had several "favorite" photos and couldn't decide between the three…so…
I ended up ordering these Bright Bokeh Christmas Cards too.
Which is awesome because there are no "limited quantities" when ordering from Shutterfly so I just divided up my order so I could have some of all three of my favorites.
PLUS…my girls were happy too because they had their personal favorites!
I have to say - the whole process was super simple and the cards came really quick!
The quality is awesome and I don't foresee me going back to custom designing my own cards any time soon. And I'm okay with that.
I can't believe all I have left to do is address the envelopes and get them to the post office.
I prefer to hand-write my addresses but would you believe Shutterfly offers the service of addressing the envelopes for you?! Wow!!
I know you'll be shocked when I tell you this…
While I was in the middle of ordering my Christmas Cards, I went ahead and ordered the invitation for the Annual Cookie Baking I'll be hosting at my house again this year. Yeah. I know. I'm completely ahead of things this year. I'll be sharing those with you soon - they are SO completely adorable.
THIS IS A SPONSORED POST. PEN N' PAPER FLOWERS HAS RECEIVED COMPENSATION AND/OR PRODUCTS FROM SHUTTERFLY IN EXCHANGE FOR SHARING, BUT FRIENDS…AS ALWAYS...ALL OPINIONS ARE MY OWN AND I ONLY SHARE THINGS I TRULY LOVE.
KEEPiNG iT REAL
I think one of the most important things J has taught me is this:
"Don't start programs you can't maintain."
That's been a hard pill for this mama to swallow because I want to DO and BE everything to everyone.
Letting go of designing custom Christmas/Holiday cards was NOT easy for me.
after all...I'd been doing it for 12+ years previously.
I could NOT maintain it any longer - at least not if I wanted to stay sane.
I have to say what a relief it was to just sit down at the computer this year and not have to design anything or come up with something cutesy or clever - I just picked out a design I liked, uploaded my photos and pushed send.
Thanks Shutterfly!
And thank you J…you are a wise man.
You don't even know how many ideas I've walked away from after realizing it wouldn't be something I would want or could possibly maintain on a long-term basis.
Lucky me.
Lucky you. *wink*
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