Remember the days when card-gifting was confined to a handful of occasions? When a trip to the local drugstore presented you with a wall of cards, yet only a limited selection of themes? In this digital age, where everyone is just a click away, traditional cards may seem to have been sidelined amidst the flurry of instant online communication. Some might even question the relevance of a tangible card in our tech-driven society.
Here are some tips for getting a jump start on your family photo greeting cards this year!Growing up, my mother always sent out a Christmas letter -- complete with family photo. We would contribute to this family tradition by telling my mom what we wanted to share in the letter. Not all of our input made the cut, but it was definitely a personalized yearly greeting that our family and friends enjoyed receiving.When my husband and I got married, I knew this was something I wanted to turn into a tradition for us as well. So, every year since we've been married, I've created a holiday greeting card or letter. The first year, I stuck with the format from my childhood: a letter on 8.5"x11" paper, detailing all the new events of the year, and a separate photograph greeting. Do you remember those long envelope-sized photos? They had the greeting printed on the right quarter of the photograph. That's what I did.But then I discovered the thrill of designing a custom holiday greeting card. A greeting card that can incorporate photos and text. This streamlined the assembly process, saved me time, and looked fantastic!So, that's what we do to this day. And I offer custom greeting card design services to the families I photograph too. There's something nice about having someone else do the grunt work for you -- just saying "these are the photos I like, and here is what I want it to say."Tips For Getting Your Family Photo Greeting Cards Done on Time1 . Plan your family photo in the summer or fall.There is no reason to be stressed out and trying to get a last minute snapshot of the family for your greeting card. If you have kids, your stress may be reflected in their willingness to cooperate for the photos. And you probably don't want a family portrait with unhappy faces, right?2. Hire a pro; outsource your picture-taking.Let's face it, sometimes it is tough to get your own kids to smile for the camera. A non-parent can often elicit better smiles and expect better behavior. I know my mom gave up trying to teach me flute; I just wouldn't listen to my teacher because she was also my mom (sorry mom!).3. Ask everyone about their highlights of the year.In our greeting card, everyone gets a little blurb, one or two lines about what's going on in their life. As my kids get older, I'll begin asking them what they want to share -- and an "I don't care" answer means mom gets free reign (kind of)!4. Have a second set of eyes check your work.I can't tell you how many last minute typos we've caught over the years, just by having another person look through the text of a card. One year, a relative discovered their card had a typo too late -- and ended up gluing a strip of paper with the correctly spelled word to every card. Not a fun task!5. Order your cards early - before the holiday rush.While there's no set date you need to get your cards, I like to finish mine by the end of November, so I can get it ordered at the beginning of December. That way, I can focus on holiday parties, planning, and the like instead of rushing to get our greeting cards out. There has been a time or two where we got caught with too many holiday "to-do" items -- and the greeting card went out as a "New Year" card instead of a Christmas one.6. Keep in touch with contact information.It can be hard to keep peoples' contact information straight, with families frequently relocating or changing email addresses. I like to include our mailing address, email addresses, and phone numbers in the card -- that way our friends and family can update their contact book with any changes. Plus, you can share your blog or Facebook profile if there's more you want to share than will fit in a letter or card.
Hopefully these tips have been helpful for you, and perhaps inspiring, even? If you would like to have me create your family's holiday photo greeting cards this year, please contact the studio!
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A Christmas card is a greeting card sent as part of the traditional celebration of Christmas in order to convey between people a range of sentiments related to Christmastide and the holiday season. Christmas cards are usually exchanged during the weeks preceding Christmas Day by many people (including some non-Christians) in Western society and in Asia. The traditional greeting reads "wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year". There are innumerable variations on this greeting, many cards expressing more religious sentiment, or containing a poem, prayer, Christmas song lyrics or Biblical verse; others focus on the general holiday season with an all-inclusive "Season's greetings". The first modern Christmas card was by John Calcott Horsley.
A Christmas card is generally commercially designed and purchased for the occasion. The content of the design might relate directly to the Christmas narrative with depictions of the Nativity of Jesus, or have Christian symbols such as the Star of Bethlehem or a white dove representing both the Holy Spirit and Peace. Many Christmas cards show Christmas traditions, such as seasonal figures (e.g., Santa Claus, snowmen, and reindeer), objects associated with Christmas such as candles, holly, baubles, and Christmas trees, and Christmastime activities such as shopping, caroling, and partying, or other aspects of the season such as the snow and wildlife of the northern winter. Some secular cards depict nostalgic scenes of the past such as crinolined shoppers in 19th century streetscapes; others are humorous, particularly in depicting the antics of Santa and his elves.
The first commercially available card was commissioned by Sir Henry Cole and designed by John Callcott Horsley in London 1843.[3][4][5] The central picture showed three generations of a family raising a toast to the card's recipient: on either side were scenes of charity, with food and clothing being given to the poor.[6] Allegedly the image of the family drinking wine together proved controversial, but the idea was shrewd: Cole had helped introduce the Penny Post three years earlier. Two batches totaling 2,050 cards were printed and sold that year for a shilling each.[7]
Early British cards rarely showed winter or religious themes, instead favoring flowers, fairies and other fanciful designs that reminded the recipient of the approach of spring. Humorous and sentimental images of children and animals were popular, as were increasingly elaborate shapes, decorations and materials. At Christmas 1873, the lithograph firm Prang and Mayer began creating greeting cards for the popular market in Britain. The firm began selling the Christmas card in America in 1874, thus becoming the first printer to offer cards in America. Its owner, Louis Prang, is sometimes called the "father of the American Christmas card."[8] By the 1880s, Prang was producing over five million cards a year by using the chromolithography process of printmaking.[3] However, the popularity of his cards led to cheap imitations that eventually drove him from the market. The advent of the postcard spelled the end for elaborate Victorian-style cards, but by the 1920s, cards with envelopes had returned. The extensive Laura Seddon Greeting Card Collection from the Manchester Metropolitan University gathers 32,000 Victorian and Edwardian greeting cards, printed by the major publishers of the day,[9] including Britain's first commercially produced Christmas card.[10]
There is a long-standing custom for the American President and First Lady to send White House Christmas Cards each holiday season.[15] The practice originated with President Calvin Coolidge, who was the first president to issue a written statement of peaceful tidings during the holidays in 1927.[15][16] President Herbert Hoover was the first to give Christmas notes to the White House staff, and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the first president to utilize the card format (rather than the previously used notes or a written statement) that most closely resembles the Christmas cards of today.[15]
In 1953, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first official White House card. The cards usually depict White House scenes as rendered by prominent American artists. The number of recipients has snowballed over the decades, from just 2,000 in 1961 to 1.4 million in 2005.[17]
Many businesses, from small local businesses to multi-national enterprises, send Christmas cards to the people on their customer lists, as a way to develop general goodwill, retain brand awareness and reinforce social networks. These cards are almost always discrete and secular in design, and do not attempt to sell a product, limiting themselves to mentioning the name of the business. The practice harkens back to trade cards of the 18th century, an ancestor of the modern Christmas card.
Many organizations produce special Christmas cards as a fundraising tool. The most famous of these enterprises is probably the UNICEF Christmas card program,[18] launched in 1949, which selects artwork from internationally known artists for card reproduction. The UK-based Charities Advisory Trust used to give out an annual "Scrooge Award" to the cards that return the smallest percentage to the charities they claim to support[19] although it is not universally well received by the Christmas card producers.[20] The RSPB produced the first ever charity Christmas card in 1898, selling 4,500 that year [21]
In 2004, the German post office gave away 20 million free scented stickers, to make Christmas cards smell of a fir Christmas tree, cinnamon, gingerbread, a honey-wax candle, a baked apple and an orange. 0852c4b9a8