I haven't sent out cards in a few years. I will still share photos of the kiddos (if I have them) with grandparents, but I use my time on something else now. Good luck finding a design that works for you!
I ended up creating a card through smugmug with one of my frosty foliage photos, using one of their templates. Its a folded card and has a sentiment and our names inside so all I have to do is put stamps on and mail them out. Easy peasy. Next year I should be more organized and do this earlier. I wasn't going to get any done at all (its so expensive here in Canada to get folded cards done) but I got 25 and that'll be enough for family and a few friends. I'll post a pic here when I get them (hopefully next week but who knows b/c Canada is always slow with mail).
Sigh - on my To Do List. Although last year it was the 16th before I got them mailed. I usually create my own card from scratch, but this year I may just upload a few pictures and get them printed with a store made layout. I usually send out 75 cards. I used Staples for the first time this year and love their cards. However, Costco does have a cheaper option. Then again, I would have to drive to Raleigh to pick them up (30 minutes away) as our Costco store no longer prints them. Someone mentioned Walgreens - now that is an option I might check out. We took pictures Thanksgiving day but all of our hair is blown around. I may use the photo anyways and say we were "blown away" with blessings or something. I guess I'll be doing this tomorrow. And I have a Christmas letter to write too. Not a bragging one, but here is what each of us is up to now letter. One year I used Lynn's newsletter templates. That was fun but took a lot of ink to print.
I am feeling really conflicted this year. Do I email or snail-mail my New Years cards? Last year I emailed an imgur link to everyone, but some of the elders got annoyed they didn't have a paper copy. (I explained why I was emailing links, but they didn't seem to care lol/col.) The issue is that I want to save time (and trees) by simply doing a digital card. The good (bad?) news is, in about a week I'll be out of time and I'll have to email an imgur-linked image to everyone lol.
We haven't sent cards in about 15 years and now usually get fewer than 5 from anyone. But we have one friend who has 3 adult children who actually live very near by. He and his wife send a card with them and their 9 or possibly 10 now grandchildren. Grandma gets the grands coordinating outfits, easy cause the littles are under 10. I love those cards and keep them in our boxes of decorations but it doesn't make me want to make of send cards!
I picked mine up at Walgreens yesterday and now I have to get them all addressed. That's always the hard part for me. I plan to get them done so they can go out in the mail, Monday. Sara @Tree City last year my oldest DD ended up in the hospital about 2 weeks before Christmas. I was staying with them, helping out and she asked me to make her a digital Christmas card to send to all of her co-workers. I made her one, she laid on the couch and sent them out. Apparently, my card was a big hit with all of them. Maybe it's the age though, like you said.
Thank you all so for sharing your ideas and designs! I finally ordered my cards yesterday. They are 5x7 printed on pearl cardstock, so they will have a shimmery look to them. @amien1 I really liked the "Merry Everything & Happy Always" from your card, so thank you for the inspiration! I used it a few years back and totally forgot about it! Front: Back:
Picked mine up today - single sided. Yup - two graduations and a wedding this year. And a windy day for photos.