This is my Christmas Card assembly line~ On this thankful Tues/Wed. I'm thankful for the cards I get and for the cards I send.This will be my 49th year of doing this and I love it just as much today as I did the first year I was married.
My Card sending has evolved over these years. At first I just bought pretty cards and hand wrote everywhere from a note to a long letter in each one. It would depend on if it was people I saw. Then when I had two little girls I would slip in their little birthday picture of the year. I know everyone didn't get a picture because we couldn't afford to buy that many.
That pretty much went on as the norm until Daniel and then I would try to pose them or find a picture with the 3 of them and order some copies and enclose them. I remember those days I would get the cards that were all different and I would pick just the one I thought each person would like.
Then the big change started taking over the cards I was receiving. They were "form letter" cards, I use to call them and hated them. Those that used them and added a personal note I appreciated, those that sent printed pictures on paper of people I didn't know doing things I didn't know always irritated me. At least identify the people in the pictures! So it was about that time I started cutting back on my cards, I could sort of tell the ones that I was "just on a list" and those that wanted to hear from me.
I've never kept up with who sent what because that wasn't why I sent my Christmas cards but I did drop some that I felt were becoming an obligation.
After 30 some years of pretty much doing it the same way I got my computer :) And I discovered cards and photo's that could be slipped in to the front of the card. Gone were all the pretty cards to look at, but it sure did save me some time and that was a busy few years in there. I continued to hand write a letter or note for each card though.
Then I gave in to my own lack of time and laziness I guess after realizing I was sending pretty much the same letter to everyone. I made up two letters.. The long form for those I didn't see or hear from much and the short one for those that did. On the back of each card though I wrote a personal note to my friends, family and loved ones. And I printed a few photo's of children and grandchildren along the way.
Of course, the evolution just kept coming until I just ordered photo cards, printed the family letter and printed more photo's(But I do Identify them!) I did continue to write a little note on each one. I also think it was about this time that I ordered the return labels to match and I discovered a wonderful service. Very inexpensive, I just have to send them my names and addresses and they send them to me ready to peel and stick! It's cheaper then the ink I was buying for the labels. All I have to do is keep my address book up to date.
Now, I just pick the family (Penny and her siblings) picture, Print my letter and print a page full of photo's, Fold letter's, stuff them in with the cards, apply a snowflakes to the back, two labels on the front and a stamp! This year, I'm given up the personal hand written letters and that makes me sad, because I love getting them, but such is life.
So on this Thankful Tues, that is what I'm thankful for.. My Christmas Cards.. Both the ones I get and the ones I send. I just love the process as it's done. It's fun for me and brings me pleasure, I've never thought of it as a chore. So if you get one, know that it's done with love and sent to you because I want to.
