Holiday Photos

In a rush to get Christmas cards out, we had a few impromptu photos shoots today.  I knew I wanted to take Eli's picture in the Santa outfit he got last month and I also wanted to take an annual family photo.  I accomplished the first one earlier in the day by simply propping him up on his Boppy pillow.  He had such a great time being Santa and he looked so cute with his little fists under his chin.  Later in the day when my brother-in-law got home, we rushed outside for the last bit of sunlight and he took our family photo in the back yard.  The funny thing is, I have been wanting a new fence for the backyard for a while now and usually hate looking at the old one, but it ended up being the perfect back drop, yeah for old fences!  After a little Photoshop editing here are the end results.

The first one ended up being turned into a Christmas card and I posted it to all my Facebook friends and family.  The second one will be our family photo and will be framed.  The last one is our Christmas card photo because we just couldn't leave little Maddy out of the yearly photo.  I love how they turned out and I had fun editing them in photoshop, I think I am getting better.  It is so easy using the actions I talked about last month that I bought from Bloom & Grow photography.

TIme for SHUTTERFLY Christmas cards!!!

 (banner from Shutterfly.com)

Jeremiah, Maddy and I joined some friends last week in Balboa Park for a Christmas card picture exchange.  We took pictures of them and their puppy, Diego, and then they took pictures of us.  It was so much fun to be all bundled up in Balboa Park with the crisp morning air, it actually felt like winter.  We just received the pictures so now its time to play around on Shutterfly, my favorite online printer, and pick the perfect card. 

I have been using Shutterfly for years, since I was in college I think, and they really are the best company out there.  I have made calenders for friends and family, made prints from my digital photos and last year I made my Exquisite Blooms holiday photo cards to send to all my brides.  My all time favorite project had to be, by far, the photo books I made for my parents from my sister, brother and I for Mothers Day and Fathers Day about 3 years ago.  They were so easy to make and the result was a treasure for my parents to keep forever.

So now I have the dilemma of which style to make for Jeremiah, Maddie and I's Christmas cards.  Here is the picture I think I have committed to are the 3 photos I am trying to narrow down...

And here are the 2 designs of cards that I am toying with...

 (Shutterfly.com design, Jolly Gems)

(Shutterfly.com design, Flourish)

The 1st one seems more me, I mean us, but the 2nd one is so simple and pretty.  There are just so many wonderful designs to choose from.  Guess you'll just have to wait and see what the mail brings to find out which one I picked.

If you are still in need of Christmas cards, check out Shutterfly.com and their great promo.  You can get 50 cards free!