DESIGN 20: FRONT



DESIGN 20: INSIDE
Message: “Ours was a Lego Christmas…Here’s wishing your 2008 will be just as fun.”



DESIGN 20: BACK
Specs: Vertical 5×7 card on archival linen with the inside design spanning the inside spread, folded in the middle.
This is my family! Every year we try to get out for some “family shots,” setting the camera up on a tripod and using the camera’s timer to get at least one semi-decent picture of all of us. This SOUNDS like a good idea, but honestly, it’s HARD! Plus, the picture always looks very posed and stiff, which is part of the problem with setting the camera on a timer. It’s like the countdown to a blastoff — very tense! So someday, I hope to connect with some other photographers and trade off on family shots!

So hard to coordinate though. Take my family as an example. We couldn’t get it together to take our Christmas card pictures until Christmas Day! But the reasons were solid. The first weekend we had planned was a total washout. The following weekend was also a total washout. And the weekend after that I was sick and not feeling like doing much of anything. So, Christmas Day, it wasn’t raining. Everyone was well. Out we went!

What I love about this design — As most of my clients who’ve visited my home know, Bradley and Gregory are obsessed with Legos. My living room is like The Lego Store. This card certainly captures that — my pet name for this card is “We All Live in a Lego World,” which is why I photoshopped Bradley and Gregory into the Lego snowglobe picture on the front.

The inside spread picture was taken the day after Christmas when I took Bradley and Gregory into New York to go to FAO Schwartz and Toys R Us to spend some of their “Lego money.” (Yes, they got Lego money for Christmas. Those kids needed more Legos like I need another Lego hole in my knee.) But, my boys were thrilled that Toys R Us in Times Square had brand new Indiana Jones Lego sets that weren’t available anywhere else! WOO HOO! (Mom’s a hero!) I snapped the picture in the 15th floor cafeteria lounge of The New York Times. It was almost dark outside, and quite dark inside too, making for interesting colors and contrasts. (Love the deep blue outside the windows.) I didn’t have any special equipment to boost the lighting, so it’s just fluorescent ceiling light, certainly not the best lighting situation. But sometimes, you just have to go with a great picture regardless of the overall quality. I LOVE Gregory’s expression. It goes so well with the “here’s wishing your 2008 will be just as fun” sentiment! And of course, Bradley’s “I’m cool” face is SO THIRTEEN! As I’ve been known to say, it’s about the moment!

BUT WHAT I LOVE MOST is the tiny little set of pictures on the back of the card. There’s one that shows Bradley and me from our 2006 holiday card, and one that shows him and me exactly one year later.
HE GREW SO MUCH! Be warned, ladies, get lots of pictures of your little boys because some day they’re almost certainly going to be taller than you! (Bradley is king of the eye roll!)

THE CONTEST: Since the 19th post (”Jack’s First Christmas”) marked the last of the holiday card posts, I’ll start today by turning off the comments on each card one-by-one. It’s only fair to give all the families as much time to gather comment posts as the first cards to be posted had. Once Jack’s card has been up as long as the first one was, I’ll announce the finalists!

If you haven’t been playing all along, you can still win the big prize of a free family session! It just takes a little strategizing: you have to visit the blog everyday and you have to figure out which cards you posted comments on and which ones you missed. You don’t have to say something nice about the design, a simple “awwwww” will do! Several people are in the running for the big prize but even if today is your first day on the blog, you can still win, so KEEP PLAYING! (If you’re wondering where your friend’s card is, some clients’ cards aren’t posted for privacy reasons.)

REMEMBER: post one comment per day on a different design to WIN!

Click here for contest details, but be sure to click your browser’s “back” button to get back to this post so that you can leave a comment about THIS card design, especially if you are commenting in order to help your friends win the prize!

Cheers! And thanks for visiting the blog!