it's not too early

As the weather cools, warms, storms, then cools again, all the while bringing down a multitude of leaves, my mind tends to skip from Labor Day all the way to Thanksgiving and Christmas. I've got lists made, supplies are being gathered, and plans are being formulated.
One thing I always try to plan ahead is my Christmas cards. Since having children I have found that sending a photo Christmas card is more fun. The recipients of the photo card enjoy seeing how much the girls have grown and changed throughout the year. Choosing the right photo isn't always easy. I used to dress the girls up, have them sit in front of the Christmas tree, smile, wiggle, whine, cry, fake smile, scowl...you name it...they've made the face. All of which sucked the joy out of creating one wonderful shot of girls. And, in addition to the fiasco that capturing a great Christmas card photo became, it also often got lost in the shuffle or forgotten because I had to wait until the Christmas tree was up, but then it was already after Thanksgiving and the busyness of life took over and the cards got sent out super late (like after Christmas) or not sent at all. Not any more. Last year I chose a great picture of the girls taken on our beach vacation. But still, it was just a picture...not really a Christmas card greeting. Well, things are achanging here at the Clothesline. This year I will create a wonderful photo Christmas card greeting the likes of which my friends and family have never seen (from me)! I will use Shutterfly. The variety of Christmas photo cards that they have available is astounding. There are cards where you can have just one photo or you can have several photos. I'm leaning towards several photos this year just because I can. The cards vary from whimsical to modern to traditional. It won't be easy to choose. See for yourself. I really like the square photo cards but still there are so many to choose from. Thankfully your choices can be narrowed down by the size of the card and the colorway that you prefer. It really does make things easy.
And while I was checking out the Shutterfly site I also found that they can make personalized gift tags. In my house we call them From & To's...it's just more fun to say. But what beautiful gift tags they have with your family name and lovely designs. Click here to see them...they're pretty much irrisistible. Seriously.

So, marking things off the list, creating a Christmas photo card, making my life easier...nope, it's not too early. So what card design will you choose? Don't you want to mark something off of your list? Come on...join me. And this year I may just win the annual contest to see who sends out their Christmas card first (Mama & Mel---I may very well win it this year!)

(all pictures from Shutterfly.com)