Kathy does almost all the work for Christmas, but the job of getting the Christmas cards out the door falls on me. There is a creative process and a production process. It seems like every year there is more technology involved than the year before.

A few weeks before Christmas we all start talking about what might be on the card. Once we get an idea narrowed down, everyone is invited to offer creative input. This year, Kelly and Claire helped finalize the content with Kathy and Danny offering a critical eye. Alas, Nicole was trapped in Athens working at the UPS store.

Stout is the newest (and smallest) member of the family, so he got the focus.

Tools & Materials:

AppleWorks Database. Holds names and addresses. It has a list view for auditing and an Avery label view. I incorporate a graphic from the card into the label view.

Office Depot Labels: 1″ x 2 5/8″. OD2100. ((Avery 8160.)

HP 930C printer.

HP 45 (Black) and 78 (tri-color) ink. The process typically involves a reload somewhere in the middle. We were near 0% on ink when we started.

AppleWorks Drawing. Holds the card template. 2 pages, one for front and one for back.

iPhoto (Mac). Holds our library of photos. We exported the photo of Clyde and Stout.

Graphics Converter (Mac). Used for resizing graphics and doing light touch up.

PaintShop Pro (Windows.) Used for more complex graphics manipulation. A poor man’s Photoshop.

Microtek ScanMaker X6. Used to scan in hand sketches and the family photo that Mom gave us. This is the professional photo hanging on Mom’s wall that she took a picture of with her Canon digital and had printed at Sam’s.