Shutterfly Makes me Happy!

5x7 Folded Card

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Another Shutterfly Creation!

Classic Cherry Thank You Card

Make a statement with Shutterfly custom thank you cards.

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Making My Life Easier this Holiday Season: Shutterfly Style

As many of you know by December of this year I will be 9 months pregnant. If you’ve ever been pregnant, you know that the last trimester can be anything but comfortable. So foremost on my mind as I look towards the holidays: “How can I make my life easier this Christmas????” One way I plan to make my life easier…creating a Shutterfly photocard for the holidays.

Traditionally I am a scrapbooker, and I love making holiday cards. But do you know how long it takes to make Christmas cards? It’s not an easy task and with a very active toddler and a baby on the way, there is no guarantee I will get anything made this year. So I am getting a headstart on the Christmas cards. I’ve got a photoshoot scheduled for November, and I have already begun browsing the Shutterfly website for card ideas.

Every time look at the products on Shutterfly I am impressed by their up-to-date style and quality. I love using photos to tell stories. As I browsed this year's collection of Christmas cards I realized how influenced I was by wanting to tell a story. I am very excited that this year they have some exciting 5x7 folded options that allow you to include pictures and short paragraphs on the inside of your card—no need to write a holiday letter, just put it right on the card! Most of these designs include only one picture on the front, BUT the insides all included 4 pictures, so I will still get a total of five pictures in my card. Some of my favorites in this design were “Sweet Holly Story,” “Joyous Holiday Story,” and “Most Wonderful Story.”

I should also admit, that I enjoy looking at the sample pictures on the cards. I am also finding them very helpful as I think about my upcoming photoshoot with Nathan and Thomas. "Starlight Snowflakes" caught my eye because of the cutest little girl on the cover. I think a close up of Thomas would be adorable on this one as well (though I doubt we will have snow in the background!) Another design I liked, “Mod Ornaments,” requires some extra space on the right side of the card for the design, so the focal point of the picture needs to be on the left side. I definitely want to have some of these things in mind to let the photographer know before the shoot. This way I will be more likely to have a great photo to fit my card.

Finally, Shutterfly has a lot of adorable 5x5 photocards this year. My favorites were the “Classic Red Square” and the “Believe in Magic” card (which would be perfect for a new baby!) Unfortunately, these cards require extra postage, so you’ll have to decide if that works for you.

If you also plan to throw a holiday get-together this year check out the invitations section. You can also find lots of great Thank You cards in the stationary section.

I'm excited to create my photocards, and more excited after checking out my options on Shutterfly!

Currently Shutterfly is offering 20% off all holiday cards!

More Mini Albums

The past week I was busy making a few more mini albums as well as a gift card holder.  All of these were gifts, so I had to wait to publish them till the new owners received them.  I think the gift card holder is my favorite that I have made so far.  I just like how the colors and papers worked out!  I'm quite pleased by the mini albums as well.  I used my book to create them from scratch.  The covers are made with covered chipboard and then the pages (one sheet of cardstock) are attached accordion style.  I also learned a cool trick about hiding the ribbon underneath the pages.  The mini albums are very similar because they were created for my friends Kathy and Rachel to commemorate our weekend get together over labor day.  I used the same format for both albums and was able to create them over a couple days in 15-20 minute increments.  Now I just need to make one for myself!

Gift Card holder for my friend Kathy for her birthday

I fully lined the inside piece (because I didn't like its color) and I love the way it turned out!

Album for Kathy celebrating Labor Day weekend

The inside can be turned like pages or...

completely pulled apart for full viewing.  (Inside of Rachel's album)

Cover of Rachel's album.

Busy Weekend

This weekend, Nathan's sister and her family came to visit.  They have two kids, Madeline age 5 and Nathaniel age 2.  We had a busy weekend including a trip the the NC zoo on Saturday.  It was a lot of fun.  Here are some pictures to show you!

Elizabeth and Madeline baking cookies

At the Zoo.  Nathan and Thomas in front of the man made Marsh.

We visited the polar bear.  Thomas enjoyed watching the bear and seeing how big he was!

Enjoying one of my favorite treats, an ICEE!

Family Photo

A Murphy Family Photo

Cousins!

Nathaniel (almost 2), Madeline (almost 5), Thomas (7 months)

The End of a great weekend.

I'm a Photo-aholic

I admit it.  I am addicted to photos.  I just cannot seem to say good bye to a photo.  I don't know why, but I feel like I will be losing something if I don't save a photo.  I have a problem, I know!   This problem influenced me today when I took Thomas to get his pictures done at Sears.  I have this great saver card that gets me all kinds of deals, and I had a ton of great coupons too, and yet I still bought the package.  I admit it.  I did.  And you know why?  The photo cd.  I just couldn't bear that one shot of Thomas not be shared with the world!  Absolutely pathetic I know.  It doesn't help that the professional people's pictures are SO much better than mine (with the help of some amazing cameras and gear).  I'm such a pushover though.  I knew how much it would cost to get a cd, and I told myself no before I went in.  Although it didn't take much convincing, so perhaps I wasn't as firm as I thought.  The problem with this addiction is that I can't decide how to deal with.  Most of me, just wants to ignore it, I mean after all it's not a bad thing to love photographs of your family.  The bad part is, Thomas is only 7 months old and I have a couple thousand pictures of him.  Seriously, I do.  I don't know if my computer can handle even a few years of this!  I have to learn to not be afraid of that delete button!  And I have to start saving more to afford the professional photos I just can't give up!  Here are a few of my favorites from today!

I love this photo!

I love this picture of Thomas taken yesterday!  It shows off his beautiful smile!