~ Here are my Christmas 2005 HOLIDAY CARD thoughts (which also apply to cards in general). ~

What to do, what to do?

Now that you know you are capable -- because of your knowledge of digi-scrapping -- of SO MUCH COOLNESS, a regular holiday card just ain't gonna cut it.  You have to do something cool!  Creative!  Fun!  Unique!

(but hey, no pressure.)

I cringe when I hear about people mass-assembling paper-crafty cards for Christmas.  I don't know about you, but I have like 100 people on my Christmas card list -- and buddy, I am NOT putting together 100 Christmas cards by hand, one element at a time.  I just don't care THAT much about those random old friends and distant relatives (and I totally say that in love.  Well, mostly.)

So let's talk about some options for holiday cards.

First, you need to decide which SIZE card you're going to send. And which format it's going to be in -- postcard?  Photo insert inside a traditional card?  Flat card in envelope?  You need to know also which sized envelopes require extra postage -- nothing like sending off 100 Christmas cards on a Friday, and getting them all returned on Wednesday because they need more postage!  (Dude, that SO sucks.) 

Here is a link to where to Post Office explains postage charges, but I can't make any sense of it.  If anyone can explain it better, e-mail me and I'll put it here!!!

You also need to think about how you're going to print your card.  This is important for planning purposes.  If you're going to do it locally, time isn't as much of an issue.  If you're going to upload and order your card from a website (and have it shipped to you), you need to give yourself an extra week to get it.  Then factor in the time you'll spend stuffing and addressing envelopes!  The wonderful card you design isn't doing you much good if you can't get it ready and to the post office!

Envelopes:
If you are wanting to get your cards printed as photos and get your envelopes on your own, here are some options:

ClearEnvelopes.com -- look at the premium envelops, and the Ashley colored envelopes.
Paper-Source -- WOW WOW WOW.  You may never have to search for anything about paper or stationery again.
And here are a few more sites:
www.actionenvelope.com
www.envelopemall.com
www.paperandmore.com
www.doubleupaper.com
www.clearbags.com
www.thepapermillstore.com

If you want to shop locally for envelopes, check out any office supply store and see what kind of envelopes they have. Look especially for A2 envelopes, which are 4 3/8" x 5 3/4", which is just big enough to hold an 8.5x11 piece of paper folded in half twice.  It won't QUITE fit a 4x6 (unless you trim it down -- but sheesh, who has time for that?!).  For a 4x6, you need an A6 envelope -- which is 4 3/4" x 6 1/2" (I'm looking at Paper-Source.com to get these dimensions.)  Their A7 envelope would easily fit a 5x7.  At Office Max this weekend I looked in the envelope aisle and they had boxes of "Greeting Card" envelopes, as well as several different sizes.  So if you look, you should be able to find what you need.

And hey, as long as we're talking about envelopes, let's talk about POSTAGE! 
Did you know you can have your own stamps printed, with WHATEVER image you want?!  This is way cool.  "PhotoStamps from Stamps.com are valid U.S. Postage, based on a technology called PC Postage, which is what creates the bar code you see to the right of the image area on PhotoStamps."  Go to PhotoStamps.com for more info!!!

Ok, so let's talk SIZES for your cards:

4x6:
~ Can fit inside a regular holiday card
~ Easy to print locally at a photo kiosk, and is the cheapest size to print
~ Be sure to check out the kiosk before you design your card -- some print 4.15x6 and your image won't print right if you've designed it for exactly 4x6.  Do some experimenting with printing a few images FIRST on the kiosk you plan to use before you design the card.
~ Remember to leave just a little "give" around the edges because almost all printing will clip a bit.  (Here is a great tutorial that shows you how to add a white border all around the card.)  Give yourself more white space than you think you'll need, then you can crop the image within the kiosk program.  You can crop IN but not OUT -- if one dimension doesn't fit in the kiosk's crop box, there's no way to back up (zoom out) and make it fit.
~ You can create a 4x6 postcard at Winkflash.com for 39 cents a copy.  This is still pretty cheap per printing, and you will save money with postage!
~ If you're putting 4 pictures on a 4x6 space, remember that they probably won't fit perfectly.  There will be space left on the "6" side, but that's GOOD -- use that space for text or embellishments!

5x7:
~ You can also print 5x7's at most local kiosks, but they are more expensive.
~ From an on-line developer like Winkflash, you can get 5x7 photocards with envelope for 29 cents each!  At ScrapbookPictures.com, The 5x7 option is in the Cart -- the size selection for this will be "5x7w/env - $0.95."
~ If you DON'T have them printed with envelopes included, they might be a little more difficult to find.
~ I'm not sure on the postage thing.  Anyone want to enlighten us?
~ this is also a great size to make a gift for someone if you know they want pictures to hang on their fridge!  This image is a "card" I made for my husband's aunt -- it's like a combination of a scrapbook page and a card!  I designed this with her fridge in mind, 'cause she has a special place for Jake pictures.  HI JULIE!!!)

4x8:
~ I just love this size.  This is a very standard size for holiday cards -- but usually it's a 4x6 picture with a 2 inch border on the right with a generic holiday graphic and a greeting.  BORING!  You can really utilize your Photoshop skills and the great space a 4x8 gives you to make a really cool card!  ScrapbookPictures.com -- my personal favorite on-line developer -- has an option now for printing 4x8's and getting envelopes with them in your order.  TO DO THIS:  Upload the 4x8 JPEG image to your ScrapbookPictures.com account, then select the image and add it to your cart.  THEN, go to the cart and in the "Item" column next to your image, select "4x8 w/ env - $.49," and select the quantity you need.

Another great printing option:  Scrapbooks to Share prints 5.5" x 5.5" or 5" x 7" folding greeting cards made from digital or traditional scrapbook layouts that include a personalized message on the inside of the cards! Greeting cards are $1.50 a card for less than 50 and $1.25 a card for 50 or more and include the envelopes.
- From a design standpoint you'll need to plan ahead for full-bleed so nothing gets cut-off (i.e. I would suggest a 1/4" area around the layout that doesn't include anything that couldn't be cut-off).
- On the postage thing, the square cards are an extra $.13 to mail since they are square.  Our 5x7 cards are normal 1st class mail.

~ Something else to think about -- if you don't have the energy to create a card from scratch, but you DO want something customized, ScrapbookingPictures.com can help.  For the rushed card maker, they sell a 4x8 (Template) card with your picture and the greeting done in portrait or landscape mode for only $.40 with the envelope.  There are almost 200 different combinations possible- just in
the 4x8. ~

Here are 5 examples of 4x8 holiday cards I've designed -- remember, they can be horizontal OR vertical!!!

My absolute favorite is the 2005 one -- a GREAT idea to save you some holiday stress is to wait until AFTER Christmas, and send a New Year's card. That way not only can you use that time off work between Christmas and New Year's to get it done, you can send cards to JUST the people who sent YOU Christmas cards this year!  (Am I the only one who gets annoyed when I send 100 cards out and get like 30 back?!!!  LOL.)  Also, people are thrilled to get a New Year's card AFTER the holidays, 'cause they're a little bummed that the whole Christmas thing is over -- and this way your card will stand out and not just be one of the many Christmas cards that come in the mail. 

OR, you can get a jump on the whole Christmas thing, and send out a FALL-themed card -- like the pumpkin one at the top -- wishing everyone Happy Holidays -- then people you send it to will most likely remember to send YOU a card back!  (And again, you'll avoid the Nov/Dec holiday craziness -- and it's fun to get something OTHER than Christmassy stuff

all the time!)

Ok, wait -- I have ONE MORE suggestion. 

For Jake's 2nd Christmas, we designed a Christmas card photo insert that fit four to page, printed it once (letter sized) on a color printer, then took it to Kinko's and copied it on the color copier.  (Color copies are $1 a piece.)  Then we made another one with just text -- a few paragraphs of what we'd been up to -- again, fitting 4 on a letter-sized page -- and printed them out.  Then we cut them with a paper trimmer and threw one of each in each card. 

To do this in Photoshop: Create a New File, and from the drop-down next to "preset sizes," choose "letter."  Make sure it's at 300 ppi.  Drag your Guidelines (more info on those HERE if you are unsure) to sit at 1/4 an inch all around, and also directly in the middle -- which would be at the 4.25 line horizontally, and the 5.5 line vertically.  So that's SIX guidelines.  Then design your card insert for ONE of the squares.  All four will be the same, just design one to copy from.  Save this as a JPEG (should look like image at left -- which is an example I threw together just now of pictures from this year.)

Next, open up the JPEG you just saved, and with the rectangle marquee, select the completed square.  Choose "Move Tool" and drag it onto your layout, then place it in the top right quadrant.  Then in the Layers Palette, duplicate the layer twice to fill the other two empty spots.  Now save THIS as a JPEG -- this is what you will use to print as a letter-sized image.  (In the Windows XP Photo Printing Wizard -- which you can get to through right clicking on the image and choosing "Print," --  choose either of the Full Page Print options at the top of the "Layout Selection.")  Then take the printed page to Kinko's, and copy away!  (NOTE: you WILL NOT be able to print this as an 8x10 at a photo kiosk.  8x10 is VERY different dimensions than 8.5x11.  If you want to print 8x10, PLAN for it and start out with an 8x10 new workspace.)For the text insert, just open up a Microsoft Word or Works file, use "Format > Columns" to make it two columns.  Then type until it's about a half page, make your edits, and copy and paste the words three times.  Play with the fonts and text until you get it to all fit on one page.

Umm, then spend some quality time with your paper cutter, getting them all ready.

Ok, seriously, I'm done now. 

CREDITS:
-- Yellow and pink papers in 4x6 card: Sara Carling ~ "daydream" ~ http://www.thedigichick.com/
-- 5x7 fall "Aunt Julie" card -- Shabby Princess ~ "Shabby Fall" freebie ~ http://www.shabbyprincess.com/
-- "Happy Fall, y'all" -- Chef (Susan) ~ "Autumn Bliss" ~ http://www.scrapkitchen.com/
-- "Merry Christmas Anyway" -- Jasbeanie ~ Christmas Trio Series "Pink Snow" ~ http://www.jasbeanie.com/
-- "Santa's Favorite Helper" -- Jasbeanie ~ "Awfully Chocolate" freebie ~ http://www.jasbeanie.com/
-- "The Hicks" -- MandaBean ~ "Hip for the Holidays" ~ http://www.digichick.com/

BONUS!!!  LOTS OF HOLIDAY CARD EXAMPLES, DESIGNED BY A VARIETY OF DIGI-ARTISTS and SCRAPPERS!!!  MORE IDEAS THAN YOU CAN SHAKE A STICK AT!!!!!  CLICK HERE.