Before I was a professional photographer, I loved making our Christmas card.  I used some commercial sites, and then did it myself one year.  I still love doing our Christmas card, but now I look for inspiration very early on.  For the past few years, I’ve used a Christmas song as my platform to jump off of and be inspired.  This year was no different.  This year, the inspiration came in snippets, and had to be adjusted a bit too.  First, the outfit.  I found these great dresses that were a rich cranberry and different than what I had done in  year’s past, but classic and whimsical.  Plus, they came in both girls sizes and they loved them.   I had a vision in my head of the card, including location and props.  However, the props weren’t coming together like I had hoped, and I started to soften the lines on my precise vision.  Then, I heard Matthew West’s “Heart of Christmas” CD and soundtrack four, “Leaving Heaven” took my breath away (with Vince Gill).  I loved it, kept hitting repeat, and as I let the lyrics and melody fill my heart and mind, I realized this would be the song to inspire the Christmas card this year.  And so it was.  I began the “love” stamp which turned into “unending love” and started to build from there.  But I knew I’d have to wait for the actual images before I got too far.

Now, I have to be honest here.  I really don’t like the Christmas card photo shoot with my girls, not in the past 4 years at least.  I am great at wearing the photographer-hat while another parent is there, and can even talk mom and dad off the ledge of stress and utter frustration.  I can find something to love and get giddy about for almost anyone.  However, excuse me, HOWEVER, I do not do well wearing BOTH photographer-hat and mommy-hat.  The patience that normally exudes out of me is left without a morsel remaining.  The playful moments are eaten up by the monster of dissatisfaction.  In short, I end up last for the “Mom of the Year Award.”  That isn’t to say I don’t try.  In fact their birthday shoot went pretty well earlier this year.  Well, this year, we had two photo shoots for the Christmas card.  (I told you I’d be honest.)  Same location, just had to do a reshoot.  At the first one, M. made the “m”  in her name all about melting.  It didn’t help that she fell asleep through the canyon and when we got her up, she just curled up in a ball on the sand and wouldn’t get up.  We tried, oh, how we tried.  I had my husband there to help the first time, but there wasn’t much we could do.  The second try was by myself, as I had to squeeze in the shoot after I did all my other clients.  I got a bit more time out of M., coached my own self a lot, but then she ended in a ball again for “the shot” I had envisioned for months.  So after putting carnal-Krissy away, and apologizing for her, I had to look at what I did get, while I kept the song on repeat, and came up with this:

 

 

Front:

 

Outside, back

 

Outside, lift the envelope-style flap:

Inside:

 

 

 

 

In the next few days I’ll post some of the actual images from the photo session.  Happiest New Year!!!