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Our Christmas Card 2011

By Lisa Gutierrez on 12/12/2011

It was last Christmas when I gifted myself a copy of Print Workshop and the basic tools of a block-printing kit. Over the past year, I’ve made quite a few stamps using my trusty lino cutter, including a crochet-inspired one that I’ve been using on the envelopes for my Lace Love orders. I’ll share that one with you soon, but today I want to talk about my Christmas card!

I doodled this tree, inspired by a drawing in a children’s book, several times and knew I wanted to incorporate it into our Christmas card somehow. I cut a small version on a scrap piece of Speedy Carve and liked it so much, I began drawing it larger. When I was finally satisfied, I drew it directly on a linoleum block and began carving. I found some metallic Speedball ink on clearance at Hobby Lobby one day and took it as a sign. THIS needed to be on the front of my card! I got to work immediately and had my 30 cards printed in a few short hours.

Its metallic-y shiny goodness–which was surprisingly hard to capture in photos–is not the best part of the card. Nope. The BEST past of the card? The handsome little fellas on the inside:

Thrifted blazers, vests, cardigans, lollipops. Informal to the max, but just our style.

You want to see outtakes, you say? But, of course!

I took the outdoor photos first. There was more than one meltdown, I can promise you that. The black & white photo shows what a toddler looks like when his big brother tells him he WILL NOT hold his hand. Oh my word, the tears! I spared you the photo of them BOTH crying because I threaten their treat. When we finally came back in, they got their lollipop prize and were still so adorable, I HAD to take more photos. In our dining room. Lucky I did because I ended up loving one of those the most!

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Did YOU take your own Christmas card photo? How did it go?? How did you “dress it up” for your actual card? I want to know!

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p.s. Don’t forget to enter the giveaway for 100 custom postcards I posted earlier today!

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p.p.s. I totally forgot to mention I’m linking up with The Paper Mama’s Holiday Photo challenge!

Day 30: three wonderful things that happened this month

By Lisa Gutierrez on 11/30/2011

1. We went to the Houston Museum of Natural Science in Sugar Land. This kid loved it. It’s not so small that you’d get bored, but not so big that you’d get lost.

2. Lace Love was printed and released! Yay!

3. My littlest and I went to a baby shower to celebrate the impending arrival of my cousin’s sweet baby boy. We are all so, so, so anxious to meet him! 2012 will bring newborn snuggles. I can hardly wait!

The end! Can you believe tomorrow is December? If you’re looking for a last minute sponsor spot, check out THIS PAGE. We averaged over 2,500 page-views per day in November. Spectacular! I’ll be debuting a new blog design tomorrow, too.

Days 19 & 20: silly self-portrait & childhood anecdote

By Lisa Gutierrez on 11/20/2011

“If you make that stupid face too often, IT WILL STICK.”

Oh, also. How dapper is my little fella? We went to a baby shower, yesterday. He was a charmer–blew raspberries on all the pretty ladies’ faces.

p.s. I am accepting December sponsors! Goodknits has grown so much this month and I am happy to have the lovely blogs in my sidebar. See [THIS PAGE] for more information. There are going to be TWO sizes available next month!

Day 17: My family

By Lisa Gutierrez on 11/17/2011

my littlest boys

and the boy who made them possible (heh)

p.s. those blazers are featured in our Christmas card, this year. My kiddos luhluhlooove them.

Day 13: something I am proud of

By Lisa Gutierrez on 11/14/2011

Well, this was a no-brainer. I had my baby on a sidewalk. Born in the morning sunshine. It left me so high on life, I used the experience as my happy place for months! No, really. I had a root canal a few months later and I zoned out during the procedure by thinking about birth.