Friday, December 10, 2010

Freebie Friday: Personal Christmas Photo Cards

Happy Friday!

Who doesn't love Friday? Especially when you get something for free? Freebie Fridays is a series on This Fresh Fossil in which I unleash a bit of my extra-creativity: for you. I'm a professional graphic designer who loves to design and wants to help you organize your life, have fun with your hobby, connect with friends and decorate your digs, by giving you a free design every Friday. Whether it's in the form of labels for organizing, cool artwork that you can print and frame, printable greeting cards, photographs, patterns, scrapbooking art, or more - every Friday there will be a custom free design for you.

Oh, the Christmas season. I love Christmas and the whole spirit that surrounds it. However, I don't always love how much it hurts my wallet.

Especially when it comes to Christmas cards.

When you think about how much it costs for a single card bought at the store, it can cost you anywhere from $1-5! That may not seem like much for just 1, but if you're buying several... it can really add up. Of course, you can resort to those boxes of 12 cards for your needs, but I always feel that they are sometimes a bit lacking because they're just so generic.

I love personalized stuff - it always seems to add that extra special touch than what the generic stuff has, but it usually costs more because it takes more work, which doesn't make my wallet very happy.

Why can't we have the best of both worlds? A personal and free card?


Now we can!

How to Make Personal Photo Cards

Supplies:
Cardstock paper (& a printer)
Photos/photo paper
Scissors and/or Xacto knife with ruler and something to cut on (can be a kitchen cutting board, too)
Envelopes

1) First, download one of the PDF files by clicking on the image or the link below it and saving the file to your computer (File>Download Original). One is more traditional with red and white, while the other is a little more modern with a palette of greys, turquoise and lime green.



2) Customize the card(s). Open the file in Adobe Reader (you can download it for free here if you don't have it), click the text area(s) (should be highlighted in light blue) and then type in your text. Don't forget to put text on both cards! (there are 2 cards per page).



3) Print out the file(s) onto cardstock paper (File>Print>Page Scaling>None).


4) Cut out the squares, and use an xacto knife (or something similar) to make the diagonal slit cuts in the design (I used an xacto knife for both).



5) Print out your photos using the Windows Print option, and make sure to select "Wallet Sized" photo sizes (it should give you 9 photos per page).



6) Cut out your photos and then tuck the corners into the slits you made in the cardstock designs.


7) Grab some invitation envelopes sized at 4 1/8 x 5 3/4. I found ours at Office Depot.



8) Enjoy!


You can personalize them however you want! And you won't have to feel guilty about ruining them if you do because they're cheap and easy.

We think they'd be super-cute with some writing on the back (sort of postcard-style), or even as little card/tags given out to neighbors to spread some holiday cheer.


Enjoy! And stay tuned for next week's freebie!

Have you used one of our Freebies for anything? Take a photo and send it in - I'd love to see what creative things you've done with my designs! You might even be featured in a future Freebie Friday post!

Have a fantastic weekend and happy Friday!

(Oh, and while all my work is custom, if you'd like something more personalized, like a blog header, logo, photo manipulation, etc, please feel free to contact me to discuss your project and custom pricing. Thanks!)

Disclaimer: As far as I am aware, this file does not contain any viruses, however, you download at your own risk. By downloading this file, you are agreeing to the terms of use. This file is for personal use only - any profit and any editing of the digital file or any elements within is prohibited. You are free to use the design any way you like once the design is printed. Also, the design is my work - please be respectful of copyright laws. Thank you!

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6 comments:

  1. I think you just saved your audience a fortune.

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  2. wow! You are too kind! I love the designs and for FREE?!? Really? You are full of the Christmas spirit. :) THANK YOU for sharing!

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  3. These are incredible. Already did my cards though!! Next year.....

    And our tree is over 6 feet tall. We usually try not to go too tall so we don't scratch our ceiling, been there done that, don't want to repaint. We haven't been doing a tree topper lately either. I just can't find one I'm totally happy with. The tree is very 'fluffy', I guess even stout. lol.

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  4. Oh man, I just ordered our Christmas cards! We've done the ones from Sam's Club for the past couple of years. I really like these though, I might have to save this for next year!

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  5. These are great. I really like the way you inserted the photo.

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  6. Your holiday cards are adorable! We took the lazy, Hallmark route this year. If you get a chance, I hope you'll stop by to link up to my Not "Baaad" blog hop tomorrow :)

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