The problem with being a data miner is that you become obsessed with finding patterns. Perhaps it’s my analytically nature, or my pension for order but it drives me batty when there’s a pattern that doesn’t carry through to all the elements in a set. Once I see a broken pattern, I cannot not see it. The element that doesn’t match the pattern sticks out like a sore thumb. It’s like an itch in the middle of my back I can’t scratch.

I have been working on our Christmas card. It’s the 5th year that we’re doing one. As you can imagine, with just four cards already done there’s going to be some similarities (and differences) between them.

DIY Layout (4 out of 4 cards) – I love the fact that I have designed all our holiday cards. I was particularly proud of last year’s (although last year’s family photo was my favorite). I’ve learned a lot about graphical editing in the process of doing these cards, skills I’ve also applied to photo editing. My only quibble is the 2009 and 2010 layouts are pretty similar.
Different Colors (4) – The primary color on our 2009 card was green, our 2010 was blue, 2011 was red and 2012 was white.
DIY Photos (3) – Using one of my photos has also been a source of pride, but one of the 3 photos on our 2010 holiday card was a professional wedding photo.
Family Photo (3) – I figure anyone with a blood relation is going to be most interested in seeing Nicole on the card, but since we do send it to work friends, and old high school friends it makes sense to include our photos as well. After all, I go by my maiden name, Tyler, at work, and use my husband’s name on the family card. I wouldn’t want someone wondering who this ‘Colón’ family is upon receiving our card.
Our Family Name/Family Website (3) – Since 2010 I’ve always signed our card ‘The Colón Family’ with a link to our family website. A website that is sorely in need of updating, but I digress.
Lily (2) – Lily was our original baby. She’s since been demoted back to pet status, at least as far as our holiday card is concerned. Fear not, she prefers it this way as it means she no longer has to wear the silly Christmas hats, nor chased around with my camera.

Alas, I am going to have to break some of these patterns.

The only unique primary colors I could come up with that fit the bill is gold, and my graphical knowledge foo just isn’t that strong. I am leaning towards at least a different green, but still a green.

DIY Photos and a Family Photo are two points that are at odds. It can pretty hard to get a decent family photo when using a tripod and remote. In fact, I’m not really happy with our 2012 Family photo, but babies don’t smile too well for tripods. I’m debating about splitting up the family photo. Instead of one photo of the three of us, I’ll have one of Nicki and I and one of Domingo and I. I’d much rather have the whole family in a single family, but that might be asking too much right now.

I am being neurotic and obsessive again, aren’t I?

For the curious, here are prior years’ Christmas Cards

Posted in Family Life | Tags: Christmas