Christmas Cards with Paper Culture. Help me choose!

#designfortrees 

The tree we save and the tree we plant may be the tree we climbed on in our youth, the tree we sit underneath on our first date, the tree that helps build a house, the tree that cools the earth or the tree that provides the air we breath.   - Paper Culture

So, here I am before Thanksgiving has even arrived, designing my cards.  Crazy type A?  No way and I wish.  Genius, perhaps.

This is my second year creating my Christmas Cards with Paper Culture.  There is so much about this company that I love.  Let's start with smart Holiday designs at reasonable prices.  I love a deal!  (PSA for early birds:  order in November and receive 40% off.  Now do you think I am genius??)  And because we - and by "we" I mean "I" - can't just be satisfied with what we are shown -  you can change design layouts, add rounded corners or super thick paper.  I am in love with the gold foil this year.

Ok so that's great, right?

But what about that all of their cards are printed on recycled paper.  Sure I love the snail mail and nostalgia of a paper card, but I also love that Paper Culture is committed to reducing their carbon footprint, so along with printing on post consumer waste and wood alternatives, they also plant a tree with every order, and they send a packet of seeds for every one to join in planting.

You know, after you lick all those postage stamps.

Prior to Paper Culture, I have had a love/hate relationship with holiday cards because I want quality and intention without having to break my budget.  In those hate moments my husband will say "then just don't do them."  And I look at him, obviously appalled.  I can't let go of this tradition.  My boys race downstairs every day to check the mail.  And truthfully we keep a basket all year on our coffee table with the cards we receive, and every so often we look at them again.  In this wonderful world of technology I love this nod of nostalgia.  And I love photo cards.  Seeing life's adventures, all our babies become kids, favorite pets.

Here's how I do my cards:  Some years they are promptly sent out the door at the dawn of December, some years they barely squeak into the mail before Christmas Eve.  There is inevitably a pile found during spring cleaning still needing new addresses.  (if you've moved and didn't receive a card from us last year, sorry!)  One year I even ordered Christmas Cards and never sent them.

Really.  I still have them.

And I always design more than one card, and then hem and hah over which one to choose, making myself slightly crazy, usually because it's way too late at night.

So this year I thought I'd take a vote.  Which one do you like best?  I'd love to hear your thoughts...

1.  Be Merry - I like the long slim shape of this card.

2.  Snowflakes Falling - Gold foil snowflakes with a pop of bright green.

3.  Holiday Confetti - Gold polka dots?  Gotta do it.

4.  Joy - simply stated, I'm choosing to find joy.

I think the beauty of today is that we can keep the nostalgia alive while being conscious of how to do things better.

This is what I think Paper Culture does so well.

Help me choose my card, please leave a comment below.

photos by Angie.  linking up with pleated poppy for what i wore weds.

best,
Kirsty

Paper Culture is graciously providing my cards this year, all opinions are absolutely mine.