After completing and sending out this year’s handmade holiday cards to her family and friends, Robin Beth was inspired to share cards she had made in previous years. Yesterday, on her LuxeEarth blog, she posted photos and shared her thoughts about each card. Here are her 2005 – 2008 cards with my comments about each.

2005

Robin used decorative Japanese chiyogami paper to frame the photos of her three sons. Instead of captioning each of her boys’ photos with their names, she chose the sentiments of peace, health, and happiness and matched each to the mood of each of her sons’ photos.

2006

I’m a fan of borders and sections, so I like the look that Robin created. Underneath the photos, she used Japanese chiyogami and Stardream specialty paper layers to turn the dark colored backing card into borders. On top of that, she added an angled photo layer.

2007

I count five layers–a dark backing card, a light layer with great use of different fonts and white space, a bold turquoise and black Japanese chiyogami layer that we call Turquoise Seeds, and a photo attached to a dark backing card.

2008

The die cut circle card along with fun fonts, two color printing, and a creative layout give this card an extra warm and fun feel. You can see the mica flecks on the metallic Stardream backing card. On her blog, Robin writes, “…stardream layer duplexed onto the back…” so I assume that after she photographed the card, she attached the blue Stardream layer to the back of the card (as the reverse side).

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As you can see from Robin’s handmade holiday cards, you can make personalized, one-of-a-kind photo cards by mixing and matching different specialty papers and including family photos. Thanks to Robin for allowing us to include her family’s holiday cards in this article. Would you like to learn more about Robin and her eye for design? Visit her site for letterpress printed invitations and paper goods.

For an even easier photo holiday card, see our selection of Photo Christmas Cards. Each kit includes 50 photo cards, 50 insert sheets, and 50 envelopes. The card is a 5″ x 7″ folding card. You can print your custom holiday greeting on the inside and place your 4″ x 6″ photograph on the front using the two adhesive strips.

Joshua Birch