Saturday, December 4
by Karen Robert
Wearing ugly Christmas sweaters on Christmas cards is all the rage. Yes, you heard me, bad Christmas Sweaters are trendy. These cards are so corny , cheesy and just plain awkward that they are hysterically funny. People are having bad sweater Christmas parties, people are writing articles about them, and yes, people are wearing them in their Christmas cards. But this time, with irony. Here are my top picks for awkward, cheesy, corny, Christmas cards of people wearing ugly, bad Christmas sweaters.
I’ve posted this card before, it ‘s by Theresa Thompson, for me it’s the quintessential bad sweater Christmas card. She gets lots of points , in my eyes, for getting her teenage kids to wear the plaid vests. To see more of her cards on this site go here.
And here is another one of my favorite Bad seater Christmas cards. It’s by Trevor Navarra, he had a few pictures in my book. So many , that we actually edited this one out. I don’t know why actually since it’s so great. I love the sparkle of the tooth. Brilliant.
Yikes, this one was taken at a Sears portrait studio..I love the pose. It’s very “40 Year Old Virgin”.
By photographer John Keatley for his company card this year. He’s the one in the wheelchair.
Ever wondered what the disembodied heads of Yamaha factory riders Valentino Rossi, Ben Spies and James Stewart would look like on ghastly Christmas sweaters? Oh, I love the irony of tough motorcycle guys in bad Christmas sweaters.
These aren’t actually the worst Christmas sweaters I’ve ever seen…but the awkward spirit is there.
By Scot at scott.sphotographs.com.
Corny , Cheesy Christmas sweater Christmas card again by John Keatley again. He is available to do a corny shoot like this for you, or for your company. Both of his cards are in fact for companies. You can find him at keatleyphoto.com
Lovely couple with a lovely sense of humor…I hope. found here on picasa.
Oh, Scott…you’re so awkward.
Sony Music released this Christmas card of the cast of Glee wearing bad Christmas cards. The photo was released to promote their Glee Christmas Album which came out this month.
Even the dogs got into the action at http://littlemayra.blogspot.com
The legs are more scary than the bad sweaters on this Christmas card photo
I love the closed eyes on this card…this card sooo bad, it’s fabulous. I found it on Flickr.
Aaaaawkward
Thanks Chris and Jana Schaeffer here on Flickr.
This one was on Awkward Family Photos, but I am sure it is staged. The dog was added later on the sweater, you can tell it was photoshopped in. I love the fact that it is hard to tell if it was faked though, it makes it even more funny. …hmmmm.
Pippa’s google eyes take this card from bad to fab.
And here is an invitation to a bad Christmas sweater party found here. I love the fact that these sweaters are different, no red and green here, but snowflake inspired….niiiiice touch.
If you want to buy a bad Christmas sweater go to here, on this site you can also get some great party planning tips for throwing a bad Christmas sweater party. Parties like this are all the rage I hear.
Now that was a fun blog posting, probably the favorite one I’ve done yet this season. Remember, please send me your fun cards so I can post them for all to appreciate and admire. I have many more postings like this coming up every day. Submit your card here, or if you are a photographer with lots of fun cards to show, I would love to do an interview with you. Contact me.
Sunday, May 16
by Karen Robert
When looking for quotes for the captions on my vintage photo cards, I realized that some of the wisest things ever said were said by Winnie the Pooh (with a little help from AA Milne of course). He really is such a wise old bear. I realize that I’ve got to read these books. Amazingly, I never did read them to my kids all the way through. I watched the original Winnie the Pooh with them many times though. Sadly, I am not joking. Don’t bother sending me a comment that I am a pathetic mother, I have already said it to myself.
I hope you enjoy these as much as I did.
A bear, however hard he tries, grows tubby without exercise.
– Pooh’s Little Instruction Book.
A little consideration, a little thought for Others, makes all the difference.
– Pooh’s Little Instruction Book.
Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.
– Pooh’s Little Instruction Book.
I am a Bear of Very Little Brain, and long words bother me.
– Winnie the Pooh
I used to believe in forever . . . but forever was too good to be true.
– Winnie the Pooh
You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.
– Winnie the Pooh
If the person you are talking to doesn’t appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear.
– Pooh’s Little Instruction Book.
If there ever comes a day when we can’t be together keep me in your heart, I’ll stay there forever.
– Winnie the Pooh
If you live to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus 1 day, so I never have to live without you.
– Winnie the Pooh, Disney Pictures
Just because an animal is large, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t want kindness; however big Tigger seems to be, remember that he wants as much kindness as Roo.
– Pooh’s Little Instruction Book
People who don’t Think probably don’t have Brains; rather, they have grey fluff that’s blown into their heads by mistake.
– Pooh’s Little Instruction Book
Poetry and Hums aren’t things which you get, they’re things which get you. And all you can do is go where they can find you.
– Pooh’s Little Instruction Book.
Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.
– Pooh’s Little Instruction Book
Some people care too much, I think it’s called love.
– Winnie the Pooh
Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known.
– Pooh’s Little Instruction Book
They’re funny things, Accidents. You never have them till you’re having them.
– Pooh’s Little Instruction Book
When late morning rolls around and you’re feeling a bit out of sorts, don’t worry; you’re probably just a little eleven o’clockish.
– Pooh’s Little Instruction Book
When looking at your two paws, as soon as you have decided which of them is the right one, then you can be sure the other one is the left.
– Pooh’s Little Instruction Book
Wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the forest, a little boy and his Bear will always be playing.
– The House at Pooh Corner
You can’t stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.
– Pooh’s Little Instruction Book
I am making a card with my favorite of these quotes “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” I thought it would be a good card to give to teenagers because sometimes we forget to give them words encouragements. Though they seem to bungle along, they often do things right, more often than we give them credit for. I found an article at http://www.radicalparenting.com/2009/03/30/winnie-the-pooh’s-guide-to-raising-teenagers/ It is a funny article called “Winnie the Pooh’s Guide to Raising Teenagers”. I tell you, the Winnie the Pooh books are sneakily wise.
Monday, December 21
wide eyed and be-sweatered
Monday, December 21
http://www.rkdp.com
Monday, December 21
Sunday, December 13
Saturday, December 12
From Cheeky Magpie.com
This is one of those projects that is a true glimpse in to the depths of my creative insanity. I see something and then I ponder it until I resolve whatever design dilemmas it involves. (And I’ve had a lot of time to ponder.)Then I create.
Cards are always a bit of a struggle for me and Christmas cards are even harder. Why on Earth would I think this might be easy, I don’t know. I’ll have the boys make all the presents in the sled once they get past the initial humiliation of the card. I’ll probably have to lie to them about who I am sending it to or I won’t get any help. And I’ll only make five of them. I am notorious for making crazy, over-the-top cards and never sending them. I am a bad crafter.
Let me preface this project by noting my *ever so slight* interest in pop-up books. Nay, I confess that I bow to the designers of those dimensional pieces of art. If I had my druthers, I’d make them myself. For this is the paper world I live in…the fact that it fits nicely in an envelope is a bonus.
Friday, December 11
http://www.flickr.com/photos/theresasthompson/
Friday, December 11
by Karen Robert
I am awestruck by a card designer named Theresa Thompson. She has done some of the most wonderful cards of her family; I bow down to her.
The first card which caught my eye was this one:
This card shows a wonderful juxtaposition between a modern day family and the family in the classic Normal Rockwell painting, “Freedom From Want”. I love the fact that the photo is so similar, yet so different from the original painting. Instead of eating turkey dinner, the family is eating take-out chicken. Instead of a big happy family, the kids are bored and slumped down. Instead of wonderful a manners, the dogs are sitting at the table, and instead of a big hearty mom wearing an apron, mom is looking hip, hot, and wearing jeans. This card is as much a statement of our times as it is a Christmas card. During the war, families were worried about having enough food to eat. In modern times, with people going at such a frantic pace, families are worried about spending quality time with each other. In order to squeeze more time with them, we order take-out and hope for the best. But we mom’s look better for it don’t we?
Theresa, the hip, hot mom, made this photo look like a painting using a plug in on photoshop called Lucisart. I asked her how she gets her teenagers to cooperate, and she said “I intentionally come up with a concept which allows for the boys to look bored, that way I don’t set myself up for frustration. Bribery works as well, for this shot I told them they could have the chicken afterwards if they cooperated”.
Another method she used to get the teenagers to behave was telling them that cooperating was their Christmas present to her. (I made a mental note next year to try this and the aforementioned bribery). She says that this method helped her to get her boys to allow her to take the following shot:
The snapshot in the picture was a reject from a Christmas photoshoot which she did many years ago when the boys wouldn’t cooperate. The new shot is taken in the exact same place, this time with the boys cooperating with sweet resignation. I love the way the words at the top are made with an old label maker. Theresa says she didn’t actually use a real label maker, but designed it to look like she had. Placing the old picture against the new adds such dimension and depth to this card.
All of Theresa’s cards have a note of nostalgia reminding us of another place in time. For example, this Brady Bunch Card:
I have seen many Brady Bunch cards, but this one I think has been done the most professionally. Theresa went to a teacher’s supply store to buy the blue background which helped make the shot look more like the real thing (If you can call the opening credits to the Brady Bunch show “the real thing”.) Truth be told, Theresa used to be a professional photographer and her husband still is one, so they do have a slight advantage in the picture taking department. Also, in the interest of full disclosure, she used to also be a graphic designer for a sign shop. Admitted, she has an unfair advantage over the rest of us.
For this card she put all of her skills to work:
I love her leather-clad son’s curled lip, her husband’s pipe and Theresa’s perky 1950′s demeanor. She took this picture on a timer in front of a green screen so that it was easier to cut everyone out in Photoshop. She then superimposed it over an old photo she found on Ebay. Theresa has found lots old photos on Ebay and uses many of them for her work. Once again her card evokes a bygone era, when Christmas seemed to be a bit simpler and more magical. Theresa’s cards are wonderful for their poignant mixture of humor and nostalgic whimsy. Now do you see why I bow at Theresa’s feet?
I asked Theresa what her card this year was going to be. Apparently it is long since finished since she always takes her pictures in the early Fall, another indication that she is a true professional. She doesn’t want me to post it since she doesn’t want to spoil it for her friends who are receiving it snail-mail. One thing she will tell me, though, is that it involved going out and finding the ugliest Christmas sweaters she could. I am sure she had to bribe her boys more than ever this year. Theresa was lamenting that since her boys are leaving home soon, this will be their last card as a family. I suggested that next year’s card could be of her and her husband standing in an empty nest. She laughed and said, “I already have the beginnings of a concept, there is a store in our town where they sell fruitcakes and their sign says ‘fruitcakes are back’ “. You can imagine her gears turning figuring out where that will lead. I will definately ask to be on her Christmas list.
You can contact Theresa through Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/theresasthompson/
