Merry Christmas. Season’s Greetings. Happy Holidays. These are the messages conveyed to family, friends, neighbours and acquaintances at this time of year in the proverbial Christmas card.
As a self-described Christmas junkie, I’ve never quite understood why I’m less enthused by this particular aspect of the holiday season. What I do know is the idea of sitting down to the task each and every year, seems more burdensome than hauling out and setting up decorations, putting up a tree, baking, buying and wrapping all rolled together. Even receiving cards, while it’s certainly a nice change to get something other than bills in the post, isn’t that important to me.
Suffice it to say, I don’t approach the task with enthusiasm but rather perfunctorily. No sweet sentiments, no cute, family year in review are included. Though there was a little effort put into it years ago when the kids were home and I organized each of us to sign our own names to the cards, now that the birds have flown the nest, it’s simply a hurried signature representing my guy and me.
I have admittedly felt a tad humbled by the people who take the time to extend a personal message at this time of year. So, whether out of a sense of duty, or a sense of guilt, I’ve been rethinking my viewpoint of late. And it has struck me that there is nothing more personal, and maybe more fun, than actually creating my own message. With so many wonderful background and element illustrations online, it’s really as easy as saying Merry Christmas to design your own special greeting card or flyer.
Whether it happens remains to be seen. But if it does, these are some great sites I found to get me started:
iCLIPART.com Christmas Backgrounds
iCLIPART.com Christmas Elements
Acclaim Images Christmas Backgrounds
