Holiday Card pre-order special ends tomorrow!

Just a quick reminder that tomorrow, October 31st, is the last day to take advantage of our holiday card pre-order discount at http://www.AddieKate.com Use code Preorder10 to receive the discount. If you aren't ready to send you photos yet that is no problem. We will pre-ship your envelopes to you early so that you can get a jump start on addressing them.

Be sure to check out the new 2008 designs in our holiday photo card gallery!

Great toddler Christmas Gift Idea

Holiday shopping is in full swing at my house and of course my daughter is my favorite person to shop for. I found this great arts and crafts table from eBeanStalk.com that I love.

It has a spot to roll butcher paper out as well as several cups to hold crayons, markers and more. The surface of the table is also a chalk board.

I think this is a gift that will last for years to come.

eBeanStalk.com is a great spot for many unique toys. They are also offering free shipping on orders of 65 dollars or more with code FreeShip$65. Check them out!

Our family Halloween Card

I am so excited to report that my 2 year old daughter was actually cooperative for our mini photo shoot the other day. Hopefully this is a sign that we have moved past the months of only getting pictures of the back of her head as she runs away from us.

I usually design a new card for our family holiday cards but this year I was so busy with Halloween photo card orders that I just choose my favorite from my gallery, the Boo design.

I modified it a bit to say buzz instead of boo but that was the only change I made.


Stay tuned for our family Christmas photo card in a few weeks!

Holiday Photo Card Tips

Halloween is just around the corner and before you can blink an eye the rest of the holidays will be upon us too. This is the perfect time of year to start thinking of taking family photos for holiday cards. Over the last few years I have picked up a few tips from photographer friends about how you can achieve great pictures on your own. I thought I would share a few here.

Take photos outdoors when possible
There is nothing like natural light to create beautiful photos. Make sure to test a few areas before starting you shoot to make sure there are no shadows or glare when taking your pictures.

Bring an assistant
This tip is especially important if you are photographing young children. An extra set of hands to adjust stray hairs and fix buttons can really be helpful. If an extra person is on hand to be silly behind the photographer this can help to get great smiles out of the kids too.

Take lots of shots
We are so lucky to live in the age of digital cameras. Take lots of pictures so you have many to choose from when selecting pictures for your holiday card.

Don't get too close up
If you are taking pictures for a holiday photo card make sure to leave plenty of room for cropping. This will ensure you have more options when selecting a design. Be careful about being too zoomed out though as if too much of the photo needs to be cropped you may lose quality.

Have fun and be creative!
If you go into a shoot with a positive attitude and an open mind you are sure to come up with some great shots!