Snowbow is helping me send birthday wishes to my family and friends this year. I snapped photos of Snowbow with each of the grands (I thought) back in February, fully intending to make each grandkid a Snowbow birthday card. (Most of the kids would rather have an actual Snowbow instead of a photo, though!!! They loved that little bear!!!)
![Charlie](https://photos.smugmug.com/Recent-Shots/2019-UnNikon/i-TtLvXdS/0/7630be52/M/IMG_2298-M.jpg)
I have so many grandkids, I can't keep track! Three of them escaped the photo shoot, and I didn't figure that out until I began making the cards.
Initially, I thought I could just Photoshop my little bear into other photos I'd snapped of the three missing kiddos, but after the first paste-up, I decided I'll try again next year, maybe, and do something different this year.
Last year, it was a struggle to send each paper card because I didn't initially keep track of who got what. My bad. I didn't want to send the same card twice to one family.
When I turned 6, I got identical greeting cards from both of my grandmothers, who lived more than 800 miles apart. It was really cool, and I still have those ballerina cards today. But both cards were personally addressed to me, not to me and someone else in my family, and I knew both my grandmas remembered how much I loved ballet. They both looked for something special to send me.
I've always thought if my sister and I had received identical cards (which NEVER happened), someone must have bought a stack of identical cards on sale and didn't care if what they sent was special or meaningful. I don't want to be "that grandparent." I want each of my grands to know they are unique to me. I don't ever want them to think I rushed through a gift- or card-shopping trip.
I decided to create all 16 (which now has become 19!!!) individual cards at one time, then all I have to do is mail them before each birthday. The whole year is done, no duplicates, and all I have to do sign them, put a stamp on them and remember to stick them in the mail!
I have so many bighorn photos, I decided sheep would be the best starting point. One family lives on a farm. Plus, it's really fun for me to write captions for some of the photos. Unless I am trying to write 16 (or 19) different rhyming verses!
![Bighorn](https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-GpSxJmF/1/1c15d446/M/i-GpSxJmF-M.jpg)
Some of the photos almost write their own laugh lines. After about the tenth card, though, writing verses grew a little more challenging. Ever start feeling like your brain is scrambled??? That's how I felt!
Once done, however, I felt as if I'd climbed a 14er! The first few cards have already been sent and enjoyed now, and the remainder are labeled and ready to be mailed when the time is right.
![birthday cards for grands](https://photos.smugmug.com/Recent-Shots/2019-UnNikon/i-WHfsmpD/0/66b92921/M/IMG_6232-M.jpg)
Hearing from the kids how much they love their cards (and spinning some really good tall tales when they ask how I got so close) is one of my favorite experiences in life. (I always confess I have a really good telephoto lens after making their eyes pop out of their heads with stories of being sniffed by a bighorn.) (I did have a bighorn poke its head in my car window once when I stopped to shoot a roadside photo without getting out of the car...) (Oh, and then there was the time one came up behind me and really did sniff me - and scare the daylights out of me - while I was preoccupied shooting one of its kin...) (Well, and they really love the smell of my sweat on my bicycle handlebars...)
![one of my favs](https://photos.smugmug.com/Recent-Shots/2019-UnNikon/i-8wvWfnH/0/1fa7b922/M/bighorn01-M.jpg)
![in yer face](https://photos.smugmug.com/Critters/Headbangers/i-7THJHwQ/0/99f4f40c/M/DSCF4917-M.jpg)
![Have one of these for me???](https://photos.smugmug.com/Critters/Headbangers/i-dxLHKCr/0/03d5109c/M/DLA83920-M.jpg)
Every once in a while, I wonder what I'll use next year, or the year after that. I'm worried I will run out of themed photos as well as humored rhyme.
Perhaps I'll have to make another trip to South Dakota and hit all those dinosaur museums. Kids LOVE dinosaurs!
![I saw Blue!](https://photos.smugmug.com/Fun-Stuff/Dreamscapes/i-qqxjvSD/0/2e034bcd/M/bluetoo-M.jpg)
Or, I could just go back to bears...
![Won't You Be Mine?](https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-GDLr7WP/5/efd804f1/M/i-GDLr7WP-M.jpg)
![Cereal Spiller](https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-683vHxm/5/ca89b231/M/i-683vHxm-M.jpg)
![Happy Birthday Bears](https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-zHQNBcr/5/7dff6555/M/i-zHQNBcr-M.jpg)
Bah, one can never run out of rhyme haha doing it any old time. Both getting you the same special card sure shows they look. Sounds like the bighorns have a little bit of dog in them with the butt sniffing. Original cards are the best indeed.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Pat! I hope I never run out rhyme, but you're a hard act to follow!
Delete