thank you to minted for sponsoring today's post. all opinions are my own.

raise your hand if family pictures stress you out!

friends...it happens to me every year. i hum and haw about what we're going to wear. where we're going to take them. herding my cats to one location. making sure we have smiles on our faces...

because dammit...we're a happy family.

but seriously, we are. just not when we're taking family pictures.

however, when i grace my home with all the images and ESPECIALLY when i get to take one of the images and place it in our holiday card to send out to our nearest and dearest...that's when i'm always happy we embraced the family photo for yet another year.

i also always know i'm going to be visiting minted for our cards. it just doesn't get better than their designs. (even as a designer!)

so let's talk holiday cards.

2014 was pretty epic. sawyer was a brand brand new baby when we had our pictures taken. kaye was two - enough said.
this will never fade from my very most favorite card...and i hope our friends and family got a kick out of it. such a raw moment. 

the following year...well, it was magic. i took time picking out our outfits. i hadn't just had a baby so i was feeling good and rested. the weather was gorgeous. we snapped our family pictures in the foothills of boise and when we got them back from the photographer i had a hard time picking my favorite. what it lacked in humor it made up for in a sweet family memento.
then...it came time for 2016 and i thought - can lightening strike twice? can we really get good holiday cards two years in a row? 

and it happened. it really did. i'm a sucker for gold foil...can you tell?
now we're closing out 2017. we snapped out family photos last week in boise again. (all my farmer ever wanted was to take pictures on the farm.) it was yet another gorgeous fall day...hot in fact. i was sweating...but pair a great photographer with minted cards...and i'm once again ready to peruse all the selections on the minted site to find our perfect christmas card.

the nicest part is uploading your image and being able to quickly see your picture in every single card. it makes the selection process much easier...or maybe that much harder because you want to order all of them.

see what i mean?
regardless - i've certainly picked out some favorites and i wanted to share those with you today! because - if you're looking for a beautiful holiday card i can't say enough about the quality and selection you get from minted. 

(i mean - friends - i design holiday cards and i still use minted as opposed to my own. what is that saying? it's saying that minted is either really really out of this world wonderful...or i don't trust myself. maybe a little of both.)

first up...
found here
spoiler...this is my favorite one and that's just how it's going to be. like i said...i can't get away from gold foil. it's also simple but still special...and i love it.
found here
here's another goodie. in a lot of the options you can find the foil overlay...but it still has color. it's a win / win. especially since we went with green for the gals this year...
found here
am i ridiculous? i can't get enough of seeing my three gals and my super hunky farmer on all these cards! i really love this one because of the watercolor AND foil overlay AND it's framed. 
found here
oh dear...i forgot i picked this one. actually, i think this one is my favorite. please note that you can pick different cuts for your card! here i rounded the corners, but there is also a wave option as well as standard corners.
found here
and last but not least...some more green. some more foil. would it be weird if i sent out five sets of cards?

one of the things i like about minted is you can find all styles of design - but i tend to go for the simple. then, when family and friends flip the card over there is a message and of course i'll be splashing it full of more pictures of my THREE best gals this year - another minted feature i love.

and before i forget - minted is running 15% off their holiday cards right now! you just have to use code JOY17. you can purchase now and put your photo in later. simple as that. (it runs through 11/06/17!)

so, as we round out halloween and welcome the holiday season...you seriously can't go wrong with minted!