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Hi everyone I send out 90 plus Christmas cards a year which is a lot of cards to make Just wondering do you keep sending to people that do not send cards back? I am thinking about lightening my load a little bit. Just wondering what you all would do.
I typically take them off the list if I don't receive a card for two years in a row. I have a couple of exceptions, older people that can't send cards anymore and I had a single uncle that didn't send out cards, but I continued to send to. But if it's just an acquaintance that I don't speak to on a regular basis and just send cards to, if I don't hear from them for two years, I take them off on the third year.
__________________ Jen
�Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away�.
Not everyone on my card list gets a handmade card. Only the very special ones like relatives, close friends and stamping friends. After two years of not receiving a card back then I scratch them off the list! Sounds mean doesn't it but with $1.00 per card for postage the cost soon adds up! LOL
My sending list is split too. Some get HM, some get bought (which I do the first week in Jan to get good prices and shove in the closet with xmas stuff) Which helped a lot on the HM load. Especially as I do both Hanukah and Christmas. (mixed families get both. Nice way to embrace the spouse-but I stay consistent-both HM or bought)
As said above, there are people on my lists I know wont send for various reasons and I accept that. The HM group are all people I care about regardless. The bought cards might be work contacts for DH, etc.
I have "thinned the herd"-usually with the bought cards. Or I switch people from HM to bought first. Sadly these days drop offs are more often due to passing :(
At this point, people on the lists are people I want to touch base with-might be the only time of the year I do-so they stay on whether or not they send me. Some of them will call or email me instead of a card. So many of us have begged off gift lists b/c we are older and have enough "stuff", or our economies decreased with retirement, or we just cant shop....so I feel like I really do want to send a card. They are fun to have around the house. Like a group holiday hug. So I try to send early in Dec.
I get 3 or 4 cards now from non crafters~ folks just don't send. I guess they are busy and frankly, it is a bit of an expense.
However, I just keep sending. Not 90 though. More like 40.
I really am wishing them a Merry Christmas and/or a Happy New Year. I want them to have health and peace. I usually include a short "newsletter" that is not annoying. It just tells folks where we are living, etc.
These connections, even if they are mostly one way, mean something.
Where would we be without people in our lives?
__________________ Dear Paperlicious is my blog...with a series on how I'm learning to improve my cardmaking by studying others.
I'm down to about 40. I've dropped a few people off the list over the 22 years I've been married. And yes, it was usually because I had not received a card from them for two or three years in a row.
At first, I was a little hurt. But every year I read articles about how to "lighten the load" at Christmas, make it more enjoyable, more about family and time spent together and less about a long list of "to-do" items. SO....a lot of people chose to stop sending cards. Time, expense and just the burden of it all.
The 40 or so I still send handmade cards to are people that I care about and want to touch base with so I continue whether I get a card from them or not. Many are people who live in another state than I do and I am Facebook friends with them. We communicate through FB throughout the year; and even if they don't send a card to me they always post on FB that they got mine and they like it and "thank you" etc.
If my only "contact" with a person is the yearly Christmas card I send, and I don't get anything back then I drop them off my list. But if I exchange comments on FB with them fairly regularly they get a card!
I still like making them, it is my hobby of choice. I truly want to wish these people a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year so they stay on my list!
I send to family first, then friends as I can ... depending on how many cards I already have made & have or have time to make.
In reality, postage can be an issue on fixed incomes, handwriting can be an issue for some, things just add up along the journey. Long ago I gave up on keeping track of who sends me a Christmas card. I engage in a few swaps with peeps when I look for a "return". ;)
If I am close to the people, I send a card regardless if we receive one from them. If the annual Christmas card is the only form of communication and the person does not send one to us, then after a couple years I stop sending to them, too (I figure we really aren't friends anymore since we aren't talking or visiting each other).
I will say, though, that I send out Christmas cards only if I actually make them. So, some years I make 70, other years may be 40, and there have been years where I didn't make any. So I have a list that gets "prioritized" every year.
I send out Christmas cards for the purpose of trying to brighten the recipient's day a little bit and to let them know my family is thinking of them. I don't really care whether or not I receive a card back from them. My husband and I have a few relatives who have never sent us a card in the 23 years we've been married, but I still send one to them.
I also try not to buy into the "they sent us a card so we need to send them one" mentality. I send to family and to our closest friends. However, if my husband asks if I have an extra card to send to so-and-so (usually one of his coworkers) who sent us one out of the blue, I'll oblige.
I have pared the list down throughout the years from about 90 cards at its peak to about 65 currently. Nearly all the people who have been dropped have been my husband's (now former) coworkers, or people I've met online who I no longer regularly keep in touch with.
I do make sure to make our cards flat enough to be mailed at the regular first-class postage rate, to try to keep the costs down.
I just culled my list for Halloween. I took off several previous co-workers I'm no longer in touch with. But....they were replaced by co-workers on my new team.
Not only do I make cards for myself, but my sister, Mom and other family members take cards from me. So I end up getting back cards I made, which always makes me laugh.
I never worry about if I'm getting a card back. Let's be honest, no one else I know sends out cards for 4th of July, so I'm never going to get one back. But by that time every year I'm ready to make a lot of cards again.
Cardmaking is a creative outlet that keeps me sane. I'll keep making cards whether or not I ever get one back.
I send out about 90 Christmas cards every year. Family is priority, then good friends, then acquaintances, then people that aren't quite at acquaintance level.
The only ones that get dropped are the not quite acquaintance level people and that's only after 2-ish years (I don't pay strict attention to who has or hasn't sent me a card) of no response of any kind from them.
For the most part, I send out cards because I just care about people and hope to bring a little smile to their faces and so far the cost of our postage hasn't scared me away from sending as many cards as I can manage to crank out.
__________________ Shellie G
Aspire to be a better person than you were yesterday
My Christmas card list started getting smaller and smaller because it just seemed like a burden on the other person to keep sending them the card without them ever participating – much like buying a birthday present for someone every year and them barely thanking you and never reciprocating.
I know that sounds strange but it just felt like an awkward, one-sided conversation (I have a weird dysfunctional family) until I realized a couple of years ago that these cards are my small gift to them. I don't care if I get a gift or card back – I want to express my good wishes to them and if that's enough for me, hopefully my intention comes through.
My very elderly aunt, who is very creative, has always been on my list but one year I didn't feel well enough to make cards. Nobody said they missed them – except her! She sent me a sweet note in the new year saying how much she missed my Christmas card. So now I picture her when I need the get-up-and-go to finish my cards :-)
I never worry about getting cards in return. I love to make cards and send them so I will continue doing so for as long as possible. Many of my family and friends dont do cards and I am ok with that.
I haven't bought a card since I started making them in 2009! I spent a lot of money on supplies so I'm using them! LOL. I joined the Christmas card challenge here so I can work on them all year long. I send between 75-100 but not all through the mail. Many go in church mailboxes which saves postage. I love making cards and sending them and I feel good when I hear how much people enjoy receiving them!
I cleaned out my list long ago so I'm around 40. Some family never send cards but I still send to them but acquaintances that I never hear from are off the list. I've made some new stamping friends this year that I will add to the list so I'll probably be around 50-60 this year.
My list is still near 90, but the names changed because of retirement, deaths, etc, not reciprocating on one I mailed. I enjoy making cards, and people comment that they received them, even if none was sent to me. I don't rely on social media for communications - notes, letters, and cards, as well as phone calls, keep me in touch. Perhaps the time will come when I cut back but not for 2015! I do hand-deliver some, or enclose them in gift packages for those I see or to whom I ship gifts. I just finished a slew of Halloween cards, then it will be the Thanksgiving invites and messages, and on to the holidays. This hobby gives me pleasure! A selfish outlook, perhaps, but my BP is down...LOL! Diane
It takes a lot to get removed from my Christmas card list. I enjoy getting cards and get nowhere near as many as I send. But, I'm okay with that.
__________________ By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest. Confucius
If I haven't received a card in 2 years, they come off my list. There are a few exceptions for close family members who just don't send cards. I occasionally send bought cards to a few people, but not usually. The people who have stopped sending me cards don't communicate with me throughout the rest of the year anyway. I feel that a little piece of me goes into every card that I make; and honestly, I don't feel like giving a little piece of myself to people who can't be bothered with me, not only at Christmas time, but throughout the entire year.
If I haven't heard from the person in several years, yes, I do remove them from my Christmas card list. That said, I have quite a number of elderly relatives who I know truly enjoy receiving the cards, but are no longer able to send cards out themselves, mostly due to health concerns. I continue to send to those family members, because I know they would if they could.
__________________ "You may not have lost all your marbles, but there's definitely a hole in the bag." Grumpy Cat
? about Christmas Cards
