As a child, my relationship with Santa was laced with trepidation. I can ignore some of the facts; that he invaded my home while I was asleep and helped himself to my cookies. That he followed a barter system which, at his discretion, created an equal exchange rate of cookies to coal. That he sat there and monitored my choices 364 days a year. I could bare these experiences without complaint, and since he always left presents behind I assumed there was a fleck kindness in his heart. But none of these frightened the bells out of my 8 year old self quite like:

♦ taking pictures on Santa’s lap.

Here was this complete stranger (equipped with a beard I wasn’t allowed to tug on), who would only pay attention to my desired material superfluousness and not the dagger of pure FEAR IN MY EYES.

This horrid experience was documented on film. Every. Single. Year.

Here are a few of the Christmas cards I handmade this year. This overwhelmingly ambitious project developed like Gremlins in a pool. I had the intention of making ten cards for family members. Forty cards later I wasn’t even close to satisfied. A healthy mix of tediousness and therapy. A self inflicted craft obligation.

Everything was made from scrapbook paper and scrap paper. I used cookie cutters to trace many of the shapes. The greetings are quotes and jokes that I collected from the internet.





©Erica Wolfling 2014