In 2005 we took a nature tour of Machias Seal Island, a protected nesting area for Atlantic Puffins off the coast of Maine. Each year the Puffins return to raise their young. Then they leave again for the rest of the year.

Well, we’re empty nesters ourselves and that got me thinking. The photo is from our trip in 2005, reimagined as the family returning to celebrate the holidays together.

This years card used many of the same technologies –  The images were taken with Nikon cameras and archived years ago in Adobe Lightroom. Photoshop was used to combine four images and apply an “oil paint” filter to finish the effect.

Printing was done through Apple Photo using the Mimeo plug in for the card designing and print services. Apple discontinued their own branded service this fall and you can now choose from several companies right within the Photos app. The service from Mimeo was great.