EEEK! Holiday Card Problem

[ambidawn]

I did a photo shoot the other weekend. All went well with that. This is one of my first paying customers. She is planning on ordering some prints and also asked if I could do a holiday card for her. I thought sure...so I brought in a number of photo card (4x8 format) options for her to pick between. These are primarily through mpix and photoworks.
Instead of choosing one of the options I showed her, she decided she wanted me to design a card for her . She wants some thing with a cactus with lights saying "Merry Christmas from Texas". I was able to find a free clip art file for the cactus, however, I have absolutely no experience with designing cards.
Does any one have a card templatem, or at least has seen one, similar to this? Or can some one walk me through how to make one? Like I said, I have no experience with designing cards. And I don't have any borders, textures, etc.
Any help would save my butt. I'm trying to make a good impression with this client, since she is one of my first ones. Looks like I need to find a good photo shop class to teach me some of the basics, so that I can be more prepared in the future .

[akimartymar]

I would have said, "Sorry, but that is not an option." Now you're getting into a whole other aspect of designing a card. I would assume most people would charge extra for this if they were to do it.

[brad]

CafePress.com is your friend.

Or VistaPrint.com

Or any number of other .com

[darktiger]

Cant you just create a card in Photoshop with the proper dimensions. And use a lot of layers?

[ambidawn]

Yes I could...but I don't have any of the fun textures or designs that I have seen on the other holiday cards.

[atnlegacy]

Originally Posted by ambidawn

Yes I could...but I don't have any of the fun textures or designs that I have seen on the other holiday cards.

I think you had another thread that was similar to this? I posted on that one about a company called Photo Tidings -- they license & sell templates that Snapfish and companies like them use -- maybe, if you check out their full product range, there might be a template like one you described. Worth a shot. www.phototidings.com. Good luck!

[ambidawn]

Thanks, and yes I did check it out. I just don't know if I want to buy a template quite yet.

[KeepsakeGirl]

If you're not proficient in Photoshop, paying a few bucks for a ready made template is the way to go. You can always explain to your client you are NOT a graphic designer and therefore you only have a few option to offer her. That's it. You can't please them all of the time :)