Every Christmas Eve. Including this one, probably.
Confidential to my giftee: I think you’re sweet and surprisingly un-cranky considering the amount of sleep you get.
Racing Rudolph
ashley car charlotte chrissy christmas christmas eve comic dad family holiday mom nicki rudolph tess
Comments
115 responses to “Racing Rudolph”
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hahaha! This is awesome! I always love your artwork- but this one take the cake! That animated red nose is amazing!!!
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Thank you! This one took an especially long time :)
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I agree, the red nose blew me away! (Well, you know, the nose didn’t literally blow me away, which is good – cause that’d be gross…)
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Love this post, especially the mist on the car windows and the twinkle in the sky, very clever. The way you create expressions on people’s faces is just spot on, love it!
Janice.-
Thank you :) The fogged up car window panel is one of my favorites.
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I needed this today. Thank you! I do miss the hovercards. You have the best hidden stories.
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I will bring them back when I have a moment to figure out the new media system… :D
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I can’t see any way to put them on, either. I figured they were just gone. If you figure it out, let me know!
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You can do it if you edit the photo once it’s already uploaded to your post. It’s a PitA, though.
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Rather ridiculous that the things that were once so easy are now so difficult.
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Wow, really??
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You can’t just go to Full HTML and write in the code? [img src=”rudolph.jpg” title=”oh we’re almost home”]
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You can, but it used to be much simpler. WordPress is in the midst of a lot of changes right now. I think they’ll get everything ironed out soon. (I am an optimist!) :D
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Top, top special effects in this one my dear Nicole!
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Thanks Michael!
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haha! I love the big eyes when they are looking out for Rudolf. too funny :-)
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:D Thanks, Jackie! That’s my favorite
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BRILLIANT! Merry Chrissie from down here. :-)
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Merry Christmas! :-D
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Very funny! How do you get the picture to move with the light and everything? Funny story!
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Thank you, Joy! I made a GIF using gimp :)
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I love how their eyes are popping out of their heads. It’s nice to remember such innocent times this way.
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It’s fun for me to relive it through the comic :)
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You pegged it again! I hope all the moms and dads out there learn from it:)
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Haha… nah! It’s too much fun to tease the kids!
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Too sweeett ahahahaha
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:D Thanks!
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Poor Mom and Dad; with the five of you in tow, it must have been difficult to EVER get it right!
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Looking back on it, I don’t know how they’ve managed to keep it together so long… :)
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That’s awesome–the red, blinking light is my favourite part. :)
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Thanks! :-)
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And of course we’d be driving home from SUCH A FAR AWAY location, freaking out the whole 40 minutes for the ride home. Ahhhhhh, brilliant dad, brilliant.
I loved the animation of “Rudolph’s Nose”, I laughed so hard :)
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I’m not sure it was even 40 minutes from Memere and Pepere’s house! But it definitely felt extremely long.
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Brilliant. The little touches make your work so great…Mom’s fuzzy collar, the nostrils of noses pushed up against the car windows….the lighting effects!!
Top class, definitely. So glad you were able to finish it at last:)
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Thank you! This one definitely took a long time to finish!
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How do you manage to top yourself every time? Your work is amazing, every little detail. I love to read other people’s comments and see what I missed. There are so many details to look at, I always miss something.
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Aw, thanks :) I never regret spending as much time as I need to to get a panel right. I like to make it fun to look at!
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HA! This is great! My parents used to do this to my brother, sister and I, too!
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It’s a grand tradition!
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Laugh out loud funneeeey! Thanks for making my day with a good belly laugh.
How did you make the red nose go across the page like that? Is it some more of
your Christmas magic?
Thanks,
Becky Pinckney-
Thanks, Becky! It’s an animated GIF :)
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Ahahaha! I really love how the eyes are enlarged when Rudolph and his red nose is mentioned! X3
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:) Thanks! Definitely one of my top favorite panels!
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Oh Nicole! I needed this today! Something about that little blinking nose just warmed me. Thank you and I’ll be sharing this on The Waiting’s FB tomorrow….I know your giftee checks it when she can get around to it in her busy schedule ;)
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I’m glad! Thanks for sharing it :)
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Gosh, you outdo yourself every single time! I love the animated nose, the car lights, the fogged up glass – everything! So, just between you and me, which one of you was the “Honor Student”? ;)
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…Um, I’m pretty sure it was everyone except Chrissy. Chrissy did not work for stickers.
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WAS IT ME?!
(and I love this post)
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Thanks, SJ :) And guess again!
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This is awesome! Did you cut all this out from construction paper?? AWESOME!
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Yup! And scrap paper from junk mail, greeting cards, and paper food packaging. :)
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I don’t know how you made the blinking red light move across that image, but color me impressed.
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Thanks! :D
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As always you made me smile. I needed that tonight, thank you.
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You’re welcome, Debbie! I’m glad it made you smile :)
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Oh Lord… I remember crying thinking we would never get home in time!
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Yup! Sheer panic!
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Love the eyes…and wait, what? Are you talkin’ to me??
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Thanks! And that is a SECRET, of course!
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Lovely images and honesty in those faces. Rudolph’s nose is amazing. Well done Nicole!
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Thank you! I loved making this one so much
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I love that you use your talent this way. It’s amazing what you create and share. Merry Holiday time.
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Z
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile. -
Very awesome! Love the red light!
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Thank you! It was fun to recreate the magic of “Rudolph’s” red nose dancing across the sky :)
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That was fabulously funny!
Out of curiosity, how long does it usually take you to create these paper comics? They’re so creative!
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Thanks! They generally take between 6-12 hours, but this one took much longer. I spent 4 hours alone on just the first panel and worked on this one for 3 days.
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Amazing! I really laughed at the wide-eyed looks out the window and the wide-eyed fear. That just nailed kids to a T, lol.
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lol @ the face palm! That was cute! Nicely done …
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Thanks! Glad you liked it!
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Pretty funny! The animated red nose in the sky was perfect!
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Thanks! :-)
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But the real question is… who’s the honors student?
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From what I gather, all five of the Belanger girls were good students, even though Chrissy was rather mischevious.
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L-O-V-E!
Brilliant, as usual!
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how sweet!
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this is awesome!
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LOVE!!
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Haha! I love the moving nose.
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As always, these are the tops. I probably would have followed through and not given out any gifts that year. “Sorry girls, we missed Santa. I guess you’ll have to wait until next year.”
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I think that’d be too mean, especially if the kids had no control over what time the family would get home. In this case, I assume Nicki’s family is coming home from Midnight Mass, right? If so, then I’d also assume that the parents initiated that outing, not the kids.
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Simply fantastic, Nicole! :)
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Hahahah the bug eyes are awesome!!!
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Nicole,
This deserve an Eric comment: Brilliant… pun intended!
Happy holidays, to you and your loved ones!
Eric -
Fantastic piece of blogging goodness!
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Ha! First timer on your blog so possibly a little over excited. WOW! LOOK AT THAT! Loving your work. I need to suggest a family Christmas Eve drive to hubby. So I can play that one on the kids.
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Their eyes! Great! How did you do the flashing picture?
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I love your gingerbread sisters, Nicki!
And Rudolph’s nose; I missed it the first time. A technical whiz as well as an artist – is there no end to your talents?
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aw neat! the animation was a delicious nugget of mincey xmas goodness
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Fabulous! The expressions on the fogged up windows and mom and dad’s faces in the end are priceless!!!! Love your work!!
Love the new banner! The cookies are adorable! -
I know it’s a “small” thing, but I loved the fuzzy collar on Mom’s coat. And those huge eyes and breath fog on the van windows. You’re so talented. I hope your files and everything get recovered from your dead computer.
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Wow! I loved this so much! Great job.
I was wondering, what program dd you use to make the GIF?
~ Some girl named Mary ~
The Middlest Sister 
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