Tag: personal birthday cards

I forgot…but should I Still Send That Birthday Card?

These days time passes us by with the blink of an eye.  Being too busy with work, school, family, just life in general – it happens to the best of us.  In fact we get so caught up in day to day that we even forget special occasions, like a loved ones Birthday.  There’s usually an inner debate in your mind, wondering…should I still send a belated Birthday card?  The answer is absolutely send one out!

These days there are so many options for those who need to send out late Birthday wishes.  You can totally make a joke about it, if the recipient has a great sense of humor. You could also be completely sincere incase the person gets offended easily. Actually, I find the belated birthday cards usually are the funniest!  If you choose to take a serious, more apologetic approach for your temporary forgetfulness, you can always write a personal message that has some humor. The best of both worlds!

Regardless if you forgot a friend’s, coworker’s or a family member’s special day, you will definitely win some points back by sending out a belated Birthday card.  Just like the saying goes, “Better late than never!”

Birthday Cards Bonanza

Most people don’t really place as much value on birthday cards as they used to. In this day and age, most people resort to a “happy birthday” on Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr, or at best an e-card sent to your email. Even though times are changing and we’re rapidly incorporating technology into our daily lives, I still think birthday cards that you can hold and feel is the best birthday gesture someone can give. Don’t get me wrong, I love my Facebook “happy birthday’s”, but I can’t put them on my desk to smile at when I glance over at them.

What’s better than a birthday card you can physically hold and feel? Personal birthday cards that your loved ones took the time to make especially for you! Whenever I receive a personalized birthday card, I’m amazed at the details of the whole package – the coloring of the card, the ink that the greetings printed in, the special sentiment my friend took the time to think up, among other things. I’ve heard a lot of people say that birthday cards are a waste… I don’t think that’s true at all! I personally have a box with hundreds of birthday and other types of cards I’ve received during the years, and every once in a while it’s so nice to open that box up and go through some of them. It brings a smile to my face, and as the years go by, it makes me happy that I’ve had the opportunity to grow another year and to be fortunate enough to have family and friends that care so much about me as to think of me in the form of a card – a lost art in this day and age.

A Business Birthday Cards Dilemma

As an employee at The Gallery Collection, I am an avid contributor to our greeting cards blog. I would like to write something about our beautiful business birthday cards selection but cannot decide whether to write about our birthday cards for employees, our personal birthday cards, or our birthday cards that feature balloons and presents.

Should I mention the fact that sending business birthday cards is a great idea because remembering a business associate at birthday time can help solidify a relationship, and in the long run, help a company’s business? Or perhaps I could mention how morale can be maintained by a company’s higher-ups extending a yearly birthday wish to each and every employee (which our bosses do here, by the way).

The Gallery Collection’s personal birthday cards are also perfect for sending out to relatives and friends to convey that special thought during their special time of year. Or maybe I should just describe the wonderful detailing on the fronts of the cards that colorfully illustrate presents, balloons, hats, streamers, cakes, and other festive birthday symbols. Or the many different (and free) greetings from which customers may choose to have printed for the inside of their birthday cards. Or the pretty colors available for imprinting – shades that wonderfully accent the bright colors used for the front designs on the cards.

Now you see my business birthday cards dilemma?

Birthday Cards Can Be the Best Birthday Present

It may sound weird to you, but I’m not a person who likes to receive actual birthday presents. Birthday presents cards, however, are quite another matter. I guess I’d better explain.

As a child, and most definitely as a teen, I knew exactly what I wanted (and what I just had to have) for all gifting occasions, especially for my “focus-only-on-me” birthdays. I didn’t need any prompting to produce my list, with detailed descriptions. As an adult, I realized that my children’s homemade gifts and homemade birthday cards were more loved than the finest jewels. I also found that I’d rather select my own clothes than to go through the agony of surreptitious return or the embarrassed wearing of things that looked hideous on me, in an effort to not hurt someone’s feelings. The more birthdays I’ve had, the more I realize that I don’t need anymore knick-knacks or trinkets in my life. Also, if I come across something that I do really want in my life, I’ll gladly buy it for myself.

None of this means that I want my birthday to be forgotten. Quite to the contrary, I want my birthday to be remembered and acknowledged by lots and lots of people. I start watching for my personal birthday cards several days in advance. The first birthday card to arrive always makes me feel like I’ve won a lottery prize. I tend to reread each of the birthday cards multiple times. I line up the birthday cards at home on my fireplace mantel and I line up the greeting cards at work atop my cubicle; the more birthday cards, the merrier.

When I get birthday presents cards (that is, birthday cards that picture one or more beautifully wrapped gift packages), it’s like getting the delight of opening that tempting package without disturbing the fancy wrapping (like “having your cake and eating it, too!”). To me, the best birthday presents are birthday cards, and plenty of them, because the greeting cards represent the very richest of presents – the warmth and goodwill of family, friends and business associates.

A Birthday Card Can Save a Friendship

I can’t remember where I learned this old Nigerian quote, but it came to mind recently when a friend sent me a birthday card. The quote is as follows: “Hold a true friend with both of your hands.”

My friend has been besieged lately with some complicated personal issues. We have been friends through more birthdays than I would care to say. In all of those years, I tried to be a good friend, but I did not necessarily always remember to send her personal birthday cards. After all, in today’s world what does it take…three minutes to dash off an emailed happy birthday? I mean, we’re all terribly busy, but the truth is that seeing a greeting card envelope in the mailbox brings a smile to anyone’s face. The extra effort really isn’t such a hassle if you keep assorted birthday cards on hand.

I realize now that I wasn’t holding this precious commodity of friendship with both hands. Shame on me! All it takes is the foresight to keep a box of birthday cards at the ready. My dear friend never neglected me, even though I’m sure she noticed my neglect, or mentioned my omission, even though I am sure I would have found a way to express my disappointment if she ever forgot my birthday card.

I guess what I want others to get from reading this is that when you never want to lose something as important as a true friendship, you need to hold it with both hands.

Personal Birthday Cards Kept as Treasures in Grandma’s Scrapbooks

My vivacious grandmother, who would have celebrated her 100th birthday last November, kept a busy social calendar. In the Roaring Twenties-era storage trunks that she secured with worn brown leather belts – buckle and all – I recently came across a set of her beloved scrapbooks, which she had begun in high school and continued to fill throughout her life. What struck me was that in each book, amid the newspaper clippings, letters, and photographs that meant so much to her, she had dedicated several pages to personal birthday cards that had been given to her and that she especially treasured.

As attractive as these assorted birthday cards were, I knew this wasn’t why she had held onto the greeting cards. She was touched by how the birthday cards were personalized. All of the birthday cards were inscribed with a loving, handwritten message from one of her friends or family members. “A friend no finer could I find; while I’m no poet, I hope you love me enough not to mind…” reads one in flowing script. Another, from her father, expresses how proud he is of the “strong and resolute young lady” she has become. I found a few poignant business birthday cards from coworkers, one of whom wished her “a birthday as gorgeous and inspiring as you are,” this in the midst of Grandma Tjo’s grueling cancer treatments.

For most of these greeting cards, it likely took the senders only a minute or two to write good wishes to my grandmother. I wish they all knew what that meant to her.