If you’re looking for a way to create the perfect custom Christmas cards, look no further for I’ve got the answer for you! The key to making that lasting impression is to make your Christmas cards a personalized experience to each person you’re writing to. And no, that doesn’t mean you have to buy difference greeting cards for all your recipients.

I’m sure it’s been said before about many things, but the personalized touch is all about the details. You should start off by picking out your personalized holiday cards design. This design should be something your recipients would like, but more importantly something that reflects your personality. Next pick out a greeting that you would actually say to people in conversation. Creating an original greeting that is universal for your friends is another way to really make your cards unique. There is no escaping having to pen in something in writing to each of your recipients, but remember to make your writing stand out with a high quality pen and ink.

When you personalize your holiday cards, it really makes the season special. Giving generic store bought Christmas cards with nothing more than the person’s name and a generic season’s greetings will have your recipients smile. However, the combination of a beautiful design, a greeting from the heart, and a thought out, hand-printed message written from you in fine ink will have them thankful for seasons to come.

To me Christmas cards were something I was used to receiving rather then giving. I guess the old Christmas saying, “It’s better to give, than receive,” was meant for someone other than me.

I was never one to give personalized Christmas cards. In fact, at home my wife and daughter usually held this honor. And I must say, it was an honor they both did with great enthusiasm. However, a career change would eventually alter my perception about giving Christmas cards.

My earlier business occupation was in a blue collar field that was mostly dominated by men. We were not accustomed to giving gifts and exchanging personalized holiday cards with each other. For the holidays we would usually have a quick group lunch. Afterwards, we would run home to help out our wives.

However, as the world changed, so did our field. More and more women began taking interest in the technology field and during this transition, the giving of Christmas cards became a yearly event. However, I must admit, I was a little shocked to receive holiday cards from some old-time field personnel.

Now, several years later, I enjoy giving Christmas cards. This is a way for me to show someone that I took the time to say “hi” and to wish them happy holidays. I like to send out personalized holiday cards because of my terrible handwriting. It wasn’t easy growing up as a southpaw and my handwriting is pretty terrible. I certainly never won any awards for my penmanship. Personalized Christmas cards took away a lot of the stress of signing. It’s faster and neater. My friends can easily see that the card came from me.

Today we live in a fast pace world of electronics. People don’t talk…they chat; people don’t read books…they read web pages. It’s a great feeling to receive a Christmas card because it tells me someone took the time during there busy day to think about me and to say that I am special to them.

I frequently find myself pondering over the mysteries of life, like who was the first person to find that cow milk would be good for other creatures…namely humans. Who, indeed, coined the term “human?” Who searched for wax in trees and efficiently mixed it with sugar and other chemicals to form chewing gum?

And in the same fashion, do you ever wonder where personalized holiday cards first came from? Who imagined to inscribe something artistic on some form of canvas and then thought, “Let’s get creative this year. Instead of expressing to everyone best wishes for the holidays in person, why don’t I create something festive and write a note inside it.  Auntie T. might appreciate it since I haven’t seen her in years.  I wonder how her dog is.” It was in this regard that the very first custom holiday cards came to be…though this being on a very basic level.

Personalized Holiday cards actually first came around in the early 19th Century from where else, but Europe. Wouldn’t you know they would be the trend-setters of the day back then as well? The first technique was founded in 1796. Lithography, as the technique was called, could be used to reproduce large numbers of drawings first drawn on a finely-textured stone, starting the craze as we know it today.

The year 1843 marks the coming of the first Christmas card in England, produced by John Calcott Horsley for Sir Henry Cole. Americans didn’t catch up until the 1860s when a German Lithographer started producing the first colored cards, although custom Holiday cards around this era were primarily associated with New Year’s (and I would think this cut the hassle of going out the next day with a hangover). And as it were, roughly 20 years later these cards were replaced with the modern Christmas card as we know it today and the large-scale marketing frenzy for personalized Christmas cards began.

It’s funny how the mind works. One question leads to another and another, until finally I’ve determined the historical roots of personalized Holiday cards.

While I was sorting through my Christmas cards earlier this year, I put all the delightful holiday photo cards to the side as keepers. It took me quite a while to return to the photo cards but since it was raining this weekend, I decided I would spend some time putting the greeting cards in my photo album.

In this world of digital cameras, printed photos have almost gone out of style. It was such a pleasure to look at the photo cards that I received last Christmas. There were photo cards of family and friends from near and far; some of children that I have yet to meet in person. What a wonderful way to keep our friends and family close though the miles separate us. Digital photos are a great way to keep us up-to-date but how often do we keep these holiday greeting cards to look back on over the years? There is nothing like photos to bring loved ones to mind and to watch young ones grow as the years go by. Whether the photos are included in photo cards, albums or even in a box, they become treasured keepsakes.

Most of the photo cards I received were the traditional pictures of the children of friends and family. However, two of the holiday greeting cards opened my eyes to other uses for photo cards. How often do we say to ourselves “I wonder what that person looks like today?” One of the photo cards was a picture of a couple I had known as a teenager. What a great idea! I no longer have to wonder what they look like today.

Another one of the great personalized holiday cards I received came from friends who live across the country. It was a photo card of a picture of my friends with their new grandchild. I haven’t seen them in 20 years so it was a thrill to admire the new addition to their family and put this photo card in my album along with photos of the child’s father when he was young.

Everyone likes to feel welcome, don’t you think? Welcoming people is very important for the psyche, the ego, and the sense of belonging.  The stresses of getting a drastic haircut, moving to a new state or starting a new job can be alleviated (to some degree) by a smiling, welcoming face. I started at my current job almost two years ago and I still remember walking in for the first time. I was directed to my desk where there was a big poster signed by my team that shouted in bold typeface, “Welcome Janine!”  There were also business welcome cards on my keyboard that were signed by the President and the Chairman of the company. These small gestures were able to bring me back to earth a little bit; to make me feel like I was a part of something and not a foreign intruder.

This warm, fuzzy feeling I got stuck with me.  I have lived in the same neighborhood for many years now, and I have seen it change a great deal.  The old neighbors I had who saw me in diapers have all moved away and many of the homes have moved from single families to two and three families with renters. I like that feeling of camaraderie, but am trying to keep up with modern times. Rather than bake a pie and bring it over to my neighbor’s door step, I decided to organize a “Welcome to the Neighborhood Wine and Cheese Party.” I invited everyone over to my back patio for some hors d’oeuvres and friendly conversation.  I placed an order for welcome cards and gave one to all of my neighbors as they walked in.

The party was a hit and the lasting effect on the neighbors was immediately obvious.  If my garbage cans are in the street, someone always retrieves them for me.  My neighbors always end their parties at a reasonable hour, someone waters my outdoor plants for me and I get personalized holiday cards from almost everyone on the street! It is crazy…I feel like I am living in an alternate universe, Pleasantville or somewhere over the rainbow.  See what a little welcome can do for people? Try it in your neighborhood…you’ll be happy you did!

GalleryCollection.com is excited and proud to announce our donation of 180,000 personalized Holiday cards to Soldiers’ Angels for use in Holiday care packages to deployed troops. If you recall, last year we made a similar donation to the organization, which provides support and assistance to fallen, injured, and deployed members of the United States military.

Regardless of anyone’s personal sentiments towards the war, there are thousands of men and women stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan who won’t be able to celebrate the holidays with their friends and family. Being a publisher of holidays cards - and in the spirit of the Soldiers’ Angels credo, “May no soldier go unloved” - GalleryCollection.com wants to make sure that no soldier feels forgotten this holiday season. So all 180,000 of our troops stationed overseas will be receiving an imprinted holiday card thanking them for their services and wishing them a happy Holiday Season and New Year.

We are donating three different peace-themed greeting cards. Here is what each design looks like:

And here is the personalized message that will be imprinted on the inside of each card:

We also donated an additional 180,000 blank holiday cards to a fellow company, which will be sending the cards to each service member overseas to write home to their family and friends.

Stay tuned for more activities involving GalleryCollection.com and Soldiers’ Angels.

I don’t know about you but I always have the hardest time picking out my Christmas cards every year. I personally like to go with one of the winter scenes cards we offer since they seem to be the most universally appealing to the very diverse group of people on my holiday cards list. I also have a personal preference for the personalized holiday cards we offer with winter scenes since they bring back some very happy childhood memories

I am especially fond of winter scene cards depicting a country landscape, since those greeting cards remind me of the Christmas tree farm we would trek to every winter to cut down our family Christmas tree. If you have visions of ten-year-old girl wielding an ax, don’t worry, my dad was in charge of the cutting and my sisters, brother, and I were in charge of getting the hot chocolate and apple cider from the stand set up in the farm’s barn.

Looking back, my parents were pretty brave taking their five kids on this annual adventure. We weren’t exactly the most pleasant group of people to have in the back of a station wagon (later on, a minivan) for the two hour trip from our home in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon to the farming communities brimming with Christmas tree farms. Looking at winter scenes Christmas cards really puts a smile on my face. I think I’ll send one of those greeting cards to my parents and siblings to see if they all have the same thought when they get their holiday cards in the mail this year.

Should I buy a box of business Holidays cards and fill them out myself? Or is it worth it to spend a little extra money for personalized Custom Holiday Cards? Are personalized holiday cards perceived as being more professional or do they come across as being too impersonal? These are the questions that fill my head when purchasing Holiday cards to send to my clients and vendors. One thing that’s for sure is personalized holiday cards will certainly save time. Hand signing over 200 Christmas cards is just not something I want to do, and I don’t think there’s anyone I dislike enough to ask to do this for me either.

Do personalized holiday cards seem too impersonal, though? I suppose I could hand write a note on the cards of those extra special customers. That will make my holiday greetings seem even more personal since I took the extra time to write a note in addition to having the cards personalized. That could work.

Personalized holiday cards can really make an impression and show how professional your company is. It’s rather impressive to receive custom holiday cards that are personalized. Custom holiday cards should be the way to go for any business. The extra money for the custom imprint is definitely smart investment. It’s really just a few extra dollars…a few extra dollars well spent. If it helps to set you apart from your competition and emphasize your professionalism, then it’s worth it!

You know the old saying “The cobbler’s son has no shoes?” Strangely enough, since I work for a company that makes personalized holiday cards, it actually applies to me. I heard that saying a lot as I was growing up. Why? Well first there was my uncle. We lived in an apartment in his building and of course he would be the one to call whenever there was a plumbing problem because not only was he the landlord, he also owned his own plumbing business. Yet he would come and replace our faucet with old pieces he could find laying around and sometimes use duct tape to seal a leaky pipe, always saying he would be back to fix it later. And of course, later could mean 6 months, or even a year!

Then of course there is my grandfather, who after he retired from the fire department, started his own house painting business. Yet the outside of my grandparents’ house remained unpainted for about 27 years. In fact, it didn’t get painted until after he retired from that business and handed it down to my uncle who decided to surprise them and paint their house while they were away on vacation.

Now there’s me. My company, The Gallery Collection, specializes in personalized holiday cards. I’m able to order a custom holiday card imprinted with my family’s names and a holiday message. In addition, we can have the mailing envelopes printed with our return address. I pick out my personalized holiday cards in March for goodness sake! All I have to do come December is address the envelope, stick a stamp on it and mail it! Yet there I am every December 21st or 22nd, hurriedly going through my collection of old envelopes with return addresses as I send out my Christmas cards. No, I don’t have an address book. I simply have a collection of envelopes from greeting cards that I have received over the years. If you send me holiday cards with your return address on it, you’re sure to get greeting cards back. If you don’t, hopefully I can look up your address online. If you’re not listed, you’re probably out of luck and hopefully you will learn your lesson and include your address next time! That is…if there is a next time.