Month: November 2009

Corporate Christmas Cards aren’t the Only Things that Make Christmas Special

It was Christmas Eve and I was driving home from a business trip. As I was driving along a dimly lit highway, I saw a billboard for an electronic store. It read “Make this Christmas Special.” After seeing that, my mind started to wander. The same question kept popping in my head – “What makes Christmas so special to me?”

Is it the various different lights and decorations that people put up to jazz up their homes?
While these are nice, I was never one for decorations.

Is it receiving corporate Christmas cards at work? These Christmas cards always seemed to lift my spirits, but I don’t think they are the reason either.

Is it the warm apple pie or drinking eggnog? I don’t think this was it, as I don’t like the taste of either of these holiday classics.

Is it the holiday music on the radio? While I do like Christmas music, there is only so much a person can take.

Is it the chill in the air or snow on the ground? I’ve always been a warm weather person, so I don’t think cold weather gives my holiday spirit much of a boost.

Perhaps it is the thrill of shopping for gifts and surprising my loved ones? While I love to surprise people, sometimes the stress of shopping far outweighs the reaction you get.

As my mind continued to wander, I slowly pulled into my driveway. I was gathering my bags when I noticed my wife peeking out the front window (she always gets nervous and anxious when I travel). I stopped in my tracks and recalled the question I was pondering just a few minutes ago in the car. I recognized that it wasn’t the food, the business Christmas cards, or even the gifts that made Christmas so special. It’s spending time with the people you love.

Corporate Christmas Cards not for the Timid

Black corporate Christmas cards almost sound like a bad horror movie rather than an elegant way to send holiday wishes to everyone on your holiday greeting cards list. While it is admittedly not for everyone design #831CX, Golden Snowflake Elegance Holiday Card, will surely appeal to those who are not interested in sending season’s greetings cards in the traditional colors of red, green, or gold.

This design is a very striking, sophisticated card. The golden snowflake of course stands out on the black background, but it is the “Happy Holidays” sparkling sentiment in the gold refractive foil that really makes this card pop! Any organization that sends this as their corporate holiday cards is sure to make a statement…and that statement will be that they are hip, modern, and a class act all in one!

Design #831CX - Golden Snowflake Elegance Holiday Card
Design #831CX - Golden Snowflake Elegance
Holiday Card

Design #825CS, Season’s Greetings Snowflake Card, is also an eye-catching card. At first glance you would think that it is just a very ornate silver snowflake. But take a closer look at the snowflake in the center of the card and you will see that within the snowflake the words “Season’s Greetings” are shining back at you at every turn…a very unique idea! The sparkling silver foil on the deep, almost midnight blue background is quite dazzling. Again this card is not for everyone. So if you don’t want to stand out but would rather have your holiday cards blend in with all the other business Christmas cards your clients and customers will receive, this card is not for you.

Design #825CS - Season's Greetings Snowflake Card
Design #825CS - Season's Greetings
Snowflake Card

Business Christmas Cards Reach Out to Customers without the Clutter

“The truth will set you free.” So what, you ask, has this to do with business Christmas cards? The truth is, we are all so up to our eyeballs and eardrums in advertising everywhere we turn that we tend to simply tune it out and discount the lofty claims. Some ads do catch our attention – because they are so annoying and so often repeated! Personally, I do give these ads special attention, so I can be sure to avoid these products and businesses whenever possible. I don’t want to reward them for annoying me and don’t want to encourage them to give me more of the same.

I often used to listen to the radio. Now I carry my own commercial-free music with me, room-to-room, house to car to office. I do this so I won’t be harassed with advertising! I rarely watch television anymore, direct from the station…too many commercials. Have you tried changing the channel during the commercial? You get more commercials, maybe even the same one on every channel. I now record shows, just so I can skip commercials. All of this, akin to computer spam, is avoided and filtered out.

So, for goodness’ sake, how do I reach out to my customers?! The truth? The old-fashion way. The nice way. The friendly, neighborly way. Once a year, I send beautiful, top-of-the-line business Christmas cards to everyone I know. Once a year, I also send beautiful top-of-the-line business Thanksgiving cards to my actual customers. During the year, I stay in touch using cards that say Happy Birthday, thinking of you cards, and when warranted get well or congratulations cards. Any reason, however random, will do, to keep myself and my business name in front of clients in a positive and cordial way. I think this habit also reflects our company ethic: to deliver the meat and not just the sizzle. I know it pays off in client loyalty and perhaps as a side effect of those neighborly greeting cards, in the mutually friendly and pleasant way we interact while conducting business.

Snow Themed Personalized Holiday Cards for any Locale

What a great way to wish your friends and clients holiday wishes by sending snow-themed personalized holiday cards this year! Snow covered scenes are beautiful to look at and remind the beholder of warm feelings of past wintry experiences. Businesses and families from as far north as New England or out West in states like Arizona, Colorado, and Wyoming can choose card designs reminiscent of their native surroundings. Whether you live in an area landscaped with forests and streams or wide open prairies, The Gallery Collection has a holiday greeting card designed just for you.

Design #533CS, Snowy Morn Holiday Seasons Greetings Card, depicts a silvery stream gently ambling through a forest blanketed in fresh white snow. The tree branches and low lying shrubs are laden with glistening white clusters of the newly fallen precipitation. It is a calm winter morning and all seems very peaceful here. Silver iridescent foil outlines this setting and the words “Season’s Greetings” appear at the bottom of the design. The gentle beauty of this new dawning day evokes a serene holiday feeling for the recipient of this seasonal greeting card.

Design #533CS - Snowy Morn Holiday Seasons Greetings Card
Design #533CS - Snowy Morn Holiday
Seasons Greetings Card

For the western part of the country design #575CS, Holiday Spirit Horses Greeting Card, shows a vast, open plain covered in snow. A herd of majestic brown and tan wild horses, kicking up snow, are galloping across this lowland toward a life free from worries and cares. The exhilaration they feel conveys a happiness that all should feel during the holiday season. The scene on this card is outlined in silver iridescent foil with the words “Season’s Greetings” below it. Now westerners have a personalized holiday card designed specifically for their locale to send out to their clients, friends, and families.

Design #575CS - Holiday Spirit Horses Greeting Card
Design #575CS - Holiday Spirit Horses
Greeting Card

Being Creative with Personalized Christmas Cards

There is nothing like receiving personalized Christmas cards around the holiday season. Stunning images of peace, happiness, and the good-old Christmas tree all talking to me and saying, “It’s about time to receive some presents.” Maybe they tell you, “Time to buy some gifts for others,” but to each his own.

Now it’s time to hang them all over my apartment, up and down the doorway to the front hall…covering every inch I can spare much like the walls covered in a Houlihan’s or TGIFriday’s with various trinkets. Only my trinkets are in the form of greeting cards, expressions of holiday greetings on display for the whole world to see…or whoever shows up at my place.

Now the Christmas season is over. No more presents to open. No more eggnog to drink. Oh look, here’s my trophy wall of personalized Christmas cards. Now seems to me this is just a waste, throwing them out with no thought of what else can be done with them. So I’m thinking to myself over and over, “What do I do with these greeting cards?”

I sip my coffee and then there it is, a spectacular idea literally staring me in the face. Take your empty coffee can, wash it out, dry it, and let the fun begin. Pick up a spray paint can of whatever color you think will look good as a base and paint the can. Then go over to your Christmas cards and pull them off the wall carefully; I know that’s hard because we always pull them off so quick and to the point.

Now cut out those beautiful images of Christmas trees and snowmen and swirly holiday greetings and glue them to the outside of the spray painted can. After collaging the images to the outside of the can, cover the can with a clear glue or a clear-drying finish to protect your masterpiece. Let it dry, and there you have it – a candy dish for next year. And you actually did something creative with your time while finding a way to reuse all of those old holiday cards.

Greet your Family and Friends with Holiday Wildlife Cards

For those of you who can’t decide on sending personalized holiday cards that feature snowflakes, Christmas trees, or ornaments on them, why not change your theme to holiday wildlife cards. For all you nature lovers, design #516CW, Winter Wonder Seasons Greeting Card, is the perfect card depicting a deer in a snowy, wintry setting.

Your family members, friends, and/or business associates will just adore this card when they open their envelope and are greeted by this quizzically looking deer bringing them peaceful holiday greetings, reminding us of the serene setting that is part of the holiday season. This card depicts an actual photo that is on white gloss paper. The picture border is outlined in gold foil trim with matching lettering on the front of the design. You can match your personalized card imprint in the same beautiful gold foil embossing.

Design #516CW - Winter Wonder Seasons Greeting Card
Design #516CW - Winter Wonder
Seasons Greeting Card

For all you bird lovers design #574CX, Frosted Perch Wildlife Greeting Card, is the perfect card to send out. The black-capped chickadee looks ever so elegant perched on the branch of a pine tree. You can almost here him chirping in the winter air enjoying the snowy weather.

The tips of the pine trees sparkle with a shimmering silver foil that gives the impression of glistening snow. It brings the wildlife to your home or office, emitting a sense of peacefulness during the hustle and bustle of the season. This design also depicts a photo on glossy white paper with a “Season’s Greetings” sentiment embossed in silver foil. The picture is bordered with a moss shade of green that compliments the pine tree branches.

Design #574CS - Frosted Perch Wildlife Greeting Card
Design #574CS - Frosted Perch
Wildlife Greeting Card

Bring Smiles with Snowflakes Season’s Greetings Cards

When looking for business Christmas cards to send to your employees and vendors, check out design #843CS, Sparkling Snowflakes Seasons Greetings Card. This design is done on a dark blue, matte stock. It has uniquely beautiful snowflakes done in embossed silver foil, with a deeper blue accent as the back drop. These are backed with swirls, done in the same deeper blue. The swirls are softly connecting the snowflakes and give the appearance that the snowflakes are floating on air. Below the snowflakes, “Season’s Greetings” is elegantly done in silver foil.

Your customers will surely be impressed when they open their holiday cards to see the deep blue matte and the greeting that you have chosen along with your company name imprinted in silver foil. You may also choose to further personalize your holiday cards with a silver gel pen. These are available in packs of two and allow you to add a handwritten note or signature.

Design #843CS - Sparkling Snowflakes Seasons Greetings Card
Design #843CS - Sparkling Snowflakes
Seasons Greetings Card

If you like snowflakes, then also check out design #587CS, Shimmering Snowflakes Season Greeting Card. These snowflakes are done in silver and turquoise and appear to be falling from the sky. I especially like that the snowflakes are done in such a way that it gives them dimension. The “Season’s Greetings” sentiment is done in the same turquoise on the front. This card is white inside and can also be personalized in silver foil writing or you can choose one of our ink colors with choices of blue, black, red or green.

As with both of these snowflakes season’s greetings cards, whether you are reaching out to your customers or friends and family, either one will be sure to please. Knowing that you have taken the time to pick out and send a card is sure to bring smiles to your recipients’ faces.

Design #587CS - Shimmering Snowflakes Season Greeting Card
Design #587CS - Shimmering Snowflakes
Season Greeting Card

Thanksgiving Cards Help to Celebrate our Freedom

Thanksgiving cards are a lot like Independence Day flags – joyful means of celebrating and sharing an All-American holiday! On the Fourth of July, we rejoice in our freedom to hold opposing political viewpoints while living together in relative peace. On Thanksgiving, we join in gratitude for the many blessings we Americans enjoy, regardless of (and perhaps because of) our differing ethnic backgrounds and religious beliefs.

While both holidays are usually occasions for festive parades and the eating of traditional foods, July 4th tends to take people outside of their homes to picnics and fireworks displays, where we share in a collective camaraderie. Thanksgiving Day, however, tends to find us gathered inside of homes, a bit more insulated from our fellow countrymen. Sending business greeting cards at Thanksgiving provides a warm and personal way of reaching out to clients and colleagues, a way to say, “I’m happy to be here and grateful that you’re here with me.”

For business associates, we can pause to share our gratitude for the freedom that allows us to make a living and to preserve our way of life. Making this gesture by sending business holiday greeting cards at Thanksgiving is truly appropriate and your message is received at a time when your recipients may be more inclined to notice and reflect upon your cooperative relationship with them. We may not be out on the street, waving a flag, but we can be in the offices and homes of our business associates and friends, extending a celebratory hand in gratitude and mutual thanks.