Month: October 2013

Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Look Back Series – 2007 Design Family

Welcome back to the Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Look Back Series. The 2007 winner, Elizabeth Digre, submitted a beautiful scene of a calm lake surrounded by snow covered trees with the sun glistening through them. It was such a beautiful scene and became a wonderful addition to our product line. In today’s entry, we wanted to take a chance to show off a couple of other beautiful snow covered tree scenes in our line of cards. Check them out below.

2007 Winning Entry – Season’s Greetings Golden Snowscape Card

2007 winner

Card Description: The winter sun bids a glowing goodnight on the burnished gold landscape of a serene lake, framed by branches of snow-kissed trees.

 

Glittering Forest Holiday Card

Snowcovered Trees

Card Description: Surrounded by a border of deep blue and reflective silver foil, this winter scene will bring peace to all with its sense of serenity. A soft white cloud of snow seems to open a window on a gathering of snow-crusted fir trees, silently greeting silver snowflakes as they float high above. This Season’s Greetings card will delight both the sender and recipient.

 

Season’s Greetings Silvery Pines Card

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Card Description: Iridescent foil draws your eye to the splendor of the evergreens in winter. The muted mountaintops in the background stand as silent reminders of the snow yet to come.

 

Frosty Night Seasons Greeting Card

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Card Description: This holiday card depicts the perfect winter scene. A glorious stream, with its banks of snow, leads into the secluded splendor of a cozy forest community. This lovely, inviting scene will bring warmth to your Season’s Greetings. Appropriate Christmas card wishes to send employees, business clients and friends.

Elizabeth Digre’s remarkable design fit right in with the rest of our collection of holiday cards. It truly was an amazing entry and the perfect design to be chosen as the winner of our first ever Create-A-Greeting-Card scholarship contest.

Business Christmas Cards Are Good Office Etiquette

We all know that sending emails and/or text messages are such time savers but lets face it, they are not very heartfelt. Especially during the holiday season where we are even more appreciative for our relationships with clients and vendor. What better time to show how grateful you are of them? With sending business Christmas cards you show that you and your company are invested in the relationship rather then typing up a couple of sentences and clicking send.

New York City Channel Gardens Card

With business Christmas cards you get to hold the actual card that was picked out and read the message that they took the time to hand write just for you. You are not simply staring at a screen that probably has a holiday greeting that was copied to 20 other emails. Unfortunately, we live in a society where manners are hard to come by but rest assure that when sending Christmas cards it will be a win-win situation for both parties. Don’t get lost in the countless holiday emails this season. Showcase your company in a positive light and be remembered for it! When contemplating if you should send out cards think about how many emails you get a day and how many cards you get in a year. It’s an easy choice!

Top Tips For Dealing With Annoying Coworkers

Okay. We are human beings. Strange creatures, we, and as such, we all have foibles and idiosyncrasies that you might not realize or notice yourself. These quirks in the workplace could be considered annoying in the eyes of your coworkers. You probably can think of at least one annoying coworker right now. It is just a fact of life and if you haven’t had to deal with annoying coworkers at least once in your work career, than you might be a flying pig.

They come in many shapes and sizes. For example, the gossiper, the loud-talker, the know-it-all, the too-much-information giver, the whiner/complainer just to name a few. All can get under your skin while really affecting your work and productivity. However, there are ways to deal with annoying coworkers.

Annoying Coworker

Be assertive – Chances are, the annoying coworker doesn’t know they are annoying. Be firm, yet friendly and ask the person right out to stop what they are doing that is annoying. Announce that you are really busy and concentrating and would be really nice of them to quiet down or have their personal phone call elsewhere. Better yet, explain to your supervisor/HR department the situation and have them ask to cease and desist. Your supervisor is most likely already aware of it!

Positivity – Sometimes the old adage, “kill it with kindness” still rings true. A warm smile and friendly disposition can smooth over almost any situation no matter how awkward. If Captain Bring-down is bringing you down, stay sunny and counteract it with a positive spin.

Avoid/Ignore – For as long as you can, try to avoid the person as much as humanly possible. Take your lunch at a different time. Take the stairs rather than the elevator. Park your car elsewhere. You get the idea. It gets tough when the person is in your direct vicinity like in a “cube-style” office, so best options are to use headphones to tune them out or see if you can look in to a seating arrangement change. Of course there is a breaking point for everyone but hold out as long as you can. If you can get up and walk away from the person for a little while, try that. Hopefully when you return they will have stopped.

Breathe! – If it becomes unbearable and you are about to boil over and burst, don’t! Close your eyes. Relax your muscles and place your hands palm up in your lap. Take a deep breath in through your nose and count to five. Exhale slowly through your mouth (trying not to disturb others) and repeat until you feel a sense of calm and collection. Rinse and repeat until enlightenment is reached or at least until you can continue your work without going insane. A walk outside or around the office grounds is another surefire way to clear your head and give a new perspective to the situation. Some fresh air can do wonders.

Toughen up – To be honest, can it really be that bad? Okay, maybe it is but come on. You only have to work with this person. You don’t have to interact with them in any way shape or form outside of work. They are not your significant other, they are not a family member or loved one… So, deal with it! A thicker skin might do you some good and build some character. Guess what? It’s life! You are not always going to love every single detail of every single facet of your life. The sooner you realize this and keep it in mind, the easier it will be to deal with any person, annoying or not. Remember, the annoyed can also be the annoyee. You might be annoyed by someone but just as easily, you can be annoying someone yourself.

Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Look Back Series – 2007 Finalist Highlight

Welcome back to another installment of the Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Contest Look Back series. In today’s post, we are going to be taking a look at some of the designs that made it all the way down to the finalist round.

Every year we get thousands upon thousands of amazing submissions and even though there is only one winner, the finalists deserve to receive as much attention as possible as well. Like we have done in the past, we chose a few of our personal favorites to showcase below, but you can view all of the finalists in the 2007 Scholarship Finalists Gallery. Also, don’t forget to let us know which of the below designs is your favorite in the poll right underneath the gallery.

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Christmas Cards- Still a Good Business Decision

Many difficult decisions have to be made by the average business owner on a daily basis. In this economy, where every day there are reports that the market is on a downturn and also that another recession is on the horizon, these decisions must be made carefully. So as the leaves begin to turn colors, and the crisp air greets us as we close the door behind us, the decision about how to handle the Christmas cards decision looms. As a small business owner, each one of these decisions must be made with great care.

Holiday Sleigh Card

One of the best principles I have always maintained through the years is to always let my employees know how much I depend on them and how appreciative I am of their hard work and loyalty to our business. The service they give to our customers comes back to us many times over in repeat business. Our customers are our bread and butter and without good service, they will go elsewhere.

Another principle I have maintained is to do everything I can to keep our business name out there so our customers old and new are reminded of the great service they have received. One of the ways I do this is with corporate Christmas cards. I am a fond believer in the value of calendar cards. I have searched for the best quality cards available with a design that our customers will want to hang on their wall and The Gallery Collection is always the winner. Their beautiful designs help us to remind our customers of our business and our well wishes, but they also serve as a constant reminder, on a daily basis, of the excellent service from some good friends. It is money well spent in a time when every penny counts. The eternal optimist in me knows good quality, good wishes and good advertising will keep us going.