Michael L., Author at Gallery Collection Blog

8th Annual Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Contest – Finalist Showcase

The 8th Annual Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship was our most successful one yet with over 13,000 entries submitted. Through monthly voting rounds, those 13,000 entries were narrowed down to the below 109 finalists.

These 109 finalists were then narrowed down to a top 10 which consisted of the 5 top vote getters and 5 designs that were chosen by our scholarship team. You can see the top 10 by going here. Check out the 109 designs that were a part of the Final Voting round in the slideshow below.

Gallery Collection Scholarship Contest – Eighth Round Winners

Congratulations to the winners from the Eighth Round of voting in the Gallery Collection Scholarship Contest!

10 Designs moved on to the finalist round as a result of them finishing in the top 10 in voting, plus, our scholarship team also used our 1 save available to us on the entry submitted by Brittany Cartie which you can check out below.

Check out the top 10 vote getters and the saved design that are moving onto the finalist round in the gallery below.

Brittany Cartie – Entry 3760 (Saved Design)

Gallery Collection Scholarship Contest – Seventh Round Winners

Congratulations to the winners from the Seventh Round of voting in the Gallery Collection Scholarship Contest!

10 Designs moved on to the finalist round as a result of them finishing in the top 10 in voting, plus, our scholarship team also used our 1 save available to us on the photo submitted by Emily Mckenna. A beautiful scene of a cardinal sitting on snow covered branches.

Check out the top 10 vote getters and the saved design that are moving onto the finalist round in the gallery below.

Emily Mckenna – Entry 3497 (Saved Design)

How To Celebrate Your Birthday At The Office In Style

So it’s your birthday, huh? I know what you’re thinking… man, I look good for my age. Everyone thinks that. Even the ones that don’t. So put an end to that thought right away!

You want to celebrate your birthday at your place of work. I don’t blame you. Then again, Mr. Mingle doesn’t blame anyone. Who has time to waste on blaming when you could be out there mingling? Good Question, Mr. Mingle. Thanks, Mr. Mingle! (Mr. Mingle winks at his clone)

Here is what I will do for you since I have nominated myself to be your life guide and trusty companion. Think of me as your life’s Swiss army knife. Except I am not Swiss, so technically I am your British army knife. Some people call me BAK for short. I have removed those people from my life.

Without further ado, below are my top 5 ways to celebrate a birthday in style.

Throw a get together in a common area that everyone has access to in your workplace and invite everyone. Yes… even Dave from accounting. I know everyone hates Dave from accounting but invite him anyway.
Learn everyone’s names beforehand so you can thank them personally. But Mr. Mingle, how can I possibly learn everyone’s names? Simple, learn the easy ones and just call the rest of the people that show up pal and comrade.
Play a couple of birthday games to build team chemistry. This is a great way to separate the strong from the weak so you know who to work with on that next big work project.
Make sure you give your manager the largest piece of the cake. I know you love cake but so does your manager. Plus, who is more important, you or the person in charge of you? Exactly!
Make sure you are the last one to leave the party. I know, I know, Dave from accounting is always the last one to leave a room. Well tell Dave you need that pie chart in a different hue of blue. That should get him to evacuate the party premises.

So there you have it. My 5 tips to celebrate your birthday at the office in style. Remember, Mr. Mingle is here for ya no matter what you need. Mingle is the name and Mingling is the game.

Gallery Collection Scholarship Contest – Second Round Winners

Congratulations to the winners from the second round of voting in the Gallery Collection Scholarship Contest!

10 Designs moved on to the finalist round as a result of them finishing in the top 10 in voting, plus, our scholarship team also used our 1 save available to us on the design submitted by Marcella Surjono. Our Scholarship team couldn’t help but fall in love with some of her subtle references to some past winning designs.

Check out the top 10 vote getters and the saved design that are moving onto the finalist round in the gallery below.

Corporate Birthday Party Ideas

Nothing is better than a birthday party with friends and family. But you know what can be really nice? A birthday party with your co-workers and managers. You don’t often get to talk to everyone in the office so what better time than your Birthday party? However, along with everyone’s attention comes responsibility. GREAT responsibility I dare say. You have to be ready to mingle. What does mingling entail you ask? Mingling entails talking and caring. Luck for you, Mr. Mingle is open for business and is ready to give you the low down on corporate birthday party ideas for mingling.

Below is a crash course on what to say when you come across co-workers form other departments that you do not really speak to on a regular basis.

Scene 1: Phyllis from accounting comes over to you and wishes you a happy birthday. The last time you spoke to her was when they hired you so you don’t know much about her.

Phyllis: Hey Mr. Mingle, Happy Birthday!
Mr. Mingle: Thanks Phyllis, I appreciate the warm wishes. Did I mention how much I love the way you organized your cubicle? It’s truly a work of art. It makes everyone else’s look like they bought theirs at Ikea and only got through half of the instruction manual.
Phyllis: Wow Mr. Mingle, no one has commented on it. Thanks for noticing! That is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. Ever.

• Phyllis just went from a co-worker to one of your most trusted compadres. Consider Phyllis Mingled.

Scene 2: Mark from accounting grabs a slice of your birthday cake and just stands right above it while he eats it. Unbenounced to him, he is creating an impenetrable force field between your fellow co-workers and the delicious birthday cake. Clearly you have to get him away from the cake. How you say? Stop worrying, Mr. Mingle has you covered.

In this scenario you must be standing at least 10 feet away from Mark.
Mr. Mingle (Low Whispering Voice): Hey Mark, how are you liking that birthday cake?
Mark: What’s that Mr. mingle, I cant make out what your saying.
Mr. Mingle (Low Whispering Voice): I said, how are you liking that birthday cake?
Mark: Let me come closer to you, I am having trouble hearing what you are saying.

Mark was intrigued by what you have to say but he couldn’t hear it. So what did he do? He left his post at the birthday cake and made his way over to you.

• High fives all around from hungry co-workers who can now enjoy some of that delicious cake. Mark has been Mingled.

Mr. Mingle – Out

Operation Gratitude Q&A – One Millionth Care Package Event

The Gallery Collection recently made a 7,500 greeting card donation to Operation Gratitude for their 1 Millionth Care Package Celebration. Carolyn Blashek, the Founder and CEO of Operation Gratitude, was kind enough to provide us with some information about both Operation Gratitude and the upcoming One Millionth Care-Package Event. Read on below to learn more about what the organization does, and how it benefits the members of the military community.

What is Operation Gratitude?
- Operation Gratitude is a volunteer-based organization that annually sends 100,000+ care packages & letters of support to individual Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen & Marines deployed in harm’s way & on ships at sea, to their children left behind, and to Wounded Warriors, Care Givers, Veterans, Military Families and First Responders.
How did Operation Gratitude get started?
- In March 2003, Founder Carolyn Blashek met with a soldier who broke down at her desk after letting her know that he was going back on deployment and due to some of the personal issues he was experiencing at the time, he did not care if he made it back. It was then that Carolyn realized that troops need to believe that someone at home cares about them as an individual and Operation Gratitude was officially born.
What is the Operation Gratitude One Millionth Care Package Event?
- On December 7^th, 2013, Operation Gratitude will assemble and celebrate their One Millionth Care Package, which is something that no other organization has accomplished.
When is the Operation Gratitude One Millionth Care package Event?
- December 7^th, 2013
How will the cards The Gallery Collection donated be used during the One Millionth Care Package Event?
- The 5,000 Thank you for Attending Cards will be distributed to everyone who attends the event as a token of appreciation for their attendance and help. There will also be another 2,500 Thank you for Your Service cards that will be used by attendees for signing and writing notes that will then be placed in the care packages that will be sent out. Get a closer look at the two sets of cards The Gallery Collection donated here.
What are some of the things that will be happening during the One Millionth Care Package Event?
- Assembly of the “One Millionth” & “One Millionth & One” Packages
- Santa Claus Photo Ops and Giveaways
- Entertainment and Celebrity Surprises
- Games & Activities for Kids; Raffle and Door Prizes
What kind of donations does Operation Gratitude Accept?
- Operation Gratitude accepts all kinds of items including things like DVDs, CDs, gift cards, toothpaste, deodorant and much much more. A complete list of wish items can be found at the below link:
How many items are included in each care package?
- Each care package contains 50 or more donated snack, entertainment and personal care items.
Where does the assembly of the actual care packages take place?
- Operation Gratitude conducts its Assembly Drives in the National Guard Armory in Van Nuys, California where more than 15,000 local volunteers participate on-site and 250,000 volunteer hours are served per year.
Where can people go to find out more information about Operation Gratitude?
- More information about Operation Gratitude can be found below:
- Information about the Millionth Care-Package event can be found below:

Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Look Back Series – Winners 2007 Through 2011

Today’s entry into the Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Look Back series takes a look at all of the beautiful winning entries and the cards that they were turned into. Join us down a trip of memory lane starting with our first ever winning design by Elizabeth Digre, all the way to the 2011 winning design by Whitney Fuertes.

2007 Winning Design by Elizabeth Digre – Season’s Greetings Golden Snowscape Card

2008 Winning Design by George Humeston – Full Moon Winter Night Christmas Card

2009 Winning Design by Lauren Ondreko – Snowman Surprise Christmas Card

2010 Winning Design by Dawnee Burson – Log Cabin Greetings Holiday Card

2011 Winning Design by Whitney Fuertes – Gilded Nativity Christmas Card

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

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

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

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

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.

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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