Personalized Christmas Cards Archives - Page 9 of 12

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.

Personalized Christmas Cards to Make your Holiday Wishes Complete

Design #143CS, A Christmas Celebration Holiday Card, will make wonderful personalized Christmas cards to send to your friends and loved ones. This card is a depiction of an old fashion winter scene. You can see a family all bundled up sitting in an open sleigh, being pulled by two large Clydesdales over a snow covered bridge. The family dog is barking enthusiastically at their arrival. In the background it looks as though it is still snowing. You can see glittering snowflakes covering small pine trees, which gives the appearance that the snow storm is not yet over. This holiday card is truly a celebration of Christmas. The more you look at this design the more you long for a traditional Christmas, with all your family and close friends around you.

Design #830CX, Dazzling Christmas Wreath Card, is a Merry Christmas card that features a very sophisticated, abstract depiction of a wreath. It is a beautiful shade of red with gold ribbons and iridescent snow flakes running down one side. On the right side of this card are the words “Merry Christmas.” This particular design is very tasteful and elegant.

If I were sending this card, I would most likely send it to co-workers as opposed to family members. I’m not quite sure why, except in my opinion it gives a more corporate feeling. Are you thinking of going green? This is a great card to start with because it is made from recycled paper. It would also be an elegant touch to sign this card with a gold gel pen, really making your holiday wishes complete.

Without Personalized Christmas Cards it just Wouldn’t be the Same

What if there was no such thing as sending out personalized Christmas cards? You’d have no personal messages from family and friends; no winter scene artwork to decorate your home with; and no pictures of your loved ones to place on your mantle.

Holiday cards have such a way of bringing a smile to your face as you open each envelope and look to see who thought of you. It’s also great to sit down and write out messages to family and friends who you may not have seen in years…and the ones you saw last week! So even though you’d still have your holiday parties, your holiday decorating, and your holiday treats – this time of year just wouldn’t be the same without the tradition of giving and receiving those lovely personalized holiday greeting cards!

2008 Custom Christmas Cards Strategy Session

When my sister left for her overseas military duties, her biggest fear was missing out on all the special occasions: cookouts, birthdays, Thanksgiving, and even worse – Christmas. Every Christmas season our family comes together for our yearly custom Christmas cards strategy session. Each year we come up with a new Christmas card as a family; this was a tradition my grandparents established in our family. The fact that my sister was going to be absent from that holiday tradition, but even worse, not there for the Christmas season, was very upsetting for me. I have a very close relationship with my sister and the 2008 card would not be complete without her input.

My youngest son saw how heartbroken I was. He would look at me confused and ask, “Will Aunt Sophia be there?” I didn’t have the heart to tell him that she wouldn’t be there and that he wouldn’t see his favorite aunt for a very long time.

I attempted to cancel the Christmas card meeting but my attempt was met with a slap across the back of my head; I became the family Grinch. So when the day for the gathering came and everyone was together in my back yard lined up, I decided I wouldn’t participate. Sure I was creating a huge argument with my wife, but it was a matter of principle. Then, as I watched everyone discussing across the lawn, I saw my son holding up a picture of my sister. He waved at me and said, “I told you.” The gesture was heartwarming and I felt embarrassed for my behavior and the 2008 card was born – a family photo card. We took a photo of the entire family, my center in the center holding my sisters picture.

Off course we needed to make this card happen, so we went to our favorite personalized holiday cards website – The Gallery Collection. I chose a very festive card design that let me place our wonderful family Christmas photo as the front cover. I knew my sister would love it because it would show her that we all missed her that day and she would now have a complete family photo to comfort her.

When she received the card, she and her troops were astounded by the quality and perfection of the card. I wouldn’t expect anything less from this site. They always come through and this time they provided me with a way to help my sister feel a part of the moment.

Why Custom Christmas Cards are More Personal than a Holiday Newsletter

Which would you prefer to receive…a custom Christmas card or the increasingly-popular holiday newsletter? Some say custom Christmas cards, with an imprinted holiday message and the name of the sender on the inside, are impersonal. I disagree. I think a customized imprint actually reflects the care and thought that you put into choosing your holiday card. When I have ordered such holiday cards, I always take the time to address them to each recipient and sign each individually…this is a simple way of making your holiday correspondence more personal.

Personalized holiday cards are distinctive and beautiful, often with embossed designs with shiny foil details. In the past, I have been told by friends and family that my cards are the prettiest…so pretty that they kept and stored my card with their other holiday décor instead of just discarding it like the other holiday cards they received.

I find the holiday newsletter (or the “dreaded holiday newsletter,” as I often refer to it) to be quite impersonal. What is so thoughtful about writing down all the events that have occurred in your life in the past year, printing it on some cheap paper (often with faded holiday designs), and photocopying it 50 or 60 times to send it to your nearest and dearest? If they were truly “near and dear,” they most likely already know about all the things you wrote about, especially in the age of email communication. If they do not know any of it, then perhaps they are not so near and dear after all and sending them such a newsletter will just reinforce that fact.

How Personalized Christmas Cards Saved Santa Claus

Personalized Christmas cards may be something we all take for granted these days, but as with so many other things, personalized holiday cards didn’t always exist. Originally, people made their own greeting cards. The first known “manufactured” Christmas card was in 1843 London, with one individual commissioning a lithographic artist to design and print his cards. Presumably, he still had to sign them.

As Mrs. Claus pointed out to her hubby, people were always saying “thank you” to Santa for his gift-giving (past, present, and anticipated future) but rarely thought to say “thank you” to any of Santa’s elves. So, at some point, Santa decided it was only right and prudent to give Christmas cards to all of his elves, who after all, had worked so diligently all year to provide for the holiday happiness of others. There were a lot of elves, but Santa did have all year to prepare the cards, plus he had the able and enthusiastic assistance of Mrs. Claus.

Years passed and the world population kept increasing. Fortunately, the elfin population increased proportionally, so the workshop was able to keep pace in the production of toys and other goodies. Another fortunate event was the invention of computers, which made Santa’s record-keeping, not to mention his delivery scheduling, more manageable and efficient.

One problem, however, came to be known as “Santa Burn-Out.” He simply could not keep up with hand-signing so many Christmas cards! Poor Santa lost weight and was starting to lose the twinkle in his eyes. But then Santa became a customer of The Gallery Collection. His custom Christmas cards are now perfectly, professionally printed, and he’s able to send them in such a timely fashion that the elves receive them while Santa is making his Christmas Eve deliveries. And, you know what? Now that Santa uses personalized holiday cards, when his big annual journey is completed, he gets the biggest, warmest “welcome home” that you can imagine!

Free Digital Versions of “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens

In association with DailyLit.com, The Gallery Collection is offering free digital downloads of Charles Dickens’ Christmas classic, A Christmas Carol. The free digital versions have been made possible by DailyLit.com, who sends books to readers in digital installments via email or RSS feed.

If you’re interested in signing up for free digital installments of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, please visit: http://dailylit.com/books/christmas-carol.

Personalized Christmas Cards Maker GalleryCollection.com Joins Operation Gratitude and Army-Navy Game to Support Troops Overseas

RIDGEFIELD PARK, NJ – December 3, 2008 – Prudent Publishing’s GalleryCollection.com, the leading personalized Christmas cards and corporate Holiday cards publisher in the nation, announced today that it has joined Operation Gratitude and the 2008 Army-Navy Football Game to support deployed service members through Operation Gratitude’s “Letters to Heroes” letter writing campaign.

Operation Gratitude has been sending care packages to individual service members deployed overseas since 2003. “Letters to Heroes” coordinates efforts to provide heartfelt letters to service members, which are then included in each care package.

GalleryCollection.com and Operation Gratitude donated 28,000 holiday cards and will distribute the cards at the 109th Army-Navy Game, being held at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field on December 6. At the game, fans will use the holiday cards to write personal letters of appreciation to service members, and these personalized Christmas cards will be delivered in each Operation Gratitude care package.

Holiday cards will also be made available for personalization at several Philadelphia hotel welcome tables, the Army-Navy Gala held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on December 5, and Penn’s Landing.

The first Army-Navy Game kicked off in 1890 at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, but it didn’t become a true annual tradition until 1930. Generally played on the first Saturday in December, the game is considered one of the longest lasting rivalries in college football. To learn more about the 2008 game, visit http://www.PhillyLovesArmyNavy.com/.

To learn more about Operation Gratitude and how to contribute to the organization’s military support efforts, visit http://www.opgratitude.com/.

About GalleryCollection.com – Prudent Publishing’s GalleryCollection.com is the leading publisher of premium quality Christmas cards and business Holiday cards in the United States. Established in 1929 and still family owned, the company offers direct-from-the-publisher prices that include customized ink and foil imprints, a large selection of memorable greetings, and matching deckle-edged envelopes made of recycled paper. GalleryCollection.com also offers numerous types of all occasion greeting cards including business birthday cards, thank you cards, and anniversary cards, many of which are FSC-certified (SW-COC-002530) and produced with Green-e certified

Contact:
Greg Koizim
(201) 641-7900 x427

About Operation Gratitude – Operation Gratitude (www.operationgratitude.com) is the 501 (c) (3) non-profit, volunteer organization that annually sends 100,000+ care packages of items and letters addressed to individually named U.S. Service Members deployed in hostile overseas regions. Its mission is to lift morale, bring a smile to a service member’s face and to express to all troops the appreciation and support of the American people. Since its inception in March, 2003, Operation Gratitude has shipped more than 375,000 packages to American troops deployed overseas.

Contact:
Carolyn Blashek
www.youtube.com/OpGrat
Infoline: (818) 909-0039
Tel: (818) 789-0123

Personalized Christmas Cards Help You Keep in Touch

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans,” a quote by John Lennon, is quite profound and can mean different things to different people. To me, it means that life can be so busy and hectic that in many instances we lose sight or control of what we would like to do. Before we know, years have gone by and we regret missing out on the things we wanted to do.

For instance, think of all the people that you have met and lost contact with over many years’ time. Whether it be coworkers, neighbors, teammates from a club or sports team…how many really close friends do you not see as often as before, or perhaps, never?

So how do we try to keep something like this from not occurring? One way is to make sure personalized Christmas cards are sent to those whom you may not have social contact with—either seldom or at all—to let them know they’re in your thoughts. Custom Christmas cards can be personalized with a longer, personal message or a shorter, handwritten message on the inside of the Christmas cards.

In any event, it is the thought that counts (as they say), and keeping touch with someone by sending custom Christmas cards each year is a great way to let someone know you’re still thinking about them even you may not have seen them for a long, long time.

Custom Christmas Cards – The Perfect Personalized Touch

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.