Tag: personalized holiday 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.

Personalized Holiday Cards with Polar Bears and Penguins

I love nature photos. Design #123CS, Polar Bear Greetings Christmas Card, features a great photo for a Season’s Greetings card. It has the appearance of two polar bear cubs almost kissing. What a nice scene for the holidays! However, as I look at the picture, it reminds me of my two brown labs. One is a little more mischievous than the other. I have often seen him using nips to get her to play. They mimic the same posture as these two cubs right before they end up flat on the floor in a real tousle. I wonder how long the two polar bear cubs remained standing after this photo was taken.

Design #123CS - Polar Bear Greetings<br />Christmas Card
Design #123CS - Polar Bear Greetings
Christmas Card

All that aside, this design is perfect for your personalized holiday cards. It can be used by anyone, whether sending cards for personal or business purposes. Due to their shrinking habitat, polar bears have been featured in environmental awareness advertisements over the past years. Whether you are environmentally conscious or not, Polar Bear Greetings is just the right card to send to clients, customers, friends, and family.

In looking at design #170CS, Penguins on Parade Christmas Card, another design featuring a nature photo, I can’t help but wonder where these delightful penguins are going with such determination. This card would make a perfect personalized holiday card from a team to display their team spirit. It certainly looks like they are on a mission, and somehow they look like they are enjoying their little march through the snow.

Design #170CS - Penguins on Parade<br />Christmas Card
Design #170CS - Penguins on Parade
Christmas Card

Penguins are amazing birds and a great choice to feature on your Season’s Greetings cards. The penguins pictured on in this design are Adelie penguins, the smallest of the Antarctic penguins. They are the most common of their entire genus. Penguins get used to humans and don’t consider us a threat, so they can be photographed easily.

They build their nest of stones on rocky beaches…and they will fight over the best rocks! Early to arrive, penguins have to guard their nests from latecomers. When latecomers arrive and all the good rocks are in use, they will pilfer from the nests of others. Whatever it takes to get their job done!

Mostly we think of birds flying through the air but the only time penguins are airborne is when they leap out of the water. They spend most of their time when not mating or raising young in the water, and just like other birds, they cannot breathe underwater. They jump out of the water to take a breath before diving down to feed on fish. They are also airborne for a short time when they leap out of the ocean onto land.

When you want to express the greetings of the season with your clients and customers this year, keep our polar bears and penguins in mind.

Personalized Holiday Cards with Whirling Snowflakes and Stars of Peace

The Gallery Collection recently introduced some new personalized holiday cards to its already extensive line of cards. One of the designs, #150CS Whirling Snowflakes Christmas Card, features (as the name suggests) lots of snowflakes. The blue foil in this holiday card beautifully reflects and enhances the luster of snowflakes almost as well as Mother Nature does. The muted background, which is an enlargement of the snowflake itself mysteriously veiled in lavender, softens and adds interest to the total design. Tying everything together, of course, the “Season’s Greetings” sentiment underneath the art is very tastefully done. The only negative I have is that, for a true snowflake lover such as I am, some of the snowflakes are the same. One of the most important features of snowflakes is that each and every one is different!

Design #150CS - Whirling Snowflakes Christmas Card
Design #150CS - Whirling Snowflakes
Christmas Card

Design #829CX, Star of Peace Holiday Card, is another new design recently introduced by The Gallery Collection. One of the main reasons I like this card is that the words “Peace on Earth” stand out so boldly. The star and its radii are lovely, but to me the heavily embossed, variegated foil with a direct and dynamic message is what I want my recipients to see first. This is a holiday card that is going to be well received in any home or office. It is kind of important to me to make sure that my choice in holiday cards is one that will not offend anyone. I work with a wide diversity of people and my goal is to please them all. I have decided to order early, because I have a feeling this Peace On Earth design may sell out soon!

Design #829CX - Star of Peace Holiday Card
Design #829CX - Star of Peace Holiday Card

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.

Personalized Christmas Cards Haven’t Always Been my Thing

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.

Personalized Holiday Cards and their Historic Roots

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.

Holiday Photo Cards Put a New Spin on Greeting 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.

Welcome Cards Make a Lasting Impression on Employees and Neighbors

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 Donates 180,000 Personalized Holiday Cards to Soldiers’ Angels

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:

511CW 398CS 641CW

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

Personalized Message

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.