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Hallmark Voice Cards

Do you remember the white heat of technology that bought us the musical card? No longer was it enough to simply write a personal message. Instead you had to have your  senses assaulted by a musical watch alarm embedded in the card that sounded like a mosquito being disemboweled. Worse still, in some cases the damn thing wouldn’t switch off causing a never ending rendition of How much is that Doggy in the Window even as it was taken away to become landfill.

Fortunately, this was a fad and now these cards can only be found in your local Pound shop. However, it seems that we are on the verge of another wave of noisy cards.

The Internet allows people to  personalise their cards online and then have them printed. Now Hallmark have introduced cards that record your voice and play back the message when the card is opened.

One can only imagine greetings cards of the future with a holographic projector like in Star Wars. ‘Happy Birthday Obi Wan Kenobi, kcshhh’

Tags: Hallmark voice cards

Happy Holidays

This festive year there was a noticeable change to the language used on cards, no longer are we allowed to refer to cards given in December as ‘Christmas cards’ as this is now perceived to be politically incorrect and insulting. I can understand the need not to send cards with religious images and bible quotes on them to people who aren’t Christian, but maybe ‘happy holidays’ and ‘seasons greetings’ is a little bit too far?

Having grown up with close friends and colleagues from a variety of faiths and those with no faith, no one has ever felt insulted because a card that said happy Christmas. Many of my friends from all faiths send Christmas cards, put up Christmas trees and exchange Christmas presents on Christmas day and not one of them refer to them as the ‘holidays’. I will continue to send all my friends Christmas cards, the political correctness crew had better watch out!

Card making – is it for you?

I am not a creative person – my skills are based in relationship building and analysis results. However when it comes to a loved one’s birthday and it is a few days before payday so you are slightly strapped for cash – then a fantastic way to save money and also make the recipient very happy is to make your own card!

You don’t need to be a designer to create a card – the person who you give the greetings card to will be extremely grateful for the time and effort you have put in to it. You can buy some high quality cardboard and carry out some research online for some ideas – Then the fun starts – it’s time to get cutting out and colouring in… HAVE FUN!

Tags: Card making, create a card, design a card, make a greetings card, make your own card

Be warned… Read the message inside the card!

Clinton Cards apparently offer a vast range of cards – from Birthday cards, Christmas cards, Sorry you’re leaving cards and Good Luck Cards.  Now me being who I am, I am quite particular about the design of the card and the message inside. I once made the terrible mistake of buying my mum a card and the message inside said; “Thanks for being a great mum – you will be sadly missed”. Who writes that inside a card??!! Also who buys it without reading it??

Me… obviously, so the moral of the story is – never be too busy to read the message! And even if you have time it is always nicer to write your own special message in a card rather than relying on the card manufacturers!!

Tags: Birthday cards, Christmas cards, Good Luck Cards, Sorry you're leaving cards

Moon Pig It

Recently, I have been looking for the perfect birthday card for my boyfriend but after rifling through a collection of the same boring old selection in numerous card shops decided to try “Moon Pig.”
A few of my friends have used the internet based card company previously to send personalised, humorous cards, which are surprisingly cheap. The cards start at £1.99 and guarantee next day delivery. This is doubly useful if you’re a last minute shopper like me.
You can customise each one by personalising the names and ages on the cards as well as uploading your own images or mug shots of friends.
I settled for a humorous birthday card in the end and slushy card for Valentine’s Day containing an inside joke which I felt that my boyfriend would appreciate. In addition I really think that the cards show that you have thought about the person. I recommend it for all those special occasions.

Kids’ Corner

I find the best way to make a card look instantly personal, arty, and damn right adorable, is to get your 4 year old to make it. I gave my son the opportunity to produce thank you/ happy new year cards for all our friends and relatives and he made a fantastic effort. There was sequins, glitter, and stickers galore. I even managed to get him to sign his own name in the end after lots of practice (and patience on my part).
We even managed to find space on the page to add some ‘Happy New Year stamps which gave a ‘professional’ touch. A plastic table cover gave my eager 4 year old ample freedom and margin for error especially whilst using the felt tips and PVC. I have to admit that I had just as much fun as he did and was flattered when he complimented me on my writing. I purchased a lot of my crafty items from Tesco and was surprised that they had so much variety, from coloured card to special squiggly scissors.

I finished off the cute effect by adding a picture of my son, enjoying his toys at Christmas guaranteeing to pull on the heart strings of any recipient.
My friends absolutely loved them and have now requested hand-made fridge pictures. One step at a time.

Easter Card

In about a week Christmas will well and truly be over. It’s a shame that all the preparation that goes into it leads up to just one day but as long as you’ve planned, Christmas should be amazing. The same happens for Easter, which is the next big event that will involve cards and more importantly a break from work!! Last year my friend who makes his own personalised cards spent about two minutes creating a magical Easter card for me which I will keep forever. It was a piece of handmade card which he drew an Easter bunny in an egg shell, put some watercolour paint on it and signed it. It was so simple but so effective and I would recommend making your own cards, i did it this year for a few special relatives and friends and can’t wait to see their faces when they get them on Christmas day.

The thought does count

When people leave their job (under good terms!) there’s always a leaving card that gets passed around for everyone to sign. I have noticed that on every card the gets passed around whether it be birthday, congratulations or leaving cards, most people write exactly the same things over and over again. I always think it’s not really worth signing a card if you’re just going to put ‘best wishes’, ‘happy birthday’ or ‘congratulations’ and sign your name. So it’s my new year’s resolution to write something a little bit personal on cards to people. When I get a card from work people, the people that take the time and put the thought into writing something relevant to me are always appreciated. Take the time when writing your wishes, the thought does count.

Thank you

It is that time of year again when my social calendar just gets ridiculously booked up in the run up to Christmas! Now I want to make it clear, I am not complaining and I really enjoy having lots of fun social events to go to and catching up with friends and relatives.
It gives me a great reason to send a thank you card. With everyone rushing around like headless chickens particularly over the Christmas period, it is a lovely when someone takes the time to show their appreciation by writing a personal thank you message. With the era of the text message, I love receiving thank you cards, as you know whoever sent it went out of their way to make sure you feel that little bit more appreciated.

Loyalty Cards

Looking through my wallet the other day I realised how many ‘loyalty’ cards I had racked up over time.  Many of these from my days as a student, when the student ‘pound’ is seen as something businesses will be falling over themselves to compete for.  Whether I could be classed as a loyal customer to any of them would be debatable as many of these cards are either expired or probably for businesses aren’t close to me anymore.

So this raises the question, are they just a clever marketing ploy, where businesses know the vast majority of people will take them and not use them again, or if they do it will be on a very rare occasion.  Or maybe they want to encourage people to use them, but restrict there use to off-peak business times.  I guess at the end of the day, discounted business is better than no business.