Author: Henry L.

Design 725CS – Vintage Holiday Greetings

The old family Woody! Design 725CS – Vintage Holiday Greetings Card, is the perfect image for personalized holiday cards. Most people love to see that old automobile in photos or drawings; it may bring back fond memories of times past, a reminder of friends and family and holiday traditions that you still pass on to this day. What a great way to put a smile on the face of everyone who receives this treasured holiday classic!

Design 725CS – Vintage Holiday Greetings Card, is a beautiful watercolor of the woody wagon automobile all dressed up for the season, carrying home the beloved family Christmas tree and all decked out with a wreath pinned to the grill of the car. The bright Christmas red of the automobile against the green tree makes this card a true stand out. It is finished off with a hint of silver foil to add a little bit of sparkle. This holiday card is so beautiful it can be framed and displayed, and bring joy to all who see it, all year long.

Design 725CS - Vintage Holiday Greetings Card
Design 725CS - Vintage Holiday Greetings Card

Take Your Child To Work Day 2011

I love and totally support “Take Your Child to Work Day”. When my son was growing up, he would constantly ask me what I do when I go to work. Explaining it was easy, but I don’t think he could imagine the way I would look or how I would talk, act or interact with the people I worked with. Whoever first convinced their employer to let them bring in their child should take a bow, because it has become widespread and accepted by a large number of forward thinking employers. My son now takes himself to work, and probably doesn’t ever think about what I do on a daily basis.

Feeling a little left out of this new yearly event, I watched other people’s children come to work with their mother and father. Living vicariously through them I experienced how much joy and pride their parents were feeling. Not actual jealously, but always just a touch of what if.

Take Your Child To Work Day 2011
The children had lots of fun at the office, and they learned a lot too!

This year my niece mentioned that she would not be taking her daughter, Grace, to work with her and I jumped all over that. “Maybe Grace would like to come with me”, I offered. Believe it or not Grace was so thrilled she had to immediately pick out her outfit a week in advance. Bright and early she showed up on my doorstep for the trip to work with a backpack full of things to do, assuming she would be bored.

Grace was thrilled to see that other children had come to work and there were activities for them. They were designing greeting cards, working on a newsletter and touring the office. She discovered in one day what I have always known: that I work for a fabulous company. The company provided a pizza lunch for the children, but more importantly they allowed us the time to show the children the intricate workings of a company. The president even spent time interviewing the children. Grace never opened her backpack and informed me she would be coming again next year. High praise!

Three things I re-learned from taking Grace to work.:
1. It is never too late to experience something new.
2. You don’t have to be a parent to experience parental feelings.
3. Children will always surprise and delight you.

My recommendation to you would be take the time next year to experience the total delight of having a child with you at work. If don’t have your own child – borrow one. Parents are surprisingly ready to lend their children out free of charge.

Design 713CS – Glowing Ornament Christmas Card

I remember many a Christmas Eve, much like Design 713CS – Glowing Ornament Christmas Card, when I was younger and it would snow. There was about a foot of snow on the ground and everyone was walking to Church for the midnight service, and I felt such an overwhelming sense of peace. As I entered the church there was warmth and a feeling of belonging. Later that evening we all sat together near the tree and read our Christmas cards, and everything seemed right in the world.

When I look at Design 713CS – Glowing Ornament Christmas Card, I imagine the peaceful serenity of that Christmas Eve as the choir sings in the small village church surrounded by pine trees and twinkling stars. The snow is slowly falling in fluffy flakes as you warmly embrace the message of joy on a cold December evening. That sense of belonging and peace is enclosed in this holiday ornament card depicted on a glossy white card stock. The pale blue ribbon and colorful ornament are lined in elegant silver foil next to the simple message of Merry Christmas.

Design 713CS - Glowing Ornament Christmas Card
Design 713CS - Glowing Ornament
Christmas Card

I know when you send this card everyone receiving it this Christmas will feel that you have shared something special with them.

Staying Connected with Birthday Cards for Business

I work at a large, international company. It is often difficult for such a company to make its employees feel special and appreciated as individuals. As much as they would like to, senior management simply cannot speak one-on-one with each and every employee. One easy way for such a company to make its employees feel individually valued is to send them each an individual birthday card. Birthday cards for business can be personalized to each employee, and imprinted with a company’s logo and names of the company executives. The executives can sign the cards, or even have their signatures imprinted on the cards.

There are many themes to choose from: celestial, gift boxes, balloons, etc. Whatever style is chosen, corporate birthday cards are sure to brighten an employee’s day! They are also an easy, cost-efficient, and friendly way for a large company to stay connected to the people who matter most.

Design 826CX – Holly Berry Season’s Greetings

Design 826CX – Holly Berry Season’s Greetings, is a design that truly invokes the beauty of nature during the holiday season. The simplicity of nature has always shown me beauty which enables me to decorate my home for the holidays with style and grace. Gathering holly and berries is an annual event for my family. We go to our place in the country for a weekend every year in early December. Bright and early after a pancake breakfast we visit the local Christmas tree farm and cut down the perfect tree and amidst friendly teasing we tie it to the top of our car. Saturday afternoon finds us out in the woods gathering all the holly and berries we will need for the season. It’s always a wonderful family memory that lingers long after the holidays are over. Every year I try to find personalized Christmas cards for my office that match the wonderful holiday feelings that trip to the country gives me.

Design 826CX - Holly Berry Season’s Greetings
Design 826CX - Holly Berry Season’s Greetings

Design 826CX – Holly Berry Season’s Greetings, is a lovely hunter green card embossed with gentle swirls. The gold frame in the center appears to have a mesh screen of gold with a perfect gathering of gold foil holly branches highlighted by red foil berries. These are gathered together with a brighter green foil ribbon and bow with the simple message of “Season’s Greetings” printed below. A perfectly elegant holiday card with good thoughts sent from a firm of people who love the simple pleasures of life.

World Events that Shape & Shatter Lives

After the official announcement that Osama Bin Laden was dead was made by the networks and confirmed by President Obama late last night, the cameras showed crowds of people outside the White House and New York’s Times Square joyously celebrating.  But when I heard the news, I did not feel joy.  Yes, I did feel some relief that, after almost a decade since 9/11, we finally found the man responsible for all the killings, meeting out the long ago-promised justice.   I am proud to be an American and that feeling of unity we all felt after that fateful day has returned.  It took awhile, OBL was now silenced forever.

But I immediately began to wonder what the ramifications would be.  Would it demoralize terrorists all over the world now that their leader was dead and make our country and the world’s future safer?  Or, would his death infuriate terrorists so that we will need to be more ready than ever for acts of vengeance?  More importantly, does the death of Bin Laden bring any real closure to those who lost loved ones on that day almost 10 years ago?

Will sympathy cards be sent to those who have loved and lost on the 10th anniversary of September 11 to demonstrate their beloved father, mother, son, daughter or friend is gone but in no way forgotten?

I invite those who have an opinion about yesterday’s events to add their comments.

Moms, Manners, and Corporate Thank You Cards

When I was a little girl, my mother not only taught my siblings and me manners, she insisted on us using them. From as far back as I can remember, she never let us get away without using them. Oh, Dad contributed to these life lessons as well, but it was Mom who was the diligent enforcer of the rules. Saying “Thank you” was just as important as “Please,” “May I,” or “Excuse me.” Thank you was a way to acknowledge that you appreciated what the person had done for you. What does this have to do with corporate thank you cards you might ask? Just think how you feel when you have taken the time to do something for someone and they don’t even acknowledge it. You might think it was a waste of time and why would you bother to do anything else. In business, that is the last message we want to convey. Whether or not it is an employee or a business associate makes no difference. Everyone wants and needs to be appreciated.

Now I’m not saying that if one doesn’t receive a thank you note every time that they do something, they won’t do it again. What I am saying is, knowing that someone has taken the time to show that they have noticed your efforts will go a long way in the goodwill department.

My mother used to have a saying (and I bet your mother did too) – You will catch more bees with honey….you know the rest. What applies in your personal world applies in the corporate world. Now more than ever, it is important to apply all of those life lessons that our mothers tried so hard to instill in us. Although my mother is no longer with us, I am grateful everyday that she took the time to ensure that manners became a part of my everyday world. I don’t have to think about it. It is a part of my everyday. It’s as natural as brushing my teeth.

Although not limited to thank you cards, keeping a supply of business greeting cards on hand is one of the best ways to convey your message. Having a supply on hand ensures that you will always have a card ready to go, for any occasion.

Design 709CS – Greetings from Paradise

Whether this scene is on an island in the Caribbean or somewhere along the coast of Florida, Design 709CS – Greetings From Paradise, certainly does look like paradise to me!  There aren’t many people in the country this year who weren’t suffering through one of the coldest, snowiest winter seasons in a long while.  Just think what a breath of fresh air it will be for them as they gear up for another snowy winter this upcoming Christmas and then receive  sunny personalized Christmas cards!

Design 709CS – Greetings From Paradise, is perfect for just about anyone…those that live in a sunny, warm climate or those that just wish they did!  I love how the light foil accents really make it look like the Christmas lights on the trees and boat are twinkling! The embossing really makes this card come to life.  Your “warm” holiday greetings conveyed by this card will be welcomed by all on your Christmas list.

Design 709CS - Greetings from Paradise Holiday Card
Design 709CS - Greetings from Paradise
Holiday Card

Holiday Greeting Cards Can Keep The Boss Happy

The holiday season is meant to be peaceful and joyful; travel to any mall, however, and I can assure you that “peace” and “joy” are not the adjectives you would use to describe the chaotic scene. While Christmas is for enjoying time with family and friends, there seems to be a certain level of stress that goes along with it. I felt this stress firsthand at my new job, and all over something as simple as holiday greeting cards!

I was hired in October, mostly as an assistant to the general manager. About two weeks into the job, my boss says, “I’m thinking of sending out Christmas cards this year. Get on that.” That was it. No directions. No follow-up. His directions were simply, “get on that”. Being new to the job, I didn’t want to let him down. But I had no idea where to begin! I thought I’d just head to one of those mall stores and buy cards, but my company was comprised of at least 300 clients. There was no way I could buy all those cards, and then write a personal message in each one! (I knew that was the direction this project would take; I was sure “get on that” meant my boss would in no way actually be touching or addressing his cards). So, left with no other recourse, I turned to the one place that had never failed me: the Internet. And there, I found the answer: imprinted holiday cards!

Imprinted holiday cards saved my job! I may be exaggerating, of course, but I was so eager to please my boss in those first early weeks that I really saw these cards as a miracle. I was able to choose a design and personalize a message inside; this saved me loads of time having to write something in each card. I imprinted the company name, as well as my boss’s name underneath. The cards were beautiful, and the imprint really shimmered and stood out in the gold foil I had chosen. Fortunately, my boss approved of the cards with his characteristic nod of the head. He’s not one for words. But the cards were a hit in the office; everyone loved them, and they kept commenting on how happy they were that they didn’t have to sign 300 cards! I loved how elegant and professional these cards looked, that I even decided to order some holiday cards for myself! I’ll be sure to “get on that” by ordering these cards again next year.

The Greeting Card Scholarship That Keeps on Giving

When Dawnee Burson, a Graduate student at Utah State University pursuing a master of natural resources degree with National Environmental Policy Act certification, won our 4th Annual $10,000 Create-A-Greeting Card Scholarship Contest we were gratified that such a deserving student was the recipient of our scholarship.

As some may know, a rather unique aspect of our scholarship contest is the additional $1,000 that is awarded to the school of the winner each year. So you can imagine that when we spoke with Nat Frazer, the Dean of Natural Resources at Utah State University, and learned that the University would be using the $1,000 to award an additional scholarship to an undergraduate student at USU’s College of Natural Resources we were thrilled.

Sure enough not long after hearing the good news, we received a picture taken at the April 9, 2011 College Awards Banquet ceremony. The College of Natural Resources came up with a wonderful idea to ask Dawnee to be present at the ceremony to help present the scholarship. The photo below features Dawnee Burson standing along side the recipient of the $1,000 scholarship, Michaela Stuver.

Dawnee Burson and Michaela Stuver
Dawnee Burson and Michaela Stuver

Michaela, we learned, is a sophomore from Orem, Utah majoring in Environmental Studies.  Her emphasis is communication and she would like to run a program that educates people about the world around them.

Michaela Stuver

The Gallery Collection congratulates both Dawnee Burson and Michaela Stuver on winning their scholarships. We are confident that both of these young women will be putting the funds to excellent use in furthering their academic careers and helping to do some good in the world.

Contest submissions for our 5th Annual Create-A-Greeting Card $10,000 Scholarship are accepted through January 12, 2012. To find out more information on how you can enter and win visit our Greeting Card Contest Page.