Author: Henry L.

Design #152CX – Elegant Thanksgiving Wishes

Do you want to make an impression with your business clients and friends this Thanksgiving season? Well #152CX, Elegant Thanksgiving Wishes Card, is the business Thanksgiving cards design to send that will truly express your Thanksgiving goodwill in elegant style. This greeting card is printed on a smooth matte finish in tones of pale ivory and dark brown. There’s a mixed ivory and brown region of the design that resembles pressed Japanese rice paper but without the texture that rice paper has. The entire outer border of the card is framed out in dark brown, giving this thanksgiving card a corporate look.

Design #152CX - Elegant Thanksgiving Wishes Card
Design #152CX - Elegant Thanksgiving
Wishes Card

In the middle of the design is an embossed rectangular ivory border, and at the top of the border are five individually embossed framed boxes with dark brown backgrounds that spell the word H-A-P-P-Y. Inside this embossed ivory border with the five framed squares there’s another rectangle that’s in an ivory pearl finish, adding even more dimension to the classic elegance of the design. To finish the look, the word “Thanksgiving” is embossed in a large exaggerated script font that sweeps across the entire inner border of the card. The bronze foil adds a punch of color to the otherwise muted colors in the card design, and as another added bonus for anyone who purchases this business Thanksgiving card, the paper stock is environmentally friendly and proudly displays the eco-friendly symbols on the back cover. This alone will appeal to anyone with concerns about our environment.

Traditional or Contemporary Corporate Christmas Cards – the Choice is yours!

Is your company more conservative and traditional or is it more modernistic and newfangled? When selecting corporate Christmas cards to send to your clients and employees this year, keep in mind that your selection should be a reflection of your company’s business approach and its services provided. Financial institutions and medical providers might want to select a card that represents traditional values and stability whereas computer companies, retail establishments, and educational facilities might lean towards a card that is more current and futuristic. The Gallery Collection can provide many choices of both conventional and contemporary Christmas cards to our valued customers.

Gilded Holly Season’s Greetings Card, design #141CX, is the perfect timeless holiday design for a business that evokes old world values and security in a modern day world. The classic design of this card depicts a golden foil sprig of holly leaves and red berries tied together with a simple green foil ribbon. This is displayed within a gold framed box and a background of fine golden mesh. The words “Season’s Greetings” appear below the holly sprig in a classic, easy to read font. The cream colored paper stock is delicately embossed with decorative swirls throughout the face of the card. Any bank, insurance company, or medical group would be well represented during the Christmas season by choosing this card to send to their clients, customers, or patients.

Design #141CX - Gilded Holly Season's Greetings Card
Design #141CX - Gilded Holly
Season's Greetings Card

On the other hand, companies that are more progressive and futuristic might find design #897CS, Galactic Peace on Earth Die-Cut Holiday Card, an “out of this world” selection for a company that is ahead of its time in areas such as computer programming and graphics, travel, and contemporary retail products. This modern design is printed on dark blue paper stock embellished with the words “Peace on Earth” in a silver italic script. A silver and blue foiled globe is depicted surrounded by silver asteroid swirls and stars. The card’s unique feature is the die-cut opening through which two lines of personalization can show through to the front of the card. What a fun way to imprint your company name on a corporate Christmas card and wish your favorite clients and customers the best during the holiday season!

Design 897CS - Galactic Peace on Earth Die-Cut Holiday Card
Design 897CS - Galactic Peace on Earth
Die-Cut Holiday Card

Whatever design you choose to send for your corporate Christmas cards, keep in mind that The Gallery Collection has a wide variety of designs to represent your company. Many of these cards are produced using environmentally sound methods including wind power and responsible forest management. Whether you choose a card with your company name imprinted inside or one of the die-cut holiday greeting cards with the window showing your company name on the outside, all of our cards are sure to be a huge success this holiday season!

Show your Company’s Strength with Business Christmas Cards

In today’s unstable economy, it is important for corporations, big and small, to let both their customers and vendors know that they are fiscally strong and solvent. With the holiday season fast approaching, what better way to do so then by sending business Christmas cards? Even in normal market conditions, sending business Christmas cards is a classy and thoughtful way to express the greetings of the season. They also allows you to let your customers and vendors know how much you appreciate the relationship you have with them.

This year more than ever, sending corporate holiday cards will send all the right messages to customers and vendors alike. You want them to know that your corporation is successfully weathering these tough financial times. Sending business Christmas cards with a beautiful design on the finest card stock imprinted with high-quality ink is a perfect way to do so. Not to mention how surprisingly cost-effective and convenient it is! More importantly, it shows that despite the difficulties we are all facing, your company still realizes what and who is important. It may seem like a simple and subtle gesture, but it can also function as a powerful tool to reassure recipients that your company is financially sound and that you are looking forward to continuing your fruitful business relationships with them in the future.

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.

Be the Early Bird with Business Thanksgiving Cards

Ah… the energy of autumn! Children rushing back to school, leaf raking (and that annoyingly loud leaf blowing), crisp air, football mania, the hyper festivities of Halloween, the bustling crowds of Christmas shoppers. Amidst all this hurly-burly activity, Thanksgiving is that all-American pause that calms and restores us during this hectic season. (If you are the lone chef/host of your family, just go along with me here anyway, okay?)

Whether your year was banner or bust, Thanksgiving is our honored traditional time of acknowledging gratitude for the harvest from our labor. It’s also time to gather the seeds we’ll need for planting next year’s harvest. That’s where business Thanksgiving cards come into play. Arriving before Thanksgiving Day, they precede even the earliest of corporate Christmas cards, guaranteeing the uncluttered attention that sets you and your business apart and above the crowd.

Consider design #611CX, Fall Reflections Thanksgiving Card, which shows three very relaxed ducks (no fear of hunters here!) floating along on a glassy-smooth body of water. The colorful autumn trees overhanging the water shed their leaves around the handsome trio of birds. This peaceful reflection of nature has a masculine appeal. It is framed with simple embossing and sedate gold foil lines. “Happy Thanksgiving” in gold foil is gracefully centered below the frame.

Design #611CX - Fall Reflections Thanksgiving Card
Design #611CX - Fall Reflections
Thanksgiving Card

On the other hand, design #064CX, Autumn Tapestry Card, seems to make a bolder statement with its tasteful blend of autumn-colored, multi-variety leaves. It is richly pleasing to one’s tactile senses, with its deep embossing and considerable detailing. Coppery-colored foil states your wishes for a “Happy Thanksgiving” from an artful off-center position.

Design #064CX - Autumn Tapestry Card
Design #064CX - Autumn Tapestry Card

I have one more piece of advice for choosing your business Thanksgiving cards. While you want to be the “early bird” and while it may be all “yummy-good” for your personal Thanksgiving cards to picture a steaming turkey, I don’t think it would be a good idea for your business Thanksgiving cards to represent you as a turkey – steaming, stuffed, strutting, or hanging in a butcher shop window!

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.

Environmentally Friendly Holiday Cards for Every Climate

Some people can’t relate to the winter holiday season without thinking of snow. If you’re not one of those people, you might have more difficulty finding business holiday cards that suit your taste. Add to that your desire for environmentally friendly holiday cards, and you may find even fewer from which to choose. Fortunately I’ve found quite a number of Gallery Collection holiday cards that fill these criteria, and two that I think are especially appealing.

Holiday Meadow Season’s Greetings Card, design #129CW, features an intriguingly beautiful scene. You wonder where this place is because you have a sense of wanting to step right into it. Its foreground is lush with evergreens and magenta-colored heather. In the mid-ground there appears to be an expanse of misty meadow, backed by a horizon line of evergreen trees. Beyond those, a sugarloaf of snow-dusted rocky mountaintop rises to smoky violet sky. This scenery is set within tastefully shaded embossed framing, below which are the gold foil words “Season’s Greetings.” As if all that were not enough to entrance the viewer, to the sides of the frame, and superseding into the picture, are embossed evergreens and heather stem silhouettes, coated in pearly white. The framing and pearly embossing really draw the viewer into this peaceful watercolor scene.

Design #129CW - Holiday Meadow Season's Greetings Card
Design #129CW - Holiday Meadow Season's Greetings Card

Whatever your climate, whether your lifestyle is urban, suburban or rural, you can appreciate the gloriously graceful design #138CX, Golden Holiday Wreath Christmas Card. This is one of those cards that must be seen in person because no mere photo can do it justice. Set on a background of creamy matte-finish sturdy card stock, all elements of the wreath and ribbon are deeply embossed and finely detailed. The body of the wreath is shaped with three different forms of greenery, adorned with pinecones and burgundy-colored berries. Two kinds of gold foil, one shiny and one buffed, bring true three-dimensional depth to every detail. This golden wreath is crowned with a large bow of wide, flowing ribbon in a charming burgundy and gold plaid. “Season’s Greetings,” in shiny gold foil positioned lower right of the wreath, is a lovely finishing touch.

Design #138CX - Golden Holiday Wreath Christmas Card
Design #138CX - Golden Holiday Wreath
Christmas Card

The fact that both of these exquisite all-climate cards are produced using environmentally friendly methods is just the cherry on the icing on the cake!

Business Get Well Cards Speed Recovery

Business get well cards carry a great deal more weight than their size might imply. As a valued measure of one’s likability, dependability, and loyalty, business get well cards can help speed recovery. When someone is injured or ailing, the best “medicine” may be in knowing that your presence and talents are missed and needed.

Even if, perhaps especially if, an illness is chronic or terminal, the thoughtfulness of warm and caring wishes can soothe and soften a difficult endurance. If it’s not appropriate to say “get well soon” or “wishing you a speedy recovery,” you can still say “Thinking of you…”

Nor does it have to be an accident or a germ that gives you reason to wish someone well. Many good people wage daily battles against addiction, whether of alcohol, narcotics, cigarettes, foods or even nail-biting. Your private acknowledgment and encouragement of accomplishments can help a valued employee strengthen his or her resolve.

When economical fortitude is tested, business get well cards can foster perseverance. They can let others know, “We’re in this together and together we will heal and succeed!” A timely business get well card may help to keep your favorite vendor from giving in and giving up. It may help your valued client to act from optimism instead of from pessimism. And, in the great wheel of what-goes-around-comes-around, this thoughtful statement will demonstrate your own strength, optimism, and fortitude – a winning combination!

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.

A Business Christmas Cards Reminiscence

As the corporate greeting cards Creative Director for The Gallery Collection, I ‘m privileged to have been involved with our business Christmas cards designs for the last 20 years and I have watched, in amazement, our growth in technology, creativity, and talent.

When our Creative Team gets together to review ideas and designs, they will groan when I start reminiscing about “back in the day” when my only design tools were a pair of scissors and some rubber cement and there was only one computer on the entire floor, reserved for management only…no artist-types allowed! Groaning aside, those old-fashioned ideals that I was fortunate enough to have been taught then – of making quality and imaginative corporate Christmas cards, with quality materials supported by top-notch customer service – were lessons well-learned and principles that have remained strong in this fast-paced, electronic world we live in now.

Today, the Creative Team works away on state-of-the-art Macs with the most up-to-date programs, utilizing all the newest technologies available. Although, in maintaining traditions, we still pull out the scissors and some glitter pens from time to time and still manage to go home with glue in our hair!