Category: Personalized Christmas Cards

Who would have thought in these days of instant news and entertainment, getting Christmas cards would have such sentimental value.  We all have anywhere from 50 to 100+ friends on Facebook, Twitter or some other form of social media.  But realistically, how many of those friends would you send, or would send you a Christmas card?  How many of these so-called friends actually “know” you?  Besides looking/commenting on their latest holiday status updates and pictures do you really care about expressing holiday cheer to these so-called friends?  But when you get a card, you know for sure, you have friends beyond the confines of social media.  The fact that you are receiving something in the mail, that you can touch and feel, and has been specifically sent to you, means more than any “like” or “status update”!

Personalized Christmas cards take this a step further.  The fact that your friend or loved-one, took the time to not only select a beautiful card, but express their personal sentiments gives that annual Christmas card even greater meaning.  It means I’m not just a blip on your screen; I’m a person worthy of the time and effort it takes to send a distinctive greeting.  For me it means we’re connected in the real world and it makes me feel special.

With another Christmas holiday fast approaching, it is yet again up to me, and me alone, to come up with the best way to say happy holidays to our family and friends – only this year is VERY different.   This year marks my 1^st year of marriage to my husband Rick and I very much want to impress my new family and friends with personalized Christmas cards commemorating our marriage.

It is very important I pick out just the right card, with just the right personalization.  Let’s face it, my mother-in-law never thought I was good enough for her baby boy.  I’m sure there are many of you who can relate, and who are dealing with this same problem I am dealing with right now.  Though my mother-in-law always seems to be criticizing me about one thing or another, I am refusing to give her yet another reason especially in regards to our Christmas cards.

The quality of the card I choose has to be of course perfect.  In order to do so, there are a few steps I have to follow to find this perfect card.  First step, I have to light the fireplace. We moved into our new apartment that actually has a fireplace and I’ve been waiting for this moment since moving in.  Second step, find my favorite Christmas CD to play, and last but not least, make myself a cup of my favorite vanilla flavored hot chocolate to relax me for the long search ahead.

Well, I’m sure some of you are wondering how this story ended.  I finally did find that one special card, with just the right wording that touched my mother-in-law in such a special way that we actually became much closer. In fact, she has even asked me to be the one to help pick out her Christmas cards in the coming year.

Working for 25 years for a company that produces Christmas cards has made me very aware of the cards I receive during the holidays. I like to look at the quality of paper and the original designs.  I have a cousin who is an exceptional artist and every year she designs her own cards. The cards she draws are beautiful, but they can only be appreciated by family members.

Last year she painted a beautiful likeness of our grandparents, when they were first married. It was such an amazing creation that all the cousins had the painting framed and displayed in our homes. As we got closer to the holidays I couldn’t help but wonder what the theme for her card would be this year.

When the card arrived in the mail I could not wait to open it. My first impression was that it’s just a painting of Santa. He is sitting on a recliner looking at what appears to be a list of good and bad children. As I looked further at the card I recognized my aunt’s living room, and the gentlemen with the white hair and white beard was not Santa at all. The man in the recliner was my Uncle Jim. On the inside of the card, my cousin had written at the top “My Father Christmas.” I can’t wait to see next year’s personalized Christmas cards.

Christmas Cards are a great way to keep in touch with clients, family and friends.  Just a simple wish of peace, prosperity and happiness is all that is needed to let a person know they are in your thoughts.  That is why I always make sure to send cards to everyone in my contact list, both business and personal.

However, this year, I didn’t want to send the same old Christmas card that you buy in a package at a retail store.  I wanted to send people a card that was really from me, not just a generic piece of cardstock.  That is why I sent out personalized holiday cards this year.  Aside from standing out from the rest of cards, it just looks so much nicer!

I decided to get my cards this season from The Gallery Collection.  Aside from having such high quality cards in a wide variety of designs, they gave me the opportunity to add my personalization.  I chose the “Season’s Greetings Red Berries” card because not only was it strikingly beautiful, I was able to add my personalized touch in an elegant gold foil.  When I received my cards, I was really blown away by the look and even the feel of them.  I knew that I was going to make a great impression with the people I sent the cards to.

I sent my personalized Christmas cards last week and have already heard back from several people thanking me and telling me how nice the card was.  I actually have received more feedback this year than ever before, and I attribute a great deal of it to the personalization I put into these cards.  I was very happy with how my holiday cards came out this year and will certainly do the same again next year!

A few years ago I started working for a company that designs, prints and personalizes holiday and all-occasion greeting cards. I had never thought about buying personalized Christmas cards even though I mail out between 60 and 80 Christmas cards each year. But once I placed an order for personalized cards, I was hooked. Preparing my cards for mailing was so easy and saved so much time. The return address, personal imprint and signatures were already there, and with the peel and seal envelopes sending out my cards was a snap. The hard part was deciding which beautiful design, greeting and color I wanted.

I usually browse through the Gallery Collection website while making the difficult decision of selecting a card from the many lovely design offered. Believe me; the website does not do justice to the actual card itself. Last year, however, as soon as the new designs hit the plant my decision was made. The rich browns, yellows and golden hues of a landscape scene immediately captivated me. A brilliant yellow sun set over a golden landscape, capturing and mirroring its glorious reflection in the stillness of a lake. Taking a close look, one notices the surrounding banks and the glittering boughs are laden with snow. The colors vibrantly shout late Autumn, and bring to mind thoughts of Thanksgiving. The card states on the front ‘Season’s Greetings.’ This phrase, along with the presence of snow and the brown hues make it the perfect card to embrace the entire holiday season.

That was when an idea hit me. I work a lot of hours during the pre-Christmas season, and therefore tend to procrastinate in sending out my cards. I have, in fact, mailed them out during the Christmas week on several occasions. So I selected a greeting that would encompass Thanksgiving, the holiday season, and the New Year. I added a personal line sending loving thoughts and best wishes for a wonderful Christmas. Now my cards needed to be sent out prior to Thanksgiving, when things aren’t quite as hectic. All of my cards were mailed on time. The rich card with its golden tones looked elegant against the golden liner of the envelope.

A few days after Thanksgiving I was pleasantly surprised by a stream of positive feedback from family and friends. When you receive a card early you tend to spend more time looking it over, and everyone I knew apparently had the time to look at this one. Once my brother and sister-in-law got over the fact that their Christmas card would not be the first to be received this year, they complimented me on how beautiful mine were. Sending a card perfect for the entire holiday season was perfect for me!

Christmas Cards herald, what was always to me, the happiest time of the year.  That first card to arrive by mail, usually the day after Thanksgiving, from the one early bird sender of my acquaintances, was often the first thing that really confirmed it – Christmas was officially coming!

You may say, and I’m sure you would be right, that stores are trotting out their Christmas sales and decorations earlier every year.  To me, that seems more nagging than festive.  Sometimes I can see a reason for it: for instance, if Hanukkah is early that year, early sales and Hanukkah decorations allow equal opportunity for all holiday shoppers.  Christmas, Kwanzaa, and the New Year, however, are celebrated on the same calendar dates every year, starting way late in December.

Why am I seeing Christmas decorations everywhere before we’ve even reached Halloween?  Am I the only one who thinks it looks tacky enough to see the dregs of last-minute Halloween costumes, candies and decorations, mixed in with the occasional and obligatory cardboard pilgrims with turkey-shaped candles?  Adding insult to injury are the hastily added mechanical Santas, trees, ornaments, stockings, and cotton “snow” that have apparently been gathering dust in storerooms all summer.

And, yes, I know that I have to think about ordering my custom-made, personalized Christmas cards well before Christmas, but that’s my personal choice, not something that’s forced on me everywhere I go.  And, isn’t it enough to hear Holiday music everywhere you go during the traditional four-week Advent between Thanksgiving and Christmas?  Why must we listen to it for eight weeks?!  (Composers take note: clearly, we need more Halloween and Thanksgiving songs.)

While I find that receiving Christmas cards over the course of a month helps to stretch out the joy of the holiday, I hate seeing the commercialism stretched to the point of warping.

Now… if you really want to get my goat, we can discuss the sad, dirty, sagging, bedraggled outdoor Christmas decorations that are such an eyesore long after the holidays have passed…