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!
Great idea! I also never think of sending cards until the last minute. After reading rour blog, i will definitely be sending my cards out earlier this year.
Those cards sound beautiful! I would like to get an early start on sending them out and actually having people get them before the holiday rush. I’ll check out that site you mentioned and get myself moving this year!
I had a look around the personalized cards page and I’m impressed. Those look a lot fancier than the ones you get from a store… plus it must be great not to have to sign them all if you’re sending out dozens of the things!
I’ve actually seen the card designs that Prudent Publishing company has! They are classy and elegant – beautiful designs! I ordered last year’s Christmas cards from there, and got many compliments from my customers.