Tag: greeting cards

How Get Well Cards Helped Grandma Find a New Purpose in Life

This is a tale of one woman’s date with destiny and how simple greeting cards, a get well card, actually changed her whole outlook on life.

It all began on a late summer day three years ago. I received the dreaded call that my 84-year-old mother had fallen and broken her hip. We had no choice but to sell her home and move her into an assisted living facility since she could no longer manage on her own. My kids thought I was the devil incarnate for sending Grandma to “that awful place.” And truth be told, Grandma wasn’t a happy camper during those first few weeks. But then everything changed!

My cousin Carly, bless her soul, decided to pay Grandma a visit. She was bombarded with a litany of complaints ranging from the bland food to the poor housekeeping. Carly tried to comfort Grandma by telling her that things would get better, that everything in life has a purpose and she would soon realize that she was sent to the assisted living facility for a good reason. Grandma didn’t believe any of it and thought that Carly was just trying to cheer her up. But one day she saw the truth in her niece’s words.

As it happened, Joan, one of Grandma’s fellow residents, came down with a nasty cold. She had to take her meals in her room until she felt better. Grandma missed her terribly since they shared the same dining table. So Grandma decided to slip a GalleryCollection.com get well card under Joan’s door. Well, by the time Grandma got back to her room, her phone was ringing. It was Joan thanking Grandma for the beautiful and thoughtful get well card. Grandma later told me, “You would have thought I gave her a million dollars!”

And the rest, as they say, is history. From that day forward, Grandma felt that her reason for being there was to spread some cheer and to make her neighbors feel the joy of knowing that someone was thinking about them and wishing them well. She found that the best way to do this was to send beautiful greeting cards. Not only does she send a get well card to those who fall ill, but she gives out birthday cards and other types of greeting cards too. I guess Grandma will always complain about the bland food (“I’d like to introduce the cook to a spice rack!” she’s been known to say). But three years later, Grandma is a much happier camper and still sending those greeting cards to every one of her neighbors who can use a little bit of sunshine in their day!

Personal Notecards are Personal Indeed

Personal notecards can mean so much more than greeting cards with preprinted sentiments. Notecards enable those sending the greeting cards to truly get personal when expressing messages to recipients.

I had been ill for several months and received many greeting cards from well wishers. I was and am grateful for each and every one of the greeting cards. I wouldn’t want anyone to think that because they were not notecards I didn’t value them. But there’s just something about getting notecards with personally composed sentiments. Some people just have a knack for being able to express their feelings in notecards. They can use their sense of humor or reminisce about a shared memory. My cousin is a person like this.

My cousin and I spent many vacations with our family. During my illness, she would keep me cheered up by sending me notecards and other fun greeting cards, and enclosing pictures of us on the vacations and other family events. The notecards never failed to make me laugh myself out of the blues.

The crowning glory of her notecard sending was when I was declared fit to resume my life. She sent me a notecard with a picture of a naked baby on a bearskin rug. Inside the greeting card she wrote, “I can barely contain my happiness over your full recovery!” Her P.S. was the kicker: “P.S. I have sent this photo & note to everyone in the family.”

Maybe I should reconsider my support of personal notecards!

Recycled Paper Greeting Cards Really Speak to Me

I love that little green triangle of arrows I see when I’m shopping for greeting cards. Sometimes it’s printed on the back of greeting cards, sometimes tucked discreetly inside. The symbol makes the birthday cards, thank you cards or holiday cards I just fell in love with even more of a prized purchase.

The rate at which the U.S. and many other nations produce manufacturing waste has fueled such stress on our environment; knowing that I can reduce (or even eliminate) some of this by actively seeking recycled paper cards makes my final choices a snap. Waste is waste, whether it’s directly from the factory floor or paper fiber that has lived several lives before its usefulness has ended. I want to be sure that throwaways in any condition get second (and third, and fourth) chances to do the same jobs that sparkling new natural resources do, so that our natural resources stay abundant and sparkling. Recycling, and its continued support by an ever-growing world population, gives me hope.

Doing my part at home means that each newspaper, magazine, and piece of mail that has served its purpose goes straight to my paper-saving bin for once-a-week recycling pickup. As a regular purchaser of manufactured products, it means looking high and low, online and in stores, for the companies that have made the extra effort to offer high quality papers or greeting cards using either pre- or post-consumer discards.

Whenever I choose greeting cards for various occasions, I try to illustrate my commitment to “beautiful and recycled.” Not only can good resource management and beauty go hand-in-hand, but truly that they should. The little green triangle of arrows printed on the back of my greeting cards speaks volumes.

A Thank You Card Favor for my Persuasive Daughter

I was on my way to CVS the other day to pick up a few things when I got a phone call about, believe it or not, a thank you card or more specifically company thank you cards. Now normally when I’m driving I don’t even answer my cell phone, good driver and law-abiding citizen that I am. But the caller ID told me that it was my lovely daughter on the other end. I knew that if I didn’t answer she would keep on calling until I did. If anything, she’s persistent. So I reluctantly answered my phone.

She wanted to know if I could do her “a little favor.” After quietly muffling a groan, I told her that I only had about 20 minutes to spare since I had to meet my sister for lunch. “No problem” she says. “This will only take a few minutes.” How many times have I heard that one before? Nothing ever takes a few minutes. When you live in Northern Jersey it could take you 45 minutes to go 2 miles on Route 80 when one of those tractor trailers overturns like they do a gazillion times a month. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, the daughter…like the time she asked me for a ride to pick up her car at the body shop. “It will only take a few minutes.” One hour and 17 minutes later we pulled into the body shop. But I digress.

Back to the phone call: “OK” I said, trying not to sound too annoyed. “What do you want?” She says. “Remember my client, the guy with the bad toupee and the breath to match?” “How could I forget him?” I say. “Well,” she says, “He just sent an awesome gift basket to my boss to thank us for all the help we’ve been to him. I want to send him a really nice thank you card and it would be great to have a supply of greeting cards on hand for all our clients. So I was thinking, could you pick me up a few thank you cards at CVS or better yet, could you order a box of company thank you cards from your company for my boss? Your greeting cards are really terrific and I know that my boss will be impressed when he sees them.” (Boy, can she lay it on heavy when she wants something!) “Sure!” I said “That’s a great idea, very thoughtful, not to mention the brownie points for you. Is that all?” I asked, finding it hard to believe I got off that easy. “Well,” she says, “Now that you mention it, could you pick up my dry cleaning? It will only take you a few minutes.” Arghh!!!

Birthday Cards Help Celebrate an Unforgettable 50th Birthday

My 50th birthday will be remembered forever and not only because of the birthday cards I received! We have a tradition in our office of taking out the “birthday girl” on all major milestone birthdays. There is a group of 15 or so people who belong to this special birthday gathering. We go to the same restaurant year after year to celebrate, gossip, drink and generally have fun.

My 50th birthday started out rather routinely except for the excessive “over the hill” gag jokes which included Depends, a silly cane, and some not-so-nice gags I won’t mention (I often say “with friends like mine, I don’t need enemies!”). I did receive some lovely happy birthday cards though and I enjoyed reading through each of the greeting cards my friends gave me.

Soon after dinner arrived, I noticed my friend Dolly looking at me with bug eyes, face turning red and not saying anything. I continued to look at her with a blank stare until the woman next to her said, ”Oh my gosh, she’s choking!” Not even thinking, I jumped up, grabbed her from behind and started doing the Heimlich maneuver. It was not working and I felt her going down to the floor. Getting panicky, I thought if she falls on the floor it’s over. I gave one last frantic squeeze and out popped the lodged piece of steak. Dolly sat down and I collapsed in my seat thinking I was going to have a heart attack due to the adrenaline rush and die on my 50th birthday!

Well needless to say, this event has been mentioned every year since my 50th as my birthday draws near, and in every birthday card I receive from Dolly. It will be my most memorable birthday ever, not because of the happy birthday cards I received, but because both of us survived the ordeal. In the future, please just send the personalized birthday cards and skip the excitement! My heart’s getting too old to handle it!

Birthday Cards Can Say More Than Happy Birthday

Corporate birthday cards are a part of my daily life because I work at a greeting cards company.  I love each and every birthday card we sell and lately, I’ve been comparing every birthday card I see in stores to our own premium quality greeting cards. Every time I go to a stationery store to buy a birthday card I cannot help but notice that most of the birthday cards are not as high quality as ours.  I compare everything from the greeting to the designs to the foils and the envelopes, and in my mind, GalleryCollection.com birthday cards always prevail.

Of course, the purpose of sending a birthday card is to wish someone a happy birthday.  But besides that, the quality of the card can send another message.  To me, one of the most important features on any birthday card, but especially corporate birthday cards, is the paper the greeting card is printed on.  Thick and beautiful paper says so much about the high standards of the company producing the birthday cards.  Sending recycled paper cards or greeting cards printed on FSC certified paper also sends a message to the person you are sending the greeting card to that you care about keeping our planet as healthy as possible. That is perhaps the most important message we can send to anyone, but saying “Happy Birthday” with a quality, unique birthday card design also says quite a lot whether it is on a personal or business-related basis.

What Does a Pickle Have to Do with Get Well Cards?

I was sitting here eating a pickle and thought: “I should send get well cards to my brother-in-law.” I know…what does a pickle have to do with greeting cards, or for that matter my brother-in-law? Are you thinking that I want to say my brother-in-law is sour? Or are you thinking that I get a scrunched up face when I think of him? Actually, I really like my brother-in-law. He’s a little guy with a great sense of humor, but he doesn’t really resemble a pickle. Isn’t it strange how one thought will trigger another?

Here’s the story of get well cards and Bobby, my brother-in-law, and how I found out he loves greeting cards as much as I do. A few years ago, I was at my sister’s house in New Mexico and she said, “You have to see Bobby’s collection of greeting cards from you. He has them all arranged on the windmill.” Sure enough there were birthday cards, thinking of you cards, and a few just for laughs cards. He saved all of the greeting cards I sent him and right in front was a card with a pickle on the front, which he claims is his favorite.

Unfortunately, Bobby recently had a stroke and is in rehab doing physical therapy to regain use of his left arm and leg. I like to send him a few greeting cards a week to encourage him and keep him cheered up. So I sent off the get well card, but regrettably, I couldn’t find one with a pickle.

Business Anniversary Cards Used for Personal Gain

It seems that each year my wife and I keep buying more anniversary cards to send out to friends, family and clients. I think we sent out around 15 anniversary cards last year and this will only increase over the next couple of years.

So to alleviate the stress of having to find the perfect greeting cards each time we need to send them, we decided to place a bulk order for 25 business anniversary cards. While these business anniversary cards are normally used in a corporate environment, we liked them because the greeting cards were elegant yet simple. When placing the order, we purposely did not include a personalized imprint on the inside of the anniversary cards. By doing so, we are now able to personalize each greeting card by writing our own little note to the individuals it was being sent to.

Buying business anniversary cards is very convenient for us, as it has saved us on time and stress. In fact, I have a funny story on how the convenience of the anniversary cards affected my own personal life. A few weeks ago, my wife and I celebrated our anniversary. I was so focused on finding the right gift that I totally forgot about buying greeting cards. I remembered this at the last second and reached for one of the anniversary cards we recently purchased. I figured this greeting card (along with a personal note) would be better than no greeting card at all.

About an hour later I gave my wife the anniversary card and was eager to see her reaction. When she opened it, she started to laugh hysterically. When she finally gained her breath, I asked her why she was laughing. She then reached behind her back and gave me her greeting card…it was the exact same one!

Assorted Greeting Cards Will Get me Organized!

I start out each year with the same thought: “I am going to get organized! This is the year that I will be the person I want to be.” Who is that, you might ask? I want to be the person who has a place for everything, and everything in its place. Not the person who has small piles of papers, laundry, magazines, bills etc. all over the house. I want to be the person who quickly and efficiently accomplishes all of those items on her to-do list. Not the person who loses her to-do list! I want to be the person who remembers all of her family and friends’ birthdays and sends them birthday cards that arrive either on or before the actual day. Not the person who remembers the day before, the day of, or let’s face it, more often than not the day after (okay, I’ll admit it, sometimes it’s been the week after).

This year I’m going to be armed with assorted greeting cards so that I am never caught off guard. Whenever I realize that I need to send birthday cards or thank you cards, I can go and find the perfect greeting card from my boxed birthday cards. My aunt recently came to a family get-together and went around asking everyone their birthdays and writing it in a book she had received as a gift called “The Book of Birthdays.” I thought it was the coolest thing. I thought I had found just what I needed to get organized and be on top of sending greeting cards, which obviously is no small feat. It’s basically just a book like a journal with all of the days of the year so you can write everyone’s birthday, anniversary, etc. in it and be ready to mail out assorted greeting cards. No more transferring birthdays and anniversaries to the new calendar year after year. Especially since last year I threw away the old calendar and didn’t realize until a week later that I hadn’t copied over all those very important dates! Of course, then I realized that I would actually need to remember to go pull out the book each week to see if there were any special occasions coming up that I needed to send greeting cards for, and I lost my enthusiasm.

Now I’ve signed up at one of those websites that will remind you via email or text message when you have an important occasion coming up and need to send greeting cards. You can determine when you want the reminder sent and if you need a second reminder, they even do that too. So I’m all set. Now, I just need to find my to-do list!

Congratulations Cards for Ecstatic Sports Fans

Certainly, it makes one feel terrific to send congratulations cards to friends or acquaintances who have special, personal events that are causes for joy; for instance, the birth of a child, a graduation, the purchase of a new house, a promotion or new job. To be the recipient of such greeting cards at happy times in life can provide memories that are hard to forget.

A few friends actually sent me congratulations cards for a non-traditional kind of event –when the New York Giants won the 2008 Super Bowl. For me, the Giants’ victory over an obviously superior New England Patriots team was one of the high points of my life, since I have been a die-hard Giants fan as far back as I remember. So it was pretty cool to receive greeting cards for this occasion.

In my office, there are two coworkers whom I consider good friends, and who both happen to be devout Patriots fans. None of the three of us actually believed that the Giants really could win but, when it happened, my two buddies were distraught. I, on the other hand, was overjoyed.

Now I consider myself to be a pretty upstanding, honorable guy. In a competition of any type, if I do not have the good fortune of coming out as the winner, I make it my business to make sure I shake my adversary’s hand and give the proper verbal kudos to their victory. Back at work the next morning, one of these coworkers was kind enough to murmur a half-hearted congratulations while the other not only was MAD AT ME (like I had thrown the winning touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress), but he refused to even acknowledge that the Giants were even good enough to be on the same field as the Patriots. Had I received congratulations cards from one or both, I would have made sure to frame them and put them on the wall of my newly-refurbished basement as a fond remembrance of an unlikely victory for my favorite team. But it was not to be. Maybe for the fun of it, next year I’ll send these two friends anniversary cards commemorating the day the Giants won the big game!