Tag: Personalized Christmas Cards

Christmas Cards – Adding a Personal Touch

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!

Personalized Christmas Cards for the Entire Holiday Season

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 Help Stretch My Happy Season

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…

‘Twas Right Before Christmas

‘Twas right before Christmas, when all thro’ the place
The workers were working at such a great pace;
The typists were typing the papers with care,
The phones were a’ringing, their sound filled the air;
The clerks were nestled all snug at their desks,
With visions of Turkeys still so picturesque.

And Fran at the copier and I at the file
decided to have coffee in just a short while;
When out in the hall there arose such a clatter,
We sprang to the doorway to see what was the matter;
When what to our wondering eyes should appear
But the boss his arms waving, his look full of fear.
More rapid than eagles his voice how it came
As he shouted and called us all by our name,
Now, Mary, now, Fran, now Alex and Brian
Up Gert and Up Greta Up Al and Up Simon.
To the conference room quick there’s no time like now
He said, “This problem is bringing a frown to my brow”.
Thanksgiving has passed and December is here
And our Christmas cards order is too late I do fear
What can we do? We’ll put our heads together
so as a team this crisis we’ll weather.

So off to the computers with all speed we did fly
To search all the sites in the Internet sky,
And there to our wearying eyes did we find
A website that had many choices for our bind.
There photo cards, business cards of choices a slew
There were trees, bells, snowflakes and ornaments too.
We pondered, we argued and then we decided
on the card where both business and thank you resided
Off again we did run, our selection to toss
With enthusiastic teamwork straight out to our boss.
A wink of his eye and a toss of his head
soon gave us to know we had nothing to dread.
He spoke not a word but to his desk he did dash
Ordering our Business Christmas cards in a flash.
But we heard him exclaim as he ran out of sight,
We’ll wish all a Happy Christmas to our customer’s delight.

Personalized Christmas Cards and My Annual Holiday Poem

As the holiday season approaches, I once again begin my search for the perfect personalized Christmas cards to send to family and friends.  I love the elegance that a beautifully imprinted card portrays.  Rather than simply sending the card by itself, I have made truly custom holiday cards by including a poem about the past year and what our family has been doing.  My annual Christmas poem is meant to be the opposite of the traditional Christmas letter that sometimes turns into a resume of sorts and tends to look like the writer is bragging about their family accomplishments!  Thankfully, my family has a good sense of humor because I tend to poke fun at each of our idiosyncrasies in my annual poem.  One year, for example, I feigned surprise that our daughter had managed to keep all her fingers intact during her first semester as an architecture student building models in the woodshop.  Anyone knowing Sara’s accident-prone nature surely understood the joke.  Another year, after buying a small convertible car, I made fun of my “mid-life crisis” and my need to buy a younger looking vehicle in order to avoid the realities of aging.

Each year I get many comments and compliments about my whimsical Christmas poem.  I love hearing the responses from family and friends because I know I have accomplished my goal of transforming the traditional card into something even more unique and memorable.  The humorous spin on the year’s events has also helped our family refrain from taking life’s ups and downs too seriously.  Instead it has allowed us to embrace the inevitable challenges we all face.

People send holiday greetings to let their loved ones to let them know they are thinking of them and to lift their spirits.  This year, why not combine your elegant personalized Christmas cards with a little silliness and humor?  After all, tis’ the season to be jolly!!

Uncle Charlie’s Christmas Cards

As a kid I was always excited when the holiday season was on the way. Christmas was always my favorite time of the year. I loved being surrounded by family, food, fun, and of course gifts. One of the most interesting gifts that I received was my Uncle Charlie’s Christmas cards. Uncle Charlie always gave me and my brother the greatest cards. He usually would switch it up every year between money or gift cards from my favorite stores. The cards were always more interesting themselves though because of the messages he wrote in them. My Uncle Charlie was a bit of a jokester and he always had something funny to say. I recall one year he wrote to me, “Don’t tell your brother, I gave you more money.” He would write the same thing to my brother and both of us would have an evil smile on our faces laughing at each other.

Uncle Charlie’s personalized Christmas cards were also spectacular because he would sometimes include illustrations he drew himself. Uncle Charlie was quite the creative being. One year he drew Santa falling off a reindeer and dropping all of the gifts all over the bottom of the card. Another year he drew a bunch of elves hanging from the lettering inside the card. He would always tell me if I didn’t do well in school, Santa was going to drop all of my gifts into the ocean and they would float to children who deserved them. I never received a bad grade in school!

Christmas Cards and My Big Italian Celebration!

Ah, the joys of Holiday traditions….

It’s a magical scene:  A perfectly shaped triangular Christmas tree is nestled in the corner of our cozy living room.  Personalized Christmas cards for every little boy and girl signed by Santa Claus accompany each gift under the tree.  Overstuffed red and green stockings line the fireplace.  To me, this paints the perfect picture of Christmas.  It wouldn’t be quite complete though, without the most important tradition of our never-ending feast, filled with all the holiday favorites!

The month-long celebration usually kicks off at Thanksgiving, but the real treat is on Christmas Eve when my grandmother brings out her old recipe book from the attic.  I’m sure she knows how to make everything from memory after twenty-something years, but the perfectionist she is, each ingredient has to be measured to the teaspoon to be sure its just right.

Depending on your background, there may be a few traditional dishes that are always served on Christmas Eve.  For my family, it’s the “Feast of the Seven Fishes” meal consisting of anchovies, lobster tails, stuffed shrimp, eel, baccala (salted cod fish), mussels, and clams which are all prepared with my great-grandmothers special seasoning.  To compliment the main attraction, everyone takes part in bringing homemade side dishes such as pasta, meatballs, sausage and peppers, potatoes, vegetables, salad, and lots of fresh Italian bread and butter for dipping.

After filling our tummies, it’s time for the kids’ favorite part of the day – opening presents. First everyone has to open their Christmas cards. Once a peaceful scene, the living room soon erupts into chaos as the first present is opened.  Ribbons, bows, and wrapping paper are strewn around the room in a happy mess of children and toys.  While the kids are preoccupied with their new gadgets, the adults move on to the next order of business and start preparing dessert.  Classics like fresh cannolis, Neapolitan ice cream, Rice pudding, and my grandmothers famous triple-Chocolate Cherry mousse cake are always big hits.

Once everyone has eaten to their hearts content, it’s time to make the long journey back home to snuggle in our beds and await the second round of festivities on Christmas day.  In the words of Santa Clause from my favorite Christmas tale: “Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”

Personalized Christmas Cards Are A Gift In Themselves

Part of the excitement of the holidays for me isn’t just setting up the Christmas tree or shopping for presents but it’s also looking forward to receiving personalized Christmas cards. I remember being a little girl and looking forward to bringing in the mail in hopes that there were cards for us to place up on the mantel. I would pick out the scenes on the front of the cards that I liked best and after Christmas was over, I would cut them out and use them for fun projects. Sometimes I would cut them out and make Christmas tree ornaments from them to hang on the tree for the following year.

As I have grown up and started my own family, I haven’t lost that giddy feeling of opening my mailbox and receiving Christmas cards of my own. Having some friends and family members that have since moved away, the only way I get to see their families grow is when I receive my Christmas cards in the mail. I’m now an adult and don’t receive many gifts from Santa , so receiving the Christmas cards in the mail and ripping open the envelopes are like opening Christmas presents. I feel like for most of December, I get to open a gift.

I hope that my children will continue to carry on this tradition and so will their children. To me, Christmas cards are just as important as Santa, presents, a Christmas tree and carols. As time goes on, I hope that this will continue to be a tradition that keeps on giving.

Snowflake Christmas Cards – No Two Alike

They say that no two snowflakes are alike. Well the same goes for the snowflake Christmas cards offered by The Gallery Collection, You may find other similar snowflake cards just as you may find other similar snowflakes, but the nicest array of these traditional symbols of Christmas can be found right here. There is a wide array of snowflake card designs on the website to choose from and you will not find these exquisite designs any place else. Some cards showcase just the snowflake, while others use snowflakes as details to complement a deer, or a snowman or penguins. The dark stock cards with the silver snowflakes on the front are gorgeous, and you can personalize them with silver foil. The silver foil on the inside of the card echoes the silver on the front of the card for a dramatic presentation.

Design 850CS - Midnight Snowflake Sparkle Holiday Card
Design 850CS - Midnight Snowflake Sparkle
Holiday Card

Snowflake Christmas cards can be sent to those who don’t celebrate Christmas but want to celebrate the season. Not all of them reference Christmas – some say Holiday Greetings or Season’s Greetings. So if you are a fan of snowflakes there are several designs from which to choose. And whether you live in cold weather climates that experience these frozen ice crystals or you live in warm weather climates and just want to associate the season with the symbol you will find exactly what you are looking for.

Making The Most Out Of Personalized Christmas Cards

Each year, when I sit down with my Christmas list, which is inevitably long, my husband asks the same question. “Are you really going to wrap all those?” You see, the gifts don’t bother him, but wrapping, to him, is a waste of time and a waste of paper. He does not understand why I would go through so much trouble to give my friends, family members, and co-workers small gifts that are wrapped perfectly. I explain, every year, that it’s my way of showing that I care. Last year, things were a bit different. I just didn’t have the time! I looked at my Christmas lists, one for gifts and one for cards, and I had a light bulb moment. I realized I could wrap the small gifts in our personalized Christmas cards! My husband was obviously ecstatic about this plan, and he even “wrapped” his gifts for others all by himself.

We themed the “small” gifts around this idea and we ended up having so much fun picking out gifts in every price range. In the end, it turned out we had bought all our gifts to fit in cards. My co-workers received glass pendants, his co-workers received ornaments, and many on our list received gift cards. Since we always buy personalized holiday cards, with our names and a message printed inside, we used those beautiful cards to wrap everything. We sent our daughter a pair of handcrafted earrings and a gift card, and our son-in-law received tickets to a game. The most exciting part of our “small” gift adventure was the challenge. It was like a game, trying to find gifts in every price range that we could fit inside our Christmas cards. My husband had such a good time; he’s continuing the tradition this year!