Father's Day is around the Corner!

That's right! Father's Day is Sunday, June 16. For those of you, like myself, who are in denial that it is ALREADY June, Father's Day approaching this quickly will be quite a SHOCK!  You have heard me say this over and over again. Dad's are under appreciated (as is most everyone). Dad's love to hear the expression "Thank you". They do what they do out of love but a genuine thank you will melt their heart.

A beautiful or funny (for that matter) Father's Day greeting card with a few lines of gratitude is a real treat not only to send to your father but to take the time to express. There is MAGIC in the attitude of GRATITUDE! The actual writing of the words will warm your heart as you express kind thoughts and contemplate your dad opening your card and reading it. You can bet it will be displayed in a prominent spot and be read over and over again! Sundays are perfect days to sit down and write a card . . .

Nature's Picnic Gift Basket

You can take your Father's Day greeting card one step further and make a PicturePlus card with your own digital images. He will take that greeting card to work and set it on his desk to show with pride!  A picture is worth a thousands words but do add words of gratitude to each card. If you have a photo of the two of you together, include your gratitude for that experience or adventure with him. Do you have a funny memory to share? Dad's love to laugh with their children.

If you are looking for a Father's Day gift to send with that greeting card, SendOutCards just launched their gifting department on steroids! Now, you may send multiple gifts with your card, even choose upgraded packaging! We have a beautiful line of premium gifts: Harry and David move on over!  Here is a funny gift that is sure to resonate with some dad's out there (and ALL of my sons for sure)!

This Bubble Bath is truly "organic"! Make the beans in the bottle, turn the bath water on, and let your personal bean bubbles create the Redneck Bubble Bath. Find this in our gifting section for MEN.

Happy Father's Day Card Sending!

Greetings from Kona

No, we are not still in Kona but, since it is raining in Portland on our second day home, we wish we were back in the warmth of the sun. Funny thing is, it was BEAUTIFULLY warm weather here in Portland WHILE we were in Kona!

We had a fabulous time in Kona, relaxing, snorkeling, swimming, snorkeling, laying on the beach, snorkeling, visiting the volcano, and did I say: snorkeling??? We saw so many beautiful varieties fish on this trip with very little effort. It was SO easy to find great places to snorkel. Maybe next time we will take a water-proof camera. I have never had the desire to have vacations photos without family in them but I did fall in love with a few of those beautiful fish!

So I do love the fact that we can travel inexpensively right now so we can pretty much, at the last minute, decide to go on a trip. And I do love having work that usually will allow for that. My work, SendOutCards, can be done anywhere. I've done Gift Accounts (where I walk someone through sending their first card) while cleaning my bathroom, waiting for my luggage, driving to see family (when my blue tooth is working of course) . . . I LOVE it!

I also love that I can upload a photo of my family to create a postcard to send to several friends or business connections with a click of a button on my lap top without having to find a pen or stamp.  Have you ever put a First Class stamp on a postcard just for the convenience? Never pay First Class postage for a postcard again! SendOutCards figures that out for you; it is just that simple!  This postcard was at the end of a full day of swimming and snorkeling. We visited a farmer's market in town and were headed to fix dinner with fresh papaya, mango and a HUGE avocado when I spotted this perfect palm tree!

This summer enjoy the ease of sharing photos of your vacations with picture postcards, with YOU as the subject, from the comfort of your hotel room!

Happy Card (Postcard) Sending!

Mother's Day Madness

Avoid the Mother's Day mall crowds and warm your mother's heart. Instead of driving to the mall to pick out a gift, a "thing" to celebrate your mom on her special day, bring a tear of joy to your mother's eye by spending that mall time instead to write a heartfelt note in a Mother's Day greeting card to her. A short note of sweet or even fun remembrances from your childhood or young adult years will bring a smile to her face. Sunday is a great day to do that so the card gets mailed on Monday!

 Every mother loves receiving a real greeting card in the mail. A card with an added heartfelt message will get read and re-read for months. Give her the gift of reliving those happy memories or feel the warm,wonderful feelings surrounding the sentiment behind your expression of gratitude for her devotion!

Go ahead, make your mom's day . . .

Send a real greeting card with a heartfelt message!!!

Downtown Portland Inspires Me

I had a very inspiring day today. Every visit was fresh and warm . . . just like the sun today in Portland as it peaked out beyond the clouds. Downtown Portland is an exciting place to visit; I felt it a privilege to be in the Pearl District for part of my day. It feels so alive there amongst the brick warehouses transformed into eclectic meeting places!

I drove past my old stomping grounds as I left my appointment: Smith Western Novelties and Gifts. I learned how to use a packing tape dispenser working in the shipping department which pretty well explains why I am a master box packer. I would bring Morty, my first baby, down to the warehouse of the family business and work in the afternoons.

 

It is funny how I used to count boxes of thousands of postcards there and now I represent a greeting card company, SendOutCards, that prints ONE personalized postcard at a time. How cool is that? I love that not only do they print on recycled paper BUT they print ONLY the cards that are being sent out; now that is eco-friendly! Not only are they “Changing lives, one card at a time” but they are “Saving the environment, printing one sent card at a time”!

Happy Easter

Wishing you a Happy Easter weekend! I hope you have both a fun and relaxing time with your family and friends over this holiday. We have been enjoying grandchildren and family visits for the last two weeks. We were going to try to hop down to California for a day to see two more grand children (and their parents also of course) but the flights are too full. It would have been fun to add up how many family members we were able to visit in the last two weeks.

Speaking of hopping down to California, one of my favorite Easter time cards I created a couple of years ago was my granddaughter hopping on the trampoline, thus . . . Hoppy Easter!!! This time of year there are so many reasons to send cards and gifts: graduation, wedding, Mother's Day and Father's Day and . . . Happy Spring since the sun is starting to shine here in the Northwest!  I love using my SendOutCards service to not only make my life easier but to bring a smile on someone's face.

 

Instead of traveling, we will enjoy our holiday at home with my mom and our daughter, Katie.  It is a good excuse for an Easter basket to show up in our living room. I think it is kind of fun that she has requested a traditional ham and "funeral" potatoes dinner since, as a teenager, she said we should switch to lamb on Easter. Now, hopefully your Easter Feasting won't make you feel like this bunny below!

Have a great holiday weekend!

Late Christmas Cards

How late is too late to send a Christmas greeting card you may ask???  Do you think your friends and relatives are going to refuse the mail because it is late?  No, everyone loves getting a real piece of mail no matter when it arrives!  A late greeting card will just make people smile and know they are in the company of real friends who aren't worried that they will be judged!!!

Traditionally, I keep a fun gingerbread bowl on the kitchen table to store our holiday greeting cards that arrive throughout the holiday.  I see most of my visiting children take some quiet time to read every card from that bowl.  So, our later arriving cards don't get read by our visiting family but we enjoy them even so.  I hear that there are lots of people who regularly send their holiday greeting cards late.  Some say they do it so their card gets more notice but truly, most of us are just running late. 

Goodness, we just experienced a year when there was an extra week in between Thanksgiving and Christmas and yet, I don't know a single person who felt that they had more time.  Christmas just snuck up on everyone this year it seemed!

SendOutCards has some great solutions for late holiday greeting card senders.  If you don't want to send a late Christmas greeting card, we have a fabulous assortment of New Years greeting cards or Calendar greeting cards. Check out my December post about Campaign Cards: TIP #6 for more information on New Years or Calendar greeting cards.

Today, my daughter-in-law, Aubrey, showed me this card that made me laugh.  You have got to take a look at it.  You can find it in the Humorous sub-category under the Christmas category.  Or, it is easier to just use the SEARCH BOX at the top of the Card Catalog and type in: january.  Do not capitalize the word January as the search tool does not like capital letters!  You will need to view it from your SendOutCards account to really read it easily.  

Enjoy and Happy Late Card Sending!

Holiday Greeting Card Tips-Send a Sample Card

SendOutCards Campaigns

 Using the SendOutCards Campaign feature for sending Holiday Greeting Cards

Send yourself a hard copy

 

TIP #6-When I am going to send a card to over 100 people, I send myself a hard copy sample card of a large campaign in case I don’t notice a mistake (from my computer screen).  I can be pretty picky so you may not have the same need to see it first.  If you call SOC, or use the online chat feature, after you send yourself that sample card, they will refund that cost to your account.

Of course, if you are sending a holiday card right about now, there isn't the luxury of time to send yourself a sample card first.  If you really want to follow this advice, think about switching your holiday card to a New Year's greeting card or a Calendar Greeting Card is you have a business.  We have many, many great new cards in both of those categories.

Check out the New Year's greeting cards in the category: Holidays and sub-category: New Years.  There are even sub-categories in that section so click on the one you want. Businesses in the heath or finance industry are particularly well suited to sending a New Year's card and mentioning achieving goals for the new year.

A business can send a year-at-a-glance 2013 Calendar Greeting Card that will sit on your customer's desk all year long and the card only costs 62 cents!!!  That is a lot of months of keeping your name fresh in their mind every time they pick up that card . . . and for such a little cost.  Check out our new calendar cards in the category:  Special Collections and sub category: Calendar Cards.  We also have Calendar Elements if you would like to create a custom calendar card and add personal photos or images for only 1 more point.

The possibilities are endless!

I know the card catalog well.  Call me at 503-524-1111 if you want some suggestions.