Design Crafters

It seems as if every few months, a Christmas card that was mailed long ago (fifty, sixty, or even 100 years in the past) resurfaces in the mail and is delivered. One can’t help but wonder where the cards were hiding all that time, but it sure is interesting to look at the stamps and cards from the past.

One such postal find was a little more out of the ordinary, though. Recently, a Dutch schoolteacher found a real one-of-a-kind Christmas card in his family’s antique store near Amsterdam. The Christmas card (very similar to a postcard, actually) was signed by Anne Frank, a 13-year-old German girl whose diary later became the most widely-read Holocaust-related book.

This long-forgotten Christmas card was sent in 1937 and addressed to Samme Ledermann, one of Frank’s best friends. It was postmarked from Aachen, a town just across the Dutch border in Germany. The front of the card was a picture of a Christmas-decorated bell in front of a snow-covered field. There was no message beyond the address and signature.

The schoolteacher found the Christmas card while gathering materials for on Anne Frank for his school to mark Liberation Day, which marks the anniversary of the end of German occupation in World War II. Liberation Day takes place on May 5.  Anne Frank and her family hid from the Nazis for just over two years in a secret apartment in an Amsterdam office building. The Frank family and others in the apartment were arrested in August 1944 and deported to Auschwitz. Anne died in a concentration camp just two weeks before the camp was liberated in March 1945.

Last fall Stg. Jim Lederle with the Indiana National Guard was sent to one of the worst hit areas following tornadoes that ravaged many areas such as Nappanee.

Out of all the items scattered on the ground, what caught his attention was a half destroyed Christmas card. Most people would have simply ignored or discarded it, but there was something about this card that touched his heart. So he put it in his truck and then forgot about it for many months. When he re-discovered it, he decided to return it to the family it belonged to. The problem was he doesn’t know who they are or where they are. In an effort to find them, he submitted the card to the local news. Talk about a big heart and going the extra mile.

The only hint on the card was the hand written message, “Love ya, Dad & Carrie, Cody, Amanda & Courtney”. So if you know a family with these names, you might be able to help out.

Why does this card have such significance and why is he so compelled to find the owners? I do not know, but sometimes we are prompted to do things that lead us to someplace or someone unexpected. I am sure this will not be the end of this story. 

The whole story and a picture of the card can be found at:
http://www.goshennews.com/local/local_story_034000818.html

Thanks for reading todays photo Christmas cards blog.

Photo Christmas cards are a way to make a difference. Sure, you can buy a regular Christmas card in a boxed set like most people do. However, most of those cards will end up thrown away – more trash for the landfill. A photo Christmas card is more personal than a store bought card, and more likely to be preserved and cherished.

One thing I love is seeing all the cards my sister has on her door during Christmas. In her group of friends, photo Christmas cards are popular. I see the pictures of her old friends from her high school years who I’ve heard her speak of many times. Even though I don’t keep up with them I see their families change from year to year by looking at their Christmas cards. They are just more personable and intimate than a regular card.

Photo Christmas cards are a blank slate, and they open up the door to creativity. You can capture all sorts of styles. Many people just have a group photo that’s more or less the same each year. I’m a fan of branching out and thinking of other possibilities.

What I like about designing your own cards is the unique inscription you can put in your card. That way you can skip the often cheesy or clique inscriptions in cards purchased at a supermarket.

If you like the idea of a personalized photo Christmas card but need some direction, keep reading this blog. I will give some suggestions of what you can write in your Christmas cards. Be sure to keep reading for some of my best ideas.

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you are enjoying
a restful, relaxing time with your family. I am certainly not the philosophical
type, but Thanksgiving is a day I do like to take some time to reflect on my
life and measure how I’m doing. As always at this time, because of the nature
of my business, I am strung our and exhausted knowing that the next three weeks
are going to be the hardest ever with all the last minute Christmas card
orders. I am thankful though of course for the business. It’s one of those
“Mixed Blessing” types of things.

I want to thank all of you who have already ordered your
Christmas cards this year for being “on the ball” and getting your orders in early. I
hope that you have been pleased with the quality and service that we have provided.

I’m getting to that age that a lot of my friends’ parents
are leaving this world and we all know that is inevitable for all of us as some
point in time. As we get older, it’s eventually going to happen to all of us and
right now we don’t probably think that much about it. But what if we don’t make
it that long? It seems that the more people I know, the more I learn of those
who are struggling with various physical problems – the terminal type like
various forms of cancer and such. These are not old people, they are
contemporaries of mine. It makes me really think about how one day we can be
carefree and think we are fine, and the next day find out that our days are
numbered. How about those who are fine and then their life gets snuffed out in
a moment because of a drunken driver or some other freak accident?

My daughter loves country western music and she introduced
me to a song a couple of years ago entitled, “Live Like You’re Dying.” It’s
about a guy who found out that he only had a short time to live so he decided
to do all the things he’d always wanted to do. He says we all should live our
life like we would if we knew we were dying. There’s a lot of wisdom in that
song. My husband and I have decided that as we are advancing in years and are
finally “empty nesters” that we should take advantage of every opportunity that
comes along, and even create our own opportunities to do some fun things that
we would enjoy, instead of waiting until we retire, because who knows when
something could happen to either one of us and we wouldn’t be able to do all
these things. Consequently, we have had some of our richest life experiences
the last couple of years.

Even more important than having a great time and living life
to it’s fullest, I think is making sure that our relationships, especially with
those we love are the best they can be. Whether it’s we or they who may leave
this world earlier than expected, are we going to feel like we have been the
best friend, mother, father, sister, brother, husband, wife, etc. that we could
be? Are we treating those we care about as if it could be the last time we see
them? Will there be no regrets if it is? Ho about your relationship with your
Creator? As my pastor would say, “Not a sermon, just a thought.”

I have resolved to make sure that there is no unresolved
conflict in my life with those I care about and would challenge you to do the
same as you have probably more time than usual with your family over the next
month.

Thanks for taking the time to read this far. I do hope you
have a blessed holiday season with your family. I thank you again so much for
your patronage, especially those of you who have faithfully ordered from us
year after year.

Have a great Turkey Day!

It’s rather amazing how sophisticated Christmas cards are
getting. We notice every year that more and more businesses are jumping on
the wagon to create something special with their Christmas cards. It almost
seems to be competitive, not only to outdo their competitors but to outdo
themselves from the previous year.

One way that businesses are doing that is to include their company logo inside
their Christmas cards. We have some special "Logo Christmas Cards" that are
specially designed for this purpose. They have a die cut opening where the logo
shows through from inside the card. That way, the logo is seen before the cards
are even open and then again after they are opened.

To print a single solid color logo can be done for a very reasonable price.
Adding another standard color of course adds to the price, but it doesn’t stop
there. If a special (PMS) ink mix is necessary, that adds to the price. Some
companies have logos that are actually full color.  Of course that beefs
the price up even more but that doesn’t seem to stand in the way of a lot of
businesses who realize that sending out "Season’s Greetings" with a
beautiful Christmas card with a thoughtful sentiment including their attractive
logo, is really a very cheap form of advertising and sends good will to all
their clients.

Christmas is one time of year that businesses can get away with sending
something like that to remind all their customers and clients of who they are
that they are available to serve.

How long will it take for me to get my Christmas cards once I’ve ordered?

It depends partially on where you live. Unless otherwise
requested, all our Christmas card shipments are sent UPS ground. All Christmas cards ship from
the manufacturer within 3-5 business days of receipt of your order
(except cards requiring special artwork, like a photo card, custom verse or logo. They take 5-7 days in house before shipping).

The shipping time itself
will will range from 1-6 days depending on your location and your
shipping method of choice. These cards  are processed and will be
shipped from 5 different locations. You are notified at checkout from
where your Christmas cards will be shipped so you can calculate your cost before
ordering to determine the best method of shipping to fit your needs.

What can I expect to pay for the shipping of my Christmas cards?

We charge only what we expect the actual shipping charges are
going to be for us, plus a small handling fee which is passed on to us
by the manufacturer. We are directly connected with the UPS database
system so our rates are very accurate. You can tell exactly what your
cost will be as you fill out the order form. You will have a choice of
shipping method and be shown a price for each so you can choose the
best method for your needs.

We have been talking about different ways to make your
Christmas cards stand out among all those that will be received this Christmas
season. The custom verses and/or company logos definitely will help, not to
mention sending one of our beautiful Christmas card selections. Many
businesses, especially those who are sending many hundreds or thousands have
chosen to have us print their signatures inside their cards. That is just as
easily done as printing a logo or custom verse.

All you have to do is select your favorite Christmas card and verse and place
your order indicating that you would like for us to print your signatures. We
will send you a .pdf file with the outline of the card including the verse you
have chosen so you know exactly how much space you have and where to put all
your signatures.

Print out the .pdf file, have everyone sign it and either
return it to us by snail mail and we will scan your signatures into our file to
print, or if you have the capability of scanning the signatures in at high
resolution yourself, you can email the file to us and we will incorporate the
signatures into our file for printing. That sure saves having to sign a huge
stack of your business Christmas cards. If there are only to be one or two signatures to be included,
you can always just email those to us if you have them saved electronically and
we will include them in our file. As always we will send you a proof before printing.

The most popular and prefered methods for payment of our Christmas cards are Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and AMEX. Personal checks & money orders are also accepted for domestic orders. Any international Christmas card orders that we are able to process must be paid for by any of the above credit cards.

If you’d rather not order online, you can still e-mail or fax in
your order 703-758-7624 (24 hours/day, 7 days/week) or simply call us
at 1-800-214-8990 (Mon. - Fri. 9 -5 ET) and we can process your order
over the phone. If you are ordering online but paying by personal check
or MO it would be a good idea to also print out your order and send it
with your check.

If you are ordering Christmas cards for your business, you can follow your order up with a phone call to let us know that your order is a firm one and we will immediately process your order and email you an invoice. If you are paying for a personal order by check, we will process your order once your check is received.

Now days it seems that almost 1/5 of the Christmas card
orders we receive include either a custom verse and/or company logo. It’s not
just the companies who want to put forth a custom message to their clients and
customers. Those sending out personal Christmas cards are also showing their
creativity with custom verses that say exactly what they want to express. Many
custom verses are very thoughtful and some are very inspirational while other
are downright clever and funny.

Adding your own custom verse to any of our Christmas cards is quite simple.
Just add your created verbiage in the space provided on our order form, and we
will send you a .pdf proof for your approval before printing. That gives you an
opportunity to help us fine tune it if necessary before we submit your order
for printing.

You are given a number of fonts from which to choose and the end product will
look just as professional as if you used the verses offered, but adds a very
classic, personal touch with your customized message along with a matching font
for your personalization if that is what you want. You are the boss when you
customize your Christmas cards. We will do whatever you want. The extra fee for
this is a flat $40 fee to cover the printing plate that has to be created with
your special verse image to print. If you are doing a custom verse and a logo,
as long as your logo is all one color and we are printing everything the same
color, that $40 fee covers the logo and the custom verse because we can put it
all together as one piece of artwork, so only one printing plate has to be
made.

It seems that most businesses are getting really fancy when
it comes to Christmas cards. I would say that among the business orders we receive,
at least one fourth of them have a request for us to print their logo or custom
verse or both. We love special orders because we know that when the time and
care is taken to create such a masterpiece, it will be unique and will stand
out in a crowd. It may even be a show stopper.

Unfortunately, to do something so special does involve an extra expense. All of
this is explained on our website in great detail, but I will try to address
some of the major issues here. First of all, a single solid color logo with no
shading is a flat $40 to burn a plate with your special image to be printed. By
the way, we always email you a .pdf proof for your approval before anything custom is
printed. We usually can get that back to you within a day or two of your
submitted order.

If your logo has some shading which would require screening, there is an
additonal $60 for that. If your logo is two colors, there is an additional $60
for the second color run. If there is tight registration (where the colors are
touching or even almost touching) there may be an additional fee. The best thing
to do is to submit your Christmas card order and logo to us for us to evaluate
and we will get back to you with the cost to print your order.

We sometimes can print multiple colors inside your Christmas cards, but each order would have to be evaluated
on a case by case basis. If you would like to do something rather special, just
let us know what you have in mind and we can let you know if it is feasible and
if so, the cost, so you can decide. If you would like to read all about our
special instructions on our Christmas card logo info page here.