Design Crafters

Last week we discussed the fact that more and more people
are wanting to express their feeling and belief that this is the
"Christmas Season," not just a Holiday Season by the cards and verses
they are selecting this year. We here at Design Crafters have noticed another
shift in sentiments this year as well.

There are still a lot of business owners who are concerned about being
"politically correct" with their cards and "play it safe"
by selecting "generic Christmas cards to make sure that they don’t
"offend anyone" by sending  Christmas cards with a
"Christmas" message.

It’s interesting that gay rights activists and pro-life and pro-choice
activists, women’s and civil rights activists, etc., etc., etc. don’t seem to
mind standing up for their beliefs and are very vocal in speaking their message
loud and clear - not caring at all what others think or have the slightest
concern about offending someone - but when it comes to using the word Christmas,
we are afraid to speak out about it’s true meaning and why we celebrate it -
because we "might offend someone."

Something is wrong with this picture in my opinion. That is why I personally
have been encouraged this year to see that a lot of individuals, not only for
their own personal Christmas cards, but for their businesses, have created
their own Christmas verse with a spiritual, encouraging message to send out to
their colleagues and clients - throwing caution to the wind and sharing their
convictions and beliefs through their Christmas message.

After all, what is Christmas all about - why is it celebrated? With all the
commercialism that surrounds it, have we forgotten the true meaning of
Christmas? Sure, not everyone celebrates Christmas, but does that mean that we
who do should put a lid on it and not celebrate it because someone else might
not agree with us? Since when do we all agree about anything?! 

Well, I didn’t mean to get on my soapbox, but thanks for listening! I hope that you have already ordered your Christmas cards, because time is running out to get them in time for you to add any personal notes, address them and get them to their destination before folks take off for the holidays.

This may take several blog posts to get through our story, but for those who are interested, here goes. Everyone knows how expensive colllege can be. I have three children, the oldest entering high school back in 1996 and I was trying to think of what I could do to raise up money to put him through college. My yougest had just started kindergarden.

I started selling birh announcements and little pink and blue pencils with a newborn’s name and birthdate imprinted on them to be passed out instead of candy or cigars. I went around to OBGYN offices and asked if I could leave brochures in their waiting room. Upon encouragement from friends I started selling personalized stationery, wedding invitations and Christmas cards from my home. I acquired a list of trade and other professional organizations in Washington DC (I live in Norther VA) and had a friend  who would set up appointments for me to show my Christmas cards. I  would get two or three appointment every day, drive or take the metro into DC and usually would close most orders with a decent sale. I felt pretty good abou the money I made and was rather pleased.

My son, a freshman in high school said, Mom you need to have a presence online to sell your Christmas cards. I said, "That would be great but how do I do that?" He said, "I’ll build you a website." And he did. We bought a domian name, set up a webhost account and uploaded a rather crude website. That was June of 1996. The rest is history. More next time.
 

The most common time to see the word Xmas is when it is
followed by the word "Sale."
Both have the same number of letters, it’s catchy and cute, it’s short so
easier to write out.

According to the book "Did you ever Wonder…" by Jeff Rovin, the
word for Christ in the Greek is Xristos. The use of the shortened form
"Xmas" became popular in Europe in the 1500s.

The fact that it is significantly shorter is a redeeming factor in its popularity
although some who regard Christmas as more than a commercial holiday of
exchanging presents, but of celebrating the birth of Christ, feel that the word
"Xmas" takes the "Christ" out of Christmas thus reducing
the meaning of the occasion. It is a word that is probably around to stay for
those who are not bothered by it’s shallowness but intrigued by its uniqueness
and brevity.

Xmas also has the same number of letters as card so some selling Christmas
cards will use it as a keyword "xmas card." Speaking of Christmas
cards, it is time to start thinking about  getting your list organized
and start making a decision about which kind of xmas
cards you want to send this xmas.