February 6th, 2009 by Solange

Valentine’s day is upon us and many will argue the relevance of a Valentine’s day “when really love should be celebrated everyday and that it has become far too commercialized”. This year the height of cynicism is represented by a growing trend of anti-Valentine’s with all the paraphernalia associated: anti-Valentine’s cards, T-shirts, and even gifts! Don’t let those nay-says get you down. Whether you have a secret crush, dating, or happily married – here are some valentine greeting card & gift tips that will sure to make an impression.

The Victorians were really into Valentines day greeting cards - sending elaborate cards which sometimes took months to create. There is a current revival of the vintage Valentine cards which I would not be surprise to see more of in years to come. Nowadays we are not far behind our ancestors with ½ of the US population observing the tradition. Mind you 85% are women. So what are men thinking of?

You don’t have to overspend on traditional red roses, sometimes a simple free e-card with a poem and words coming from your hearty will be equally appreciated. Concentrate on the message and the person you are sending the card to. Make sure it is not too tacky and if you are sending a “office Valentine” keep it humorous.

Now when it comes to the matter of that unique Valentine gift, you could play safe with a box of hand-made or high quality chocolate or a heart shaped jewellery. It is of the up-most importance for your gift to be personalized before it gets wrapped.

Now if you have a bigger budget, you cannot go wrong with the traditional flowers and a note. For a greener gift, cut-flowers could be replaced by growing flowers. Think laterally, a plant lasts. A friend of mine received a cryptic Valentine card which became crystal clear when presented with beautifully wrapped tomato plants, or pommes d’amour as they were called in French, from the former belief in tomato’s aphrodisiacal powers.

Dining out can turn into a bit of a nightmare on Valentine’s Day, when it is almost impossible to secure a booking in your favourite restaurant when everybody in the neighbourhood seem intent to keep you and your loved-one company. Plus there is something a bit depressing at the sight of rows of tables for 2, waited upon by busy servers who would rather be romancing than serving you.

I know what I would prefer instead, my idea of romantic valentine gift is a home-cooked meal put together with a little love and a card…or two.

February 1st, 2009 by Solange

Today is Super Bowl 43! And most likely, you have sent or have received an invitation to a Super Bowl event. Whether it is to an informal event such as a Super Bowl party or a formal event such as a wedding or bridal shower; invitations and invitation cards are an etiquette minefield. Common questions are should they be sent and replied to by e-mail or not, how to formulate the message, who should I invite, etc… Let’s try to clarify with a few important invitation card tips and tricks.

It is perfectly acceptable to use email for a invitation (or an reply) to a wedding shower, but I am afraid that it is a big no no when it comes to the wedding invitation self or the acceptance, it  has to be paper. Invitations to anniversary celebrations can be sent in a number of ways. As a general rule, if it is to be a important celebration, invitations should be sent at least 6 weeks in advance. This timeframe also depends on the size and magnitude of the event as well as the timing.  If the party is during a holiday period such as in the Christmas Holidays, you will be well advised to send a “save the date” notelet in advance of the invitation, you can do so up to a year ahead. For an informal event such as a Super Bowl party, it is perfectly acceptable to send them through emails just a few weeks before the event. 

Invitations are also the place to clarify the type of celebration, and what your guest are expected to do, bring, wear, etc…But there are ways of doing so, not conforming to the etiquette is a faux-pas, and you don’t want that!

Children and “troublesome partners”: you can’t really say “No children please” or invite only one person in a couple; it is commonly understood that only the person(s) named are invited, if you have doubts you might want to speak direct with the people invited to let them know that no children will not be present or an “ex” will be.

Formal diners and restaurant meals: if a party is in the evening and the celebration is important, it is understood to be “Black tie”. “Black tie” does not appear in the wording of the invitation but again if you have concerned, use it as a foot-note.

If the celebration takes place in a restaurant and the invitees are supposed to pay for their meal, the wording should reflect that : “to share in a lunch” for example, joining the menu with the prices will reinforce the message.

For an informal occasion at home such as a house warming party where you will want people to pitch in, simply make it clear on the invitation as to what they could bring. It also gives you the opportunity to co-ordinate. I once went to a 40^th birthday party where the invitees were kindly asked to bring local cheeses, it was a fantastic hit, of course a little more difficult to achieve if all live in the same district.

Phrasing for formal invitation is always in the 3^rd person, no abbreviations everything is spelled out e.g.: “junior” not “jr” nor “j.” since all initials are banned.

Responding is important even if you are not going but that can be done via e-reply.

January 27th, 2009 by Solange

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I want to share with you one of my favourite techniques of all times, it makes bright cards. If you are searching for inspiration do not look further. I got into glass painting one Christmas as I wanted to reproduce that lovely stain glass effect, since I have use it for all sorts of occasions like baby showers and holidays. Glass painting makes truly special cards for loved ones.

As it is a greeting card, glass would be too heavy, so instead acetate is used. There are several types of acetates but it does not matter which one you choose. What is important is your choice of paint.

Before you start you will need basic material:

l  card with an aperture and a flap or if you make it yourself from an A4 you will need a triptych.

l  Mixing palette

l  white spirit to clean your brush

l  outliners, they come in various colours but start with one colour such as dark silver

l  glass paints: these are transparent paints which are suitable for acetate

l  acetate and masking tape

chose a simple drawing which will be your template: the shape of the waves, a cute snowman. Enlarge it to the size you need and place your acetate over the top, secure with masking tape.

Outline the design with the outliner, let it dry completely, then apply your glass paints with a round brush

       tip: to avoid bubbles, do not check the paint bottle.

Sprinkle glitter, you can also use little gems and stars, as seen below.

Mount the design in your card, use spray adhesive or masking tape

It is a good idea to keep the design simple, you can use embellishments on the card self. For Christmas  the design could be holly, bell, angel, pudding. The acetate does not have to be large, stamp size (the large ones) could be enough.

Tips for success:

Acetate designs can be used as embellishment, so don’t be scared to try, it is definitely easy to learn.

Outining in the most tricky part so it is always a good idea to practise on paper first, wippin the nozzle frequently to keep it clean helps to create clean lines.

Pull the outliner towards you rather than the other way round

Some of the glass paints are very dense in coulour it’s a good idea to dilute the drker paints with clear gloss medium.

The brush marks will show if you don’t apply enough paint and be aware of the pets, any hair will be attracted to the card like a magnet to the fridge.

January 24th, 2009 by Solange

Wedding anniversaries are lovely, I helped organise my parents’ 50^th last year, in retrospect I can say that my doubts were completely unjustified, it ended up being a very sweet celebration and of course a lovely thing to help with and  do, once you get going it is great fun.

Here are my top tips:

You need to watch “time”. These things are really time consuming, it is very easy to underestimate how long it take. Get friends and family to help with the invitations. It is the perfect time to share your hobby with them. Set yourself a time-scale and stick to it.

Co-ordinate the stationary and “gift”, lots of people start to celebrate with friends and family with their 15^th anniversary.  But there is greater scoop for the earlier years e.g.: Pottery designs make a stylish background for a 9^th wedding-anniversary card.

For your invitations use the technique you know best, this might not be the right time for experiments. Stamping is easy and relatively cheap to create multiple designs. Sometimes a straight forward invitation with a relevant embellishment has the same impact as something complicated.

Work small scale, remember that the card or invitation is very likely going to be pined up on a board, so you don’t want to create a massive object. This is an occasion where it is better to work with the lettering rather than over do the design.

Make a few spare, just in case.

So what are they? This is the classic list, there are some variations as there are a few lists. There is also a modern version where for example the 4^th anniversary: linen is replaced by appliances, hmm, I am not sure I like the idea of getting a hand-blender or a vacuum cleaner for an anniversary.

the 1^st is paper

the 2^nd  is cotton

the 3^rd leather

the 4^th linen

the 5^th  wood

the 6^th  iron

the 7^th  wool

the 8^th  bronze

the 9^th  copper

the 10^th tin

the 11^th  steel

the 12^th silk

the 13^th  lace

the 14^th ivory

the 15^th crystal

the 20^th  china

the 25^th  silver

the 30^th  pearl

the 35^th  coral

the 40^th  ruby

the 45^th sapphire

the 50^th  gold

the 55^th  emerald

60^th  diamond

65^th  blue sapphire

70^th  platinum

January 8th, 2009 by Solange

Happy new year. We’ll start this new year out with the top 5 tips to making your greeting cards stand out from the rest. Pay attention beause these tips are sure to be useful with Valentine’s Day coming next month. I want my cards to be unique, this is the reason why I don’t buy them in stores unless I am really pressed for time. I prefer to make my own, either I use a printable card as a background or I make it from scratch, one thing is for sure I want my greeting card to stand out from the rest.

Here are 5 top tips to make your card unique:

l  The writing is important, it conveys your message and needs to be very tidy. Personally I am not very good at writing free-hand so I tend to use peel off or to print the message and glue it.

l  incorporate some of the recipient’s favourite things, this will really personalised the card. A easy way to do this is to use photographs, but nothing stops you using objects: jewellery cards, I like. Thinking about the recipients you can use their favourite colours.

l  customise the envelope: I discovered not very long ago that this add a real impact. in fact I created a card for a friend’s birthday. The card was simple so I designed the envelop so that it looked like a cupcake.

l  Look around keep up to date with the trends, observe shop windows and fashion and incorporate the theme into your card, I would not be surprise to see a lot of card picking up a tartan theme in the near future.

l  pop-up cards are really fun to make, they usually look really lovely, there are a lot of examples on the internet.

l  For the latest trend make your card book style. These cards look like open books and stand flat on the table rather than upright. The idea came out not very long ago and they are already very fashionable.

l  Customise the stamp, the post-office allows you to do so for a fee. It is very popular for important personal landmarks such as an anniversary or a birth.

It is worth looking on the internet to gather new ideas, remembering that what people really like is the fact that you have spend time over their card and that you have added this little touch which makes all the difference.

December 26th, 2008 by admin

Merry Christmas from all of us at kwikecards.com. We hope everyone is enjoying the holidays and spending time with their loved ones. 2008 has been an interesting year and the New Year’s just around the corner. During this break you should start thinking about your new year’s resolutions, look to the future and set new goals for next year.

December 4th, 2008 by Solange

The first Christmas card was sent 150 years ago, an old tradition still going strong, and I could bet you that folks in the 19th century were asking themselves the very same questions as we are today:

“What is the fashion for this year’s card?”. “What should my message be?”

One question you can be sure they were not troubled with, is : “is it acceptable to send an e-card for Christmas?”

So what are the trends for 2008? In a world of uncertainty, traditions, and emotions are exacerbated and this year’s buzz words are Memories, Tradition & Religion, and Magic & Change.

Memories: a perfect fit for e-cards. Memories are best embodied by personal pictures. There will be a lot of that in December: Corporate or private many cards will proudly be picture-cards.

Tradition & Religion: Away with the blues and the silver. Deep reds and gold are back, we might also see the emergence of vibrant orange and leaf green. Traditional pictures and traditional religious pictures of the birth of Jesus such as those seen way back when the first Christmas cards were sent are resurging - the modern touch might be provided by vibrant jewel tones and metallics.

Magic & Change: We have just withnessed the pledge and starting turn in America with this year’s historical election. What we need now is to see the prestige and a change in the hearts & minds of fellow Americans - what better time to work all that magic than Christmas.

The Remaining question: Paper card or e-card? A printed card is part of the home decoration but if  the receiver is so intent on showing off the number of cards received, there is not doubt that your e-card will be printed.

There is a general consensus nowadays which is, friends and family deserve a paper card, with hand-made paper cards for the very special people, showing them that not only you care, which is done regardless of the medium, but that you have devoted a precious commodity : time & thought to their card.

For Business partners and work greetings, e-cards are now seen as more appropriate. However, if you don’t want your card to disappear in the spam box, you need to make sure that you appear as the clear sender. E-cards are quick and easy to send, this is a great advantage but it might be interpreted differently by the recipient, so don’t leave your Christmas greetings till the last minute or you will appear as disorganised or even worse lazy. Where e-cards will save you money, clients might interpret this as not being important enough for a stamp, so make sure that your card carry warmth in its message.

November 12th, 2008 by Solange

With so much to do prior the end of the year, why not using Thanksgiving to send cards to relatives and business partners alike. This way you don’t have to agonize over should I / shouldn’t I send a card to great-auntie Moany when it comes to Christmas. Every one appreciates a Thanksgiving message. It is really unifying, it also has the obvious advantage as to alienate the specific religious ties which can lead to slightly difficult situations when dealing with people who are not celebrating Christmas.

With e-cards you can add music. Cards with sounds are very popular; e-cards are also printable, so you can choose to print and send. Thanksgiving cards have a long shelve live, they will probably stay on display until “the next lot” arrives and that might not be before Christmas. Fewer people send cards at Thanksgiving than at Christmas, so it will make yours stand out which is perfect for business relations.

It is only natural that many people get stuck and lack inspiration for their greeting-cards. This is when technology come to the rescue and e-cards in particular. You want your card to stand out, but at the same time to be traditional. Fall colors are perfect to make a lovely cards. Wonderful oranges, brown and dark green which can be complemented very nicely by blues and dark reds, just what you need for Thanksgiving.

This year, the trend for this second semester is said to be “vintage”.  Again, I can’t think of something more perfect for Thanksgiving as vintage greeting cards. Vintage greeting cards consists of old sepia, like in these old 19th century portraits. However, sepia is not the only colour, muted purples, greens, blues and faded pinks are also back “on the cards”. But retro does not mean dull and it can be real fun to use a bit of vintage chic, especially when you decide which embellishments to add. Personalizing cards is always a good idea, if you know people who like travelling, and there are few that don’t, or if your business partners are always zooming from A to B. Find fades maps and ancient post cards which can be used as backgrounds. For the embellishments buttons and keys are just so cool and right in the current trend.

Thanksgiving is around the corner so we need to get started with our cards.

October 29th, 2008 by Solange

Sending stylish personalised greeting cards does not have to cost the earth using free internet cards. Making greeting cards is not an expensive hobby, but sending cards for all occasions quickly mounts up, soon you will be looking for tips to keep the cost down.

Personally I love beautiful cards, it is great to be able to use embellishments or little gems but they cost therefore I am always on the look out for bargains  I research and compare their price, bid or buy on line.

Cheaper alternatives don’t have to look tatty, with a little imagination you can create great looking cards worthy of their  expensive counterparts.

Here are some tips to keep the cost down:

l  if you are a students, part of a club, or taking your kids to school, ask to put a notice up. The card making community is extremely large, you will meet card-makers this way, then you can get together to swap material or buy material with a bulk discount.

l  Soon you will have collected quiet a lot of material, making it easy to forget what material you already have, moreover some of the bits are often extremely small and tend to “disappear”. Make sure that you keep track of your collection. Tidy is the word that comes to mind.

l  I buy my base-cards on sheets rather than pre-cuts one, the card is easy to cut offering you more flexibility, you can have different shapes too as well as various sizes and it is less expensive

l  I am always on the look out for freebies scattered across the internet and free downloads.

l  Giving is receiving:  the more you send cards the more you will receive, which will allow you to recycle the design, using decoupage technique.

l  Some techniques use surprising recycled material: aluminium shapes made out of cans: cut a can open and use the aluminium inside. Recycle CD cases instead of envelops : glue your design inside the box.

l  Cards which are not overly “busy” often have a stronger impact, few carefully chosen materials goes a long way

l  Recycle whenever you can, my friends always laugh when after a party I rummage through ribbons and wrapping papers. With a little mischief my booty will be included in their next card.

If you want to have fun as well as cutting the cost, making paper is great fun however it is much more involved and you will possibly will have to spend some time teaching yourself before you can get a nice sheet.

October 7th, 2008 by Solange

This fall, I have decided to celebrate Halloween with all the ghoulish trimmings. Away with doom and gloom, I want spooky, I want to thrill my guest with Halloween party invitations. I want to treat them with candy-cards.

Not only am I going to carve that pumpkin, put the decorations up not forgetting the costume, I am definitely going to pay much attention to my Halloween greeting cards. According to the NRF (the Voice of Retail Worldwide) 64% of the US population compared to 59 last year is going to join me in spirit, so to speak. A bit of magic relief after months of spooky economic news.

Think about greeting cards as the prelude to any celebration. They have to convey the right impression for your party. A lot of people enjoy the spookiness of Halloween greeting cards, black cats and ghouls often make the staple for cards sold in stores.

But why not use the internet and KwikeCards, most other sites also allow you to send your cards via e-mail, you can be more creative, add special effects: sounds and animation. Animated cards have become very popular for Halloween.

This year, the trend is with photo-cards, just add your own pictures and merged it to the background and there you are, looking like a lovely witch or an handsome Dracula. Cards don’t have to cost the earth, use free e-cards: all what you have to do is to think about the message. This year, I might quote Mark Twain: “Everyone is a moon and has a dark side which he never shows anybody”.

For the design, there is a half way house or should I say a half-way spooky castle. I am using this method with my candy-cards. The cards are made downloading backgrounds. For the front subjects, I will cut and paste my main designs with 3D pads. This year I opted for 2 types of card, one with castle, one with pumpkin. Using small round plastic box filled with candies kept in place over the moon or the pumpkin, my simple cards are turned into treat-cards. These cards are rather effective and will be remembered for a long time.