American Greetings has introduced a new types of cards that contain a special note for later. American Greetings says the Open this When cards are perfect for heartfelt messages of love, inspirational messages, and funny add-ons to an already great joke.
"With the note for later, friends and family are given a second opportunity to enjoy the experience of opening a greeting card and reading a warm message that is just for them," said Mary McClain,creative director, new product concepts, at American Greetings. "We're very excited about this new product because it really transforms the typical greeting card experience to make it even more enjoyable, memorable and meaningful for both the sender and their recipient."
Hallmark Cards has announced its new Girlfriends collection. The Girlfriends Collection addresses a variety of real-life situations, ranging from life's celebratory moments (such as birthdays, happy hours and personal achievements), to the challenging situations women face (including relationship issues, illnesses, divorce, job stresses and more).
"The bond between girlfriends is often compared to the bond between sisters, and this collection is designed to enhance that connection," said Sarah Tobaben, Hallmark Cards editorial director. "Ideally, the line will bring to light any of the common experiences our consumers share, and girlfriends across the country will realize their friends are there to celebrate and encourage them every step of the way."
The line also features gifts that can be shared between friends, including oil cloth handbags, "Lolita" mini wine glass sets, magnetic notepad, and more. Cards start at $1.49, and gifts range in price from $1.99 to $29.95.
London-based artist and papercutting master Rob Ryan has created some unique paper cut greeting cards. The intricate cards are sold here on Catbird for $3.95.
Hallmark has announces the launch of the company's first postage-paid product, Postage-Paid Postcards. The postcards were developed with the US Postal Service and use a new barcode technology that eliminates the need for consumers to purchase and apply a stamp. The 16 postcards are sold in packages of eight different designs that use humor to encourage women facing difficult life circumstances. Each package will retail for $9.99. The Postage-Paid Postcards will be available in Hallmark Gold Crown stores at the end of May.
"Consumers told us they feel it's important to send encouragement to friends going through difficult times and the simpler it is to do, the more likely they are to reach out," said Cindy Mahoney, Hallmark vice president of product development. "These Postage-Paid Postcards create a convenience we’ve not offered before. All you need to do is fill out the postcard and drop it in the mailbox."
GreetingCardsDirect.com has launched SympathyCardsDirect.com. The new site offers customizable personalized sympathy cards and thinking of you cards. The site also contains advice for writing sympathy cards and etiquette tips.
"I think we've all struggled at one time or another trying to find just the right words when signing a sympathy card or composing a condolence note. Or perhaps when sending out business sympathy cards you are unsure of the proper sympathy etiquette to follow. We've all been there and that is what inspired us to develop SympathyCardsDirect.com into something more than simply a place to purchase personalized sympathy cards," says Laura Ahern, Marketing Manager of GreetingCardsDirect.com. "We wanted this website to be a resource for people seeking help or advice with these types of issues. Let's face it -- condolence cards don't necessarily conjure up thoughts of happiness, but they do provide much needed support to those who are grieving. In many ways, they're the most significant greeting cards you will ever send."
Martha Moments blogger Andrew Ritchie shared memories of some of his favorite Martha Stewart segments as a guest on the Martha Stewart show. He also helped Martha Stewart create some yarn-embellished cards, called Yarn Cards, with Martha Stewart. Take a look:
Greeting Cards Become Interactive With Printed Conductive Ink
New Scientistreports on some futuristic greeting cards created with the use of interactive paper. These cards can become interactive when they are touched by a person. The cards are printed using conductive ink. Take a look:
This technology and other technology like Augmented Reality are really going to make greeting cards a lot more interactive. Hallmark recently announced the launch of its first augmented reality greeting cards.
The Washington Post has an article that says less people are sending postal cards the old fashion way. Snail mail greeting cards are falling according to data from a couple sources. The U.S. Postal Service says first-class mail was down about 11% for the first two weeks of Decemeber.
For the first two weeks of December, said U.S. Postal Service spokesman Michael Woods, "we are seeing about an 11 percent decrease in first-class cancellations from last year, which is a good proxy for the number of cards and letters coming through the system."
A company named Datamonitor told the Post that they are seeing a 10% to 15% decrease in greeting cards delivered via snail mail.
"We see a 10 to 15 percent decline in the overall volume of mailed paper greeting cards this year," said Neil Hendry of Datamonitor, a New York-based retail analysis firm. "There are two principal reasons: technology and the economy."
As Datamonitor says this is partly because of the recession but it is also part of a trend. People that keep in touch with Facebook and email may see less of a need to mail greeting cards. Home printers can also reduce the need for maiing a greeting card. If you are going to be visiting someone you can hand deliver a greeting card made with your fancy home color laser printer. Companies are also embracing the printed method. Amazon.com recently starting offering printed gift cards that include a holiday greeting.
Sets of whimsical business card-size reminders dubbed "Hint Cards" are available in select California-grown flower bouquets in Safeway, Vons and Pavilions stores throughout California and Nevada. They can also be found online at FlowerHintCards.com.
CCFC designed the cards to make it easier for flower lovers to not only drop a hint that they would like more flowers in their life. One of these cards should help deliver the message that you would like some flowers if other hints and suggestions are not working.
Tracy Morgan has launched a series of funny ecards to promote his new book, I am the New Black. You can find the ecards here on the Random House website. It's a clever way to help promote a new book. Maybe more authors will use the concept.
American Greetings has announced its Halloween lineup for 2009, which includes sound envelopes and Talking Heads cards. The National Retail Federation has
said overall Halloween sales will be down significantly but people will still be buying some cards, candy and costumes.
"It's no surprise that people love Halloween--there's fun, fright, and a
little magic in the air," said Mary McClain, creative director, new product
development at American Greetings. "We've infused that same excitement and
spirit into the card aisle so that there's something special to share with
anyone, and we think these new innovations do a great job of that."
American Greetings sound envelopes are now available in fun Halloween themed designs. When opened, the card provide sounds of bubbling cauldrons and cackling witches, ghostly moans, creaky doors and screams. Halloween for American Greetings also marks the return of its popular summer card line, Talking Heads, with an all-new cast of characters including a vampire, witch, skeleton and zombie.
Another addition this year for American Greetings is a line of greeting cards with visual tricks. As the cards are flipped open, a haunting image magically comes to life as skeletons dance and black cats cross your path. Sweet vintage-inspired looks and charming extras have been added to greeting cards that can double as holiday decor such as pop-ups, banners, shadow boxes and word garland.
Recycled Paper Greetings Launching The Onion Greeting Cards
Recycled Paper Greetings (RPG) is introducing a new line of cards from The Onion, a online fake news website. The line includes 12 cards that have the look of an article torn from a newspaper, and include The Onion's funny headlines. One example reads, "Search For Self Called Off After 38 Years," and features a disheveled man lying on a couch in a robe and pajama bottoms as cereal and junk food form a protective barrier around him. Another card, shows a picture of a woman with the headline, "List Of Friends Revised After Birthday Party."
"We are thrilled to introduce these new cards with The Onion because we know that many of our consumers are big fans of the publication," said Jude Rake, CEO, Recycled Paper Greetings. "At RPG we always focus on offering topical humor that shoppers will stop and notice, and few, if any, do that better right now than The Onion."
A greeting card company called Quiplip carries a unique line of greeting cards called graphitudes. Graphitudes use charts and graphs to convey the meanings of birthdays, thank yous and other holidays and intentions. Quiplip was featured on CNN's Anderson Cooper's segment in 2006.
Hallmark has launched Hallmark Mobile Greetings, a new product for cell phones. Senders can also add their personal message to any of the greetings Hallmark has created.
"Millions of people rely on cell phones as part of their daily routine of connecting with others," said Mike Adams, Hallmark Mobile manager. "With Hallmark Mobile Greetings, consumers can creatively connect right away over everyday moments and occasions like a shared joke or words of encouragement. We are taking the skill Hallmark has of helping people connect and are bringing it to the mobile world."
Hallmark Mobile Greetings is available by downloading to a cell phone the free mobile phone application from mobile.hallmark.com. Users can then send greetings to other mobile phones. Consumers also can send greetings directly from mobile.hallmark.com for delivery to a mobile device. Each Hallmark Mobile Greeting costs 99 cents. Fees are billed as part of monthly service-provider charges and the sender is only charged if the recipient opens the mobile greeting.
Pigspigot is a user-generated greeting company. The site lets people upload the art for e-cards on its website. People can both create and send friends e-cards. Cards can also be sent as a $3.99 snail mail card.
Pigspigot is an online, user-generated greeting card company that will allow customers to send both e-cards and snail-mail cards to friends and family. We like to think of it as a sort of anti-Hallmark with a wiki twist.
Browse our collection, using our editor's picks or check out what's "popular" to see the cards people love the most. We offer free e-cards, but try sending a paper card for the insanely low price of 3.99 (including shipping). We're sure your loved ones would love you more if you send them the real deal (and we're pretty sure the converse is true, too; yikes!). Check out our FAQ section for more technical details or contact us with any questions.
Or, if you're feeling clever and art-tastic, submit some cards! You can upload designs that you've created on your computer or you can use our nifty card template. Please do it. Por favor. Because without you, we'd have no cards.
Pigspigot is not currently offering any payment for art submitted to its website although they do mention ways contributing artists may be rewarded in the Faq. The terms they take for using artwork are described here.
American Greetings has introduced a new types of cards that contain a special note for later. American Greetings says the Open this When cards are perfect for heartfelt messages of love, inspirational messages, and funny add-ons to an already great joke.
Hallmark Cards has announced its new 
Hallmark has announces the launch of the company's first postage-paid product, Postage-Paid Postcards. The postcards were developed with the US Postal Service and use a new barcode technology that eliminates the need for consumers to purchase and apply a stamp. The 16 postcards are sold in packages of eight different designs that use humor to encourage women facing difficult life circumstances. Each package will retail for $9.99. The Postage-Paid Postcards will be available in Hallmark Gold Crown stores at the end of May.
GreetingCardsDirect.com has launched 
