Something special, when gas costs $3.30 a gallon

As part of their efforts to stimulate the economy, greeting card makers are encouraging folks to BUY CARDS. Officials say that the industry hasn't been affected by recession issues in the past, in fact, as folks cut back, they may be more likely to send a card than a gift. And considering how expensive some cards are these days, that isn't always a cheap prospect.

Birthdays with The King

When BK, maker of my dirty-secret breakfast sandwich that I only get when things are really REALLY bad, launched its King ad campaign a few years ago, The King was everywhere. His plaster smiling head, perfect hair and shining crown. It was glorious and always made me want cheesy tots (strangely, even before there WERE cheesy tots). And now "special occasions will be even more memorable thanks to the King."

Jail Mail

I often have card ideas when I am looking to mark a somewhat unusual occasion, like "it's your birthday, and even though Im mad at you, I want to be the bigger person and let you know I remembered. Dammit."

A California lawyer's experience has led her to write a line for folks "who can't come home from prison" and established Three Squares Greetings. You know, for the meals you get every day. In jail.

Also, an audio interview with NPR.

Happy Green Beer Day!

A new sketch from PEP -- drink up!

Starting early

The Carty sisters, of Piscataway, N.J., may only be teens, but they already have several years of philanthropic business under their belts. Their greeting-card company, Tea Party and Things, supports a local nonprofit organization that supplies clothing to women and children in shelters.

In Chicago

The Chicago Trib recently profiled several local card artists and letterpress folks -- including Julie Morelli, 27 and the graphic design company she and her bf started, Letterform. Cards for foodies. Still a small, untapped market with a lot of potential.

Also mentioned, Ezra Daniels, a rare male entrant to the biz, and his Loaded Blanks concept -- where "They provide the pictures (and the blank spaces) but you provide the words."

More from Sandra Boynton

The New York Times takes a look at her "unconventional approach to business" -- from her early interest in finance, entrepreneurial activity and the arts -- to the work that allowed her to combine all three. At 21, she made a shrewed decision to demand royalties from her first professional card design gig. That job -- for Recycled Paper -- grew into her designing 4,000 different cards for the company, which saw its own revenues from $1 million to $100 million "largely because of the popularity of Boynton cards."

But what Sandra really did was become a pioneer for quirky design -- something many contemporary card designers now try to push the limits of to find their own niche within a niche. “It’s a lot easier to start in this business today than it was when Sandra Boynton got started,” Patti Stracher, manager of the National Stationery Show. “She fueled a trend in what were then called alternative greeting cards. Alternative cards helped people communicate about topics that were really hard to address or that you could poke fun at.”

And after 30 years of work in the card world -- and beyond it into music, books and other design forays -- Ms. Boynton has done what many of us are looking for -- continued to find joy in her work.

“I love what I do, I love the people I work with, I care very much about the value of the work I create, and I don’t need more money than I have. This is not revolutionary philosophy. It’s just common sense,” Boynton told the NYT.

That's more enviable than being the one of the best-selling card creators of all time by any measure.

A spin around

New finds for PEP -- design studio Girl Metro in Chicago ... she specializes in weddings and is an etiquette expert ... on the flip side of high-brow, 16 sparrows ... a shop that specializes in sarcasm and offers free downloads. Everybody loves that.

HVTD

And kudos to PEP (mostly Doreen!) for selling our first design at an art show in New York (White Plains, but it's NEAR the city). PEP hopes that everyone's LOVE holiday is full of champagne dreams and caviar kisses.

It's never too late for pancakes

Doreen's famous line from Mardi Gras 1998 was "I ate a pancake." I'll never forget it. I think I was drinking a beer at 9 a.m. at the time.

Hope you all got some tres yum free buttermilk pancakes on 2/12.

Fun facts about one of PEP's artistic genius' fave foods ...

-- IHOP served 1.1 million free pancakes on National Pancake Day last year.

-- All of the free pancakes served on National Pancake Day would create a stack more than eight miles high.

Can you imagine the amount of BUTTER and syrup that would necessitate? Delicious.

Letterpress me

It's expensive and time consuming, but it also leads to some beautiful art. Albertine Press has found success with it, and with a studio cluttered with history and smelling of chocolate, it would be hard not to get caught up in the uniqueness of what Shelley Barandes is producing each day in Somerville.

Many hippo returns

The year I was born, Sandra Boynton drew a picture of a hippo, a bird and 2 female sheep. Ten million birthday greetings later, you have a card has been redrawn five times because the printing plates keep running out. She was 21. I think I'm having a BTR moment.

Greetings from Bethlehem

Each year, hundreds of people (I assume in my area) who think their Christmas card receivers are really going to notice, travel to Bethlehem, Md., to make sure that their postmark is even more authentic. The postmaster of the town of 150 estimates she processed more than 50,000 cards during the holiday, and that people really, REALLY want to make sure that folks know the lengths they went through making that arduous trip to the Eastern Shore, to get the blessed stamp.

"Postmaster Karen Durham said she has seen her share of interesting people stream through the lobby every Christmas. "Then there are people who send cards and their people don't even notice, and they get really annoyed. So this one lady made stickers that she put on the back of her envelopes saying, 'I mailed this from Bethlehem.' "

Merry Christmas, dammit.

Eye Write 4 U

I was standing in line at a store once, and the man in front of me was laboring over what the write in an enclosure card. He was holding up the line. While the cashier looked at those of us behind "Lost for Words" sympathetically, I leaned forward and offered him two simple lines, and waited for him to finish. He did, and as I put whatever it was I was buying on the counter, he asked me how I "did that so fast." I think the jist of my response was -- "What you write shouldn't be hard if you mean it. And if you don't -- keep it short and it won't look forced."

I am amazed that people struggle writing cards -- especially thank yous and birthday cards -- but I am not surprised that some companies just run out of time (or don't plan well enough) to handle them efficiently during the holidays. Here is where the company that that businessman likely went out and helped found (or fund) after our conversation in Easton, Pa., while I likely went back to my tiny desk to update basketball stats for the next 10 hours with a cup of ramen soup at my side: Red Stamp.

Don't have time to thank Grampa for the $50 this holiday? Outsource it. Etiquette experts may think it's uncouth, but let's face it -- not everyone has the time, or patience, for sitting down and writing out 250 holiday cards every December. And if you have the money, the least you can do it make sure it is personalized.

It's holiday card time ...

Get in line now. The USPS says 20 billion cards, letters and packages will be delivered between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The nation's e-card business may be diversifying and growing, but hand-written notes are here to stay.

"They're very different mediums," the Greeting Card Association says, claiming that e-cards don't actually compete with paper cards in the marketplace. The reason? Emotion.

"An e-card is fun and it's instantaneous, and the sender and receiver recognize that," a GCA spokeswoman adds. "A greeting card has far more sentimental value. You send one for a longer-lasting, deeper meaning."

One company that is bridging the electronic-paper gap is Seattle's GreetQ. GreetQ offers users the ability to select and schedule mailings of actual greeting cards, which can then be sent to your home to sign and mail, or, for a $1 fee, GreetQ will have its staffers handwrite your note and send it for you.

"We aim to do what Zappos.com has done for shoes and what Netflix has done for movie rentals. It’s now time for greeting cards to enter the fold," GreetQ.com cofounder Jennifer Taylor said.

And right on the front page of their site: our friends at Bald Guys Greetings!

Hallmark sees Red

I am a big fan of this campaign -- despite its hipster-overtones -- mostly because I believe that Bono cares deeply for the cause.

The RED campaign supports the The Global Fund -- which is an amazing initiative. I have had the pleasure of covering news focused on world health, poverty, environment and human rights issues for the past 3 years, and part of our major focus is on HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria -- three of the biggest killers in the developing world. Hallmark is selling 23 greeting cards and other products, some of which are made in Africa, a portion of the sales from which will go to Bono's group and support the Fund.

"The company estimates that the donation from the sale of each $4.99 (Product) Red greeting card with sound, for example, will provide a contribution large enough for a single-dose treatment to reduce the risk of transmission of HIV from mother to child during childbirth."

Yes, it's steep for a card -- even one with sound -- but how often do you see something on a U.S. store shelf that could support the prevention of MTCT with antiretoviral drugs?

Not all e-cards are viruses

The NYT discovers the new breed of e-greetings.

First let me say that no one ignores an e-card, or an e-mail from someone they haven't heard from, all day at work. It sits there and taunts you otherwise.

Second, this is the third mention of Someecards.com in either MSM or by my friends in the past few weeks, which in USAT terms makes it an official trend.

What interests me most about e-cards is that men appear to feel more comfortable with sending them than traditional greeting cards. The convenience factor, I'm sure, plays into it. And the less-dippy-drippy-cheesy humor of some of the site's card (One my favorites: “When work feels overwhelming, remember that you’re going to die.") certainly calls more to the laugh than the heart.

Christmas shopping already?

Check out etsy, where I realized I have been bookmarking items for over a year. Including that damned cereal lamp that I now realize if I buy for my squeeze Patrick Cooper, will likely end up getting destroyed -- as it is a light that has to be "kept out of direct light if possible." Also, it is apparently priceless, which means I can't afford it.

But etsy is a great creative spot for designers and creators of beautiful things like jewelry, glass bowls, fun art -- and my favorite geekery.

Fabulous

FabulousStationery.com allows users to create anything they want -- wedding stuff, baby, calling cards, couples cards, you name it -- they can make it as "unique as you are."

Love the cuppycakes too.

Procrastination -- it's heroin for writers

I cannot believe I waited this long to write something I have been thinking about for months. It feels like Sunday nights at CMU all over again. But even more appealing than the temptation of Purple Hoooter shots at PHI, I have foolishly set up the workstation in my new pad next to my *very* well stocked bar.

Of course, I'm writing about vodka. Maybe I just need to drink some while I write. Naturally.