Tag: greeting card

Fathers Are Just as Important as Mothers

It is easy to forget Father’s Day – it just does not get the same kind of attention that Mother’s Day gets. I know this for a fact – and statistics support it.  I see it every year when far fewer cards are sent on Father’s Day than Mother’s Day. And I don’t believe it is because we as a society do not value to amazing contribution that fathers make in the lives of their families.  I do not know why as a society we are less likely to celebrate fathers than mothers on their special day.  But I would love to hear from you: how do you celebrate the father figures in your life?  And Dads, how do you want to be celebrated?  You can comment here or send me a mail through the website at www.ojolie.com.  Got any special requests for Father’s Day cards for next year?  Tell me now and I will give them full consideration.

Happy Fathers Day 2012
From toonpool.com

In the meantime, I am happy to share this touching video with you, just a reminder for us all in our busy daily lives to take a moment to really connect.  We don’t need a special day to acknowledge the wonderful people in our lives, but sometimes these special days help remind us to do so.

Wishing You a Very Happy Father’s Day this Sunday!

The Art of Manliness

I would love to create more ecards that appeal to men. I was therefore thrilled to find a blog dedicated the Art of Manliness with an entry dedicated to nothing less than the Art of Letter writing. Yeah! What a great find and follow up to my blog entry on The (Lost) Art of Letter Writing.

Great tips for you guys out there who might sometimes wrestle with getting pen to paper – or words to keyboard 🙂 And as woman I can honestly say there is almost nothing more manly than a man who can express himself.  And with Father’s Day coming up, son’s everywhere might need a little inspiration for celebrating their father.

The Art of Manliness
from The Art of Manliness blog

Inspirations from Nature | Making ‘My Wish For You’

Often people are curious about where I draw my inspiration for my cards from.  There are so many sources of inspiration, but because nature has a very strong effect on me, probably that is the main inspiration in my work.

As an artist I experience the world visually, filing away things I notice for future use.  When creating a card with a specific sentiment in mind, I try to see what that could translate into.  In my newest e-card “My Wish For You” I tried to think of what I would wish for the many amazing mothers I know and love.  And what I would appreciate my children wishing for me.  And more than anything I realized it was about the little things in life that actually are the big things – the amazing mundane things that make life worth living.

So one morning while sipping my morning coffee and going through my art journal, I noticed I had jotted down a few things I felt grateful for a few weeks prior – bird song, the sunrise that morning, the hug my husband gave me and the company I had that day.  And from there the words to this card just came to me and from there the artistic vision started taking place.  Or rather it took flight as my little feathered friends take center stage in this card.

Here is an inspiration board I keep adding to all the time – where I file away things from nature that inspire my work or that just fascinate me.  

Earth Day is Tuesday 22 April

Earth Day is this Tuesday April 22.  To show our support of this global initiative I have created a card inspired by Ralph Waldo Emerson’s quote and we are making this card free for everyone to send along with our other Earth Day ecards all year long.
The card is part of our new series of Notes, for quick and easy sending, with full mobile support.  And best of all it features two of my favorite flowers, roses and peonies, all hand painted with loving detail!
Earth Day inspired ecard for Ojolie of Roses and Peonies

Square greeting cards may be hip, they but costs more

If you are thinking to buy those hip square greeting cards for this holiday season, you may want to think again, according to newsobserver.com.

A rectangular envelope, 5 1/2 by 8 1/2, gets the usual 41-cent first-class stamp. But one of those trendy square 6 1/2-inch greeting cards will cost you 58 cents. If your list is long, it adds up.

…

So what size do the machines like?

Carl A. Walton, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service, said that would be any envelope that’s 11 1/2 inches long and 6 1/8 inches high — or smaller, as long as it’s not square. Anything outside of those dimensions could be considered “nonmachinable” and charged extra postage.

A surcharge is also charged for envelopes with clasps, strings, button or other closures; and letters that are rigid or enclosed in plastic material. To learn more about rates and extra services, go to www.usps.com/rates /extra-services-rates.htm.