Christmas cards out of fashion I wonder !

BlueBelle

This was last years one, simple but everyone seemed to like it

That is a nice piece of artwork.

I like Christmas cards that do not have any wording on the front. I frame them using frames from Tesco that I get delivered with the grocery.

Some readers might like to know that one can send a greetings card, which could be a Christmas card, indirectly for a modest fee by ordering one online. Not an e-card, a nicely printed one on thick card.

www.papier.com/

Each one is printed specially and is customised using a web-based facility.

There are various possibilities.

For each possibility one can customise the design by adding a message inside, or set it blank if you want to get the card yourself and add a greeting manually.

The possibilities are as follows.

1. Use a preset design and just customise the greeting inside.

2. Add a photo or photos to a preset design and customise the greeting inside.

3. Add a photo without using any of the artwork of one of their templates.

4. 2 and 3 above are marketed as 'photo cards' but in fact use a jpg file, so one can use a jpg file of artwork that one has generated on a computer.

So the picture that BlueBelle has posted could be used, though best using the original artwork as a landscape format card,

The cards are 7" by 5" so it is best if the artwork is made 7" by 5" with an extra 3 millimetres on each edge as bleed areas and at 300 dots per inch jpg file. The cards are straight edged. However, they are printed and then trimmed so one can get really nice results where the picture goes right to the edge, like in a quality card that one might get from a museum or an art gallery or a visitor centre somewhere.

However the web system is tolerant and will scale and will crop either horizontally or vertically so that even basically 'rough' input, photo or artwork, (ie it is just what you have and you would like a hardcopy print even if the print is a bit lumpy because that is better than not having any print at all) will usually get a result of some sort.

Also the print process itself needs CMYK artwork. However, I sent one in with RGB artwork and the colours came out much brighter than if I had made a CMYK version of the artwork myself.

I guess that for a consumer product such as this the system needs to be able to detect an RGB format file and convert it to what it needs as many photo files will be RGB colour format. I suspect that the print process is some form of advanced system with more than four ink colour spray channels or whatever is the correct term, as the results that I have got have got colours more intense than I could get on a home printer.

There are other businesses that do similar things, but I have only used this one, mainly because this one produces cards with a matt finish and some others do glossy, and because some (maybe all for legal reasons?) put their imprint on the back and this one has a name that I do not mind being printed on the card.

(This is just comment. I have no connection with the business other than as a paying customer. This is not advertising by an influencer.)

I’ve always bought Christmas cards, and will carry on, I must admit I don’t receive as many as used to, I think I’m down to around a dozen now not including family

I buy cards from a Charity but send less these days as most go with a hand written letter,also have started sending quite a few on line cards (Free) Stamps are so expensive and I send a lot abroad.A friend said to me years ago if you can’t visualize some ones face don’t send them a card.But I do send cards to people who don’t have much family.

I love the sound of hand painted cards☺️ I always have and always will send Christmas cards, even when people tell me they are not sending them this year but donating to charity. I tell them I do both. I think during the pandemic and lockdowns -folk needed to know that others were thinking of them by receiving a card with kind words and greetings inside. I have cut down the number of cards I post& try and hand deliver if I can due to the high postage charge. I noticed my display was not as plentiful last year though as it has been for the last 37 years.

Goodness I hope not! I make cards using bits cut from last years and all gift cards the same..a nice retirement winters job.. plus I still have many years supplies of reduced cards bought when no time to make to work my way through!
Besides I love a Christmas card not an emoji /meme via FB etc

Definitely dying out I have cut down from 150 to around 30 and that is just to immediate family and neighbours who still send to me. It is far too costly these days. Sign up to Jacqui Lawson cards or similar and you can send them all for the registration fee, I send cards almost daily now. Lovely.

No, I don't think so. I love to get them, and send them. Rather disappointingly people now give them to me rather than use the post. The Christmas Post used to be a big deal in our house; my student brother and sister were Posties at that time of year. Apart from what's on the front (used to be Jacks on birthday/Christmas cards when my dog was alive, now it's Hares for their mysticism) I try to buy from a charity that means something to me, or friends. This year it's MS for me - everyone I love is well at the moment, thank Goodness.

Still send on behalf of my husband and myself, usually on December 1st. One year I returned as I received and was caught out. Thought I would not get so many but did --- all at the last minute when last posting date for 2nd class had gone by !!!!
Wonder if anyone feels the same way as I do though about this - any cards that comes from my husband's relatives have his name first and yet it is me who does all the hard work every year !!!
Petty, I know.
BUT his sister and I have been sisters in law for 43 years, you would think that I might rate first just for once !

Sorry, had to have the 'Fashion' rant.

Whoever invented the word 'fashion' should be shot!
Why should anyone dictate whether we send cards.
Or tell us how to dress, what colour to wear, how to style our hair etc etc It only makes money for those producing 'stuff'.

I like sending and receiving cards at Christmas but only send to close friends and family and always buy charity cards. I love seeing my christmas cards displayed on my large livingroom windowsill. Like many here have said, fewer are sent and received each year tho I do keep and re-display cards the children and grandchildren made, and also crafty cards from talented friends . I too am not a fan of e cards, too impersonal. For the same reason I dislike Moonpig and DH is a fan of theirs. I am tactfully quiet when his appears tho. But I just feel that he couldn't be bothered walking to our local lovely independent card shop and choosing one of hers.

I am afraid I am a real “bah humbug” when it comes to xmas. Loathe the way the shops are already full of xmas stuff. However I still put up a xmas tree and send out cards - and keep saying “next year I won’t bother”

Love yours Bluebell. DH makes ours (pro artist) for close friends and family. Quite often irreverent, so have to be careful who gets one, send a few charity cards to the religious types who are either old physically or special. We've definitely cut down on numbers we send and equally receive; agree younger people just don't do it for whatever reasons.

Yes definitely get less, but still send a few but the cost of postage can also be a factor, I missed our local Scout post last year as they were not doing because of covid. I did deliver to most those by doing a run in the car.

I make my own cards too, printing them from my paintings and then hand finishing them. I have always loved giving and receiving cards and keeping special ones. I do hate e cards - can't see any point in them.

It's not the cost of cards as you can shop around. I think it's the cost of postage that's caused people to stop sending cards. And of course you can send cards by email nowadays.

I like sending cards to family & some friends who I want to just say hi to.
Admittedly, they are not religious & always for a charity (RNLI, self interest as I live by the sea)
I am quite relieved not to get many back as I dislike having to pin them up on strings.

I too hate e-cards happy they are so impersonal and you can’t hang the up ?

Thank you Linda I too send about 40 and get the same back and like you I do birthday cards too and each year choose a different theme, and again like you I m behind but will get going soon
I find it fun to do and makes me think of the person while I m making it some of my friends have told me that they keep mine every year and that’s lovely
The price of postage is high but at least we get deliveries I sent my granddaughter in NZ a birthday package and card airmail a month ago and she’s still not received it they only get about two deliveries a week and they are just outside a big city
I hand deliver about half my Christmas cards and send the rest second class but then I rarely have a glass of wine or buy expensive clothes bags or shoes so it’s all relative

I don't think it's dying out, but the horrendous cost of postage is making many people cut back, or send e-cards instead (which I hate).

I still send about 60 cards each year, usually with letters for friends and family we very rarely see. I like the GC to have nice cards as I know they (or their parents) keep them. Last year I made all my cards, may do the same this year, most people really appreciate a simple handmade greeting. I like to uphold as many of the old Christmas traditions as possible in our modern high-tech world.

I loved the tradition of the sending of Christmas cards . My mother had seven siblings and they were all close and dad had five but only three were close the other two were in Australia so never heard much from them.
Every year I sent cards to aunts and uncles and continued throughout my life sadly now they have all passed away and still I miss the sending of the card to them. I still have some first cousins and a few of us still send out cards to each other but some do not bother.

I receive less and less every year, but I honestly think paying for the postage has put a lot of people off. I still send my special family and friends ones and they are normally just dropped in their gift bags.

Your card is lovely BlueBelle.

I too make my own cards - Christmas, birthday , anniversary, new baby/house etc. Yes, it does take time, but I find it both relaxing and satisfying. One friend said she saves all my cards as they are too pretty to put in the recycling!

This year I am so behind with my Christmas card making. My lovely Mum passed away in June, and I have been busy sorting out her house, and giving away/donating/getting rid of the contents of her house. I'm findind the process quite emotional and stressful, but the end is in sight!

I will plan a relatively free week sometime soon, and set to work. I usually make about 40, half of which are posted. I love to receive cards at Christmas, they are all blu-tacked to the doors leading off the hall (6), and so become part of the decorations.

It's the only way I keep in touch with people, I know its expensive but it's only once a year.

@Charleygirl5

The cost of postage is now so prohibitive they are pricing themselves out of the market.

Over the past few years I've culled my list right to the bone and only post 1 xmas card which I cleverly (if I do say so myself) put in the envelope with birthday cards for 2/9 Dec. I post 2 other birthday cards in September and that's it. The only other cards are for my partner, son and best friend, none of which need to be posted.
Every year I'm appalled at the price of stamps, when I went to send the cards a few days ago and was told 85p per 1st class card, I almost choked, I only paid 69p per card. There's still over a week until the birthdays so I dropped them to 2nd class but they were still 66p each, ridiculous!
Now I'm looking at what it's likely to cost to send the xmas/birthday cards in December, I'm assuming they won't be under the 2mm limit and the weight won't be a standard large letter so I'm looking at £1.83 (1st) or £1.53 (2nd), it would only cost about that in petrol to hand deliver this one!

Too expensive, except hand delivery, and special friends/family!