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Easter cards why do we send them?
When was the first Easter card sent?
According to Wikipedia people sent the first Easter cards just over 100 years ago at the very end of the 19th Century. At this time people tended to send postcards. Initially you could only write the address on the back of the postcard, along side the stamp. Postcard senders had to write on the front meaning that the illustration had to allow space for the writing. This changed in the early 1900s when the back of the postcard was split more like we see today.
What sort of cards did Victorians send?
Early images on Easter postcards and cards included the Easter bunny, sheep, flowers, eggs and often young girls who were a symbol of luck and hope. Easter carries a message of hope and new life so now we also might include butterflies and spring images, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere where Easter and Spring coincide. In Australia you might find an Easter Bilby instead of a bunny.
Where did the Easter bunny come from?
It’s generally accepted that the Easter bunny originated in the 1700s in Germany. He was originally an ‘egg-laying hare’. German Lutherans took the tradition to America with them. Then, like so many things, once the Americans are doing it, we’re all doing it!
What are Easter cards all about?
There’s no doubt that Easter cards have their origin in Christianity. Relating to Jesus’ resurrection and the hope of new life, this is where most of our Easter images have their basis. It’s understandable that Easter cards were at their peak during the First World War. Then also the Second World War as people faced life and death situations and an uncertain future. Following the Second World War Easter cards declined and fewer are sent now than then. However, they are still very popular. With Mothers Day just 3 weeks before Easter it’s interesting to note that Mothers Day is the third largest card sending occasion in the calendar year, with Easter in fifth place.
Why send an Easter card?
Whether you are a Christian or not, sending any card at any time can lift someone’s spirits. There is a reason why the Greeting Card Association has as it’s industry tagline ‘send a card, deliver a smile’. That’s exactly what sending a card can do. While Easter may move its date each year it will always fall in Spring here in the UK. After an often cold, harsh winter here in the Outer Hebrides I know I love to see cards with flowers, animals, butterflies and eggs, heralding a new season with summer not far away.
Whatever your faith or none, an Easter card can bring hope and encouragement in tough times. Or perhaps just a reminder of what a beautiful world we live in.
So go on, make someone smile and send a few Easter cards this year!
If you’re looking for other ideas for Easter then I’ve made some suggestions here.
If you’re a busy person who’s a bit short of spare time to choose some Easter cards then I’ve put together a bundle for you.
Gift Wrapping Subscription Box
Art of Gift Wrapping — Shiho Masuda
Last month, I was invited to have a live interview to talk about my career as a gift wrapping designer at a local TV show in Hawaii. We talked about how I started my career and what projects I’ve been working on, then at the mid-point of the show, the interviewer asked me, “Why is the art of gift wrapping important?”
Image 1.jpgTo answer this question was important to me because that’s where my passion lies.
The art of gift wrapping is important because it helps us build an emotional connection with others. If hiding the content (gift) is all you want, putting it in a paper bag will do a fine job.
You want to wrap your gift in a beautiful presentation because you care about the recipients and want to express your feelings of appreciation, love and/or joy for them. The act of gift wrapping maybe physical but the real reason of doing so is emotional.
The art of gift wrapping is about building relationships and keeping connections with people important in your life.
In the world of internet and social media in which everyone focused on developing online interactions, taking the time to create something beautiful with your hands is a meaningful and heartfelt way to communicate with others.
I’ve been creating the art of gift wrapping for years for my family, friends and clients and the reactions I get from them are always priceless. Imagine instead of just a cookie-cutter mall wrapped gift, your friends and family will get these…
And this is why I’m passionate about teaching and sharing ideas of the art of gift wrapping so that you can reconnect with your loved ones through the beautiful art created by hand.
Just in time for the holiday season, this is an excellent way to start preparing your personal gifts. There are some awesome ways that you can tailor-make how you present those gifts to the people you love.
P.S. My new online course will help you do just that and it’ll be available next week at a very low price just for you for the holiday season. 😊 It’ll help you to learn and create the art of gift wrapping for your friends and family so that you can really “wow” them!
via How to Create More Intimacy and Build Better Relationships through the Art of Gifting — Shiho Masuda
If you love the art of gift wrapping then you can now get a monthly deluxe box of coordinated gift wrapping materials delivered straight to your door from Cards and Gift Wrap.
Nativity advent calendars
Are you a teacher looking for something for the classroom or just someone who likes to send a card with a true Christmas meaning? Whatever nativity advent calendars you are looking for there is a good choice here.
N
ativity stable advent calendar
A full size advent calendar with both stand out and slot in pieces. This advent looks even better if you add a straw base (and it helps you stand the pieces up a little easier too!).
This is beautifully illustrated by Kate Garrett with all the nativity characters, animals, angels and a star to put right at the top.
This advent calendar is available direct from my Flamingo Paperie shop. Click here to go there.
Nativity advent calendars
This is a truly traditional advent calendar with 24 doors to open. The calendar opens out to a 3D scene of Bethlehem and the surrounding area. Open a door each day leading up to Christmas. Illustrated by Anna Cattermole.
This is available in my Cards and Gift Wrap shop. Click here.
Bethlehem advent calendar
Beautifully illustrated by Sarah Summers, this was a best selling advent from Phoenix Trading. Sadly discontinued and only a couple left in stock. With 24 slot in pieces you could use this advent calendar year after year.
Available from Cards and Gift Wrap. Click here.
Christmas Nativity advent calendar card
If you’re looking for a small advent calendar that will post for the price of a regular stamp then you can’t get better than this. Also illustrated by Sarah Summers with 24 mini doors to open.
This is a card with an advent calendar on the front. The greeting inside reads ‘Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year’ and this is available from my Flamingo Paperie shop. Click here.
Notebooks
Christmas from Flamingo Paperie
Thinking of You – a Poem
Thinking of you
It’s a nice thing to do
just for fun
to someone
send a card
it isn’t hard
doesn’t matter who
makes you feel good too
so let someone know
you’re sending a glow
from your hand
to their land
send them some smiles
across fences or miles
send them a hug
in an envelope
make them feel snug
it helps folk to cope
with whatever life throws
and it just shows
that you’re full of good thoughts
for them and they ought
to know that you care
go on take the dare
and send something through
for Thinking of You
Send 7 cards in 7 days on Thinking of You week
10 people you could be Thinking Of this Week
10 Reasons to send Christmas cards
Books change lives
In a former life I saw first hand the impact that education can have on helping people to lift themselves out of poverty. I saw how literally books change lives. I want to keep being a small part of that change.
My experience in Africa
Before I had children I was a water and sanitation engineer in Africa. It was my job to oversee construction of water points, toilets and effective local community management of these alongside a public health promotion programme. One of the first things we would do is carry out a village assessment. This involved, amongst other things, talking to as many villagers as we could get hold of and asking them what they needed.The villagers always knew that we did water and sanitation work yet the conversation often went something like this:
Me ‘What are your biggest problems in the village?’
Villagers ‘We get sick’
Me ‘What do you get sick with?’
Villagers ‘Diarrhoea, dysentry, fever….’
Me ‘What do you think is making you sick?’
Villagers ‘Our water is dirty’
Me ‘What do you think we could help you with then’
Villagers ‘Build us a hospital so we can get medicine when we’re sick’
Perhaps further down their priorities they might mention cleaning up the water supply, or helping them with some materials to build toilets.
I saw too often some misinformed ‘elder’ nearly derail a whole village project with his ‘knowledge’ of what we were apparently doing wrong. Uneducated, not stupid, villagers would follow an elder like sheep because surely everything he said was right. Their lack of education didn’t mean they were stupid, rather I felt it left them unable to problem solve. Unable to see the connections between A and B. Unable often to examine the situations and come to their own conclusions.
Books Change Lives with Book Aid International
Education wasn’t part of my remit in Africa, nor was it something I was experienced in. And despite my staunch belief that civil engineers have saved more lives than doctors through providing clean water and sanitation over the centuries, I recognised that it is education that empowers people to identify what steps they need to take to change their own lives.
When I had children I gave up my career but still wanted to make a difference in some small way in the sort of places I had worked. I started selling children’s books but wanted to link it with education in Africa. That’s when I came across a charity called Book Aid International. Originally set up to take unwanted books from Britain to Africa it has evolved quite significantly to setting up libraries and working in partnership with them in many countries in Africa. Second hand books are not sent now, with the exception of some nearly new medical texts, instead literary partners request what books they are short of and Book Aid sources them. Publishers donate books requested by Book Aid. Libraries now exist where they never have before, some in buildings, some by bicycle and some even by donkey.
All because Book Aid International know that Books Change Lives
How can you help?
Most of the money raised by Book Aid International goes to either transporting books from Britain, setting up libraries or in some cases getting local publishers to print books. It costs on average £2 to send a book. You can donate here.
Book Aid International is the official charity of World Book Day. Perhaps your children will be doing something to support them.
Until the end of March I will donate £2 for every Times Tables Poster that I sell, either directly or through my website. If I could send even just £20 to Book Aid International that could be 10 lives changed.
It’s not difficult to make a difference when you hit the right spot. Books change lives. You can be a part of that.