Postcards, Letters, and Vistaprint?!

Ah... it's the holiday season!  Which means it's time to bust out the stationery and write to my out-of-state (and some in-state) friendlies.  I already to write handwritten letters to keep in touch with them, but there's something about sending special holiday ones that makes me extra happy.  I believe that keeping in touch with my friends via handwritten letters is well worth the stamp that sends it.

I'd already received a couple of Halloween cards from some friends.  They're really cute!  One of them was in the shape of a ghost.

Wanting to replenish my postcard and thank you card stock, I decided to waltz on over to Vistaprint to see what I can get.  I love this site!  Though, I should have waiting a few days before placing my order.  :(  It seems that Staples is currently running a deal wherein you can get 100 standard sized postcards and 10 holiday cards (4" x 8") for free in-store (or ~$9.95 shipped if done online).  Why does this make me sad?  Because they have the same templates a Vistaprint.

Anywho, for $17.83, I got the following (via 21-day "slow" shipping, though my orders typically arrive in 10 days...):

(100) postcards w/ 100 envelopes (extra $4.99 charge) & free uploads

(10) holiday cards w/ envelopes

(10) blank note cards w/ envelopes

(10) flat holiday cards

(10) folded thank you cards w/ envelopes

I've been wanting these cards for so long!  I wish they had that design in postcard form  :(  I'm now limited to only 10 of these cards.  I'd much rather not order more of them on future orders simply because I like having a variety of designs on hand.

(1) rubber stamp w/ red ink (extra $1.99 charge)

The holiday cards were the first things I'd ever ordered that wasn't generic.  I wanted to use them for an upcoming holiday party that I'd be hosting.  The stamp will be for a friend who wanted it to stamp her tickets for upcoming shows.  The rest are just generic cards that I'll be using to write thank you letters and notes to friends and family, both near and far.

I'd found a lot of teacher blogs who posted up their creative ideas for using Vistaprint items too.  They're really neat and I think I'll be passing that along to my teacher friends.  If I still taught Sunday school, you'd bet I'd be all over Vistaprint to figure out ways to incorporate their products into my classroom!

Welp!  It's time to head on down to Staples and pick up some more postcards!  I can't wait to have so many more postcards to choose from!

P.S.  Everything was free unless noted as an extra charge; the rest of the total is purely shipping costs.  At $17.83, this has got to be my most expensive order yet.  Simply because of the upgrades... usually my orders are around $6.00 or $7.00.  :)  Yeah, the cost kinda hurts me, but considering all the stuff I got, it'll last me quite some time and satiate my desires for more stationery.  Plus, the only reason I bought these more or less on "impulse" was because my friend needed the stamp for work.  Otherwise, I'm SURE I would have waited a lot longer before putting my order in (as always!).

** UPDATE:  (07 November 2011)
I got an e-mail on 03 November 2011 telling me that my order has shipped early.  It's scheduled to arrive on 10 November 2011.  Yay.  :) 

** UPDATE:  (13 November 2011)
As promised, my package came the morning of 10 November 2011.  Nothing was missing from my order and everything is perfect.  My only gripe is that the back of the folded cards came with "www.vistaprint.com" printed.  I only wish I could go on a Vistaprint shopping spree!  I did however, put in another order a couple of days after for Christmas time this year.  I'd personalised a bunch of items for my friend since she also likes to send out cards and handwritten letters to her friends.  :)