A Simple Thank You Goes a Long Way :)

About a month ago, I'd written a postcard to Starbucks Customer Relations.  It was around the time that I'd gotten my shipment of Vistaprint postcards and was in the mood to send them out.  I can't remember exactly what I'd written, but the gist of it involved thanking the people working there for all of their hard work and mentioning that because Starbucks sends out postcard (coupons) to their customers each and every day, it's high time they'd received one instead.

Fast forward to the present, I'd received a package from Starbucks a couple of days ago.  I didn't open it until today, Christmas day, though.  For what reason, I don't know.  I just wasn't in a rush to open it.  Within the package, I found a ceramic mug that read, "fa la la la la" all over it, 2 cute little ornaments, as well as a letter from one of the Customer Relations representatives.  Keeping his/her name anonymous, it read that they loved my letter and to please excuse their tardiness, as they wanted to show my postcard to everyone.  Upon looking up my account, they'd realized that my birthday was just around the corner and while shopping, had bought me the aforementioned gifts.

My simple thank you resulted in a great gift package from Starbucks.  They will be receiving another thank you letter from me once the holiday season dies down.  :)

This isn't the first time I'd received a gift from corporate.  I think most large businesses truly appreciate genuine thanks from the people they serve.  <3

Are Holiday Cards Still a Big Deal?

Or has the role of social media (i.e. Facebook) taken over?

I was never big on sending cards until this year, to be honest.  After I started sending postcards, and later, handmade cards out to friends and family, I realised it was something I just really enjoyed to do.  The act of writing out my thoughts and using pen/paper rather than just typing a message to my recipients is a whole lot more rewarding.  Or something.  It's just nice.

But with Facebook and all that becoming such a big part of our lives and photo sharing being easier than ever, will the holiday cards (with annual family portraits and all that) slowly die out?  I've personally never had a family portrait, but I've seen people take the time and make the effort to do so for the holiday season.  I've read about it plenty.  And of course, it's portrayed in the media as being a big deal for lots of families.

Cost must play a big role as well.  This year, I'm sending out postcards to most friends/family to wish them a great holiday season (postage is about half the price for postcards compared to regular letters).  For closer friends/family (sorry!) they'll be getting handmade cards.

Michael's Dollar Stamps!

I LOVE the little dollar bin at Michael's.  I usually pick up a stamp to use with notes and postcards if I can't find anything else I need want for my crafts.  I've got quite a few of the single Studio G stamps, but check this one out!  I hadn't seen it floating around the interwebz yet.

This one's also a dollar, but comes with 3 small stamps (about an inch square) and a little stamp pad.  There were I believe... 4 or 5 different sets, each in a different "color-coded" package.  These weren't found in the usual dollar bin; they were in the "adult finds" impulse buys aisle.  And yes!  They're STILL $1.00!  (Or better yet, $0.50-$0.60 with their weekly coupons.)

I'll probably head back and grab a couple more over the next few weeks when I find myself waltzing in.  They work great for the postcards I've been sending out.  :D

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.  :)