Christmas eve we spent enjoying homemade Chinese food at a small family gathering. And after seeing how easy they are to use, we may treat ourselves to an air fryer. Lots of laughs and games to end the evening.
On Christmas day, we slept in (always a good morning when we can do this), then had a nice quiet morning drinking coffee and opening gifts with Sunny and Marty. Marty does love swiping ornaments from the tree this year.
The day before, Bob had spent hours preparing his famous signature dish, homemade lasagna. We headed to Mum's in Old Orchard to enjoy the day. Between seeing the sweet new baby in the family and enjoying lots of laughs during the annual Yankee swap, it was truly a perfect celebration. That night I said to Bob what a great day it was- and it went by too quickly. His comment was "the good ones always do!" So true!
So this year coming up is a big one for El's Cards. It's our 25th year in business! It seems like we were just celebrating our 20th year. We're working on a few ideas to say thank you to all of our awesome customers in the year to come....so stay tuned for more details!
Meanwhile...we're kicking of 2024 with 3 fun things!
1. I created a FREE downloadable whimsical desktop wallpaper featuring one of our most popular designs-baby animals in the snow. It's available in the desktop size, tablet size, and the phone too.
Scroll to the bottom of this page for all the instructions for downloading the size you need of device wallpaper!
2. BIG New Year SALE!! This is super exciting! We had some items that we overordered or reordered so we have a surplus on several items....including our popular desk calendars. Our show schedule changed a bit and we had prepared for a certain number of shows.
All items on the SALE PAGE are at least 30% off and many items have limited quantities. If you see something you like-definitely grab it. As some of you know from our past holiday sales, things sell out very quickly. Which leads me to our third FUN bit of news!
3. NH Chronicle on WMUR channel 9 is re-airing the El's Cards segment on Monday, January 1st (that's tonight!!) at 7pm EST. Some of you might remember how excited we were to be featured on this great local NH program! Well, we're excited all over again to be sharing this news and kicking off 2024 this way :) If you aren't in NH, you can stream it here.
After the show aired last year, the response on the website was incredible. We have no way of knowing what will happen this year, but we are thinking that we may be getting a few orders after the show! And the Sale Page will likely be a favorite destination.
So that's the big news to kick off 2024! We are looking forward to the year to come. So many new designs to paint...maps to create...the ideas just don't stop!
Here are the simple instructions for downloading the free device wallpaper:
-Select the size you need:
(desktop widescreen) Click here for 1920 x 1080
(tablet) Click here for 1024 x 768
(phone) Click here for smartphone
-When the image opens, right click the image
-Select "save as" and label it as you wish...New Year 2024 wallpaper or Baby Animals wallpaper...in a place where you can find it.
-Go to your settings page in the computer
-Go to Personalization in the settings
-Browse images and grab it from where you have it saved. It will set as home page wallpaper. If you have trouble, ask your favorite millennial or "gen-z"er for help!
Enjoy your NEW device wallpaper! Download it to all of your devices and feel free to share this post with anyone you think might like it.
We sincerely wish you a happy happy New Year and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being a wonderful customer! We are so grateful for your support of our small business.
xoxo
El & Bob
Marty & Sunny
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But! One of our favorite couples just got married recently so I thought to add that special detail in paint pen to the back of our 2023 commemorative snowflake ornament. My friend loved it! And we hope you do too. So until they are gone, I will add a short personalization in gold paint pen (30 character max) on the back of our 2023 snowflake ornament.
Perfect for couples who got married this year (as shown in the example) or got engaged! Also great for new babies with name and date of birth.
This service is only being offered on our 2023 snowflake ornament, because of the size and space for writing.
Here's how to add personalization to your order. Please read this carefully!
Step 1:Put your 2023 snowflake ornament in your shopping cart.
Step 2:Go to the box that says "Special instructions or notes for El" on the bottom left side.
Step 3: VERY IMPORTANT!!! Do not use an "&" in that box. Your text will be cut off.
If it is for a newly married couple, please enter their info like this (first names only):
first name 1 and first name 2 got married
wedding date (if desired)
For newly engaged couple-do it like this:
first name 1 and first name 2
got engaged
Or for a baby-
Full name (first, middle, last)
DOB (M/D)
Or if this is too confusing, you can email me the needed info at ellen@elscards.com. I must receive all personalization info either on your order when you check out, or through email by the end of the day on Saturday, December 16th if we are shipping for you to receive by Christmas.
December 16th is our last day for ordering to have items shipped in time for Christmas. Bob is doing his last Christmas postal run on Monday, December 18th.
If you are doing front porch pickup, the last day to order is Wednesday, December 20th.
Our gift sets are flying out the door! If you haven't seen them, there are still some great choices available.
Have a great weekend!
xoxo
El & Bob
Good Monday morning to you friends! Yes! We know you love this special! Every time we offer it we get a great response!
Buy one map-get one FREE. Sizes 8" x 10", 11" x 14", and 16" by 20"! (Sorry-extra large maps are not included in the free map offer.)
How to get your free second map? Just put your map selection in the "Special instructions or notes for El" box on the shopping cart page.
If purchasing a framed map, your free map will come unframed.
OH...and there is no limit. So if you buy 1 maps...you get 1 free map, buy 2 you get 2....etc!. A great bonus :)
Enjoy the maps and have a great day!!
xoxo
El & Bob
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This weekend, we are excited to offer some special Free Gifts with Purchase and our BIG Prize Giveaway...and don't forget the FREE Frame with Your Beloved Bookshelf custom print.
Make a $50 purchase and receive a mini Beautiful Tree Notepad-100 sheets, size is 5.5" x 4.25" ($9 value). This cute notepad is already so popular....we just got our second order in stock and they are flying out the door. Sorry... coffee and cookies not included ;)
Make an $85 purchase and receive a special, 2023 commemorative snowflake ornament ($14 value). These were ordered especially for this weekend! And they literally just arrived! Hence the slightly later in the day email. Also....these are not available for purchase yet! They are only being given as a gift with purchase. I love showing the actual painting next to the finished ornament :)
As with all our other ornaments (which we can see you are enjoying because of the number that are going out the door!), this ornament is packaged in an organza bag to keep it nice from year to year when you store your ornaments.
Make a $125 purchase and receive our NEW (just in last week) Merry Ornaments tea towel ($24 value). Ah! This painting was a pleasure for me to create. The gift wrap has taken off and this colorful towel is also flying out the door. You can see the original painting here.
BIG PRIZE GIVEAWAY-Want to win a delightful gift package full of El's Cards products worth over $200? It's a fun surprise mix of all the things you love! How to enter? Just make a purchase on the website between Friday, November 24th and Monday, November 27th. Easy! All who make a purchase will be entered! From cards, to tea towels, to calendars and gift tags...it's full of fun stationery and artistic items that you will LOVE!
And last but definitely not least....complete the gift with a FREE frame when you order "Your Beloved Bookshelf" any time through Monday. See this page for details. Some of you must have had some good Thanksgiving book conversations, because we have already had a few people take advantage of this offer! I'm finishing up the new Bunny design this afternoon...but we have already had a couple of orders for this painting--sight unseen :)
We truly appreciate you shopping with us! This morning I received so many Black Friday specials when I opened my email, as I am sure you did too! We are happy that you are enjoying all the new designs this year, and we sincerely thank you for your enthusiasm for El's Cards!
Have a wonderful weekend,
xoxo
El & Bob (and the boys)
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This afternoon, I'm finishing up another painting version of our popular custom print, Your Beloved Bookshelf. This one has a sweet stuffed bunny painting and is done especially with children's books in mind. I've had a lot of requests for this, and am happy to finally have the time to paint the design. Also, I had mentioned on our Holiday launch day that I would be doing this artwork....and have had a couple of requests since then! ;) As my good friend Liz says, I get things done because of a combination of deadlines (for me self imposed....) and peer pressure! See the Bunny in process below...and the completed version below that!... it's available for order here!
Since many people will be visiting with family and friends over the next few days, I thought it would be fun to answer some questions I often get about this fun gift! Thanksgiving is a great opportunity for you to drop some subtle (or not so subtle) hints about sending the favorite book list.
Are you offering some sort of a special for the holiday weekend? Yes! Of course we are doing something special for the holiday weekend! That email will be coming on Friday. But in the meantime, we wanted our email list to have the first dibs on our special we are doing for Your Beloved Bookshelf right now!
Can I give my special person a gift card so they can order their own Beloved Bookshelf? You certainly can! We have E-Gift Cards available for purchase in many denominations.
Drumroll please.......While the frames last, you can have your Bookshelf print framed for FREE all weekend! Here's how to get your print framed for free: First, place your order for the Your Beloved Bookshelf design of your choice, with the 10 book titles and authors. Design layouts include the following: Teacup, Coffee Cup, Plant, Reading Glasses, Baseball, Hydrangea, NEW Bunny.
Second, select your frame from the three choices on the main Your Beloved Bookshelf page. As long as we have the frame you want in stock, it's all yours! Very important! You must add the frame to your shopping cart in order to receive your free frame. If you do not select a frame, your custom artwork will not be framed. NO coupon code needed. Just check out. Our wood frames have a value of $26-$36.
And definitely keep an eye out for something special coming on Black Friday (and all weekend). Hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving day!
We thank you for reading and for your interest in our small business!
xoxo
El & Bob
(Marty & Sunny too!)
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Let's kick things off with the new item, just because I can't help myself! Drumroll please-welcome to the El's Cards collection...
Ornaments! We have been getting requests for ornaments for years and we are so happy to add them to our collections just in time for the holiday season 2023.
We are starting out with 6 fun watercolor designs to see which are people's favorites. If these are well received, I already have some ideas brewing for other ornament designs. These really show off the watercolor designs beautifully. Each ornament has a satin ribbon for hanging.
These sweet beauties come in a silver organza bag with a ribbon draw string. If you are putting them away after Christmas (and you may want to enjoy them all year long, hanging in a special place!) we suggest you store your ornament in the bag to keep them looking their best.
NEW Christmas card designs are always a fun project. Our new designs this year include Christmas Snow Globe, Buoy Tree, Lifeguard Stand, and (a much awaited request) 12 Dogs of Christmas! Yes...we are cat people over here...but every dog must have his day ;) so what better way to honor some cute canine companions than putting them on a Christmas card?!
NEW Christmas notepad- Our Beautiful Tree card has been a huge hit over the past couple of years. So this year our Christmas notepad features that favorite artwork. This lined pad has a fresh green wash background as you make your holiday "to do" list.
NEW Gift Wrap- This was a FUN painting! When thinking about new gift wrap for this year, Bob suggested we blow up the design on our Beautiful Tree card. Since the card design was painted small, I needed to paint the details large to get the details just right.
You may notice that the little angel from this painting also is featured on a couple of other new items (including an ornament!) Merry Ornaments will surely bring a smile. All the colors! And as with all our other Christmas wraps, there is a beautiful and harmonious wash on side 2. Be watching later in the month for this design on another special item (or two!)
And....we are still running our gift wrap special-25% off gift wrap when you purchase 3 or more rolls. This applies to this colorful new wrap as well. No coupon code needed-discount happens automatically in your cart.
Don't miss the new Angel and Gingerbread Cookie tags that look great with the new wrap design.
NEW Double sided desk calendars for 2024- this was another big request from our customers. The front side is the calendar that you know and love, with a little bonus! Printed on side 2 is a full color print of that month's design. So at the end of 2024, you have 12 5" x 7" prints to enjoy-one of each month's artwork.
You can see side 2 of each calendar below! Of course, the classic one sided version is also available.
NEW People's Choice Poster Calendar- Our People's Choice Desk Calendars were so popular that they sold out back in September. So we decided to create a poster calendar (either 11" x 14" or 16" x 20") featuring these favorite designs.
Your Beloved Bookshelf (3 new paintings)-These new designs were introduced earlier this year, but in case you missed them, we now have a Hydrangea, Coffee Cup, and Baseball. This gift was one of our best sellers last holiday season. We will be taking orders for this item until December 1st this year, so definitely order early! There are couple more in the pipeline (one for kids), that I am planning to complete in the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned....so many ideas, so little time!
NEW Tea Towels-Shell Tree is back! One of our best selling designs is on a blue vintage style stripe towel this year. Peace Ornaments is new on the red stripe vintage towel, and the always festive North Pole Sign is on the white flour sack. More towels are coming in over the next couple of weeks and we will put them up on the site as soon as they arrive!
As a sidenote-so many of you have purchased our slightly imperfect "I Love Tea" towel! Those are almost gone but we do still have a few left. Thank you for all your kind messages after receiving your towels. We will be getting more of these (in perfect condition) later this month.
We are so happy to introduce so many new designs and items this year. I will be adding things as they arrive throughout the month, but don't worry, you will be the first to know about all new additions.
Thank you so much for taking a look at all the fun new designs and items to enjoy! So many of you have already started ordering your cards and we thank you for that. Next weekend (11/11) we will be at the Seacoast Artisans show in Newington, NH. If you are local-hope to see you there!
Have a wonderful weekend,
xoxo
El & Bob
It's the time of year when I am painting all our new holiday designs, thinking about the items we need to order from our outside vendors, and the excitement about the upcoming holidays is building. So many ideas and new artwork. I've had my gingerbread candle going with Christmas music playing to get me in the holiday spirit.
I spent a full week painting the design for our calendar towels this year. It was such a fun project...and when previewing the painting with friends and family and on social media, I received a wonderful response.
So at the end of September, the design was complete. It was set up and sized for print. But before sending it off for print, I made a small change to the spacing on the bottom part of the design. Why can't I just leave well enough alone?! (Probably a whole other blog post there!) The proof came in shortly after this...we both looked it over and approved it....and that was that!
We received our calendar towel order from California earlier this week, and I was so excited that we would have them in stock for our big holiday design launch next weekend.
Bob was ironing the towels before packaging them this morning. As soon as he noticed the defect, Bob came upstairs carrying one of the new towels. He brought to my attention that a small part of the month of November is missing in the bottom line of the month (the bottom part of 24, 25, and 26 is missing).
After the initial feeling of heart in my throat-sick to my stomach- we had to find a practical solution. We will be reordering our calendar towels and they will arrive at some point in mid-late November, with this error corrected, of course.
Because of this mistake, we can't sell them at full price, but they are so pretty we don't want Bob to use them as shop rags either. So this first print run of our 2024 calendar towel will be sold at half price- $12 each while they last. You can clearly see the towel image on this page-and on the 2024 I Love Tea towel page.
We've been told we can be a little more picky than most, so you may not even notice or mind this little fault. As Bob said "mistakes happen", as I was beating myself up about missing this little detail.
Bob and I feel so fortunate to do what we do-and to have a great base of understanding and appreciative friends and customers. Thank you for reading my apology here. We are so looking forward to our big holiday product launch-as always the first weekend of November.
xoxo
El & Bob
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Thinking of you with love and gratitude. You have always been so important to me. My earliest memory of you is me sitting in the back seat of Mum’s car, with you in the passenger seat, going on one of our many excursions. When I think of my earliest years as a little girl, you were a huge part of my life. We would go shopping or on other errands, or just on an adventure. You and Mum were always so close. I loved us all spending time together.
Thank you for all the hours you spent with me playing with Fisher price kids on the living room floor. I remember you being at our house for dinner a few times a week. You were so good to me-you always treated me like I was special. I remember once we were out somewhere together and a classmate from school saw us and asked me if you were my dad. I was so proud to be asked that question. You were better-you were my Uncle J.
Thank you for always listening to what I had to say. You never made me feel like it was silly. I could always be myself with you. Every year before Christmas, we would go Christmas shopping together. It was something special I looked forward to doing. You would take me someplace nice for lunch, then we would go shopping for gifts for me to give to my family!
Of course you were always there for the holidays and occasions, and you always made them extra special for me. One birthday you took me to the jeans store and bought me my first pair of Levi’s. When I was in jr. high the big thing was wearing a cowboy hat to the school dances. You didn’t get me an ordinary cowboy hat-you got me the nicest one-it was a Stetson. I loved it…I was clueless about how fancy it really was, but I was so proud that you had given it to me. You even took me and a couple of my little buddies to see Shaun Cassidy when he came to the Civic Center. What an experience that must have been for you. You were the coolest uncle!
How you loved the beach! When I would go to Gooch's Beach in high school with all my friends, we would always come down to say "Hi!" You had your spot where I knew you would always be sitting in your chair with a well worn pair of docksiders next to it.
You always remembered my friend's names and treated them with kindness. From the time I was a small girl through my young adult years, you made a lasting impression on all my friends who met you. To this day, I am still asked "how is your Uncle John?" by many of my friends- and by people who I sometimes don't even know. You had a magnetic personality. Everyone remembered you.
When you met Aunt Kathy and had been dating a few months, I remember you called our house and I answered the phone. You told me that you were getting married. I was happy that you were because I loved Kathy! And I was so excited that I was the first person you told. It felt like a real honor. You didn’t treat me like a little kid and ask for Mum on the phone. I got to be the first one to know! That is something I'll never forget. Laura and I brought up the gifts at the wedding-you always included us!
Thank you for hosting the best "Uncle John's Christmas" for so many years! You and Aunt Kathy have a beautiful home-so many thoughtful details everywhere. The two of you put so much planning into the celebration and always served the most special and delicious meal. When we were accepted to the Laudholm Farm show a few years ago, I was so excited to tell you that news! Every year, you gave us the most unique and beautiful gifts that the two of you found at that craft fair. There are so many of these gifts that remind me of you scattered throughout our home.
When you first met Bob, you welcomed him immediately. Bob loves animals, and hit it off immediately with Finn, your beautiful golden retriever. And when we got married, of course you and Aunt Kathy were there to be part of the celebration! We treasure the photos you gave us from that wonderful day and I'm so happy that you were there.
I am sad that you are not here any more, but the memories I have of you will always be so special to me. Your big laugh and handsome smile, your fun spirit and your great sense of humor. Your unconditional love. So many wonderful memories of my special Uncle John. There are so many of them....too many to list.
My dear friend, Jody, and I were talking recently....sharing memories and remembering you. Her comment put it simply, and the best. "Everyone should be lucky enough to have an Uncle John." I have never taken for granted how lucky I was to have you in my life, and I can only aspire to be that aunt to my own nieces and nephews.
The calendar paintings are one of my favorite projects every year. We do our big 2024 calendar launch later this week. It seemed only fitting to do a special painting in your honor. So May of "The Sea" calendar is just for you, Uncle John.
Love you Always,
El
I have to admit that I did not have a clear vision for my future or a plan to follow. Since I left high school I held seventeen different jobs before I started working with Ellen. I had managed to acquire some things to make life easier and more enjoyable. I was reasonably happy, and after I met Ellen, I was even happier. She had her own vision and was dutifully executing her plan, to create art and live to create.
When we started to talk about doing her business together the idea seemed to take on a life of its own. It not only seemed possible, but it was also fitting together nice and easy. Work is always work, that’s why it is not called fun. We had a lot of work to do, and the funny thing is, we end up having a lot of fun doing it. I can’t help it, I’m a fun guy-and I don’t even look like a mushroom. Sure, there is tedious paperwork and ordering supplies blah blah blah. But I have found some of my creativity in the production of our products and the set up and management of our limited workspace. If feels like putting together a puzzle, and each piece put in place feels like an accomplishment.
Setting up invitations for assembly-Photo by Jenn Bakos
For some people the changing of the calendar can bring on some reflections from the year gone by. Fond memories and stressful situations flash through the mind. I take a few moments in April to reflect on the past year and to look back further to the beginning of this journey. Sitting down to write this blog post, it feels as if time stands still, and then I realize 8 years have passed very quickly. We didn’t set unrealistic goals, we often have received more than we had hoped for. Yes there were some disappointments, but they seem to vanish when looking at the success with gratitude.
Kittery Block Party 2022
Last year we signed up for a few new craft shows in areas we had not been before-Kittery, ME, Hampton Falls NH, Ward Hill MA, North Andover MA, Lancaster MA, and Ogunquit ME. Wow, I thought we did a few, it was not until I looked at the list that I see we did quite a few. We are signing up this year for some new locations (link here to the 2023 show schedule) and it looks like another fun year of traveling to craft shows. We enjoy meeting the customers directly and enjoying the local food choices and some of our areas are very nice vacation locations.
A walk on the beach after a great show in Newport, RI in October
Funny story, we had just worked the weekend at a holiday craft show, and I was looking forward to a few days off. It was Monday on the week of Thanksgiving. I could hear Ellen on the phone, a very animated call, she was saying, “Yes we can make that happen!” I was thinking to myself “What now?!” She came into the room and put the phone on speaker. We were getting a call from Karen Meyers from the NH Chronicle tv show. They wanted to come over on Wednesday for an interview. All I could think of was...I need to get the whole house cleaned in two days.
Bob and Karen Meyers taking a break from filming
Well, they came on Wednesday, Karen Meyers to do the interview and a camera person to shoot the film. They had estimated about 2-4 hours, and it took a total of 6 hours to get the interview done. We had a lot to talk about. Then we invited our close friends over for a viewing party when it aired on Friday, December 16th (you can watch the segment here). No sooner did the airing of the segment end, our website blew up with orders. We had just finished our last holiday craft show the weekend before and I was looking forward to a break. One more push to satisfy the demand from our customers.
Sometimes it seems like people get caught up in where they are going, or where they want to be, or what is the next big thing. I really like where we are now. In fact, I have liked it for most of the 8 years we have been doing this. We have opportunities to try new venues, we have found some good support vendors, and Ellen continues to create beautiful artwork. Why change what is working so well? We both feel confident in our vision for the business, and with that confidence we also have the liberty to try new things.
Floral invitations photo by Jenn Bakos
We hired a professional product photographer, Jenn Bakos, to help with some wedding invitation photos. Then we used the new photos to give the wedding invitation pages on the website a nice, refreshed look. We have been getting lots of compliments and inquiries about new business. Customers are really excited about the new look and all the new designs. This wedding season is already up and running strong. I actually had to put off this blog for a few weeks to catch up with the incoming work. It was started in mid-April and I finally now have a chance to finish up.
To conclude, I must once again thank our supportive family and friends. They are always cheering us on and hoping for our continued success. We cannot thank our customers enough. People continue to find us and they write Ellen the nicest messages when purchasing orders and checking out on the website. I am so happy to be a part of that.
Thanks again for checking in with us,
Bob
One of my favorite projects every year is creating our new calendars! So, of course those designs are also in the works. This year we are going to do something new and need your help. The idea was mine, but the name is all Bob! It's our special, first time ever, People's Choice Calendar.
VOTE here if you don't want to read more :)
The other day, Bob took all of the calendar designs from 2014-2021 and printed them out on big sheets for us to see. We then went through all the images and selected our favorite 36 designs-or designs that our clients especially like. The rest is up to you!
Our web developer has created a survey page and we are asking all friends of El's Cards to visit the page and select your 12 favorite designs. The voting page will be open until Friday, May 5th, 2023. At that time, we will determine which of the designs got the most votes, and voila! We will create a special calendar featuring the 12 most chosen paintings. Of course, this calendar will be in addition to our Sea and Colorful Year calendars!
As a thank you for voting, you will be entered to win one of these special calendars! We will be giving away the new People's Choice Calendars with a frame to 3 lucky winners.
We are so excited to see which designs are the most popular! Thank you so much for casting your vote :) Have a great day,
xoxo
El & Bob
First photo and cover photo by Jenn Bakos Photography.
]]>When Bob and I started working together full time in 2015, we decided that a new website was a must for the future of El's Cards. And having this site made for us was truly a wonderful decision. We always get compliments on how easy our website is to use.
That said, we thought it was time for a little updating to our weddings section! So, we hired a fabulous product photographer, Jenn Bakos, to redo all our wedding suite photos for the Wedding Invitations section. Jenn and I worked together (with 2 other little "helpers") for 4 super full days. Updates to those wedding invitations pages coming soon...I'll definitely keep you posted. Even if you don't need invitations-the photos are nothing short of spectacular!
Meanwhile, Bob has been working on doing the image layouts for 15 new wedding photo galleries together from 2020 (yes...I got a little behind....) through 2023. And now we are in the process of showcasing these beautiful weddings every week.
On Valentine's Day, we featured Kellie and Lucas from November 2020--at long last! Their stunning Kennebunkport wedding was photographed by Brea McDonald.
Now this week you can see Liz and Trevor's super colorful Vermont wedding from last summer-- featuring their hand painted crest among other custom details. Beautiful photos above by Jenna Brisson.
Speaking of crests--we are happy to announce that we have our custom wedding crests page up! Last year was truly the year of the wedding crest. Each was so different and unique, and totally personalized for our couples. Currently, we are only doing these crests for weddings (because they take so much time to design and paint) but I hope that someday in the future we will be adding them to our personal stationery designs.
So moving on from wedding news-as soon as we get the wedding categories on the website updated-it's time for NEW card designs for spring and beyond! I'm also excited about a new calendar design I have for this year...plus new maps...and more! NEW Beloved Bookshelf designs-coffee cup, baseball, children's books....can't wait!
I wish I could tell you Bob and I had taken the winter off to go and sit on a tropical beach somewhere, but we are hard at work over here....behind the scenes. Last February Bob took the month and remodeled our kitchen. It's a different kind of remodel this year ;)
Thank you for all the wonderful orders that you continue to send us. We appreciate you!! Stay tuned for new cards and other fun items soon. And we can't wait for you to see our new and improved wedding section.
Have a great day,
xoxo
El
A special thank you to all our new customers who discovered us through the NH Chronicle episode! If you haven't yet seen this fun segment about El's Cards, link here to watch it. :)
As always, there are more ideas in my head than ever. Years ago, when starting El's Cards, I wondered if I would ever have a shortage of ideas. And the answer to that is a resounding "NO!" Still....more ideas for artwork than I have time. Thank you for all your creative suggestions. I'm looking forward to working on our project and artwork "to do" list for the year to come and painting so many new designs and inventing some new products too. Stay tuned!
Meanwhile...we are long overdue here for a desktop wallpaper. The last one I did was for Valentine's Day 2022. This design was an idea from Bob and I'm so happy he made the suggestion!
Last year for our anniversary in May, we went to Boston and did a fun museum tour which included the New England Aquarium. Neither of us had been there in many years, and when we got to the tropical fish tank, we stayed there longer than any of the other exhibits. We took so many pictures when we were there that a colorful fish design was a no brainer for our 2023 Sea Desk Calendar (we still have a few left). And I'm currently obsessed with painting fish so that is also the subject matter of our Happy New Year desktop wallpaper. Something colorful and cheerful to brighten your winter days :)
To download your desktop wallpaper, just follow these simple instructions:
-Select the size you need:
(desktop widescreen) Click here for 1920 x 1080
(tablet) Click here for 1024 x 768
(phone) Click here for smartphone
-When the image opens, right click the image
-Select "save as" and label it as you wish...New Year 2023 wallpaper or Fish wallpaper...in a place where you can find it.
-Go to your settings page in the computer
-Go to Personalization in the settings
-Browse images and grab it from where you have it saved. It will set as home page wallpaper. If you have trouble, ask your favorite millennial or "gen-z"er for help!
Enjoy your NEW device wallpaper! Download it to all of your devices and feel free to share this post with anyone you think might like it.
We have a number of other device wallpapers available too. See this page to see all the others available for free downloading.
Wishing you a Happy 2023! Looking forward to some great surprises at El's Cards in the year to come. We are grateful for your love and support!
xoxo
El & Bob
Hello friends! Happy Holidays to all! On Friday night, we enjoyed watching a beautiful segment about El's Cards on NH Chronicle created by the insightful journalist Karen Meyers. You may have seen my post shortly after Karen and Jason (the talented cameraman), came to film us the day before Thanksgiving.
If you didn't get to see the show (we know we have a lot of friends who are not in New Hampshire!!) here is a link to watch it now. Bob and I are so happy with the outcome. It is a great compliment to be featured on this iconic news program.
The response after the show was incredible! We had a busy weekend filling orders and we are happy to report that everything made it out yesterday-shipped on time for Christmas! (A little reminder...today, December 20th, is the LAST day to order for front porch pickup in time for Christmas!)
Your Beloved Bookshelf photo by Jenn Bakos
We want to thank you for all the wonderful card and gift orders this season! "Your Beloved Bookshelf" has had a great debut and we are getting an overwhelming response on this most special of gifts! As a person who loves to read, this project was something I have wanted to do for a long time and the positive response has been overwhelming.
Map photo by Jenn Bakos
And something special for the hikers! Karen did a great job highlighting our newest map! It was definitely the big seller over the weekend-the map of the NH 4,000 footers. Thank you to all our new customers who will be giving this map to someone special this holiday season!
We truly appreciate all of the wonderful support and great notes you have been sending since the show aired. It is such a gift to be able to do something so enjoyable and meet so many great people along the way.
We will be out of the studio from December 22nd-27th for a little Christmas break, so any orders placed in that time period will be filled when we return starting on December 28th. I'm getting together a little holiday surprise for our email recipients so watch your inbox for that ;)
With love and gratitude,
El & Bob
Photo by Jason Modeski, WMUR
We had a great time filming with Karen and Jason the day before Thanksgiving and have been busy filling orders and wrapping up our show season since that day. We have been receiving so many great orders and we thank you all!
So far so good with shipping! Nothing like the past couple of years were. That said, I set up an ordering deadlines page with some shipping FAQs. You can see that full page here.
Holiday deadline to order online for items being shipped is this Saturday, December 17th.
Deadline for front porch pickup orders is Wednesday, December 20th.
Any orders placed between December 22nd-December 27th will be shipped starting December 28th-when we return from a few days off for Christmas.
Don't forget about our gift wrap option. We can wrap your items purchased beautifully in any of our gift wraps and ship it directly to the recipient for you if you enter their shipping address during checkout.
Photo by Jenn Bakos
And, something new to download. Just in the unlikely event that you do not receive your order in time for Christmas gift giving, I created two notes for you to download and print yourself to either wrap or put in a card. Either of these will let the recipient know that their gift is on the way.
Download Christmas note here.
Download General note here.
These notes were originally requested by someone who wanted to order "Your Beloved Bookshelf"...our beautiful new custom gift! The turnaround time for creation and production is currently two weeks....then ship time on top of that. But, if it's the perfect gift for someone on your list, you can present them with one of our new notes.
We are honored to be part of this great NH show on Friday and hope you can all watch! For all of our out of state customers, we will be posting a link for you to see the show after it airs and will let you know when that happens. One thing that the cameraman mentioned several times during the day they were here taping...we are likely to have a bump in orders after the show airs! So if you have something in mind as a last minute gift for someone...this is your time :)
One more thing! If you are in Exeter, NH and are looking for some great gifts of all shapes and sizes (El's Cards or otherwise), check out Crafted New England on Water Street! It's right across from the town hall! A wonderful shop to check out-shop local-and you can find so many of our items there too. Kyle, the owner, makes the most wonderful candles! A great local store :)
We thank you sincerely for all of your support and enthusiasm! We couldn't do this without you and are grateful for you making our small business what it has become.
xoxo
El & Bob
]]>We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving yesterday! It's been a wonderful week here at El's Cards. On Monday, I got a phone call in the morning from Karen Meyers from WMUR! She had an unexpected opening in her schedule on Wednesday (yes....2 days later!) and asked if we would be available to be filmed for New Hampshire Chronicle!
So my immediate answer was, "We can definitely make that happen!"....and as I heard the words coming out, I thought, Hm...maybe I better let Bob know what is going on here! I put the phone on speaker and brought the phone into the kitchen where Bob was pouring some coffee. We had just had a big craft show and then a wedding show over the weekend- so were starting our workday a little later than usual.
Karen explained how it all worked and the timing for Wednesday....and Bob and I then set to figuring out how Monday and Tuesday would go! It was definitely an offer we couldn't refuse.
What a great experience! Karen made us both feel so comfortable in the interviews and Jason was a pro at working around my little studio space with his lighting system. We had a lot of laughs and it was truly an unforgettable day! And anyone who knows me, knows that yes...I did have an outfit change :) I don't paint in my fancy interview clothes so I went casual for that part of the filming. Jason got shots of me painting and Bob printing in his workshop.
I almost forgot to get some behind the scenes shots-my friend Meg who has done so many great videos for us reminded me to do that! So you can see a few in this post. We will let you know when the show airs! We are so thankful for your positive feedback and support! This feels like the Big Time for El's Cards.
AND of course because it's Black Friday weekend, we are doing free gifts with purchase today-Monday. No coupon needed-gifts will be included with your order.
Spend $30+ get a free Christmas sticker sheet...
$65+ get a free Holiday notepad too...
$100+ get a free 11x14 Poster Calendar too!
Free shipping over $150.
If you are "local"-remember our Front Porch Pickup! That is so popular, we continue to offer that great service.
If ordering and are wondering about ship times, Bob just told me right now you can expect 2-3 says production, then shipping time. Please order on the early side if possible. We have not yet decided on our last ship day for 2022, but will be announcing that in the next week or so.
And a friendly little reminder....Our deadline for "Your Beloved Bookshelf" to ship in time to arrive by December 24th is December 1st! So you have one week to get your orders in for gifting. We have received so many orders already-we are thrilled with the response.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone! We sincerely thank you for all the great orders.
xoxo
El & Bob
Not to mention the super personal and fun new product "Your Beloved Bookshelf". Orders are already pouring in for that one, so be sure you order soon for the holidays!
They say a picture is worth a thousand words...so I'm going to let the photos speak to you today--although you know me...there will be a few comments! ;) Want to cut right to What's New? Here's that page!
NEW card designs! There may be a couple more coming...so stay tuned over the next few weeks for those. Beach Glass Tree is already getting a great response. The inspiration for this one came to me on vacation in October.
We also brought back a few favorites-Lobster with Mittens (on our vintage style towels this year!)-see it featured here with our Mini Maine notepad and the Lobster with Mittens holiday notes!
.....Farm Truck , 3 French Hens, and Christmas Cookies. Limited quantities on all, so don't hesitate!
NEW gift wrap! This year it's a mixed Christmas wrap with softly muted green watercolor stripes on the back!
NEW notepads-great for stocking stuffers or Secret Santa gifts. New designs include a new version of our "Things to do before we say "I do" (it is engagement season after all!), holiday, and hiking!
NEW sticker sheet designs! Stickers aren't just for the kids :) We added The Sea, Beautiful Flowers (this one is all bouquets), and Christmas!
Desk Calendars were launched in the summer, but this is always a popular gift item-The Sea or A Colorful Year.
And every year we get requests for an 11" x 14" poster size wall calendar so this year we have one! Big bold flowers to brighten up a room!
And of course...my personal favorite gift...Your Beloved Bookshelf. This is the Plant version....
And here you can see the three original paintings! Get the whole story on my last blog post here.
Coming soon-- a one page poster calendar and some other little treats for the holidays. Just not enough hours in the day here!
We will be in Wells, Maine this weekend at the Jr. High on Route one for a great holiday craft show. Hours are 10am-4pm both Saturday and Sunday.
Thanks for checking out some fun new artwork for the holiday season!
xoxo
El & Bob
Beautiful photos by Jenn Bakos
OK photos by El ;)
This year when I was creating the Colorful Year desk calendar, I had the most fun painting the design for the month of September. It was back to school month, so I always try to make it applicable to that subject (even though I am no longer a teacher and we don't have kids!). I've done a school bus, colored pencils, and this year, I had the idea of painting some of my favorite books.
As a creative person running a business, it's a continuing goal to figure out what my customers like. Some things are just consistently popular...certain designs or themes for cards. There are more ideas in my head than hours in the day. When that painting was complete, I posted it on Facebook to see if anyone liked it.
The response was overwhelming! In the comments under the photo, my friends were commenting on the books and how that was a favorite of theirs too! After the post being up for only a few hours, I had texts and emails from three different clients requesting that I paint a special shelf of their own favorite books! Soooooo.....my brain started putting it all together! A NEW custom gift was in the making. The paintings started forming (in my head). The calendar painting had reading glasses perched on a book, and then I looked around my house for other ideas. Because I love books so much (even though admittedly I often read from my Kindle), there are books all over the house on different shelves here and there.
I immediately reached out to the talented Jenn Bakos about doing some special photos. Then I emailed my web developer about putting the form together! This is before I had even put paintbrush to paper, other than the original calendar painting.. A dear friend was visiting, and she loved the idea so much she placed an order before even seeing the artwork! Then another friend did the very same thing....so now I really had to follow through ;)
In conversation with other friends and family, there was a super enthusiastic response. The designs and ideas kept flowing. So, this project was in my head through the busy wedding season in August and September. Here we are in October, and we are so excited to share this new custom artwork with you. Our good friends Maggie and Gary helped Bob and me fine tune the name...Your Beloved Bookshelf! After tossing around so many different ideas-I loved it!
Next, I got to work on the paintings. I loved coming up with the best color combinations for each of the designs. The glasses shelf from the calendar painting was a neat layout, but I wanted each print to be different. I actually repainted the glasses shelf and then turned it around in photoshop to have more variety in the layouts. The paintings were originally all done in watercolor by hand in my studio (no digital painting here!), then the book titles and authors are added to the print in my exclusive El's Cards fonts. Depending upon the title, there may be a little piece of artwork inserted on a couple of book spines if appropriate. Fonts used will differ depending upon the length of book titles and author names.
We are starting with three different designs-The Teacup, Reading Glasses, and The Plant. The Teacup design example shown is a list of my favorites! To be clear...I didn't overthink this when I did my list. There are so many books and writers that have had special significance in my life. The books on my Beloved Bookshelf are the ones that popped into my head first! One of my friends was working on her list and really took her time. You can make your list any way you like. There are quite a few children's books on my shelf because I have so many great memories connected with those stories I read as a girl and often reread to this day.
Hopefully you will be treating yourself to one of these fun pieces of artwork! If giving this print as a gift, I suggest just asking the recipient to make you a list of their ten favorite books and their authors. Or maybe you love all the same books, so you can just come up with the list on your own! Either way, Your Beloved Bookshelf will be a personal and wonderful surprise!
Your Beloved Bookshelf is offered as either an 11" x 14" print or an 8" x 10" print. We like to offer things in standard sizes so getting a frame isn't stressful! And we do have frames in stock to complete the gift if you would like. There are a few styles that we only have a few left, so if you see one that you like, don't hesitate!
Ordering is simple. You just select the bookshelf design you like best and then fill out the form on that page. Because this is custom artwork, please allow two weeks for design and production-plus shipping.
Since this is a special new item just in time for the holidays, we are offering free gift wrapping of Your Beloved Bookshelf for 2 full weeks-October 25th, 2022-November 8th, 2022. Just place your order and add the gift wrap option to your cart.
We are so excited to introduce this new custom item! Thanks for reading my blog post and have fun making your book list!
xoxo
El
Beautiful photos by Jenn Bakos!
]]>For years, Bob had wanted to take the time to re-do our kitchen! Bob is a man of so many talents! Not only does he run the print workshop, ship all the orders, order packaging and paper, take care of the finances, schedule shows, and help me stay organized (to mention a few things!)...he is also really handy with the DIY projects!! So when it looked like we might have five minutes to breathe in February, Bob made me a new kitchen!
A picture is worth a thousand words, so I have some great before and after shots ! Bob literally redid every inch of it himself (with a teeny tiny bit of help from me)....and it's so beautiful! I love my new kitchen and look forward to making some great meals this winter for us to enjoy.
This is a good before...taken at my 50th birthday party a couple of years ago! Note the cabinet color-natural wood, and the island, and the floor.
Step one was to sand, prime, and paint the cabinets. This was definitely the hardest part of the project! We had sheets hanging everywhere to close off the kitchen and I did offer a little assistance on the cabinet doors. We painted those in the garage.
Here I am helping with the cabinets. My main job was to keep the materials coming in. I'm a messy painter ;)
It was a happy day when we got the beautiful pressed tin backsplash! Marty likes to be in on the action. The deliveries kept coming...and you know what that means. More boxes for playing/hiding!
Bob pulled off the stainless backsplash tiles to make room for the new vintage style backsplash. He pulled out the countertop to make way for the warm new butcher block counters.
This is the first of many great "after" shots! Bob installed the backsplash that brings so much personality. The butcher block counters went in beautifully. He had to cut a hole in the one surrounding the sink to get that piece put together just so. Measure twice, cut once!
Some more favorite features....the new floors. And the cabinets in the soft cream really make the room brighter and feel so much larger. The sink and faucet are new! We both love the fun faucet in brushed nickel.
On the kitchen island...note the pumpkin spice candle by Crafted New England! We love this great shop in Exeter (shameless plug....our cards are there!!). Kyle's candles are wonderful!
Here is a flashback to another corner of the kitchen, with the former cabinets. Note the window with the cat shelf! BEFORE...
And AFTER! The cabinets came out so great...and Bob even painted the insides the same cream so when you open them up it's like a lightbulb went on. My Mum and I made the valances with fabric I got from April Cornell. I love the yellow accents. So cheerful for a kitchen.
And did you notice the cabinet knobs?! This was a fun detail. I've always wanted a kitchen with different knobs, so that's what we did! They came from a great little shop in Dover, NH-Just the Thing! The colorful unique knobs are a special detail.
This detail is one of our favorites! The NEW coffee station! If you know us, you know how much we both love coffee. So we now have a full section of the kitchen devoted to the coffee area, instead of just one little coffeemaker. We have cups stored underneath and filters and teas in the drawers. The large basket has our bags of coffee handy. I also have a lot of pretty pottery and this is a great place to keep my vases, pitchers, and decorative bowls.
You can see how this piece really extends the kitchen into our dining area. And we have the Calico kitty canvas as homage to our beautiful Annabelle...our sweet girl cat who we lost a few years ago.
On top we have the sugar and creamer, and my electric teapot for tea in the afternoons. Coffee is for the morning to wake up and I love herbal tea later in the day.
Another great view of the coffee station.
When we first talked about our new oven, we wanted to go full retro in red or a color that would really pop! But practically speaking, the double oven was a much better choice for us. I LOVE this cool new oven. It's great for baking cookies in the top and roasting a chicken at the same time in the bottom.
We did go with a retro style microwave! It's so cute and in our signature kitchen color too.
Here's a full view of the best oven!
The hutches on the right and below were my Mum's and she gave them to me years ago. We had them refinished a couple of years ago to lighter wood to use in our new kitchen. I love to collect all kinds of pottery and we use everything you see on the shelves. The Thistle was from Mum, that was the pottery we had in my childhood. The Provence pieces are our wedding pottery. We use those all the time too. Why save things for a special occasion? It's much more fun to enjoy pretty dishes every day.
This is another cool vantage point of the hutches and also our new industrial style fridge. Not big on the ice cold drinks here, so we both loved the sleek look of this fridge.
And note the fun plate rack on the wall! This was a rare find when we were on the quest looking for our coffee station! We had some fun looking around for unique pieces to complete this room. The little island in the center of the room (we call it "old bricker") was a piece we had from when we first were together. It was in the garage and Bob remembered it when we decided we wanted a smaller island. He painted the legs and bottom shelf, added some hooks, and voila! Just like new!
A few things from the former kitchen...love the owl cookie jar and all my cookbooks. I am definitely a cookbook person.
So many new paintings! The creative time is absolutely my favorite time. I had so many ideas for new artwork this year and really went to town for these new calendars. As you know...all are hand painted in my Greenland, NH studio. Sometimes it's a messy place-compared to Bob's workspace. OK...all the time it's a messy place! But that's how I work.
Some of you may have seen a few paintings in process on social media, and I want to share a few of them with you here also. Some were inspired by special things...so here goes!
My paint Palette-mine is messy...this one is neat ;)
Our trip to Boston and the Aquarium visit inspired this one!
I've never done a sperm whale so now I have!
Curtis Island was inspired by our trip up to Camden, Maine for a show!
Raspberries...we used to have them in the backyard and I love the color!
This bookshelf has been on my mind for awhile as a painting....and just wait!! Something special will be coming out of this painting too. Stay tuned for more on that!
And a few more too! For this special calendar early launch we are doing something special...one full size greeting card FREE with every desk calendar purchased. NO coupon code necessary...just put the card in your cart and it will be discounted. Special goes through this Sunday, July 31st. NO limit :)
We hope you love the new calendars as much as we do!
Have a wonderful day and stay tuned for MORE new artwork coming soon :)
xoxox
El & Bob
]]>My favorite thing that has been long in the development stage is our Language of Flowers line of items-available as a full color, lightweight tea towel, note cards, and as a 16” x 20” print. If you haven’t seen my little blurb on the product pages yet, the Language of Flowers originated in France in Victorian times. Each flower has a meaning, and instead of verbal communication, it was common for flowers to be sent to convey emotions to others. One of the more well known flowers is the red rose meaning “I love you”, but there are so many others. The research to develop this project was simply fascinating.
Both the tea towel and the note cards have flowers from A-Z and their meanings. We have the print hanging in our beautifully re-done kitchen (more to come on that in another blog post). I did so much research and found so many different meanings that I will be adding more and more flowers as time goes on. We are getting a great response on the towels and the notes-particularly the mix and match notes. So many layers to this project-it has been in the making for many years, and it is so fun to finally bring it to fruition.
These items are fun paired together! You can really get creative tailoring a custom box of notes for someone special. Don’t miss all the new floral design styles in our Mother’s Day cards selection. Try either the towel or some notes paired with our Blooming Flowers notepad. And maybe some floral stickers?!
Speaking of notepads…..let me jump over there for a minute! We have 3 new designs for spring. These two were a little late to the party because they came in at the end of last week…but they are not to be missed. You had me at “meow” with the NEW cats pad. (And 2 new boxes of Cat Notes) And we have a NEW “Things to due before I’m due” for the mom-to-be! I’m sure there are many lists to make on that one. These are a cute gift for your favorite cat mom or expectant mom-don't forget the card.
The last notepad to mention is getting a great response-Mini Citrus and Florals. It is a sweet gift when paired with our new Fresh Citrus and Florals Tea Towel and our Fresh Citrus gift tags. Another lightweight cotton full color towel. It is slightly smaller in size than our other full color towels, and we are getting positive feedback on the size and the quality!
Let’s roll into the other towel options. The next two both pair well with our mini Maine notepad and either the Pint of Blueberries notes or the Lobsters notes. How to Eat a Lobster and Maine Blueberry Muffin recipe towel. I'm happy to report that we also have the How to Eat a Lobster design also available as cards to be used for your party or event. We have had so many requests for these for weddings and it was time.
Of course Kitchen herbs is the classic white flour sack towel that everyone loves! It’s a little heavier cotton and great for so many different uses. Don’t miss the post on 10 Uses of a Tea Towel. We also enclose a little card in each tea towel package listing those uses.
NOW….drumroll please! If you have been noticing the background on many of our new product images, you may be wondering about the watercolor wash! This is side 2 of two new styles of more gorgeous double sided gift wrap. The holiday wrap was a huge hit so we are excited to present Abundant Blossoms and Beach Treasures Gift Wrap.
So many fun new design combinations and of course our pre-Mother’s Day special. If you make a purchase over $50, just add a notepad to your cart and it will be FREE. This special will run though the end of this week (until May 1st, 2022).
And if you are running late or just can’t make up your mind, we just added an e-gift card option with many denominations available.
Don’t forget our front porch pickup option for our local friends. Bob turns these orders around quickly every time.
So, yes! We have been busy here! There are so many more new things in the works too. This spring I feel lucky to have been able to spend so much time painting and working on our retail items for the website and for all our upcoming craft shows. We are always so wedding focused in the spring and have a busy wedding year on the calendar for sure. But we have so many great customers who love our cards and other “art for everyday” year-round. I wanted to spend more time creating new designs for shows and all our wonderful customers who shop the website.
Thank you for your support.
xoxo
El
]]>
My first thought when the business was expanding and seeing Ellen having to handle all the work, was "how can I help?" At the beginning, she was just asking questions. I had been managing operations at the last 3 companies that I worked for, so I had experience. Soon after that, we were working together on the side, weekends, and evenings.
I cannot take a full credit for coming to the rescue, as a matter of fact, I think it is Ellen who rescued me. She had said to me more than once that she was fearful of me having a heart attack, she could see the stress. I can do a really great job with organizing work, workflow, schedules, supplies, equipment, and customer service. The problems, as I seem to call them, were the people and all the moving parts. The owners, bosses, co-workers, and customers all have their own plan or agenda, so my work was in a constant state of flow. I know that was what my job was, but it felt like I was taking on all the owner’s responsibility and not getting the owner’s reward.
I would have been perfectly fine with just coming to work for El’s Cards, but the minute we agreed to do this thing together, Ellen started calling it our business. That is just the nature of Ellen and of our commitment to each other. So, when the day came to start full time, I was excited to bring all my skills to this new workplace. It is fun, and very satisfying to talk about where the company was when I started and where we are now. The workspace, going from a mere 25% of the lower level of our house to over 75%, with current plans to expand. Our equipment, starting with 2 printers, has grown to 8 printers, multiple paper cutters, and many other industrial grade tools to make our products the best we can.
What has taken place over the last few years was seeing how we had to adjust, manage our expectations, and lower our demands. I have come to understand life as change, even when I like life just as it is. I hope change is for the better, but you just don’t know until it happens. I know it will be worse if all I do is complain, making myself miserable.
Ellen was quick to see that we needed some changes at El’s Cards. She had great ideas and wonderful artwork designs to use on several new products. I started to research new equipment for the products, and I was looking forward to learning new techniques to bring Ellen’s wonderful designs to life. We had a few discussions about this approach, and it was decided that the best way was to get help. We had to let go of total control and let some sub-contractors create the new products that we needed (easier said than done). I think we are considered nightmare customers to some of our sub-contractors. We always have very high standards for the products we offer to our customers.
The good news-our customers were very surprised and pleased with our new product offerings- floral gift-wrapping paper, note pads, sticker sheets, 2-sided holiday gift wrapping paper, and the very popular tea towels. All the new products are in complete harmony with our greeting cards, note cards, art prints, whimsical maps and our very large selection of Wedding invitations and wedding day paper goods. We are so excited to be launching our new spring line (including all of these varied products) this coming Monday, April18th-just in time for Mother’s Day.
So, it has been 7 years, how quickly time has gone by. We have made changes, some by choice, others by necessity. The thing that has not changed is the joy that I share with Ellen. I really enjoy the work that I do and I know Ellen loves her creative side. We are constantly getting inquiries about our work and our products, and our customers are continually complimenting the products and referring others to El’s Cards. We couldn't ask for anything more.
Thank you all so much for your love and support.
Bob B.
Photos by Jenn Bakos Photography
]]>Of course, I know it's only February and Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, but this design will take you right through the spring. Feeling a citrus and fruit inspiration too so you have details of fruit slices, guava, a kumquat and a pineapple too-just because I like the colors! Bees do make the world go 'round, so you will also find a few bees buzzing here and there as well.
To download your desktop wallpaper, just follow these simple instructions:
-Select the size you need:
(desktop widescreen) Click here for 1920 x 1080
(tablet) Click here for 1024 x 768
(phone) Click here for smartphone
-When the image opens, right click the image
-Select "save as" and label it as you wish...Valentine's Day 2022 wallpaper...in a place where you can find it.
-Go to your settings page in the computer
-Go to Personalization in the settings
-Browse images and grab it from where you have it saved. It will set as home page wallpaper. If you have trouble, ask your favorite millennial or "gen-z"er for help!
Enjoy your NEW device wallpaper! Download it to all of your devices and feel free to share this post with anyone you think might like it. We all need lots of beauty in our lives.
Thanks so much to everyone who placed orders for Valentine's Day! We have been very busy over here. I'm off to now work on a special project. Stay tuned for more on that in the coming weeks.
Have a wonderful Valentine's Day weekend and enjoy the Superbowl too :) We plan on a Sunday meal of tacos and Valentine cake! Good game food with a sweet treat for dessert! (I'm all about the food!)
Love to you all,
El, Bob, Marty, and Sunny
xoxo
Our gift wrap service is going strong if you would rather Bob do the wrapping for you. Our Christmas wrap, gold feather wrap, and hydrangea blossom wraps are all available for this great holiday time saving service. But we have some great choices for you to do your own wrapping this season too!
We have the wrap printed by two different third party vendors and are so happy with the results. Our clients know how particular we are about quality, so we did some test runs before we settled on the companies we are currently using.
Bob has it all stored carefully. He rolls it for each order....
Then it's packaged in a cello sleeve for protection when shipping and a tidy presentation.
Last year when we launched our tea towels, I did a post about all the different uses for a tea towel! This post will hopefully help you think outside the box-pun intended ;) when you see our new gift wrap.
-Cover a book- I hope I'm not dating myself here, but I probably am! When I was in high school, we were required to cover our books. At the time, we used paper bags. From what I hear, textbooks are much less common than tablets now! But I have a couple of cookbooks that I use all the time and the covers are very beat up! So, I used gift wrap to cover them....and now they are part of the kitchen decor.
-Decorative shelf paper-speaking of kitchen decor, gift wrap makes for a pop of color in the cabinets and on shelves. You can also use it to line drawers. Pretty and practical! To make the drawer liners all you need to do is measure the interior of your drawer.
-Put it in your desk blotter-Gift wrap gives your desktop a splash of color.
-Frame gift wrap as artwork-this is one of my favorite uses! I've been doing this for years (not with our wrap....but others that I have found pretty!). I love the abstract wash side of our new holiday wraps for this usage. Purple and green are a favorite color combination of mine!
-Make it "wallpaper"-this is a great use in a small space. We have a dark wood bookcase in our living room and adding gift wrap to the back in between the shelves brightened it up immediately for the winter months (I used the snowflake wrap).
-Make bookmarks-This idea is perfect with 2 sided wrap. My friend Kristen suggested this one! She loves double sided wrap and told me that she loves to do this very thing. Perfect! Even though I love my kindle, I use bookmarks in my meditation books and for favorite recipes in my cookbooks also. Have them laminated so they last longer. Cute to stick in a card or give with a book or a book store gift card.
-Use it in scrapbooking-Add some colorful personality to the page when preserving your family memories.
-Line an envelope-One of our most popular wedding invitation special touches is the envelope liner. It makes a beautiful impact when opening the envelope. Why not do some of your own liners for fancy correspondence? Or how fun to line your Christmas card envelopes! Step by step "how-to" below.
-And finally the obvious choice! Wrap a gift-After all, it is gift wrap! It's always wonderful to receive a nice gift, and even more special when it's in a pretty package.
Marty is a helpful observer!
This is the time of the holiday season when people start wrapping gifts! So....we are doing a gift wrap special for a limited time only. Use coupon code GIFTWRAP for 25% off the following items:
You can see them all on this page.
We have had great luck (knock on wood) this year with shipping. Everything has been arriving within a week of Bob sending things out-and his turnaround times have been quick too. That said, we are happy to continue to ship right up to December 20th. We will tell you that if you are nervous about receiving your order on time for Christmas, you place it no later than Wednesday, December 15th. Please keep in mind though that once it leaves our hands, it's out of our control. So you can't go wrong ordering early!
Our front porch pickup option continues to be popular! And remember...when you choose this option, you will receive a pretty hand made fabric bag which is perfect to reuse as a gift bag. My Mum and I have been hard at work creating these cute bags together. As a dear friend commented about the front porch pickup option....the best part is having your order right in your hand-and not having to worry about the shipping.
Have a wonderful week and we look forward to hearing from you!
xoxo
El, Bob, Marty, and Sundance
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Let's get right into it! Last year when we introduced our gift wrap service with our own special gift wrap, it was met with a wonderful response. We had many requests for rolls of gift wrap and this year we decided to go for it! Our first addition was in the spring-hydrangea blossom wrap. This item was met with such a great response that we sleuthed around and finally landed on a printing company that offered exactly what we wanted-double sided wrap. So every sheet offers two possibilities. One side is the holiday design and the second side is a subtle wash in a coordinating color. Two designs in one sheet! LOVE! Add coordinating tags if you want the whole package :)
Snowflake wrap with blue and purple wash on side 2
Berries and Boughs wrap with deep green wash on side 2
Holiday Lights wrap with Gold wash on side 2
Sea Wreath wrap with my favorite sea glass wash on side 2!
We also have met with great success with our tea towels over the past year since we first introduced them last October. We have 9 new designs for the holidays and winter, then we have many other great designs that will be perfect for gifts to use year round.
Marty always wants to be part of the action! Here he models the new Christmas Cookies towel and various wrapped packages ;)
Buoys vintage style tea towel-photo by Jenn Bakos
Last spring we introduced some beautiful full color designs and we have added one more for the season...
A perfect intro to this new limited edition item! I have always loved the calendar tea towel and last year it was our very best seller of all the towels we ordered for the holiday season. Well...this year I am especially excited to introduce a full color version of the 2022 calendar! That's 18" x 30" of beautiful color and a completely new full color painting. The watercolor artwork was done first on one large sheet of Arches paper (no digital painting at El's Cards-ever!), then I added the calendar months on the image for print.
Perfect to use as part of your kitchen decor or hang it in any room in the house as a daily reminder. See an example hanging on the door of my office. So EXCITED about this one!
...And hanging in the traditional way-on my dear friend Rachel's stove front.
Of course there are new cards too! My favorite is the Beautiful Tree. Lots of fun details and color! I spent a lot of time on this one. There are a couple more card ideas brewing in my head (as Bob likes to call it-"thought soup")...so I may still add a couple more. Stay tuned over the next weeks. We have a few more surprises on the way.
We do want to mention the elephant in the room about shipping this season. We made the decision to switch to priority shipping for the USPS through the end of 2021. Because the postal system has gone through some changes and everyone had a rough time with that last year, we believe that is the best option for shipping security this season. We are also looking into making UPS one of our regular shipping methods so that may be coming soon.
Last year we instituted our "front porch pickup" and it was a great addition to offer to our customers. We have continued that service ever since then, and we have many people who select this option when checking out. To avoid shipping delays, we are encouraging our customers who are close enough to just swing by and pick up your orders vs. having them shipped. And don't be surprised when you receive a little thank you treat (maybe a fabric bag, maybe another fun El's Cards product....) when you opt to pick up your order.
And maybe you will get a glimpse of big kittens through the front door!
Enjoy all the new items! We look forward to hearing from you or seeing you at a show!
xoxo
El, Bob, Marty, & Sunny
El's Cards enjoyed a wonderful wedding season this year! One more fabulous wedding to go (this is a special one on New Year's Eve!). Last week we wrapped up 5 weddings...long days and nights of work for both myself and Bob. Luckily, we both enjoy working and each other ;)
We did take a nice weekend off the first weekend in October. Originally we were scheduled to do one of our favorite shows in Camden, Maine. The show was cancelled as a Covid precaution, but we took the weekend to actually go and enjoy Camden. We never get to have down time when we are on the road for a show, so it was really a treat! Then....we came home to the week of 5 great weddings (lots of coffee and not much sleep!).
Anyone who knows me, knows how outdoorsy I am! (A little joke there!) When we told a friend about our adventures hiking on our weekend away, the first question was directed at me...Were you wearing appropriate footwear? And the answer to that was a resounding "of course not!". But I did have a cute outfit-including the inappropriate footwear-it's covered up by my practical raincoat! We were deep in the woods when it started raining and I was grateful I had opted for that fashion choice. We may not be outdoorsy, but I get so much inspiration from being in nature. Looking at the flowers, the ocean, and enjoying the peace and quiet are where I start really focusing on new design ideas. We saw the coolest tree growing around a big rock! It was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. We could hear the rain dripping through the trees. Bob did mention something about bears...luckily that was not part of our nature experience.
Now I'm hard at work in the studio painting NEW designs for some special holiday items....new holiday tea towels need to be ordered, Christmas card designs completed, and guess what else?! Our hydrangea gift wrap has been so popular, we have some special Christmas and Holiday wrapping paper coming in too! So, stay tuned for those fun new items.
In the meantime, there are some new autumn items.... notes, cards, a colorful tree tea towel, tags....and a new mini notepad called "Sweet on Fall"! My new favorite! As we prepare for the holiday season to come, we want to celebrate the current season with a fall special-just because it's the middle of October.
Today through Sunday night (all weekend 10/15/21-10/17/21), we are offering 10% off AND a Sweet on Fall notepad with every order over $40. NO coupon required! Just check out! This super cute new notepad is mini in size and perfect to put in your bag or pocket for your errands list! Coffee and pumpkin not included ;)
Please note: wedding items are not included in this special.
OH, and how can I forget...an update on "the boys!" Marty and Sundance just turned one year old! It's hard to believe! They are still truly kittens and both are so friendly. When clients come to pick up orders, they are always greeted first by Marty, then Sunny sidles in to see what's what. They continue to be a joy around the El's Cards studio!
Marty models our Hydrangea Bouquet tea towel here.
And Sunny gazes hopefully on at you from my dining chair.
Stay tuned for all the holiday fun to be launched the first week of November...meanwhile...enjoy this most beautiful of autumns.
xoxo El, Bob, Marty, and Sundance
Studio photos by Jenn Bakos Photography
]]>Needless to say, my "plan" (read-self imposed deadline) was to get the calendars completed and launch them on July 1st. But life happened and here we are...mid-ish August. That's OK. It's been fun as always coming up with new designs for you to enjoy. I did many new paintings for both calendars and these are two of my favorite calendars to date. Of course, Bob reminds me that I say this every year. What can I say? It's important to me that I love the things we are putting out there, so I like to be picky about the designs. It's not unusual for me to do a painting a couple of times before it meets my expectations. The lilac painting below was one of my favorites from the spring, so it had to be included!
So without further ado....introducing A Colorful Year desk calendar.
And the returning favorite of so many of our friends, The Sea desk calendar.
As we did last year, we have purchased some white wooden frames that are a great addition to your calendar order. Limited supply though, so if you like them, don't hesitate!
Signing off with a couple of pictures of the boys. Thank you again, Jenn Bakos Photography for capturing us all so beautifully!
xoxo
El, Bob, Marty, & Sunny
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The good news is that I am celebrating my 6th anniversary at El’s Cards! It is time to reflect, like a birthday or New Year's Eve. It is a simple exercise to take a moment to stop and look at what this anniversary means. Each year has been a practice of repetition, we found a path that made sense, and doing the same thing over and over has made us better and more efficient. Last year was certainly a break in the routine. We had to find new ways to do things and adapt to all the changes. However, I do not want to get stuck in a shortsighted view. I have been doing this job for six years and Ellen has been in business over 20 years. This is a time to celebrate. We are not back to a full normal schedule, but the future is looking bright.
Years ago, when I was struggling with a personal issue, a question was asked of me, “to what length would you be willing to go to solve your problems?” I thought the question to be quite odd. At that time in my life it seemed so easy to walk away from problems or difficult situations. When I think about that question now, I think about things like integrity, maturity, and commitment. I thought a lot about that statement, and the action it required when I decided to leave someone else’s business and join my wife with her business. This was not going to be a flash in the pan type of effort, it would require a long-distance view. I did wonder if I could do it.
Here is the funny part. It is not like I have not been working my entire adult life, it is just that I had been working for someone else. Now it was time to work for me. I had, and have, all the skills needed for success. It is not a matter of acquiring anything, it was a matter of leaving some things behind. It was time to lean on integrity, maturity, commitment, and leave behind fear, doubt, and worry. Easier said than done, but I had to start somewhere. I love the quote (not sure who said it- I think it was on a commercial), “If I don’t stand up for myself, then who will? And if not now, then when?”
Each year on my self-employment anniversary it is indeed a time of celebration. The best part is the celebration is not mine alone. Ellen and I met later in life, it was a simple introduction by a friend. The ease with which we interacted was remarkable. Our time together has been the best my life has seen. So when the question comes into my mind, what length would I go to solve my problems, I do not put up any conditions. Sometimes it will mean more hard work, sometimes it will be to let go. All I have to do is be willing to stand and face my problems and not just leave, thinking that is the solution.
This new year is off to a great start, we had our reservations and were prepared for a slow beginning. Well, that has not been the case, we have been very busy. I would like to say thank you to all our customers, friends and family. Your well wishes and support are invaluable.
Just between you and me, I am happy to wrap your Mother's Day gifts for you while our wrapping paper lasts. Please just indicate which gift being purchased that you would like wrapped in the special instructions box in your shopping cart, before the checkout page.
We hope everyone can find many reasons to celebrate this year. Thanks for taking the time to check in with us at El’s Cards.
Bob
Photo credit-hero-Geneve Hoffman
1st and 3rd photos-Melissa Mullen
Craft Show van & Martha's Vineyard-El ;)
Hooray for color!! I love painting in watercolor, and I especially like to layer my paints to create the deepest and most vibrant colors. Here you see tea towels, notepads, and stickers make a great gift combination. One choice would be to pair any of these flour sack white towels with the full color showstopper Abundant Blossoms Tea Towel (NEW!!). When designing the new Mixed Flowers stickers, the new Blooming Flowers notepad, and the colorful Abundant Blossoms Tea Towel, I used flowers from all three of the flour sack floral towels. So they all "go" together!! Whether you like to have everything match or prefer mixing it up...there are many great new choices!
Let's change direction for a minute here! NEW Buoys Vintage Tea Towel and Lobster Hut Vintage Tea Towel look great together OR with our Lobsters & Buoys notepad. The new Home Schoolers card was Bob's brainchild. So many new cards! (And don't you love our NEW hydrangea gift wrap? Have your Mother's Day or Birthday gifts wrapped and coming soon to order by the sheet!)
Who loves their veggies??!! Full color Garden Veggies Tea Towel and Veggie Notepads are popular for your favorite cook. And don't forget the Veggie Notes. Colorful veggie notepads come in two sizes.
Back to more flowers!! Mixed Pink Flowers notepad, Peony and Mixed Flowers stickers, and our Gold Ginger Jar Bouquet Tea Towel are a colorful combination for someone who loves pink.
Our small note cards are a staple for so many of our clients! This product has been around El's Cards since the very beginning. They come personalized or not, as you choose. Why not pair our Beachcombing Notes with the On the Beach Tea Towel or our NEW Beach Treasures notepad?
More flowers! Our NEW Bright Bouquet Tea Towel with personalized notes from one of our two new floral notes collections...Assorted Blossoms and Mixed Blooms.
The Peaceful Lighthouse notepad or Beachcombing notes look great with our NEW Portland Head Light Vintage Tea Towel, recently restocked Nubble Light Vintage Tea Towel, or our NEW Sailboat Vintage Tea Towel. Don't forget the Beach Walk card to tie it all together!
One more floral...because I just can't help myself! Hydrangeas are by far our bestselling flower design. Whether it's a wedding invitation, a Tea Towel as you see here, a mini notepad, stickers, or any of our other varied hydrangea products, this design is always a winner.
And now INTRODUCING another something new. We are delighted to have just received our first order of our new hydrangea blossom gift wrap! This pretty paper is making a big debut on our gift wrap service page. If you haven’t tried our gift wrap service yet, this is your perfect chance.
Yes, Mother's Day is coming right up. BUT feel free to wrap a birthday or any other occasion gift. If you want us to wrap a few things together, that can be done! Just be sure to put those items in the wrapping info box on the gift wrap page.
We hope you enjoy all the fun new items we are so excited to launch today! Thank you so much for being interested in our small business. We couldn't do it without you!
xoxo
El, Bob, Marty, and Sunny
We, our El’s cards work force, have two new members of the crew, Marty and Sundance, kittens we adopted back in December. Their arrival was a bright spot in our 2020 calendar year. I am sure people have become quickly acquainted with their cute little kitten faces from all the pictures Ellen has taken and posted.
We have begun this year with a hopeful outlook, it is in part because of the last quarter of 2020. We had an awfully slow year, so we really put effort into more products and designs for the Holiday season. All the work paid off. Our customers came looking for us and found many items for their holiday purchases. We were busy!
If hard work was the only ingredient for success, many people would do well. It is the obstacles and the unforeseen circumstances that can derail progress. We were so ready for the last quarter push, it felt like we were back to normal. I say that only in a work capacity. At the beginning of the lock down, I wrote about our normal workday not being much different from before the pandemic. We are both hard workers and we stay on task, breaking only for lunch and sometimes returning to work after supper. So, when the work slowed down it was important to not think that we had become lazy or disinterested. It became a time to think, review the successes, let the gratitude sink in, and plan to continue the good works.
I have managed to find more storage space in my work area. I have written before about this subject and reviewed my own advice. I do not want my workspace to be a series of tunnels like you may have seen on a show about hoarders. I like an open feel to the area, but I was able to increase the width of some shelf space and not impede on the openness of the area. I also discovered that a shelf system I had built was a little wobbly, so I was able to cut and apply some braces. While in that area I removed a large shelf unit and replaced it with a smaller unit that fit better into that space and created a more open feel. Having a good orderly space to work in is key to my success. If the area is cluttered, my mind feels cluttered.
Sometimes a small project like the shelves is a good distraction. We have learned that it does not help to worry too much about the future. It will arrive whether I worry or not, so in the meantime I like to do something productive. Getting my work area ready leads me to be hopeful and optimistic for the year ahead.
And the good news continues, we are getting more work, people are planning more events, and Ellen has been creating some beautiful new products. So, it is not time to dwell on what we do not have at this moment, it is time to get ready for all the blessings that are coming down the road.
I hope all is well with you.
Thanks for checking in with us at El’s Cards.
Bob
Top 3 rows of photos by El. Bottom two photos by Melissa Mullen.
]]>From 1999-2005, all of my cards were individually painted by hand. The designs were very simple-flowers, starfish, shells, with more of an emphasis on calligraphy. Even the wedding invitations were painted by hand! A simple hydrangea at the top, snowflakes, and flowers and fruit were popular designs. (Sidebar: have you seen our 20 year video? It talks about the early days of El's Cards and how things were when I was just starting out! Check it out if you haven't seen it yet)
Then in 2006, I found a high quality printer that could be used to print cards. This changed everything! Even though our cards are now printed, every design is painted by hand with paints and a brush-the old fashioned way. We don't use any digitally created art. If I make a mistake, there is no delete key. I start over again!
So, back to the goals. We are so excited about all the new items we added to our line in 2020 and have plans for expanding those all this year too. But we are finding that people are really keeping in touch via the mail more than ever these days. So it made sense to grow our card line. Hence, the 10 card a month challenge began-with the ultimate goal being 100 new greeting cards for 2021. So for January-October, my plan was to create 10 new cards a month! We decided October would be the last month so as not to overlap with our busy holiday season in November and December.
As I got going on this goal, I have really been getting into it! And as some of you may know about me, I like to be a bit of an overachiever. So here we are at the beginning of March, and we already have over 37 new cards added to the website. For mid-winter during a pandemic, I'm incredibly inspired and hopeful. I have mentioned this before, but when I was a few years into running my business, I had this moment of fear-what if I run out of ideas? But my experience has been just the opposite. Each idea that springs forth, brings another idea right behind it. More ideas than time is my problem these days.
Another of my goals for the year ties into this fun challenge. I love expanding our offerings and create my own fonts from my different calligraphy and writing styles. There is a new font style I have been picturing in my mind for awhile now. It reminds me of some of the special hand lettering I did much earlier in life! It's clean and easy to read. I'm calling it Amanda, named after a wonderful friend! You can see it showing up on several of our new card designs already. I have a couple more new font ideas that I hope I will have time to create this year....but like I mentioned-so many ideas, so little time.
Amanda font on some of our new cards. Left to right- Dahlia Get Well Card, Attitude of Gratitude Recovery Card, and Pooh Honey Pot Card
As the winter progresses, I can't help but think about spring coming right around the corner. Flowers are my favorite, and there are plenty of flower designs in our new cards I have added. Our new spring/Easter additions were really a delight to create. The colors of spring are so bright and cheerful. We lost power on the day I was painting the last few Easter designs-winter in New England!
I thought it would be fun to show you some "befores" (in painting form) and "afters"! Mixing just the right colors, brush size, and keeping things harmonious are all important to each design. I like to keep things true to the original painting without doctoring things in Photoshop. You can see that done in these photos!
This new Easter Basket card is one of my favorites!
This crocus painting was perfect for a First sign of Spring card.
Our little El's Cards team is off to a great start for 2021. Bob is busy organizing his workspace and making it more efficient. I continue to be impressed by Bob's vision and methods of organization. His workshop runs like a well oiled machine. He is laying out an invitation suite to print tomorrow for a wedding later this spring. It feels good to be working on weddings!
My studio space is a little different than Bob's I know where everything is...but it's a bit more chaotic. Lots of tubes of paint, kitten toys, jars of ink, and random notes, sketches, and scraps of paper cover most surfaces. But it's colorful and cheerful. I love all the creative time I have taken already in 2021. Typically, I'm spending a lot of time on weddings at this time of year. We are excited for our wedding season, but it was really time to expand our other lines of products too!
And everyone loves a little behind the scenes...so here are some Kitten Bloopers. Setting up pretty photos can be challenging with kittens.
Hope you are staying safe and well! If there are any card categories that you would like to see increased, please shoot me an email. I would love to hear from you! Can't promise I will be able to take every suggestion, but will certainly do my best. Here's a link to all the new cards so far!
Thanks for reading and have a great day,
xoxo
El