For years it has been possible to personalize holiday greeting cards by going to the local retailer, choosing a card and then adding your name and/or family photograph. Now personalizing has taken on new possibilities.
This fall, American Greetings CreataCard has brought together two traditions–the annual holiday card and the family photograph. CreataCard presents a way to customize a message for each person on the holiday mailing list, to go along with the favorite family photograph. The cards are created at the 10,000 CreataCard kiosks around the country. The machine’s touch-screen keyboard provides access to a wide selection of cards, ranging from traditional to humorous.
CreataCard kiosks can be found at some Wal-Mart, Jewel, Target, Omni, Kmart, Venture and Card City USA stores, as well as other locations.
Creating your own cards on the home PC is now possible thanks to the collaboration of Micrografx and Hallmark Cards Inc. Hallmark Connections Card Studio is a CD-ROM that offers an easy way to create cards, announcements, invitations, signs and certificates.
Card Studio is available directly from Micrografx or area retailers such as CompUSA, Computer City, Best Buy and Office Depot for a suggested price of $49.99.
Canon Creative CD-ROM–now packaged with Canon’s Bubble Jet color printers, BJC-210, BJC-4100 and BJC-610–offers the Hallmark Connections Everyday Greetings card application, developed by Micrografx. This program has can create 150 different cards in a variety of sizes and formats. Suggested prices for the three printers range from $300 to $500. For dealer locations, call 800-848-4123.
Personalized calendars make a year-long gift. Wolf Camera and Video stores make a 12-month calendar from 35mm slides, prints or negatives–one image per month. The 8-by-10 1/2-inch calendar costs $24.95. Wolf Camera also produces personalized photo holiday cards–25 for $19.95.
Bring your favorite photos, drawings or collages to Kinko’s and they can create an assortment of calendars using laminated color copies. Prices range from $6.95 to $36.95. Kinko’s also offers other customized items, such as placemats, bookmarks and ornaments. Call for availability and pricing.
