Pretty Awesome New Years Cards

The time period between Thanksgiving and Christmas is a whirlwind of activity. It's a wonder so many people manage to send out holiday cards that arrive before Christmas. I, however, am not one of those people. I'm no busier than a normal person, I just like how much easier it is to not add the holiday card dance to my plate. In order to avoid total Scroge-hood, I like to send Happy New Year cards. Maybe you're like me, maybe you missed the Christmas card train or maybe you want to spread cheer without being pigeon-holed into one of the religious holidays of December.

So my fellow procrastinating or non-denominational cheer sender, check out this crazy fun selection of New Year Cards.

The Classic in real foil(!) at Minted.com

White Christmas at Minted.com

Chalkboard Polaroid at Zazzle.com

Vintage Seal at Zazzle.com

Our Best Year at TinyPrints.com

Boxes and Blocks at TinyPrints.com

What's that? You already sent your holiday cards? Then take a gander at these festive and fun new year party invitations.

Bring the Bubbly at TinyPrints.com

Rustic Celebration at Minted.com

Celebration Chalkboard at Zazzle.com

*This is an affiliate post -- help me to help you and shop via these links, I have an ugly Christmas sweater I'm looking to buy ;)

The 2013 Holiday Card Collection at Minted has LAUNCHED!

While many of you were sitting poolside/seaside/barside with fruity drinks and cold beers many of us "computer artsy" folk huddled up to our screens, sweat dripping down our backs, perched under over-worked ceiling fans attempting to choke down hot cocoa while Burl Ives assailed our ear drums and tortured our spouses/roommates/partners/neighbors. Christmas always comes early for the stationer/illustrator/graphic designer and it's hard to "get in the spirit" but somehow we managed. 

Now that it is nearing the official first day of fall, there is a slight chill in the air, and pumpkin spice lattes are flowing in the 'Bucks -- it's officially time to show off all the hard work and design agony of the past two, four, err ... six months. Let me introduce you to  ::trumpets blasting, angels singing:: Minted's 2013 holiday card collection!!

Exclusively created by Minted's global community of independent designers, this year's batch is better than ever before. With a new assortment, Minted also launches real foil-pressed holiday cards! Your holiday card is sure to sparkle, shine, and standout from the rest with Minted's new, real foil-pressed cards! You can even see the shimmer using their "See It Move" feature.


Here are a few of my personal favorites but you're welcome to browse the many pages of top-notch design and find the "One" for you. 

(Plus, if you click my any of these affiliate links and then make a purchase you'll be well-ahead in the holiday spirit of giving by helping me earn a few bucks! Sounds like a win-win if you ask me.)

Aquarelle No. 2 by j.bartyn

Be Joyful by Snow & Ivy

Retro Whimsical Poster by Gakemi Art+Design

A Holiday Floral by Maek Paper

Geometric Spirit by Cheer Up Press

Retro Merry by Kristen Smith

Bright Cheers by Kristie Kern

Nostalgic Joy by Jennifer Wick

Cheerflake by koshi

Halo & Horns by two thirteen studio

Perfectly Wonderful by Cadence Paige Design

Now for the self-plug and for my moms, here are my new designs for the 2013 season.

The Highlights by 2birdstone 

Peace Doves by 2birdstone  

Noel No-No by 2birdstone  

Contagious Cheer by 2birdstone

If you're just not feeling the holidays yet, fine. Have a gander at the awesome Halloween cards and party invitations. You can even get 15% off if you use the code SPOOKY2013. 

There, feeling better now? Good.

Imitation or Inspiration?

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery ... or so they say.

Quickfire Holiday Minibook and New Year Cards

The winners of Minted's last holiday challenge of the year have been announced and one of my New Year designs has been selected as an editor's pick. Yacht Club was lots of fun for me and really pushed my comfort zone with a more creative approach to typography. It's nice to be rewarded with an editor's pick and $100! The winners and other editor's picks are all beautiful, so if you never get around to sending that Christmas card don't despair. There are plenty of great designs for ringing in 2012!



Yacht Club was also selected as a runner-up in the special prize category of "Best Bold Typography Design." So I must be doing something right, right? See the rest of the very deserving special prize winners here.

Sending Good Cheer for 2011

A non-traditional holiday color to be sure but Pantone's 2011 color
of the year, Honeysuckle, makes a joyful statement.

It's that time of year again! While the rest of the world enjoyed their summer drinking ice cold lemonade and thinking of sand and sun, the world's holiday card designers have locked themselves in their offices. Listening to holiday music and drinking hot cocoa (maybe wearing a woolly hat and scarf for added effect) they attempted to get into the holiday spirit to produce the coming season's best Christmas and holiday stationery designs.

I was lucky enough to have one of my designs selected for sale this season. Minted's Sending Good Cheer challenge was a huge one and produced the best holiday card assortment I've seen yet. "Christmas Cafe" was my best work thus far and one of those designs that just "happened" without much work or thought, it just came pouring out of my stylus and onto the screen. I remember the biggest issue I had with it was what kind of edge to use overlapping the photo, not my normal conundrum with typography. I was so excited about this particular design that I forced my poor husband to "come look!" over five times and each time he played along like a good sport.

So with great pride and a big, silly grin, I ask you to "come look!"


"Christmas Cafe" scored in the top 30 designs of nearly 2250 and was also selected as a runner-up in the special prizes categories of "Best Type-Driven Design" and "Best Retro or Vintage Design." See the rest of the very deserving special prize winners here.

Reinpet Inspiration Boards

For Minted's holiday launch they asked the designers to create inspiration boards for their holiday cards. This is the one they chose to feature on the site for Reinpet. I think it looks pretty good for my first try but be sure to look at all the other amazing boards!

[ 1. holding pinecones by PinkStock Photos via Flickr 2. green bows in a row by Stephen Nakatani via Flickr 3. merry christmas sign by Lauren Nelson via Flickr 4. pine bough via Inhabitots 5. entry decorations by Martha Stewart 6. green eyed cat by Jaroslaw Pocztarski via Flickr 7. lights and grass by Mike McCune via Flickr ]

This is the second one I did for Reindog in my initial red colorway (it's since been changed to a beet red).

[ 1. dog in roses by Noel Zia Lee via Flickr 2. candy canes by ShutterBugChef via Flickr 3. red velvet cake by Bakearella 4. arrow marquee by Urban Outfitters 5. dog wearing bow by Mirry via Flickr 6. red candles by Victoria Reay via Flickr 7. bone cookies via doggyinsider.com ]

Reindog on the Web

Over the past few weeks I have noticed a marked increase in the sales of my Minted.com design Reindog and it's variations: Reinpet, Reinpet + Family, and the Reindog Minibook. Obviously the approach of the holiday season means more and more people are making their holiday card purchases but in the past week my sales went from an average of 6 to 29!!! Hello, that's almost a 500% increase!

So I turned to my favorite method of investigation: Google. When I entered "reinpet + minted" I found that in the past couple weeks many blogs have been doing giveaways and one in particular, Twig & Thistle, featured the Reinpet design in their giveaway post. (Which you can still enter to win until Nov 16th) Woooot woot!


My search brought me to a blog I've not seen before (but promptly added to my feed reader) called Design Blahg. She also featured Reindog in her holiday card post with this awesome quote:

"The one place I've found where I kind of like these photo cards, IF you're gonna do em is on Minted.com. And also I guess this is mostly a ppl with kids kinda thing to do anyway. ONLY NOT! Check out this one, motherfuckers! [... image of card design ...] NOW THAT'S the kind of holiday card I can totes get behind!. It's a "Reindog Holiday Card!" I mean, I'm a friggin Jewy assed Jew and I still kinda want that thing for Oliver."

Hilarious! Clearly the pet market needed to be tapped and I'm lucky enough to have been the first one via the Minted design competitions.

Now the pressure is on to remain innovative and win more design challenges!

I'm Back!

"Braaaiinns!"

Where does the time go? Am I the only one who feels like my life is accelerating and the days are going by faster than ever? It's not like I'm working a high-stress job, it just feels like my life is going by at lightning speed and I can't control it. I digress.

I've sorely neglected my little blog for the past few months and I don't have a good excuse. What matters is that I am back now and I am ready to re-commit myself.

I will start off by saying that my Reindog submission to Minted's latest holiday card design competition has been launched as is now for sale on their website. Not only am I excited to have won a prize, been ranked 14th out of 1357 submissions, and see my design for sale on their site but I am most honored to have my work among the premier independent stationery designs on the web today. It's an absolute honor to be among such fantastic designers, artists and typographers. I have sooooo much to learn but this victory has stoked my fire and drives me to expand my abilities, refine my design sense and learn the pillars of great typography. I have a long way to go but I look forward to the journey!

Without further ado, here is Reindog, launched and for sale:

Reindog with custom backer and wrap-around address label.

You have two pets? I've got you covered!

How about a version with space for pets AND kids

There are other colorways to choose from and even a mini-book version. I have a feeling it's going to be a great holiday season!