Enter by Sunday Night!

Today, we had another fun-filled filtering session for the Birthday Her Way contest. Was your card in the mix? If not, send it in by Sunday at midnight so it has a chance to make you a winner. This could be your card we're oohing and ahhing (and Tweeting) over.




Julienne does the honors of reading all the entries out loud for the team. If it takes us too long to "get" it, it doesn't go in the potential winner pile. Before sending in your card, give it to a few friends for a read-through. If your message trips them up, a few tweaks could be in order before you officially enter your card.



It's anyone's guess as to what these lovely ladies are thinking. What do their expressions say to you?
(Clockwise from left: Shannon, Kenya, Julienne, Theresa, Karen)


Look forward to more behind-the-scenes filtering later this week.

Perfect Ladies

In need of some inspiration for the Birthday Her Way contest? Look no further. I've rounded up photos of some of the women in my family to show you which ladylike pics I would enter if I could. Prepare to be impressed.

Look at this well-mannered woman. Isn't she just the picture of gentility?




A good hair day can make all the difference.




Just practicing for old ladyhood.




Real Grandma. Real gutsy.



If you haven't already entered the Birthday Her Way contest, get to it by Nov. 15! Surely you have some photos of the feisty females you know. Why not make them card stars? If you're fresh out of photographic inspiration, try your hand at designing a card. Either way, make it all about the birthday girl.

We Love These Cards

When we go through the rigorous process of judging all the card submissions, we are looking at the cards from every which way. In the end, the winning cards are those that had that extra something special, the extra *zing*, if you will, and that special something is different for each card.

Visit the winners' gallery and check out our team's comments on each winning Birthday His Way card. Leave your own comments for the winners, too. They'd love to know what you think of their card creations.

Dressed to Impress

Did we mention we've got a Halloween contest coming down the way? This is your primo time to capture all the fallish (and foolish) festivities. Snap plenty of pics of your favorite costumed critters (human and animal, alike) this weekend and be thinking how you might turn them into a card in the near future.

One tip to keep in mind:

Avoid pictures of licensed or copyrighted characters. Yes, we know they're cute, but they're also against the contest rules. Tough break.

This message has been approved by Pita, Shannon's phenomenally well-behaved dog.
Can she pull off the ear-flap hat, or what?

Crack 'Em Up...Later

We know some of you have been working ahead on your card ideas and we just want to wave you down to give you the latest info, in case you hadn't already taken note. Originally, we were planning to have the "Crack 'Em Up" Shoebox card contest in February. What can we say? Plans change. If you've already been crafting your jokes and fine-tuning your funny, don't fret. You'll get to enter your best "Crack 'Em Up" card soonish. Just not yet. For now, store that card submission in your back pocket and aim your brain power at our contests coming just around the bend. Let us know if you have any questions about the new plan.

Halloween-spiration

Just in case you didn't notice all the pumpkins, costumes and candy at the store, consider this your friendly reminder that Halloween is just around the corner (Ahem, Saturday). What better time to be snapping photos left and right of the sweet, silly and spooky dresser-uppers in your life? As you're capturing all the tricks and treats, keep in mind what might make a winning Halloween card! You'll be able to enter it in our upcoming Halloween contest set for March.

Need a little inspiration? These fallish finds are compliments of Theresa, whose mom has been rumored to have slaved over more than a few Halloween costume sewing projects. What a gal.

Judging 101

We're sharing the inside scoop on the That's Motherhood! judging process for all you card contest enthusiasts and curious cats. Hopefully, it will help you plan for the next contest, Birthday Her Way (Nov. 2-15). You deserve to know just how the judges start with this blank board...



and wind up with these babies...





Step 1. Fuel up!

If you happen to go back through our past contest photos, you may notice a pattern...a fruity yellow pattern. It seems Theresa's judging senses are fortified with potassium. Mmm, nana-licious.



Other favorite judging supplements include Diet Coke, Diet Sunkist, real Coke with real sugar, flat pretzels, normal pretzels, chocolate of any kind, crackers, and the list goes on. Please mail snacks to...just kidding. We're above bribery, however tasty.

Step 2. Think it over.

Each and every judge goes through the whole pile o' potential winners and chooses a set amount of favorites for the Friend category and the Mom category. They're looking for cards that fit the theme (funny Mother's Day cards), are cohesive (the image and writing work well together) and are sendable (they work for more than a few people). They also have to keep in mind things like variety and irresistability. Variety is important because they can't choose ten diaper jokes and expect people to only shop from those at Mother's Day. Irresistability is important because those are the cards that just beg to be picked up in the store.

Step 3. Pin 'em up!

Once the judges have made their individual picks, they pin them up on boards for the whole room to see. This is one of our favorite parts of the process, revealing which judges picked what cards. Usually a few are loved by everyone and others are up for debate. Judges will squeal, "Yay! You picked that one, too!" or question, "Really?! That one?!"

Sara Dykes, the yourBloopers Grand Prize Winner was our V.I.P. guest judge. Here's her board of favorites. Thanks for your help, Sara!





Step 4. Tally the votes!

Once all the judges are finished pinning, we count up the "votes" for each card. If a card is loved by six out of six judges, it makes its way to the winner board. If it's only loved by two or three judges, it's up for more lively discussion. The process goes on like this until the judges narrow the cards down to the final number.

Ta-da! We've got our winners, winners chicken dinners...

Is Your Card Legal?

Judging requires all hands on deck. And all funny faces, too. Our lawyers came down to get a close-up look at your card entries run them through their legal check. They were on the lookout for copyrighted images, recognizable locations, brand names, etc. All those that passed the test moved on to the official judging round. Speaking of judging, stay tuned to the blog this week for more judging highlights. Will your card make it to the coveted winners board?

Real Moms. Real Stories. Pt. 3

Our friend Kenya is sharing a story today that reminds us that being a mom inevitably means losing your cool from time to time. And having a mom means getting to witness such meltdowns once in a while...even after you're all grown up.



Here's Kenya's tale of one ticked mama:

A few years back, Mom and I went on a trip to Las Vegas. We were typical tourists with our 35mm cameras in hand. At some point, at one of the ginormous hotel/casinos, Mom needed to change her camera film. Upon trying to auto-rewind the thing, it jammed up. Mom was not happy. She immediately flipped open the camera door (that you're not supposed to open or you'll ruin the film), wrestled with the film and eventually showed it who was boss by aggressively ripping the film completely out! Yes, she succeeded in tearing the film and breaking the camera. When the episode was over, we laughed hysterically! Neither one of us could believe what she had just done!

Sorry, Kenya's mom. What happens in Vegas sometimes winds up on the internet.

Real Moms. Real Stories. Pt. 2

Today, we've got a story from a guest mom, our teammate Theresa's mama. Her recollection gives us a glimpse of young Theresa's personality coming through at an unexpected time. Just look at this impish grin.



Without further ado, a tale of Theresa...

Because I was a working mom and my time with my little one was always too short, I chose to rock her to sleep every night. When Theresa was 17 months old, we snuggled up in the rocker for our nightly routine and I started singing lullabies to her. After just a short time of me singing, Theresa reached up, put her hand over my mouth and said, "CLOSE!" I'm not sure if she didn't like the selections that night or if this dislike of my singing had been building up!


We've got to admit, this story surprised us. Who knew our sweet Theresa was such a Little Miss Sassy Pants?


(Theresa now, all well-mannered and stuff)

Thanks for the real scoop, Theresa's mom!
We'll be on the lookout for more sass.

Real Moms. Real Stories.

Our contest team is made up of moms and people who have moms so that means we all have funny tales to tell of the kid and parent dynamic. The first such tale is from Julienne, word guru and mom extraordinaire. Her story is one of those that might not have seemed so funny at the time, but is definitely chuckle-worthy now.



Moms know it's hard to teach your kids to be truthful and polite at the same time. My daughter could be in-your-face honest...like telling long-winded neighbors "good-bye" when she thought they should leave, or proclaiming that a playmate's house was "messy," then offering the helpful tidbit, "Vacuum it!" But nothing tops the time she came into a circle of my friends gathered for a lovely autumn tea. Someone's sweater smelled like mothballs and Bridget was trailing the scent. I saw her little nose circle the room in search of the source. Before I could take evasive action she declared, "Lady has a smell." Up went her pointer finger, "This lady!" I mumbled some compliment about the woman's perfume, shoved a cookie in Bridget's mouth and dragged her out of the room. Sometimes I think honesty is overrated.

--Julienne

So how about it? What's your funny childhood or parenthood tale? Leave a comical comment, why don't ya?

Lawyers Love a Good Fart Joke

Judging time is one of our favorite weeks, but we couldn't keep all the fun to ourselves. We invited our lawyers to the party. And it looks like they showed up in matching outfits. Think they planned that? Don't let their business attire fool you. These two were laughing like teenage boys at all your guy-friendly jokes involving bodily functions. Thanks to all of you responsible for such potty humor. You know who you are.




This is where the magic happens, our tiny judging chamber. We had juuust enough room to fit our judges and your submissions. You're getting a rare glimpse at the room with the door open. Usually it's closed to muffle any chatting, laughing or arguing over the contending cards.




Hmmm...will it be this one or that one? Sometimes it comes down to one vote. Too bad we missed a great arm wrestling shot.




When all the arguments have been settled and the lawyers have been thoroughly amused, we finally arrive at our 30 online winners! Here they are, all blurry-like. You'll get to see all 30 unblurred when we announce the online winners November 2.

Congratulations to Sara Dykes, yourBloopers Grand Prize Winner

We are very proud indeed to announce that Sara and her trusty sidekick, Orson are the reigning yourBloopers Grand Prize Winners! We couldn't resist Orson's lovable face when we first saw Sara's card, and it looks like America loved it just as much. Either that or we all have an inexplicably strong love of cheese puffs. That's pretty likely, too. Congrats, Sara and Orson. Long may you reign and long may you crunch.



Inside:
It’s your day.
You can be as silly as you want!
Happy Birthday!

Reviewing Birthday His Way Submissions...

As you can see from the facial expressions above, reviewing your submissions is serious business. We lock ourselves in our tiny meeting room with nothing but your card entries and our snacks to aid the process. Then, we have a careful look at each entry on our giant screen. We look, we read, we laugh, we say "awww." It's one emotional experience. And the longer it goes on, the goofier we get.

Look forward to more updates on our reviewing and judging process throughout the next few weeks. They're sure to include more photos, random quotes from the team, fun hints about standout entries, etc. If you haven't submitted your card yet, what are you waiting for? We wanna see it!

Don't miss the up-to-the-minute action on Facebook and Twitter, either.

Insider Advice From Our Man, Scott...

Since the newest contest is Birthday His Way, we couldn't miss out on an opportunity to give you card-making advice straight from the one and only guy on our team, Scott.  He's chock-full of insights about what kinds of cards men like.  At least the kinds of cards he likes.  Take 'em or leave 'em, folks.

What kinds of cards do you like to get?

The kind of card I like depends on who's giving it to me.  If it's from my kids, I want it to make them laugh, 'cuz hey, that makes me laugh.  If it's from my wife, I like a sweet card.  If it's from my friends, I usually like a funny card.  

What kind of cards do you get your dad?

It's different every time.  Sometimes funny.  Usually I like to pick a card that tells him what a great dad he is. You know, deep, but not too deep.

Have you gotten any memorable cards lately? 

Yeah, cards from my wife that speak from the heart.  

Care to tell us more about those mushy cards, you old softy?

Uhhh, no.

How do you feel about kittens, rainbows and unicorns?  

I like kittens.  I don't like rainbows.  Unicorns are pretty sexy.  If I got a card with a unicorn on it, I'd laugh.

Any other advice for the Birthday His Way card creators out there?  

*Don't feel locked into guy stereotypes.  Not every man loooooves beer.

*Walking the fine line between funny and crude can be harder than it seems.  Tread carefully.

*Inside jokes aren't usually as funny as they seem to you and your closest buddies.  Try 'em out on a few strangers before you submit them.

Well, you heard it here first, folks.  Send Scott a unicorn card and you'll get a laugh out of him.  We'll all get a laugh, in fact.  

This Brand New Site is Brought to You by...Goofballs!

Surely you couldn't help but notice our site's new look. Ever wonder who's the brains behind that whole operation? Introducing the brains!

Maureen-Marketing Brain

Maureen (a.k.a. Mo) is our resident redhead and commander-in-chief of "get the word out" operations. She makes it her business to shout from the rooftops about our newest contests and to welcome contest participants from all across the globe. "Come one, come all," she says.


Theresa-Marketing Brain

Theresa's number one priority is making sure it's easy and fun to be involved in the contests. She's all about making the experience a good one from start to finish. Oh, and we'll let you in on her secret indulgence: she's obsessed with making spreadsheets. We've tried telling her it's an illness, but she's not convinced yet.


Kenya-Marketing Brain

Don't let that look fool you. Kenya is the ever-helpful, whip-smart woman who stays in contact with our contest participants. If you ever get an e-mail from us, chances are it's from this very lady. She may or may not wear a feather boa on a daily basis.


Julienne-Wordy Brain

It's a treat to have Julienne and her cooking on the team. She just joined in the mix this summer, bringing big ideas, a love of words and the best baklava we've ever tasted.


Megan-Wordy Brain

Megan is responsible for outfitting this photo shoot. She's also responsible for giving you behind-the-scenes peeks at what we do around here when we're not striking poses for glamour shots. She'll be answering any questions you leave in the comments section of this here blog.


Karen-Artsy Brain

Karen knows good art and photography when she sees it. And she loves seeing it roll in during each contest. She'll flex her visual expertise come judging time so it's not a bad idea to get on Karen's good side.


Shannon-Artsy Brain

Shannon's got a split personality. Half the time she's making sure everything you see on the site and everything our winners get from us looks beau-ti-ful. The other part of her time she's hanging out on Twitter and Facebook, interacting with you and the rest of our contest friends. Yeah, we know, her job's sooo hard.


Scott-Artsy Brain

Scott's our design guy. Heck, our only guy! Don't feel too sorry for him. We treat him pretty darn well. And he makes sure our site and the winning cards are in ship-shape. Not a bad trade-off.

And now you've met the scrappy, little team behind your Greeting Card Competition! We'd love to hear from you any time about the new site, your experiences with the contests, wily ideas for pranking Scott...

Have a look at the rest of the photos from our dress-and-dazzle session on our Facebook fan page!

Announcing Our Newest Contest...Birthday His Way!

Now you're all in on the secret. And we're glad. We didn't think we could hold it in much longer.

Birthday His Way is your chance to whip up a birthday card that's just for the guys. You need not be a guy to enter, although you can be. We're not exclusive. And since all guys are different, feel free to enter a card that's funny, sweet, celebratory or irreverent. Take your pick.

Whatever you do, get your card in before it's too late. We'll accept submissions from 12:00 a.m., CT Monday, September 7 through 11:59 p.m., CT Sunday, September 20. No squeakin' in after the deadline, either.

Just in case you're the curious sort and want to see a little further into the future, have a look-see at the rest of the Birthday His Way contest dates:

Online Winners Announced: 11/2/09

Buy Online: 11/2/09

In-Store Winners Announced: 4/19/09

Buy In Stores: 6/21/10

Please, oh please don't think twice about asking any questions you've got about the contest in the comments section of this here blog entry. I'm here to help (and do other stuff).

Preview Upcoming Contests

Is anyone curious about what our next contest will be? How about our next three contests? We know, the suspense is killer. Soon, though, you won't have to deal with the delayed gratification.

As part of our spectacular new website, we'll be sharing three contest themes at a time with you. That way, you'll be able to look ahead and prepare for upcoming contests (at least mentally). You'll have the corner on the contest market, so to speak. We hope that's good news to those of you who like to plan ahead.

More Behind the Scenes

This is the place for behind-the-scenes contest action. We share the 411 on entering, judging, Hallmark shenanigans, and the like. And from now on, we're making a pledge to share even more with you. When our fancy, schmancy new site goes live in September (Have we mentioned how excited we are about said site?), we'll even be streaming the blog straight to the homepage so you won't miss any goings-on.

Oh, and the blog isn't the only place we're giving you a peek behind the curtain. You can also stay up-to-the-minute on the yourGreeting Card Competition Facebook page and by following us on Twitter.

In the News

Finalists and winners in our card contests have been making the news since the very beginning. T.V. and radio stations and newspapers are eager to share the story of their local winners. Who wouldn't want to share that good news?

Starting in September, there will be an easy, one-stop place on our site that features all the fun contest stories floating around in the media. It's called "In the News." If you're a winner and your local paper publishes a story about you, share it with us so we can share it with the world! And if we catch wind of your story before we hear from you, we'll post it straight away. It's just another fun way of cheering on our winners and enjoying everyone's success.

Repeat Card Stars - More Fame and Attention

We know we've got a few overachievers participating in our contests. Know how we know? We've had repeat winners, people who tasted sweet greeting card glory and had to come back for more. And we're glad they did come back with their creativity and brainy card ideas.

YOU could be among the overachievers, or, as we like to call them, "Repeat Card Stars." If you win more than one contest, we'll feature you in a special spot on our site reserved for the cream of the card crop. Prepare to make a few people envious.

Comments

If you've ever visited the yourGreeting Card Competition blog much at all, you've noticed that we feature our finalists and winners here when they're revealed. We love giving our creative geniuses and their big brains a place to shine. It's fun for them and it's fun for their fans (oh, and fun for us, too). It's a great chance to give props to the card creators.

We're going to make it even easier for friends, fam and fans to comment on the winners' cards. Now you'll be able to post your "Woo hoo" and "Yay, you" on each card directly on our website, instead of on the blog. No more hunting around for a place to give your two cents on the winning cards.

Spiffy New Website - Same Location

We're getting a makeover. It's not vanity that's driving us to get a whole new look; it's our desire to give you a simple, enjoyable place to hang out and participate in our contests. We think you'll enjoy the ambience of our new digs. Here's a sneaky, sneak peek at what the site will look like...

No Voting

For those of you new to yourGreeting Card Competitions, you may be asking, "What voting?" Fair enough. Let us give you a brief history: Once upon a time, we determined a contest's Grand Prize Winner based on popular votes. People voted for free online and with their card purchases.

As time marched on and we introduced new contests, more and more of you let us know that you were getting less and less interested in voting. Sooo we listened, dagnabit. With your guidance, we removed voting and the Grand Prize Winner approach. Instead, we've added more contests to offer more winners. Now you can spend less time voting and more time sending us your fabulous card creations. Whoopee!

Prizes

With more contests, more often, you'll have more chances to win. And that's just the beginning of the good, prize-related news. You'll have not one, but two chances to win in each contest.

1. If your card is chosen to be sold online, you win moolah!
(plus, the admiration of your online fans)!

2. If your card is later chosen to be sold in stores, too, you win more moolah!
(not to mention, the one-of-a-kind experience of seeing your card in stores)!

How's that for motivation?

Shorter Contests

We don't know about you, but we're not big fans of waiting. One of our NEW contest features has come about because we'd rather not test your patience when it comes to waiting to see whether your card is a winner.

With SHORTER CONTESTS, you'll find out your winner status within a few short months of entering. That way, you're not tapping your foot for six months wondering just when you'll know. (That foot could get dog tired.) We're all about relieving a little tension. You're welcome.

P.S. If you're scratching you're head wondering what all this winner business is about, hold tight. You'll be able to see all the pieces of the puzzle come together over the next several weeks.

And the yourParenthood Father's Day Grand Prize Winner is...

...Carrie Moore of Grand Blanc, Michigan. Carrie captured a sweet moment between her husband and son and knew she had the perfect photo for a Father's Day card. Well, Carrie, it looks like it was perfect enough to win the Grand Prize. Congratulations!




(Inside):
Not all superheroes wear capes.
Happy Father's Day!

More Contests, More Often

You may have noticed on our homepage that we'll be introducing 10 NEW contest features in September. What are they, you ask? So curious, you. Well...we'll be revealing one feature every Monday from now until August 31 on the homepage and right here on the blog. Stay up-to-date and in-the-know. The first NEW contest feature is...(drumroll, please)...

MORE CONTESTS, MORE OFTEN

Instead of entering a contest every three or four months, you'll have the opportunity to enter a new contest every month (or so)! If your creative juices are freely flowing, there's no need to limit you to just three or four contests a year. No, sireee. And do you know what comes with more contests? More chances to win! More chances for those yet-to-be-discovered card stars to get their work printed, and more chances for those already published card stars to become REPEAT card stars. How fun would that be?! (Might we suggest very fun!)

A yourBloopers Blooper

A few Hallmark fans have made us privy to the fact that yourBloopers cards are showing up in their local stores already. We realize that's a few weeks shy of the June 22 date they were supposed to be available in stores.

To make a long story short, the Bloopers cards are supposed to be displayed after the Father's Day cards are taken down because that's the space on the shelf that they are supposed to use, but some stores got so excited about the winning cards that they put them out early (and we can't blame them). Just wanted to ensure you that this is absolutely A.O.K. with the contest rules as all sales starting May 4 count as votes.

If the cards aren't in a store near you yet, have no fear. You can always find them on Hallmark.com while you're counting down to June 22.

Other Stores Love 'Em, Too!

So there I was at my local pharmacy, just picking up a few necessities: shampoo, lotion, chips (C'mon. They're a necessity sometimes.), when I spotted the yourParenthood Father's Day cards. And boy, did they look good.



They kinda made me giddy. As soon as the aisle was clear, I snapped a couple of pics to share with you. Enjoy!

Hallmark Loves yourParenthood Father's Day Cards!

It wasn't all that long ago that we showed you the yourParenthood Mother's Day cards in our employee card shop. Did we mention that people loved them? Consider it mentioned. Well, now it's time for the Father's Day cards to shine.



We're placing bets that these babies will fly off the shelves as fast as their Mother's Day counterparts. Not actual bets (we promise, boss), just verbal bets.



Have any of you seen the cards in your local stores yet? Give us the scoop from your neck of the woods.

And the yourParenthood Mother's Day Grand Prize Winner Is...

...Hailey Lystad! Hailey's daughter and her wild hairdo found a place in the hearts of Mother's Day card buyers all across the country this month. And who could blame them? That's one pretty priceless expression. Hailey's card earned the most votes, both through free online voting and through votes by card purchases. Join us in giving her a big hooray and congratulations!



And yay for you too, kiddo!



Cover:
(Blank)
Inside:
Being a mom is hard work.
It can make your hair
stand on end.
Happy Mother's Day!